Acquiring a Summoning Beast: Baku, Wood Style: Cutting Technique

Meanwhile, Uchiha Jun, who was watching the battle from afar, also discovered the Third Raikage's plan.

He's splitting his forces. Is he planning to stay behind to block the Iwa-nin's pursuit?

Determined that the Third Raikage was about to detach from the main Kumogakure force, Uchiha Jun opened his Summoning and Secret Scroll interfaces, preparing to purchase a batch of summons and upgrade or synthesize a set of secret scrolls.

Although he hadn't experienced any intense combat during this period, Uchiha Jun had been clearing the Abundance Chamber every day, allowing him to accumulate a significant amount of copper coins and secret scroll fragments.

[Ding!]

[Copper Coin Balance: 62,000,000]

[Secret Scroll Fragment · Chakra: 27/30]

[Secret Scroll Fragment · Dispel: Recovery: 8/30]

[Secret Scroll Fragments: Wood Style: Cutting Technique (12/10), Dispel: Scatter (15/10), Lightning Style: Magnetic Storm (10/10), Summoning: Shuriken Protection (12/10), Earth Style: Earth Tremor (10/10)...]

"The copper coins are enough..." Uchiha Jun stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping across the Summoning interface.

"But summons of the caliber of Baku and the Chameleon couldn't possibly cost the same as those D-rank items from before, right?"

If he was going to play the part, he had to do it thoroughly; a disguised Shimura Danzo naturally couldn't go without his signature 'Elephant'.

As it happened, he had just cleared a new difficulty level of the Abundance Chamber, unlocking some new summons.

He clicked on the deep menu of the [Summoning Recruitment] interface, and sure enough—

The page, which had originally only displayed a row of ordinary summons, had automatically unlocked the content of a second page after he completed the B-rank Abundance Chamber for the first time.

A golden, glittering new list appeared before his eyes:

[Currently Recruit-able Summons · Advanced:]

[Baku (B-rank): A dream-eating beast from legend that devours nightmares. Consumes 12,000,000 copper coins. Upon summoning, it opens its giant maw in front, unleashing a powerful Wind Style suction force that forcibly draws enemies, ninja tools, and explosive tags within a wide area into its belly, causing continuous suppression and wind-attribute damage.]

[Additional Effect: Has a high probability of causing brief mental panic to targets with low resistance to genjutsu. If the user is [Shimura Danzo], the power of subsequent Wind Style ninjutsu is increased by an additional 40%.]

[Hawk (C+ rank): A high-altitude reconnaissance summon with extreme speed. Consumes 10,000,000 copper coins. Upon summoning, the user can share its vision to lock onto targets from high altitude several kilometers away. It can also launch a diving claw attack for a surprise strike. After release, movement speed increases by 20%, with the added tactical support effect of expanded vision.]

[Additional Effect: If the user is [Sasuke Uchiha], movement speed is increased by an additional 30%.]

[Chameleon (B-rank): A cold-blooded summon of medium size that is extremely adept at stealth and assassination. Consumes 12,000,000 copper coins. Upon summoning, it can enter a near-perfect state of optical invisibility. It hides its presence with extreme speed and can coordinate with the main body to launch surprise attacks or perform rescue missions. Its long-tongue capture effect is equivalent to a "grab" skill judgment and can be used to break through super armor.]

[Additional Effect: If the user is [Six Paths of Pain], movement speed is increased by an additional 40%.]

Uchiha Jun's gaze lingered on the Baku entry for a moment.

The note above it made the corners of his mouth curl upward.

"Brother Danzo, for the sake of the friendship between Konoha and Kumogakure, you'll have to take the fall for this!"

He clicked the recruit button.

[Ding! Consumed 12,000,000 copper coins, successfully recruited summon [Baku]!]

[Current Copper Coins: 50,000,000]

[Ding! Consumed 10,000,000 copper coins, successfully recruited summon [Hawk]!]

[Current Copper Coins: 40,000,000]

[Ding! Consumed 12,000,000 copper coins, successfully recruited summon [Chameleon]!]

[Current Copper Coins: 28,000,000]

Three rays of light flashed across the panel in succession, and three brand-new phantom images of summoning contract scrolls appeared before Uchiha Jun.

Uchiha Jun suddenly felt three faint connections in his mental world—the soul imprints of the summons after the contracts were established.

"Not bad. The three correspond to different tactical scenarios: Baku for impersonating Danzo to stir up trouble, the Hawk for high-altitude reconnaissance and flight capabilities, and the Chameleon for stealthy escapes."

Uchiha Jun nodded with satisfaction, then closed the Summoning interface and switched to the [Secret Scroll] interface.

"Next is the secret scrolls..."

He first looked at the [Secret Scroll · Chakra] entry.

[Secret Scroll · Chakra (Current Level: Lv.1)]

[Effect: Immediately restores 2 Chakra Orbs upon use.]

[Required for Upgrade to Lv.2: 4,000,000 Copper Coins + 30 Secret Scroll Fragments · Chakra.]

[Lv.2 Effect Preview: Immediately restores 3 Chakra Orbs (full) upon use, and increases ninjutsu attack power by 10% for the next 3 seconds.]

"Chakra, huh... I can probably gather enough after clearing the Abundance Chamber a few more times..."

Uchiha Jun glanced at the number of Secret Scroll Fragments · Chakra remaining in his inventory—27 pieces.

He was still 3 pieces short of 30.

Unfortunately, the Abundance Chamber was currently the only way to obtain secret scroll fragments.

However, fortunately, higher difficulty levels of the Abundance Chamber would yield a greater quantity and variety of secret scroll fragments.

Uchiha Jun turned his gaze to another secret scroll—[Dispel: Recovery].

[Secret Scroll · Dispel: Recovery (Current Level: Lv.1)]

[Effect: Upon use, immediately reduces the remaining cooldown of all self-skills by 40%.]

[Requirements for upgrade to Lv.2: 4,000,000 Copper Coins + Secret Scroll Fragment: Dispel: Recovery ×30]

[Lv.2 Effect Preview: Upon use, immediately reduces the remaining cooldown of all self-skills by 60%.]

Ever since he obtained this Secret Scroll, Uchiha Jun had barely used it. While his chakra was easy to manage, the main reason was that he couldn't think of any practical application for it.

After all, reality was not like a digitized game where releasing skills incurred cooldowns.

As long as you had enough chakra, you could essentially turn yourself into a machine gunner, which made [Dispel: Recovery] seem somewhat redundant.

Perhaps only when Uchiha Jun gained the ability to pull enemies into a [Digitized] state to play a [True Engagement] would [Dispel: Recovery] be able to exert its maximum potential.

"Wood Style: Cutting Technique, Dispel: Scatter, and Lightning Style: Magnetic Storm—these three Secret Scrolls can finally be synthesized."

"As for the Cutting Technique, I can plant that on Danzo later. It will also allow me to snatch Yamato away from Shimura Danzo's clutches ahead of schedule."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was actually aware that Danzo and Orochimaru were researching the cells of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, in an attempt to replicate Wood Style.

It was just that because of the Third Shinobi World War, other ninja villages had taken turns clashing with Konoha, making it feel like clearing boss stages. This placed immense pressure on Sarutobi Hiruzen, and deep down, he also desired to see the power of Wood Style restored.

Because of this, he had always maintained an attitude of turning a blind eye.

If Shimura Danzo really managed to achieve something with Wood Style, Sarutobi Hiruzen would undoubtedly have to stage that iconic scene where he says, "I am the Hokage, and you will regret this."

[Wood Style: Cutting Technique (Current Level: Lv.1)]

[Effect: Upon use, instantly summons dense wooden spikes, dealing massive damage to enemies within range and ensnaring them for 2 seconds. This technique requires no hand signs.]

[Requirements for upgrade to Lv.2: 4,000,000 Copper Coins + Wood Style: Cutting Technique ×30]

[Lv.2 Effect Preview: Upon use, the coverage area of the wooden spikes expands by 50%, and the ensnarement duration extends to 3 seconds. During the ensnarement, the wooden spikes absorb chakra, converting it into temporary energy equivalent to recovering 1 chakra orb.]

"My goodness, it can drain chakra orbs at Lv.2? What kind of hellish scroll is this? It's basically a miniature Wood Dragon."

"Those who get caught by the spikes in the future are in for a treat."

[Ding! Obtained Secret Scroll: [Wood Style: Cutting Technique]]

[Dispel: Scatter (Current Level: Lv.1)]

[Effect: Immediately removes most negative status effects from oneself (including but not limited to: attachments causing continuous damage such as Amaterasu's black flames or clay bombs; movement restriction effects like slowing, immobilization, and paralysis; as well as sensory interference and visual deception caused by genjutsu).]

[Requirements for upgrade to Lv.2: 4,000,000 Copper Coins + Dispel: Scatter ×30]

[Lv.2 Effect Preview: Upon use, immediately removes most negative status effects from oneself (including but not limited to: attachments causing continuous damage such as Amaterasu's black flames or clay bombs; movement restriction effects like slowing, immobilization, and paralysis; as well as sensory interference and visual deception caused by genjutsu). Upon the instant of removal, the user gains an invincibility effect lasting 1 second.]

"Not bad, now I don't have to fear Amaterasu."

[Ding! Obtained Secret Scroll: [Dispel: Scatter]]

[Lightning Style: Magnetic Storm (Current Level: Lv.1)]

[Effect: Upon use, creates a strong magnetic storm electric field with a radius of 12 meters around the user, lasting 4 seconds. Enemies within the field take continuous Lightning-attribute damage (damage level approximately equal to a C-rank ninjutsu) and are slowed by 30%. Simultaneously, the field generates strong magnetism, with a certain probability of attracting and deflecting metal ninja tools thrown by enemies, reducing the hit rate of enemy long-range projectiles.]

[Requirements for upgrade to Lv.2: 4,000,000 Copper Coins + Lightning Style: Magnetic Storm ×30]

[Lv.2 Effect Preview: Electric field radius expands to 18 meters, duration extends to 8 seconds, slowing effect increases to 45%. New special effect: Electromagnetic Induction—when you use any Lightning Style ninjutsu within the electric field (including but not limited to Chidori, Lightning Blade, or Kirin), the damage of that Lightning Style ninjutsu is increased by an additional 15%.]

"The preparations before the battle are complete."

Uchiha Jun put away the system, checked the sky, and raised his hands to summon Hawk and Mofang, preparing to fly to high altitude to get ready.

"Poof—"

"Chirp!"

"Hmm? Is something the matter, Jun?"

Mofang looked at the giant hawk beside him, then turned to Uchiha Jun and asked.

"Yes. Go find Hikari. Later, after I snatch the Third Raikage, have Hikari use Shadow Clones to disguise herself as a Root squad to meet me."

"No problem!"

Mofang nodded and turned to leave.

Watching Mofang depart, Uchiha Jun looked at the giant hawk waiting beside him and spoke.

"Take me to the sky!"

"Chirp!"

Below, the Third Raikage's slaughter of the Iwa-nin forces had reached a fever pitch.

Led by the Eight-Tails jinchuriki Blue B, the Cloud ninja forces had completely broken away from the battlefield and retreated into the Land of Waterfalls.

However, this left the Third Raikage facing the pressure of two Iwa-nin jinchuriki. Furthermore, with the cover gone, Onoki, hovering in mid-air, could freely charge up his Dust Release to bombard the Third Raikage.

If not for the extreme speed granted by the Lightning Release Armor, the Third Raikage would likely have perished on the spot long ago!

High in the sky.

Riding on the back of the giant hawk, Uchiha Jun had already switched to the [Shimura Danzo] template. During his preparations, Uchiha Jun discovered to his dismay that the Sharingan consumed during his previous attack on the Daimyo Palace and his battle with Uchiha Hikari had not yet recovered.

At this moment, he only had four Sharingan left at his disposal.

"It seems necessary to find a few Three-Tomoe Sharingan to 'restock.' As for the Three-Tomoe... I suppose the only ones left who could 'move' are Uchiha Setsuna and that bunch of old relics. Very well, I'll trick Uchiha Fugaku later."

"I'll have him carry out a 'purge,' and as long as I stir up some 'complications' along the way, those Three-Tomoe will be mine!"

"After all, since you, Uchiha Fugaku, intend to integrate into Konoha, you have to 'show your loyalty' somehow, don't you? Hehe."

Realizing he could no longer afford to act recklessly just because he had a Revival Coin, Uchiha Jun looked down at the battlefield below.

As time slowly ticked by, even someone as formidable as the Third Raikage could not remain unscathed while besieged by three Kage-level powerhouses simultaneously!

The Lightning Release Armor covering his body had also dimmed visibly compared to before!

"Now is the time!"