Four Pillar House Technique

After a long while, the blue glow beneath the little Wood Dragon slowly changed, gradually turning red.

Here it comes, here it comes!

A hint of excitement appeared on Lin Mu's face. The Nine-Tails' chakra had finally appeared.

That red chakra was so completely different.

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

In both quality and power, it far surpassed anything ordinary blue chakra could match!

The little Wood Dragon lying on Naruto Uzumaki's abdomen seemed to change after absorbing the Nine-Tails' chakra. It twisted its body a few times.

"I never thought I'd get the Nine-Tails' chakra so easily..."

Lin Mu was a little surprised, too. Even though the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style had tightly locked away the Nine-Tails, surely it shouldn't have been this powerless to resist?!

Lin Mu extended his arm and waved it twice. The little Wood Dragon seemed reluctant to leave Naruto Uzumaki's body, but it flew back onto Lin Mu's palm.

The chakra within him gathered slightly. Using his own Wood Release chakra as a vessel, Lin Mu formed a hand that slowly reached for the chakra carried by the Wood Dragon.

"ROAR!!!"

Suddenly, Lin Mu felt a shock strike his mind. He heard a roar that shook the heavens and earth.

Before he could fully recover, a hoarse voice suddenly came through, faint and indistinct.

"Are you playing with me, brat?! Once I get out, I'll kill the brat who sealed me first, then you!"

Was that the Nine-Tails' voice?!

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

After thinking it over carefully, he began to understand.

From the moment chakra was first born, it had served as a link between people.

As one of the world's most powerful collections of chakra, it wasn't surprising that the Nine-Tails could use this ability.

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

No matter how powerful the Nine-Tails was, right now it was nothing more than a caged beast.

It posed no threat to Lin Mu at all. He could even weaken the Nine-Tails by using the Wood Dragon Technique.

"Heh..."

Thinking of this, Lin Mu gave a self-deprecating laugh. The bit of chakra he had absorbed was barely a drop in the bucket for the Nine-Tails.

Still, the act alone was enough to piss it off!

After carefully studying the Nine-Tails' chakra, a sharp glint flashed in Lin Mu's eyes. His surging Wood Release chakra burst forth, directly crushing the Nine-Tails' chakra.

That's right, the Nine-Tails' chakra was indeed more powerful than ordinary chakra.

But the chakra Lin Mu used wasn't ordinary chakra either. It was a far more advanced Wood Release chakra.

And Wood Release chakra was especially effective at suppressing Tailed Beasts!

After tinkering around for a while, Lin Mu felt a little tired. He yawned, lay down on the bed, and soon fell fast asleep.

"ROAR, ROAR, ROAR!!!"

Inside Naruto, in a pitch-black sealed space,

the enormous demon fox opened its blood-red, vertical pupils and let out an enraged roar.

It sensed that the chakra just extracted from it had been crushed and erased from existence.

The instant that Nine-Tails chakra disappeared, it suddenly sensed an aura that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

This was... the aura of Wood Release!

A few complicated emotions flickered in the Nine-Tails' eyes. It thought of Senju Hashirama.

The man who could crush it in an instant!

Once, it had been invincible, but in Senju Hashirama's hands, it had barely been able to fight back!

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

The Nine-Tails roared loudly.

"Once I get out, I'll kill the brat sealed inside me first, then I'll slaughter the guy who uses Wood Release!"

Of course, no matter how loudly the Nine-Tails roared, its voice couldn't escape the immensely powerful Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!

In front of a massive, towering building,

a beautiful blonde woman in green stood with a pig on a leash.

She looked around, then spoke softly:

"Good, let's pick this place!"

"Huh?!"

The younger woman beside her stared at the place, her eyes wide.

"This whole town is a casino..."

"Oink, oink!"

The mature woman's little pig let out two very human-like grunts at her feet. A few drops of cold sweat seemed to trickle down its fur.

Three figures walked slowly along a country path.

They were Jiraiya, Lin Mu, and Naruto Uzumaki.

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

"We're still a long way from our destination, and the weather's about to change. It might rain, so let's stay here for now."

As he spoke, he took the backpack from Naruto's back and pulled out a few Military Ration Pills, popping them into his mouth.

Chewing them with a loud crunch, he gave instructions:

"You two go find some branches and leaves. We'll build a shelter first. We don't want to get caught in the rain!"

"Mm..."

Unusually, Naruto Uzumaki didn't argue with Jiraiya. He nodded silently and was about to head into the distant woods to gather some branches and leaves.

Just then, Lin Mu stepped forward, grabbed Naruto Uzumaki by the arm, and stopped him from leaving.

Before Jiraiya could say anything, Lin Mu swiftly formed a few hand seals, then pressed his hands hard against the ground.

"Wood Style: Four Pillar House Technique!"

Rumble, rumble...

The ground suddenly began to shake violently.

A few breaths later, a rather elegant wooden house slowly appeared before them.

"We can just stay in the house. Why bother building a temporary shelter?"

Lin Mu laughed and led Jiraiya and Naruto Uzumaki inside.

Jiraiya looked around with curiosity and said with a laugh:

"Hahaha, you're always full of surprises, kid! There's no furniture inside, but it's still much better than a makeshift shelter."

Furniture?

A faint smile appeared on Lin Mu's lips. He waved his right hand, sending chakra out across the wooden house.

Rumble, rumble...

A rumbling sound followed, and a large bed, a table, and three stools appeared before them!

"This..."

Jiraiya seemed surprised. Being able to perform a technique in such a short time and create a house and furniture meant Lin Mu had grown very strong.

Had he undergone a transformation during his earlier battle with Kisame Hoshigaki?