It Worked

Inside one of Orochimaru's hideouts.

"Ah!"

A scream jolted Lin Chongshu awake from his sleep.

Lin Chongshu leaned closer. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lin Chongshu. I'm considered a medical ninja now, and half a researcher too, so I'm fairly accomplished when it comes to medicine."

Princess Toki shrank back slightly, but pain immediately shot through her body, freezing her in place.

She stared at Lin Chongshu's approaching face. Morning light shone from behind him, highlighting his straight nose and the lingering youthfulness between his brows. Yet the line of his jaw had already begun to harden.

An inappropriate thought suddenly surfaced in her mind: He actually seems kind of handsome.

She quickly shook the thought away and retreated another half inch, raising her voice. "Y-you're a bad person! You're not a good person!"

"Hm? Are you insulting me?" Lin Chongshu looked quite serious. "Hey, how can you curse someone like that? It isn't intimidating at all."

He braced one hand against the wall behind her. "You should say, 'Lin Chongshu, you bastard! Keep one eye open when you sleep from now on, or I'll definitely kill you.'"

"Say it."

Princess Toki opened her mouth, her lips moving several times.

Her large eyes glared at Lin Chongshu, but the words reached her lips and were swallowed back down. In the end, she only turned her face away without saying anything.

Perhaps she had been raised too well since childhood. Even with curse words at the tip of her tongue, she simply could not say them.

Lin Chongshu smiled and reached out to pinch her cheek.

People from the Land of Wind had more of a bullying mindset. He had once assassinated an old princess from the Land of Wind. The moment they met, that old princess mistook him for a guard and cursed him out, saying he had disturbed the princess's dignity. Not only did she demand that he kowtow a hundred times, she also wanted him executed.

Lin Chongshu replied that he only knew of one princess in the Land of Wind named Temari and had never heard of any other princess. The old princess immediately lost it and cursed even more viciously.

Lin Chongshu had no choice but to make her quiet with one slash.

"Get some rest. I'll have someone bring you lunch later." Lin Chongshu stood up and pulled his coat from the back of the chair, draping it over himself.

Just as he reached the door, Princess Toki suddenly shouted stubbornly, "I'm not eating your food!"

Lin Chongshu ignored her, and the door closed behind him.

The moment he stepped out, Karin hurried over. "It worked! It worked!"

"What worked?"

"The transplant succeeded! Someone can already become like Jugo!"

Lin Chongshu immediately sprinted toward the experimental area.

Several chunin were already stationed outside the iron cell, watching the door with tense expressions.

He walked to the entrance and glanced inside. The person within suddenly roared at him, spittle splattering across the iron bars.

[Detected that the target has developed intense negative emotions toward the host: rage, hostility. Reward extraction complete. Obtained: Natural Energy Sage Body +0.2]

Karin followed beside him, her tone excited. "This time, more than thirty succeeded. Most of them showed changes after around three days."

More than thirty, she said, but they had only survived the initial stage. It was still uncertain how many could endure the subsequent rejection reactions.

Before she finished speaking, the iron door slammed outward with a loud bang, a huge dent appearing in it as the hinges creaked.

Lin Chongshu took a step back. "Damn, where did we buy this cheap iron door?"

Karin was startled as well and instinctively hid half a step behind Lin Chongshu. "Should we call Jugo over?"

After thinking for a moment, Lin Chongshu opened the system panel and gave it a quick look.

[Name: Lin Chongshu]

[Strength: 22.6]

[Mental: 14.5]

[Agility: 17.3]

[Constitution: 34.2]

[Speed: 17.4]

[Chakra (Water, Fire, Wind, Earth): 32]

[Shukaku's Power: Sand Manipulation (Proficiency 39)]

[Kekkei Genkai: Magnet Release: Gold Dust (Proficiency 25)]

[Water Clone Technique/Water Dragon Bullet Technique/Mystical Palm Technique/Chakra Scalpel (Proficiency 15/Proficiency 27/Proficiency 31/Proficiency 35)]

[Sage Body: Uzumaki Lineage (19%)]

[Sage Body: Natural Energy (25.2%)]

Although he had not trained deliberately, the constant experiments lately had rapidly increased the proficiency of his Mystical Palm Technique and Chakra Scalpel.

The chakra reserves granted by the Uzumaki Lineage version of the Sage Body could now completely suppress his Sage Body: Natural Energy. He should still be able to absorb more.

He closed the panel, his gaze landing on another fresh dent in the iron door. "Go call your mother over. Wait at the entrance."

Karin stared at him. "I can do it too!"

Lin Chongshu glanced at her and nodded. "Fine. Everyone, fall back!"

The iron door continued to shake and bang.

Lin Chongshu's pupils contracted, and the hair at his forehead instantly turned white as he entered Sage Mode in an instant.

He kicked the iron door open with all his strength, sending several test subjects behind it flying along with the door.

He clenched one hand, and the sand clinging around his body surged into the cell.

The system notifications began ringing in rapid succession.

[Detected that the target has developed intense negative emotions toward the host: rage, hostility. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Natural Energy Sage Body +0.2]

[Obtained: Natural Energy Sage Body +0.1]

[Obtained: Natural Energy Sage Body +0.1]

One test subject broke through the sand and lunged at him, bringing down a fist.

Lin Chongshu steadily caught the fist, which was larger than his head. Green light flickered in his palm as his five fingers suddenly tightened, crushing the man's fist outright.

The test subject screamed and staggered backward, only for the sand to wrap around his legs and drag him to the ground.

They were nowhere near Jugo's level.

Lin Chongshu used the sand to restrain the test subjects who kept lunging at him while knocking them down one by one.

Then, he suddenly felt the natural energy inside his body rapidly rise.

The system notifications gradually stopped, but his body was clearly absorbing natural energy several times faster than usual.

He opened the panel and took a quick look.

[Sage Body: Natural Energy (31.7%)]

Why was it rising so quickly?

His heart skipped a beat as he suddenly remembered that Jugo's Sage Body seemed capable of actively absorbing natural energy from others. In Boruto, someone had deliberately provoked Jugo, only to have Jugo drain all the natural energy from their body.

His Sage Body had replicated all of Jugo's traits. This should have been a new ability unlocked as his compatibility increased.

But the problem was that he still did not know how to use this ability properly. Its absorption rate far exceeded the speed at which his chakra could balance it. Every time he dealt with a test subject, he passively drained their power to strengthen himself.

"Karin..." His voice came from the depths of the cell, no longer sounding normal. It was more like a low growl forced from the depths of a beast's throat.

When Karin rushed into the cell, Lin Chongshu had already changed. Grayish-brown skin covered half his face, his pupils had become pure beastlike slits, and thick bony protrusions bulged from his arms.

He gripped the final test subject's neck in one hand. The test subject's body was visibly shriveling before their eyes.

Lin Chongshu released him. The test subject collapsed limply to the ground. He raised his head to look at Karin, his amber eyes glinting with ferocity.

Karin did not retreat. She walked over, rolled up her sleeve, and revealed her snow-white forearm.

That arm was spotless, with no marks from anyone biting it yet.

She held her wrist to Lin Chongshu's mouth, her fingers trembling slightly.

Lin Chongshu lowered his head, his teeth piercing the inside of her wrist.

Warm chakra poured into his body like floodwaters through an opened dam. The Uzumaki Clan's power spread through his veins and into every limb and bone.

The immense chakra reserves collided with the surging natural energy within him, blending and balancing. The grayish-brown skin began to fade back to its normal color, while the bony protrusions on his arms slowly receded into his flesh.

At that moment, Karin suddenly let out a strange cry. Her loose red hair covered half her face as she panted heavily and collapsed to the floor.

Yet she did not show any sign of discomfort. She even smiled.

After returning to normal, Lin Chongshu cursed inwardly: What kind of messed-up constitution is this?