Shadow Level, System Upgrade

Ever since he had wiped out the first bounty exchange, half a year had passed. Kushina would give birth in two months at most.

During that time, Chentian had destroyed a total of twenty-three bounty exchanges and killed more than three hundred people!

Most of them had been chunin, while the rest were jonin. There had barely been any genin.

And that had only been the result of three months. Afterward, no matter which bounty exchange Chentian went to, it was empty, without a single person inside.

Judging by the thin layer of dust, nearly everyone from the bounty exchanges had clearly evacuated.

He searched for a full month without encountering another person from a bounty exchange.

Left with no choice, he left the Land of Fire and came to the Land of Earth to gather information.

At first, he could still find a few ninja and samurai affiliated with the bounty exchanges, but before long, they vanished as well.

During this time, Chentian discovered that there were actually many bloodline-limit ninja within the bounty exchanges. Their physiques were extraordinary.

But after they died at Chentian's hands, those bloodlines became his.

What delighted him most was that his Senju physique had actually produced Wood Release—the same Wood Release as the First Hokage's, not that trash Yamato had.

After wandering the Land of Earth for another two months and finding nothing, Chentian decided to return to Konoha.

Though Konoha had many powerful people thanks to his efforts, Chentian still could not put his mind at ease, so he planned to return to Konoha first.

"Hmm, it's on the way anyway. I'll pass through the Land of Rain. Maybe I'll run into Konan and Nagato."

After lowering his head in thought and confirming that Kushina still had two months before giving birth, Chentian headed toward the Land of Rain.

Hanzo the Salamander, the demigod, had died at Nagato's hands years ago, so Nagato controlled the Land of Rain now.

Chentian had a clear understanding of Nagato's strength, so he only planned to take a look from afar before leaving.

The reason he had such a plan was because his strength had increased considerably, giving him some confidence.

Although none of the cards he had picked up over the past six months were high-grade goods like gold or red cards, there had simply been too many of them.

They had forcefully pushed his strength to a new level, though there was still one thing he needed to do.

[Host: Chentian]

[Talent: Space Talent LV3.]

[Taijutsu: Konoha Whirlwind LV8.] (Max level omitted)

[Ninjutsu: Personal Space LV1, Fireball Jutsu LV8, Earth-Style Wall Jutsu LV7, Earth Dragon Bullet Jutsu LV9, Lightning Blade LV7, Water Wall Jutsu LV7, Water Dragon Bullet LV9, Body Flicker Jutsu LV9, Tailed Beast Bomb LV4, Earth-Style City Wall LV6, Lightning Release: Ground Travel LV8, Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Jutsu LV6, Earth-Style Tremor Jutsu LV9, Majestic Destroyer Flame LV6, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu LV7, Elemental Combustion Jutsu LV4, Light-Weight Rock Jutsu LV8...](Max level omitted)

[Swordsmanship: Secret Technique—Draw Slash LV8, Secret Technique—Swallow Reversal LV5...]

[Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Jutsu, Healing Jutsu, Delicate Illness Extraction Jutsu...]

[Sealing Jutsu: Omitted.]

[Physiques: Senju Physique, Uchiha Physique, Kaguya Physique, Yuki Physique, Hyuga Physique...]

[Physical Attributes: Jonin!](Able to rival a jonin even without chakra)

[Overall Combat Power: Initial Shadow Level!]

Note: The host has reached Shadow Level. The system can be upgraded. After upgrading, similar ninjutsu will be merged. Upgrade? [Yes/No?]

This line had only appeared after Chentian reached Shadow Level, and it had made him happy for quite a while.

After constantly picking up cards, Chentian estimated that even the Sage of Six Paths did not know as many ninjutsu as he did.

But the vast majority were ninjutsu and bloodlines he had no use for. They felt tasteless to keep yet regrettable to discard.

Every time he opened the system panel, it was a densely packed mess that made his eyes blur. At last, he could finally get rid of this annoyance.

"Merge!"

Without the slightest hesitation, and even with a hint of excitement, Chentian immediately selected it.

"System upgrading..."

"Skills merging..."

"Physiques merging..."

A full half hour passed. As Chentian flew through the air, he suddenly discovered that he had lost control of his body and fell from the sky.

Fortunately, he was only three meters above the ground. With his jonin-level physique, he easily endured the fall.

But his body still could not move. He could only lie stiffly on the ground, unable to move anything except his eyes.

"Damn it, the last upgrade didn't have this problem. Couldn't you have given me a warning?!"

He cursed wildly in his heart, but the system gave no response. Knowing that cursing would not solve anything, his mind began racing.

He was already very close to the Land of Rain. One kilometer ahead, he could see the rain created by Nagato's sensory ninjutsu—Rain Tiger at Will Technique.

Ordinary wild beasts were no concern. The killing intent around him was enough to frighten them away. What he feared was a ninja from the Land of Rain suddenly appearing.

Hanzo might not have dared to touch him while he was alive, but that madman Nagato definitely would. If that happened, he would be dead for sure.

But while Chentian's thoughts raced, he failed to notice that his hair had slowly begun to change color.

His originally short black hair turned purple from the roots, stopping only when the color reached the tips.

Then came the changes to his body. At seven years old, his height of 1.24 meters had been fairly normal, but within half an hour, he grew to 1.4 meters before stopping.

He was now as tall as Kakashi had been half a year ago.

Beyond that, his body gradually became perfect. If he lifted his clothes, he would reveal eight flawless abdominal muscles, his figure possessing perfect golden proportions.

His already incomparably adorable face was not left out either. Though the changes were not drastic, it went from cute to handsome.

It was not the effeminate sort of handsomeness, but one filled with masculine charm that made people reluctant to look away.

Once all those changes were complete, a strange energy continuously flowed into Chentian's body, strengthening him at the cellular level.

If Jiraiya had been here, he would have been too shocked to speak, because that energy was none other than natural energy.

In a fantasy world, it would have been known as spiritual energy.

It took two full days of absorption before the changes finally stopped, yet Chentian still could not move.

At this point, no one besides those close to him would be able to recognize Chentian.

Unfortunately, he knew none of this. He was like a severely paralyzed patient; even if his body were sliced apart, he would not feel a thing.

After two days passed without incident, Chentian finally relaxed.

But heaven did not grant people their wishes. Whenever something was the last thing you wanted to happen, it would happen anyway.

Sure enough, a woman wearing a black cloak patterned with red clouds flew over Chentian's head, with two beautiful wings of paper behind her.

The instant he saw her, though he knew it was useless, he instinctively held his breath.

But the worst still happened. The woman who had already flown past suddenly turned back. It looked like she was headed straight for him!

"No, Konan, don't come over! Whatever you do, don't come over!"

Chentian knew this person—the beauty of the Akatsuki trio, Konan.

Other than Kaguya, she was the most ruthless woman in the Naruto world. Those sixty billion explosive tags put Chentian to shame.

Most importantly, she was a genuine Shadow-level powerhouse. If the immobile Chentian fell into her hands, the consequences were obvious.

Yet no matter how he prayed, Konan still landed beside him.

Why does that serious, focused expression look kind of cute?

Pah, pah, pah! What am I thinking? I should be figuring out how to save my life!

After viciously berating himself, Chentian began thinking at top speed.

He thought his expression was quite animated, but due to the system upgrade, his face did not change at all in Konan's eyes.

Looking at the child lying on the ground, then at his clothes that had been torn apart by various small animals over the past two days, his messy hair after two days of wind and sun, his filthy face, and his skin-and-bones body—

Combined with how close this place was to the Land of Rain, Konan immediately pieced together a story of Chentian's origins in her mind.