Wood Release Blossoms

Shinichi looked at the giant centipede tangled in vines and made a decision.

It was not a decision of "just tie it up"—it was a decision that he had to finish it off completely. Taking a detour was not impossible. Only an open stretch lay between him and the Slug fragment; if he went around the centipede from the side, the speed of Body Flicker: Gale Assault would be more than enough to get him to the Slug before it broke free of the vines. But then what? If the centipede broke free while he was speaking with the Slug, and the old bug lunged at him from behind, things would get ugly. The Slug's trial required intense focus; he could not spare part of his attention to watch his back. Bringing a ticking bomb that could wake up at any moment to meet the Slug was forcing the risk onto her—and he clearly remembered what she had said in the mental space: "This restraint moves me more than your Senju Clan bloodline." It would not be right to be praised for his restraint one moment, then bring trouble to her doorstep the next.

"Then I'll deal with it first," he said to himself.

The vines had already wrapped around several segments in the centipede's middle. Dozens of dark green tendrils, like a pack of snakes refusing to loosen their jaws, constricted the soft skin at the bases of its legs. The centipede was clearly unwilling to remain bound. Its rear half lashed about wildly, slamming against the rock walls with muffled booms. Several times, its tail club smashed into the ground not far from Shinichi, sending shards of stone flying. But whenever the vines broke, they regrew. The tightening cycle had already drained most of its strength, and every thrash grew weaker than the last. Several cracks in its shell, cut open earlier by Vacuum Blade, continued to bleed. Purple-black blood flowed over the mossy ground, staining the silvery surface with blotches like spilled ink.

He drew his last three shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and held them in his left hand while forming seals with his right. Wind-nature chakra flowed into the blades, compressing Vacuum Blade's cutting power at their tips. Body Flicker: Gale Assault—his target was the joint beneath the centipede's head, where its first body segment connected to its skull. The shell there was at its narrowest, with only a hair-thin gap between two hard plates. Inside lay unprotected soft tissue. He flung the first shuriken, wrapped in a wind blade, and it pierced precisely into that gap. The centipede jerked its head upward and let out a harsh hiss, opening its maw to reveal rows of inward-curving jaw teeth as it bit down at Shinichi. He sidestepped the attack, and the second shuriken followed, driving into the side of the same spot. The wind blade exploded within the soft tissue. The centipede's body convulsed violently, its hundred legs spasming and clawing wildly. The hooks on several legs tore through the cloth over Shinichi's left shoulder. He ignored the shallow scrape—it had already closed within seconds.

There was no need to throw the third shuriken. The centipede's head slowly tilted to one side, the glow in its compound eyes beginning to dim. One segment after another lost strength. Its tail gave one final lash before going limp and crashing onto the moss.

Shinichi waited several seconds to confirm that the centipede had stopped breathing, then bent down and placed his hand on its still-warm head shell. The system prompt arrived as expected—

Detecting a consumable target.
Category: Wild giant summoned beast.
Attribute: Earth.
Extractable: Vitality reserves, basic knowledge of summoning contracts, Shell Defense Enhancement experience.
Consume?

"Consume."

The system's cold synthetic voice produced another string of words:

Consumption complete.
Vitality reserves greatly increased.
Passive ability acquired: Shell Defense Enhancement (Beginner).
Basic knowledge of summoning contracts acquired.

The last four words surprised Shinichi slightly. He had only been after the centipede's vitality—such a massive summoned beast surely possessed chakra and vitality reserves several times greater than those of an ordinary jonin. After consuming it, the strength and duration of his Wood Release vines would rise by another level. He had not expected to receive basic knowledge of summoning contracts as well. Closing his eyes, he quickly sifted through the memories flooding in—the giant centipede had once killed a wandering ninja from the Land of Earth during a territorial dispute and obtained some information on summoning contracts from the man's contract scroll. It was not much, but it was enough. If he ever had a chance to sign a Slug contract in the future, this foundation would be quite useful.

He withdrew his hand and stood straight, then looked down at his body. Vitality surged through his meridians as though rows of warm lamps had been lit within him—the stamina he had exhausted from traveling and fighting continuously was fully restored in a short time, the soreness in his muscles vanished, and his breathing became deeper and steadier. His Senju Clan bloodline and Hashirama Cells showed no rejection toward this foreign vitality—bloodlines sharing Earth, Water, and Yang affinities would only stack more deeply. The endurance and resilience of his current body had now surpassed those of an ordinary chunin by several levels.

The giant centipede on the ground had gone completely still. Its hundred legs drooped over the moss, and after its vitality had been drained away, its shell had faded from dark purple to grayish white. Shinichi crouched down, pulled the two shuriken from the gaps between its segments, wiped the blood from them on the moss, and returned them to his ninja tool pouch. Then he walked to the center of the cavern and sat cross-legged before the archway formed by glowing tree roots. The Slug was still asleep, its antennae trembling faintly while the pale golden tissue around the old injury on its side pulsed slowly in the darkness. Reassured, he closed his eyes and began to wait.

He waited for nearly two hours.

The moment the Slug's chakra fluctuations shifted from sleep to wakefulness, the light throughout the cavern changed—a faint golden halo appeared within the pale blue glowing roots, spilling down from the ceiling above like a slow waterfall. Shinichi had replayed this scene in his mind for days, yet experiencing it in person still made some string within his heart tremble softly.

The Slug raised its head, its antennae bending toward him. It did not ask why there had been sounds of battle earlier, nor did it ask how the centipede outside had died. It merely spoke slowly in that exceptionally gentle female voice. "Have you decided?"

Shinichi nodded. "Regarding the trial, please enlighten me, senior."

The Slug looked at him. Its antennae dipped slightly, then rose again as it planted the rules of the trial into his consciousness—a test within a mental world, one that did not compare ninjutsu or taijutsu, but the quality of one's will. Shinichi closed his eyes.

When the trial ended, he opened his eyes. The Slug gently lowered its antennae and touched his forehead. An exceedingly fine stream of golden light flowed from the tips of its antennae into the space between his brows, passed through his meridians, and reached his dantian. There, within his bloodline repository, it settled into a grain-sized point of light and was stored obediently away.

He gave a deep bow and turned to leave. On the way out of the tree hollow, the giant centipede that had been drained of its vitality still lay quietly upon the moss, its shell grayish white. Pale blue flecks of light falling from the glowing roots reflected in the gaps of its shell, making it seem, in a daze, like an old contract forgotten for many years. It was still dark when Shinichi stepped out of the tree hollow, moonlight falling across his shoulders. The torn piece of sleeve where the centipede's hooks had scratched him fluttered softly in the night wind, while the skin beneath was flawless as new. He put away his kunai and headed toward Naruto Uzumaki.