Lin Chongshu opened his stats panel for a look.
[Name: Lin Chongshu] [Strength: 6] [Spirit: 6.8] [Agility: 5.6] [Physique: 15↓] [Speed: 5.5] [Chakra (Water): 18↓] [Shukaku's Power: Sand Manipulation (Proficiency 25)] [Bloodline Limit: Magnet Release—Gold Dust (Proficiency 13)] [Water Release: Water Clone Technique (Proficiency 5↓)] [Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique (Proficiency 4↓)] [Medical Ninjutsu: Chakra Scalpel (Proficiency 4↓)] [Six Paths Sage Body: Uzumaki Clan Member Defective Version (1%)]
Biting that mouthful just now had temporarily maxed out his physique, chakra, and even his jutsus. Now that foreign chakra was receding, and the numbers on the panel were dropping along with it.
Taking advantage of the fact that his stats hadn't fully receded yet, Lin Chongshu formed three hand seals toward a water cup in the room.
Water Release: Water Clone Technique!
The water in the cup trembled, its surface rising to barely form a humanoid outline. But before its facial features could form, it shattered with a splash, water spilling all over the table.
Lin Chongshu checked his panel again; the stats for his chakra, physique, and jutsus had all dropped back down, and the downward-pointing arrows had disappeared as well.
How amazing! Isn't this just a temporary cheat!
He glanced at Karin and her mother one last time, pushed open the door, and walked outside.
The Chunin waited outside. "How's your recovery? Worth it?"
"Worth it." Lin Chongshu rolled his shoulders and smiled.
The Chunin glanced back into the room. "Pity her body's already ruined. Too many casualties in the Third Shinobi World War, her depletion was too great, and her daughter's still too young. Let's hope she can make it through these Chunin Ninja Exams."
"Then when we go hunt the freak, are we still taking her along?"
"Of course. Better her dying than us dying, hahahaha."
Lin Chongshu let out a couple of matching laughs and didn't pick up the thread.
With a chuckle, the Chunin simply walked off; he still needed to arrange accommodations and mission squads for the other examinees.
Lin Chongshu found a mud-brick house on the edge of the village temporarily assigned to the examinees, tossed his ninja tool pouch onto the wooden bed frame, and lay down.
There were still a few days left before the departure to hunt the freak, and he didn't idle around.
By day, he hid in the room flipping through scrolls, and at night, when no one was paying attention, he slipped out to the small pool behind the village to practice.
A B-rank Water Release jutsu like the Water Dragon Bullet Technique—which required forty-four hand seals—was something he wouldn't even have considered before, but after biting Karin's mother, he figured it out.
Hand seals, to put it bluntly, were just catalysts for chakra.
When your chakra volume was insufficient, you relied on hand seals to guide and condense it; when your chakra volume was massive enough, you just clapped your hands together and whatever you shouted would appear.
As long as you knew the basics of a move, once your chakra volume went up, you could always pull off the jutsu—it was simply a matter of speed.
It was just like during the Fourth Shinobi World War when that bunch of Hidden Leaf Village ninjas collectively used Earth-Style Wall; most of them didn't use Earth Release normally, but learning it on the spot and slamming the ground, they managed to throw up a wall too.
His current approach was all about greed, spreading out his skill pool and waiting for the system to play dirty and turn him into an expert.
Two days later, news of the freak's reappearance reached the village. A villager who fled back from the border reported that the thing had attacked a merchant caravan once again.
Upon receiving the news, the Chunin immediately summoned everyone and set off ahead of schedule.
The squad assembled at the village entrance. Aside from the team-leading Chunin and Lin Chongshu, there were seven Genin, plus Karin's mother, making a group of ten.
They headed northwest along the mountain trail. The closer they got to the Land of Earth, the more desolate it became, with nothing along the way but rocks and withered grass.
The Chunin walked at the very front, holding a hand-drawn map marked with the locations of the freak's recent appearances.
Those markers were scattered widely, stretching all the way from the border of the Land of Grass to the mountainous region of the Land of Earth.
The Chunin told everyone that every time this freak went berserk, it would sprint aimlessly and only hide once it got tired, so its active range was much larger than an ordinary beast.
The last attack had taken place in a mountain village on the Land of Earth side, so this time their target was somewhere around there.
Lin Chongshu walked near the back of the line, noticing that Karin's mother was walking in the middle. Her pace wasn't fast, but she was already gradually managing to keep up with everyone.
The Uzumaki clan's recovery power truly was exaggerated; with no one biting her for a few days, her body had begun repairing itself.
All those dense bloody bite marks on her arms had also vanished, leaving only tooth-shaped scars.
It filled Lin Chongshu with pure envy.
After marching for a day and a night, the group finally reached the location of Jugo's previous appearance.
The Chunin picked a wind-sheltered mountain crag. He took charge of setting traps, then ordered the Genin to scatter and search for the freak; if they found it, they were to lure it back here and launch a joint assault.
As soon as he scattered, Lin Chongshu used his Eye of Sand to find a safe rock crevice and hid inside. He definitely had no desire to run into Jugo alone; his current stats on the panel were not enough to take a single slap from Jugo.
The others were much the same. Calling it searching for Jugo was more like playing hide-and-seek with him—the moment they dispersed, each of them found a spot to hunker down, terrified of being found by Jugo first.
As night fell, everyone returned to the camp one after another. No one had found Jugo, but no one was injured either.
The Chunin probably guessed that this bunch of Genin had been slacking off the whole time they were out, but he didn't say anything.
No fires were lit that night, and they each ate their dry rations.
Lin Chongshu chewed on a flatbread accompanied by strips of dried meat, noticing that Karin's mother was sitting in a corner. She held a piece of flatbread, but broke off only a tiny bit to put in her mouth, wrapping the rest tightly and shoving it back into her tunic as she took sips of water from her canteen bit by bit.
She was saving all the food for Karin. The Chunin and the other Genin saw it, but not a single person spoke up; with the war having just ended, nobody had any wealth to spare.
Lin Chongshu walked over and handed a piece of flatbread out in front of her.
Karin's mother looked at him with some surprise. It was this person again; he was the one who had slipped her extra military ration pills last time.
She hesitated for a moment, took the bread, and her lips moved—she probably wanted to say thank you, but only a very faint breathy sound came out.
Lin Chongshu looked at her. Her red hair was tucked behind her ears, her chest stretched her hemp tunic taut, and her full-figured body had regained its rosy complexion now that she hadn't been bitten for the past few days.
A thought suddenly popped into his head: There really is such a high-efficiency conversion mechanism in this world. Truly, every mouthful of grass can turn into milk.
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