Kindred

A chunin blocked one of Jugo's attacks from a distance, but his left arm was swept by bone spikes, sending him staggering back several steps.

He turned and saw Lin Chongshu holding onto Karin's mother. Thinking Lin Chongshu was afraid of death and wanted to monopolize the medical resource, he immediately cursed,

"Idiot! If you keep her all to yourself, and you're the only one left, do you think you can defeat that monster?"

He had also underestimated the monster's strength. When he took the mission, he had thought it was an ordinary wild beast, or perhaps a hermit savage driven into hiding by the war—at most a B-rank mission.

But now, it was clear that this thing had completely surpassed the scope of a B-rank mission. To drive it away or kill it, they would need at least a jonin.

"Fire Release: Garuda!" Three streams of flame shot from his mouth, forcing Jugo back a step for the moment.

Seeing that Lin Chongshu still did not move, he turned and roared at Karin's mother instead:

"Don't you want your daughter to live? If you betray Kusagakure, your daughter will definitely die. And even if you escape Kusagakure, you'll only be killed like the other Whirlpool Hidden Village clansmen!"

Of the seven genin, two were lying on the ground, dead or alive unknown. The other five lay prone on the ground, all staring at Lin Chongshu.

[Detected strong negative emotions toward the host from the target: resentment, hatred, displaced anger. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

[Obtained: Speed +1]

[Obtained: Earth-Attribute Chakra]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

The system prompts rang continuously in Lin Chongshu's ears. Waves of new strength surged through his body, and he let out a pleased breath. That sound was simply wonderful.

Jugo saw the group on the other side start arguing among themselves and let out a strange laugh.

[Detected strong negative emotions toward the host from Jugo: fury, bloodlust. Reward extraction complete. Obtained: Natural Energy Sage Body +1.]

Hearing the system prompt in his ear, Lin Chongshu knew Jugo had noticed him again.

At that moment, Karin's mother's lips trembled, and conflict flashed in her eyes.

Even if she did not think for herself, she had to think for her daughter.

Even if she had had enough of this life, she could not run. If she did, it would be her daughter's turn.

Lin Chongshu released her arm as well, his voice calm. "If you've spent your whole life as livestock, and you still want your daughter to spend her whole life as livestock too, drained to death like you, then go save them."

Karin's mother began to hesitate again, but when she looked at Lin Chongshu, she could not help gasping and taking half a step back.

The flesh on Lin Chongshu's face was actually peeling away layer by layer like fine sand, revealing grayish-brown skin identical to Jugo's beneath it.

One of his pupils had also turned into a beastlike vertical slit.

The prompt notifying him of Jugo's hostility suddenly stopped.

Jugo tilted his head. For the first time, the wild grin on his face was replaced by confusion. One of my kind?

Then the system sounded again.

[Detected strong negative emotions toward the host from the target: fear, shock. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Fire-Attribute Chakra]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

The anger on the genin's faces, and even the chunin's, vanished, replaced by pure terror.

As Lin Chongshu released his emotions, the desire to kill in his chest kept surging upward.

Ordinary people needed to sit in meditation and focus their minds to refine natural energy. But the physique he had obtained from Jugo did not require him to actively absorb it at all. The natural energy around him automatically flowed into his body.

But automatic absorption had its drawbacks too.

Chakra was the balance of physical and spiritual energy, while natural energy was a power that existed between heaven and earth, inherently incompatible with the human body.

When natural energy entered the body without being balanced by chakra, it directly assaulted the brain.

The urges to kill, tear apart, and crush were the result of natural energy directly battering his mind.

Fortunately, the amount of chakra in his body was steadily rising, gradually pulling his sanity back.

But it was not enough.

He swept his gaze across the remaining genin. He needed to add more fuel to the fire if he wanted the system to squeeze out more rewards.

He stepped forward. The grains of sand on his body fell away in rustling streams, fully revealing the half-human, half-monster body beneath and a head of white hair.

"My younger brother and I are shinobi from the Land of Wind. Because of the conflict with the Land of Grass, we lost every member of our family."

"We sold our bodies to demons and returned to this world in the form of Demon Asuras, all so we could slaughter every person from the Land of Grass."

"My brother and I swore to the Demon Asuras! We will tear the tendons from every person in the Land of Grass and rip out their bones, bite your bodies to pieces, shred your souls, and offer you to the Demon Asuras, so that you may never find rebirth!"

[Detected strong negative emotions toward the host from the target: extreme fear, despair, collapse. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

...

[Obtained: Six Paths Sage Body: Incomplete Uzumaki Version +1]

Lin Chongshu turned and glanced at Karin's mother.

Frightened, Karin's mother took a step back and accidentally fell to the ground.

[Detected strong negative emotions toward the host from Karin's mother: fear, terror. Reward extraction complete. Obtained: Six Paths Sage Body: Incomplete Uzumaki Version +1]

The corner of Lin Chongshu's mouth curled up. The effect was outstanding! Even you were scared.

Jugo stood not far away, looking utterly bewildered. What are you talking about? Who's your younger brother?

Ignoring the pain in his severed arm, the chunin shouted anxiously, "Are you people insane? What does the war between the Land of Wind and the Land of Grass have to do with us? ...Go find the people who took part in that war..."

The genin sprawled on the ground also began begging for mercy. "Yeah! It has nothing to do with us... We never took part in any war... Please, let us go..."

[Detected strong negative emotions toward the host from the target: fear, humility, pleading. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

[Obtained: Chakra +1]

...

Lin Chongshu stood where he was as the chakra within his body continued to rise.

The patch of grayish-brown skin on his arm was slowly fading back to its normal color.

The most perfect state of Sage Mode was when the main body retained its human form, with only minor outward abnormalities caused by natural energy.

Although Lin Chongshu's appearance was gradually returning to normal, the mad killing intent in his chest still lingered, not yet fully dispersed.

The chunin no longer wanted to fight. Now, he only wanted to run, no matter the cost.

With one hand, he threw out several final blades of wind, then turned and fled.

But the moment he turned around, Jugo's arm cannon pierced through his back.

He looked down at the hole punched through his chest and staggered a step. Before he could fall, the sand and gravel on the ground suddenly surged up and wrapped around his entire body.