Dual Sage Body

After night fell, the Senju ancestral estate grew quiet.

Tsunade returned to her room on the west side of the main courtyard. More than half of the sake bottle had been emptied and left on the windowsill. Shizune led Anko to the guest quarters in the eastern wing. The room had been cleaned, though it contained little furniture. Anko fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the couch; with the curse mark suppressed, her body desperately needed deep rest.

Chiba entered the cultivation chamber at the center of the main courtyard and shut the door behind him.

He sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, formed a standard Concentration Seal with his hands, and sank his consciousness into his body.

The chakra pool in his dantian had undergone a noticeable change over the past six hours. Within the originally pure emerald-green Wood Release chakra pool, there was now a mass of dark-green foreign energy. It made up roughly one-fifteenth of the total volume and was being wrapped up and fused layer by layer by Wood Release's life force.

Ryūchi Cave snake sage energy.

It was the original crystallization of sage power that Orochimaru had sealed into Anko's Heavenly Curse Mark twenty years ago, now absorbed as nourishment by the prototype of Chiba's Perfect Sage Body.

Chiba guided that mass of dark-green energy through his meridians once, feeling out the extent of its fusion with his Wood Release chakra.

Seventy percent of the phase transition had already been completed.

It had transformed from an independent mass of snake sage energy into dual-aspect chakra integrated with Wood Release. Its flow rate was noticeably faster than pure Wood Release, and his sensory range had expanded accordingly.

A golden panel automatically appeared in the depths of his mind.

[Dual Sage Body, Stage Two fusion progress: 72%. Newly available abilities are as follows.]

[1. Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hands (Mastery). Its release form is no longer limited to summoning physical snakes. Wood Release vines can be fired at high speed in serpent form, possessing both binding power and the ability to release sage poison mist. Maximum attack range: twenty meters.]

[2. Twin Snakes' Mutual Slaughter Technique (Beginner). Requires releasing two serpent-like vines simultaneously with both hands to execute a pincer attack from both sides. Upon hitting the target, sage chakra can be injected into the target's meridians from two directions at once, causing double meridian overload.]

[3. Sage Art: Wood Snake Barrage (Newly Created). A ninjutsu exclusive to the Dual Sage Body. When released after fully fusing Wood Release and snake sage energy, it creates freely bending vine projectiles covered in serpent scales. Their toughness reaches steel grade, and their tips can release sage poison mist.]

[4. Passive enhancement. Natural energy sensing range has expanded from three hundred meters to five hundred meters. Meridian tolerance has increased, and total chakra capacity has risen by approximately thirty percent. The Dual Sage Body grants the host natural immunity to snake-based toxins.]

Chiba read through the panel information. After withdrawing his consciousness, he opened his eyes.

He raised his right hand, palm facing down, and spread his fingers.

With a thought, a vine sprouted from the tip of his index finger and another from his middle finger.

They were not ordinary Wood Release vines, but serpent-shaped forms covered in dense, dark-green scales. Each was as thick as two fingers and extended about thirty centimeters from his fingertips. Their ends were shaped like flat snake heads, and faint green light glimmered from two wooden eye sockets.

Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hands.

Chiba fed his will into them, and the two serpent vines moved at once. One coiled left while the other curved right, their movements as smooth as those of real snakes. The scales around their joints produced faint, fine scraping sounds as they bent.

He shifted his intent again, and the snake heads opened their "mouths." They were not real mouths, but slits that split open in the wooden structure. A stream of pale-green gas seeped out and spread through the air.

Sage poison mist.

It was not lethal poison, but a paralytic agent, carrying on the traits of the Ryūchi Cave snake sages. Targets enveloped in the mist would experience reduced chakra flow and sluggish muscle responses, with the duration depending on the dosage.

Chiba withdrew the poison mist, and the vines retracted into his fingertips and vanished.

He rose to his feet, walked into the open space at the center of the chamber, and spread both hands.

Wood Release chakra surged from all ten fingertips. This time, they were not serpent vines, but thick dark-green branches that spread from the backs of his hands to his forearms and then to his elbows. His entire arms became covered in a wooden shell with the texture of scaled armor.

The preparatory form of Sage Art: Wood Snake Barrage.

Chiba swung his right arm toward the chamber wall.

Five serpent-scale-covered vines shot from the tips of his five fingers at the same time. They were incredibly fast, crossing three meters in less than 0.3 seconds. The five vines nailed themselves precisely into five different spots on the opposite wooden wall, penetrating more than two centimeters deep.

Steel-grade toughness. No exaggeration.

Chiba recalled the vines and went over to inspect the five holes in the wall. The wood fibers around them had been compressed and warped, while faint green seepage marks lingered at the edges. Those were remnants of the sage poison mist.

In other words, even if a target blocked the vines' piercing attack, the poison mist seeping in through the point of contact could still produce a secondary effect.

Both offense and defense were covered.

Chiba retracted all the wooden shells on his arms into his body and brushed the debris from his hands.

The entire upgrade process had gone far more smoothly than he expected. After he bound Anko, the Beauty Record System's feedback mechanism had become clearer. Every time he helped Anko suppress her curse mark, it was like digging another shovelful from Ryūchi Cave's sage energy vein, advancing the fusion progress of his Dual Sage Body another step.

At the current pace, three or four more deep cleansing sessions for Anko would allow the Dual Sage Body to advance from its prototype into its complete form.

At that point, the Wood Release and snake sage systems would be fully connected. His total chakra reserves and sensory range would double once more, pushing his combat power straight toward the Kage-level threshold.

Chiba blew out the lamp in the cultivation chamber and stretched in the darkness.

He arranged the plan for the coming week in his mind. He would conduct Anko's second curse mark cleansing three days later, giving her meridians enough time to recover. The Senju Clan's defensive system also needed strengthening. Danzō had lost two scouts today, so they had to prepare in advance for whatever came next.

There was one more matter.

Chiba walked to the window and pushed open the wooden shutters. The night wind carried the fresh scent of wisteria from the courtyard inside.

Tsunade's affection had reached 72.

Only 8 points remained before the next key threshold of 80. At 80, he could unlock the second-stage replication of Tsunade's skill: Yin Strength of a Hundred.

As for Anko, her affection was at 42. Each curse mark suppression added 5 extra points, and with the natural accumulation from daily interactions, breaking through the threshold of 65 within two months to obtain the complete Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hands and deep compatibility with the snake sage body would not be difficult.

He could advance both lines at once. They did not conflict.

Chiba closed the window, lay back on the couch, and shut his eyes.

The last image that flashed through his mind before sleep was the sight of Tsunade and Anko sparring in the courtyard that evening.

Mm, healthy harem competition really was the most efficient catalyst for affection.