Sage Body! Wood Style!

Konoha.

Senju was completely dumbfounded.

He had once searched through old records at the orphanage and made discreet inquiries.

All the evidence indicated that Chiba's parents in this life had merely been bottom-tier civilian ninjas of Konoha, killed during a B-rank escort mission.

But the system could not possibly be wrong.

Chiba forcibly steadied his racing heart as thoughts sped through his mind.

There was only one truth.

In his previous life, Senju Clan blood had indeed flowed through his veins, though it had been diluted to the point of being nearly nonexistent.

The system's bloodline purification had not created anything from nothing.

It had amplified the faint Senju Bloodline within him to its absolute limit and reverted it to its ancestral state!

And that was precisely why.

Chiba had awakened the Senju of the Forest's bloodline limit.

Wood Style!

Primary Sage Body!

What did those two things together signify?

They represented the invincible power that had ended the Warring States Period and founded Konoha.

With this power, Hashirama Senju had forcibly caught those wild and unruly Tailed Beasts like pets.

And now.

That terrifying power had actually appeared within him.

However.

His excitement lasted only a dozen or so seconds.

Chiba quickly calmed down.

Because he understood his current situation very clearly.

The present-day Konoha was no longer the village it had been under the First Hokage and Second Hokage.

Year 52 of Konoha.

After being ravaged by three Shinobi World Wars and devastated by the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

The village's top-tier combat strength had almost entirely vanished.

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife had died in battle.

Orochimaru of the Sannin had become an S-rank rogue ninja after his human experiments were exposed.

Jiraiya had spent years wandering outside the village, tracking down Orochimaru and Akatsuki.

Tsunade, burdened by hemophobia and overwhelming grief, had completely left this place of sorrow.

The one sitting in the Hokage's office now was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, who had regained power.

And lurking beneath the darkness was Shimura Danzō, coveting everything like a venomous snake.

Those two old men craved power to a pathological degree.

If they learned that a wild Wood Style user had appeared in the village.

What would happen to him?

Chiba could almost instantly guess the outcome.

Either Sarutobi Hiruzen would brainwash him with the so-called Will of Fire.

Or Danzo would drag him into Root's underground laboratory and brand him with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

After all.

Even Yamato's half-finished Wood Style had been hidden away like a treasure.

And Chiba possessed the legitimate Senju Bloodline and had even awakened a Sage Body.

If that were exposed, it would definitely trigger a frenzied scramble among the Konoha High Command.

Chiba did not even dare imagine the days of being treated as material for dissection or an experimental subject.

Then.

Chiba lowered his gaze.

[Overall Evaluation: An unqualified Elite Jonin!]

The system's evaluation was like a poisoned barb.

Yet.

Chiba had no way to refute it.

Even though his chakra had already reached Early Kage Level.

Even though his muscles and bones had been transformed by the Sage Body to the level of an Elite Jonin.

Chiba was still, through and through, a weakling.

Why?

Because he had mastered too few ninjutsu.

Other than the Three Body Technique taught at the Ninja Academy.

Chiba only knew three low-level elemental ninjutsu.

The C-rank Water Wave, the C-rank Earth Dragon Concealment, and the B-rank Earth Wall.

It was like placing a fully loaded heavy machine gun into the hands of a three-year-old child.

He possessed firepower capable of destroying the world, yet could not even find the safety catch.

Any Special Jonin with abundant combat experience.

Could use a single advanced genjutsu or a chain of close-range taijutsu attacks.

And Chiba would be left scrambling, perhaps even having his neck snapped by the opponent.

If he wanted to survive...

If he wanted to protect himself in the great wars to come...

Chiba had to do everything he could to frantically raise his strength!

But.

Where was the path forward?

Konoha had long since rotted to the core.

For a civilian ninja to gain access to advanced ninjutsu or forbidden techniques was harder than ascending to heaven.

The first path.

Relying on master-disciple inheritance passed down through generations.

Like Kakashi and Minato Namikaze, having powerful teachers impart everything they knew.

But Chiba's instructor had only been an ordinary Chunin.

That man had long been blown to pieces by Iwagakure ninjas on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War.

That path was blocked.

The second path.

Winning the favor of the higher-ups and thereby obtaining new ninjutsu.

But that was an even more hopeless dead end.

In Konoha's records, Chiba was merely a civilian Chunin who had survived by luck.

If he suddenly went to the training grounds tomorrow and formed a shockingly powerful ninjutsu.

Not only would he receive no appreciation, he would instead attract the Anbu's attention.

What followed would be endless questioning and investigation.

Chiba irritably rubbed his brow.

Since the Konoha High Command could not be trusted, who else could he rely on?

Who held the Senju Clan's true foundation and ninjutsu inheritance?

Suddenly.

A name flashed through his mind like lightning.

Tsunade!

One of the Sannin, and the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage.

The Senju Clan's only remaining heir in the open.

In the present Ninja World, she was the only person qualified and capable of protecting the Senju Bloodline.

Although she now suffered from severe hemophobia and spent her days drowning her sorrows in gambling and alcohol.

That fiercely protective nature of hers had definitely not changed.

As long as Chiba could stand before her.

As long as Chiba could prove to her that Senju Clan blood flowed through his veins and that he had awakened Wood Style.

Tsunade would never stand idly by.

She would certainly protect Chiba with everything she had, perhaps even teach him all the lost secret techniques of the Senju Clan.

Once he understood this.

The corners of Chiba's lips lifted slightly, revealing a faint smile.

However.

The smile on his face quickly froze.

Because a new problem had arisen.

How was he supposed to leave Konoha?

Konoha's Barrier Squad operated around the clock.

Any unregistered chakra forcibly leaving the village would immediately trigger an alarm.

Without written authorization issued by the higher-ups.

Any ninja who left the village without permission would be directly branded a rogue ninja.

Chiba did not even have a proper offensive ninjutsu, much less the ability to evade Anbu pursuit.

He had to take the proper route.

Accept a mission.

Accept a mission that would take him out of Konoha, then use that chance to travel to areas Tsunade frequently visited.

Chiba immediately began planning his next course of action in his mind.

[Ding!]

[The host still has one sign-in opportunity this year.]

[Would you like to sign in immediately?]

Just then.

The cold, mechanical electronic voice rang out in Chiba's mind once more.

Chiba froze for a moment.

The beginner's gift package and annual sign-ins were counted separately?

This system really was adorably rigid!

"Sign in immediately!"

Chiba issued the command in his heart.

This was a cheat capable of directly changing his fate. Even if it gave him a kunai, he would accept it.

[Sign-in successful!]

[Congratulations, host. You have received: God-Level Comprehension!]

The next instant.

As the system's voice fell silent.

A cool current beyond description surged directly up Chiba's spine and into his brain.

There was no pain.

Nor was there the tearing sensation from the earlier bloodline purification.

There was only an unprecedented clarity.

It was like an old gear-driven machine that had rusted for decades being replaced with a top-of-the-line quantum computer.

The world before Chiba's eyes immediately changed.

Several of the ninjutsu he had mastered also flashed through his mind.

When he had used ninjutsu before.

He could only rigidly follow the seals recorded on the scrolls, mobilizing chakra step by step.

Hand seals, refinement, release.

It was rote imitation, with no room for adaptation.

But now.

Under the enhancement of God-Level Comprehension.

Those few ninjutsu were broken down into countless minute energy modules.