The Art of the Four Pillars Family

A long while later, the blue fluorescence beneath the small Wood Dragon Technique slowly shifted, gradually taking on a crimson hue.

It's coming, it's coming!

A look of excitement appeared on the face of Lin Mu; the chakra of the Nine-Tails had finally emerged.

That red chakra was truly distinct.

If normal blue chakra was a docile sheep, then this blood-red chakra was a ferocious, irritable tiger.

In terms of both quality and power, it was far beyond what ordinary blue chakra could compare to!

The small wood dragon, perched on the abdomen of Naruto Uzumaki, seemed to undergo a slight change after absorbing the Nine-Tails chakra, its body twisting a few times.

"I really didn't expect to obtain the Nine-Tails chakra so easily..."

Lin Mu was also somewhat surprised. Even if the Nine-Tails was firmly locked away by the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, it shouldn't have been so powerless to resist, right?!

Lin Mu extended his arm and waved it twice. The small wood dragon seemed reluctant to leave the body of Naruto Uzumaki, but it flew back onto Lin Mu's palm.

Condensing his internal chakra slightly, Lin Mu used his own Wood Release chakra as a medium to form a hand, slowly reaching out to grasp the chakra carried by the wood dragon's body.

"ROAR!!!"

Suddenly, Lin Mu felt his mind suffer an impact; he heard an earth-shattering roar.

Before he could fully recover his senses, a hoarse voice drifted out, faint and ethereal.

"Are you playing with me, brat?! Once I get out, I'll slaughter this kid who sealed me first, and you'll be the second one I kill!"

This voice—is it the Nine-Tails?!

Lin Mu was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected the Nine-Tails to be able to communicate with him through the fluctuations of its chakra.

After careful thought, he vaguely began to understand.

From the moment of its inception, chakra had always served as a bond of connection between people.

As one of the most powerful concentrations of chakra in the world, it was no surprise that the Nine-Tails possessed such an ability.

However, just because Lin Mu heard the voice of the Nine-Tails didn't mean he had to pay it any mind.

No matter how powerful the Nine-Tails was, it was currently nothing more than a beast trapped in a cage.

It posed no threat to him, Lin Mu; in fact, he could even use the Wood Dragon Technique to weaken the power of the Nine-Tails.

"Heh..."

Thinking of this, Lin Mu let out a self-deprecating laugh. The bit of chakra he had absorbed was not even a drop in the bucket for the Nine-Tails.

But this act alone was disgusting enough!

After carefully studying the Nine-Tails chakra, a sharp glint flashed in Lin Mu's eyes. Surging Wood Release chakra poured out, directly suppressing and extinguishing the Nine-Tails chakra.

It was true that the power of the Nine-Tails chakra was indeed above that of ordinary chakra.

But what Lin Mu used was not ordinary chakra either; it was the far superior Wood Release chakra.

Moreover, Wood Release chakra had a miraculous effect when it came to suppressing Tailed Beasts!

After tinkering for a while, Lin Mu felt a bit tired. He yawned, lay down on his bed, and quickly drifted into a deep sleep.

"ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR!!!"

Inside the body of Naruto Uzumaki, within a pitch-black sealing space.

The colossal demon fox opened its blood-red slit pupils and let out an angry roar.

It felt the chakra that had just been extracted from it being crushed and vanishing from this world.

The very moment the Nine-Tails chakra disappeared, it suddenly sensed an aura that was both familiar and strange.

This is... the aura of Wood Release!

A complex look flashed through the eyes of the Nine-Tails, and the image of Senju Hashirama came to mind.

The man who had been able to crush him in an instant!

Once upon a time, he had been invincible, yet in the hands of Senju Hashirama, he had almost no power to resist!

"The power of Wood Release... has it appeared again?!"

The Nine-Tails demon fox roared loudly.

"When I get out, the first thing I'll do is kill this brat who has me sealed inside him, and then I'll slaughter that guy who can use Wood Release!"

Of course, no matter how loudly the Nine-Tails screamed, it could never escape the incredibly powerful Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!

In front of a massive, towering building.

A beautiful woman with blonde hair and green clothes stood there, holding a pig on a leash.

She scanned the area a few times and spoke softly:

"Alright, let's choose this place!"

"Huh?!!"

The woman who appeared noticeably younger walking beside her widened her eyes in disbelief upon seeing this place.

"Is this the town where the entire city is a casino..."

"Oink, oink, oink!"

The little pig at the mature woman's feet let out two human-like grunts, and a few beads of cold sweat seemed to drip from its fur.

On a path winding through the countryside, three figures walked at a leisurely pace.

They were none other than Jiraiya, Lin Mu, and Naruto Uzumaki.

Jiraiya looked up at the sky, then closed his eyes to feel the direction of the wind before speaking:

"We are still a long way from our destination, and the weather is about to change; it might rain, so let's stay here for the night."

As he spoke, he took the backpack from Naruto's back, reached in, and popped a few Military Ration Pill into his mouth.

Crunching on them, he gave instructions:

"You two go find some branches and leaves. We need to build a shelter; it won't be pleasant if we get caught in the rain later!"

"Mm..."

For once, Naruto Uzumaki didn't argue with Jiraiya. He nodded silently and prepared to head toward the distant woods to gather branches and leaves.

Just then, Lin Mu stepped forward and grabbed Naruto Uzumaki's arm, stopping him from leaving.

Without waiting for Jiraiya to speak, he quickly formed a series of hand seals and slammed his hands onto the ground.

"Wood Style: Four Pillar House Technique!"

Rumble, rumble...

The ground suddenly began to tremble violently.

A few breaths later, a rather exquisite wooden house slowly rose up before them.

"We might as well just stay in the house; why bother building a temporary shelter?"

Lin Mu laughed, reached out, and pulled Jiraiya and Naruto Uzumaki into the house.

Jiraiya's eyes held a hint of curiosity as he looked around and chuckled:

"Hahaha, you brat always manage to surprise people! Although there isn't any furniture inside, it's still much better than a makeshift shelter."

Furniture?

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Lin Mu's mouth. With a wave of his right hand, he scattered chakra throughout the wooden house.

Rumble, rumble...

A series of vibrations echoed, and a large bed, a table, and three stools immediately appeared before them!

"This..."

Jiraiya seemed somewhat surprised. Being able to perform ninjutsu to create both a house and furniture in such a short time showed that Lin Mu had become quite strong.

Was it a transformation born from his previous battle with Kisame Hoshigaki?