The Slug Sage!

"Beep... Host has arrived at Shikkotsu Forest. Achievement completed: Check-in at Shikkotsu Forest. Reward: Nature Affinity Physique."

Suddenly, an electronic tone rang out in Liuxia's mind. This sound was both familiar and strange to him, as he hadn't heard a system notification in a long time. Over the past few years, Liuxia had completed several achievements, but the rewards granted by the system were mostly trivial things.

For instance, when Liuxia first ranked first in his grade, the system rewarded him with a few tens of millions; when he received his first confession from a girl, the system added some charm points, and so on. While these rewards seemed tempting, they had no practical use for increasing his strength.

Only during his two rank advancements did the system provide truly exceptional rewards. During his Genin stage, Liuxia gained a reward that accelerated his chakra recovery speed; and during his Chunin period, he even obtained the A-rank seal-less ninjutsu, Rasengan. It could be said that these two rewards were what truly made Liuxia realize the power of the system.

However, this check-in reward was simply fantastic! It granted Liuxia the Nature Affinity Physique directly, which meant he now had a solid foundation for practicing Sage Mode. Liuxia was secretly delighted, knowing this reward would have a massive impact on his future growth. With the Nature Affinity Physique, he would be able to communicate better with the elements in nature and absorb more natural energy, thereby enhancing his own strength. But since he had already arrived at Shikkotsu Forest, why hadn't his Wood Release awakened yet? Just as Liuxia intended to consult the omnipotent system, the magnetic voice of Big Sister Slug interrupted him.

"Little Liuxia, welcome to Shikkotsu Forest! Come, please follow me to pay your respects to the Great Slug Sage; she is already waiting for you there." Her voice was sweet and melodious, as if it could intoxicate anyone who heard it.

"Thank you, Big Sister Slug. Shikkotsu Forest is truly breathtaking! However, I don't seem to see many slugs around?"

"Oh my, what a sweet talker you are, Little Liuxia! This is merely the outer perimeter of Shikkotsu Forest. Although the scenery is pleasant, the natural energy here isn't much different from the outside world, so the slugs don't really like to come out this way!"

"I see, I understand. The system previously told me that my Wood Release could only awaken in a place where natural energy gathers," Liuxia muttered to himself.

Sure enough, as the Great Slug Sage led Liuxia closer to the core area, he clearly felt the natural energy gathering around them becoming increasingly dense, and at the same time, small, cute slugs began to appear in greater numbers.

"It seems the slugs in Shikkotsu Forest are all split from the Great Slug Sage herself. This old sage is truly interesting," Liuxia sighed inwardly.

After walking for a long time, they finally reached their destination. Liuxia felt the natural energy here was so dense that it began to be drawn in by his Nature Affinity Physique, starting to actively interact with the chakra within his body.

"Beep... Host has arrived at the convergence point of natural energy! Bloodline Limit Wood Release is accelerating its awakening!"

A massive amount of natural energy, seemingly drawn by the system, surged toward Liuxia's body like a tidal wave. Liuxia felt a strange energy surging within him, as if a long-dormant power was being awakened. Liuxia sat quietly in a lush forest, eyes closed, adjusting his breathing. His body began to tremble slightly, and a green light flickered across his skin. The surrounding trees seemed to sense the resonance of this power, their branches swaying gently as if cheering him on.

Liuxia's consciousness gradually immersed itself in this power; he felt as if he could hear the whispers of the trees and feel the breath of nature. As Liuxia continued to awaken, the sphere of energy grew larger and larger, eventually bursting and transforming into countless green lights that merged into his body. He opened his eyes, which flashed with confidence and determination; he had finally successfully awakened the power of Wood Release within him.

"Oh my, what happened to little Liuxia? Why did he suddenly trigger such a massive fluctuation in natural energy?"

"I do not know either. I have never seen natural energy behave like this before. This is my first time encountering it, but it seems he has gained some sort of benefit." A massive shadow loomed over the surroundings; it was the Great Slug Sage, who had sensed the disturbance in the natural energy outside.

At this moment, the young man kept his eyes closed, his body flickering with green light as if he had merged with nature itself. His breathing became steady and deep, as if he were absorbing the life force of his surroundings.

"Ever since little Hashirama, the Senju clan hasn't seen such a special individual in a long time. It seems little Tsunade has sent over a very miraculous young man!"

"Beep... Wood Release awakening complete! Beep, achievement 'Bloodline Limit' completed, first step successfully taken. Reward obtained: Passive Seal-less!" A mechanical voice rang in Liuxia's mind.

"Great Slug Sage, greetings! I am Liuxia! I am the new contractor of Shikkotsu Forest."

"Little Liuxia, you are a very interesting person. Would you like to try learning Sage Mode?"

"Great Slug Sage, what is Sage Mode? Is it a special type of ninjutsu?" Liuxia feigned ignorance, his face full of a desire to survive.

"You could say that. It is a ninjutsu performed by releasing Sage Chakra, which is created by balancing and fusing the natural energy omnipresent in nature with the chakra inside your body. You should have been able to feel the natural chakra all along—it's that energy from just a moment ago. How about it? Do you want to give it a try? The power is quite impressive, you know!"

"Uh, there wouldn't be any danger, would there?"

"For others, there is a bit—namely, turning into stone. It's not painful, though. Little Tsunade chickened out back then; she wasn't like little Hashirama at all, who started learning as soon as he heard about it. He was such a brave, good child!"

With you saying it like that, besides those idiots who are reincarnations of Asura, who would dare to learn it? That's turning into stone! It's not like turning bald! Liuxia's internal monologue was about to explode.

"My Lady, don't you have any preventive measures? Like, could you help absorb the natural energy for me?"

"That doesn't seem impossible, the way you put it. Why don't we give it a try?"

"How about... another day? I just remembered I have something to do. Sage, excuse me, I must take my leave!"

Seeing such an unreliable sage, Liuxia immediately, decisively, chose to bolt. Are you kidding me? Can this stuff be tested? Try it and you'll die!

"Don't be in such a rush to leave. I want to get to know you better, little Liuxia. It's been a long time since there was something this fun here. Don't worry, given your affinity for natural energy, you definitely won't turn into stone!"

The Great Slug Sage saw that she had finally waited for such an interesting contractor and couldn't let him run away. Little Tsunade truly lacked that potential, but this toy—no, this contractor—before her would surely be able to perfectly inherit the Sage Mode of her Shikkotsu Forest.

Liuxia was restrained by some mysterious method of the Great Slug Sage and could not move, forced to watch helplessly as the Great Slug Sage packed a mass of natural energy and shoved it into his body!