Hidden Abilities of the Bloodline

[ Ding! Exchange successful. Your Saiyan Bloodline has reached 20%. ]

As the mechanical voice fell silent, warmth boiled within his body, and even greater power rapidly grew amid that boiling sensation.

But what truly moved Naruto was that the Qi within him surged dramatically the moment his bloodline reached 20%, as though it had undergone a chemical reaction.

That growth rate was practically a leap in power. As Naruto felt the wild transformation, a golden glint flashed through his azure eyes before they returned to calm.

"My Qi is increasing more and more. Unfortunately, because this is the Naruto World, I can only extract it through my bloodline. Otherwise, I'd have even more Qi. After all, this is the Ninja World, not the Dragon Ball World."

Naruto muttered as he sensed the abundant Qi within him and began testing the various applications of Qi he had thought of earlier.

He raised his index finger, and in an instant, a Ki Blast condensed at his fingertip. The next second, however, the Ki Blast transformed into an Energy Barrier that enclosed Naruto within it.

"A very simple way to use it. There's also this."

Naruto rotated his right hand, and an energy rope condensed from Qi wrapped around the furniture. If he wished, he could easily crush the furniture to pieces.

Retracting the energy rope, Naruto lightly pointed his index finger at a potted flower on the windowsill. In an instant, a beam of light shot out and effortlessly shattered the flowerpot.

Naruto did not stop testing there. Instead, he condensed his Qi into the shape of a sword and lightly swung it, cleanly slicing a teacup in half.

Picking up half of the teacup, Naruto examined it before nodding in satisfaction.

This ability was called the Ki Sword, one of Vegeta's abilities in Dragon Ball.

Not only was it powerful, it was also incredibly cool. Naruto had been able to use it so easily because his Qi had finally reached the threshold required for the ability.

"This time, my Qi has increased substantially. I wonder if there are any other applications." Naruto carefully sensed the current state of his body.

"Huh?"

Something felt off inside him. Naruto discovered that his bloodline seemed to contain some sort of ability, but there was too little of the bloodline for him to use it yet.

"What kind of ability could it be? A bloodline ability... could it be..."

Naruto froze and hurriedly looked toward his backside. Only after confirming that he had no tail did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good thing I don't have a tail. But I'm still a little worried. What if my bloodline improves later, I can transform into a Great Ape, and a tail grows out? That'd be depressing."

Naruto felt a little headache coming on. The issue of a tail was something he had always disliked, but nobody could say for sure what his bloodline would become in the future.

"Forget it. Strength is what matters. I should raise my bloodline as soon as possible and see what percentage is needed to use that ability hidden within it."

After saying that, Naruto immersed himself in physical training. Of course, he did not forget to have his Shadow Clones study various abilities.

Although he had learned the thirty ninjutsu Hinata had given him before, there was still plenty of knowledge to learn. Naruto would not waste time; he squeezed as much use as possible out of his Shadow Clones.

And so, he slowly passed the time in training.

The next morning, the sun shone brightly, and birds chirped among fragrant flowers.

Sakura walked up to Naruto's door and raised her hand to knock. "Naruto, are you up? We've received a long-distance mission."

"A long-distance mission?"

Naruto's voice came from inside the room. Then the door opened, revealing Naruto.

"Huh? Naruto, you seem really energetic today."

Sakura looked Naruto over and found him increasingly pleasing to the eye. She could not figure out why, so she could only describe him as energetic.

"Tell me what kind of long-distance mission it is first."

Naruto glanced at the half-full Experience Orbs around Sakura, smiled, and turned back into the house to pack his things.

"It's an escort mission. An old man named Tazuna needs us to escort him."

As Sakura answered, she examined Naruto's house and found it very tidy, aside from a broken flowerpot.

"Tazuna?"

Naruto was slightly stunned upon hearing that name. He felt that the plot had really shifted somewhat, because the timing was very different.

"Yes, he says he's a bridge builder. He's dressed very plainly, and thankfully this mission isn't difficult. It's just an ordinary escort mission," Sakura said.

"An ordinary mission?"

Naruto paused. He knew the specifics of this mission. Not to mention the two ninja attackers they would encounter at the beginning, even Zabuza and Haku later on could easily kill Sakura.

Naruto considered whether he should use this mission to test the extent of his strength while earning Experience Points along the way.

After all, he had already absorbed nearly all the experience from the village's nameless extras. Meanwhile, the Experience Orbs around Sasuke and Sakura had recovered quite a bit. They would recover even more Experience Points after going through this plot.

By the end of this trip, his bloodline would definitely rise substantially. He might even activate that ability hidden within his bloodline.

"Naruto, you carved so many statues! This is Kakashi-sensei, this is Sasuke, this is Ino–Shika–Cho... Who's the one holding a fan? Huh, there's even a white-haired woman. Her hair is so long."

Sakura noticed the many wooden sculptures arranged in the corner of the room and began looking through them in surprise.

"Huh? There's even a statue of me. It's so pretty."

Sakura picked up her own statue to inspect it. To her surprise, the Sakura in the sculpture had short hair and a diamond-shaped mark on her forehead.

That made her curious. She wanted to ask why he had carved it that way, but then she suddenly noticed the label attached to the statue. Her face darkened the next second.

Because the statue actually had the words "Violent Woman" written on it, which left her thoroughly upset.

"Hey, Naruto, how am I violent?" Sakura clenched her fists, and a vein bulged on her forehead.

"The way you look right now is violent. Can't you see that yourself?" Naruto shrugged and placed his packed belongings into his backpack.

"I..."

Sakura looked at her own posture and realized that she really did seem rather violent. That left her speechless for a moment, but she still refused to concede.

"Even so, you can't call me Violent Woman. You should at least change it to something else, like Sakura-chan."

"Forget it. I'd only use that kind of name for Hinata. Look up there." Naruto pointed toward the hanging cabinet above.

Following Naruto's gesture, Sakura raised her head and instantly found herself dazzled by the sight before her.

The cabinet was filled with a great number of Hinata sculptures, each depicting many of Hinata's expressions and movements.

Embarrassed, confused, angry, happy, shy, cute, adorably blank...

It could be said that these sculptures vividly captured all of Hinata's beauty. With a single glance, one could see Hinata's charm.

Such sculptures, and in such quantities, took Sakura completely by surprise. She could not help saying,

"So pretty. So lifelike."

Sakura stared wide-eyed at the sculptures, at each one that seemed almost alive. Her eyes held surprise, but even more than that, envy.

"Naruto, can you carve some for me too? I don't need that many. Ten would be enough." Sakura looked at Naruto expectantly.

"No. Other than Hinata, no one else." Naruto carried his backpack to the door and quietly waited for Sakura to come out.

"I..."

Sakura's mood sank deeply. For the first time, she felt the difference between how Naruto treated her and how he treated Hinata.

She wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. She could only silently walk outside.

Click!

Naruto locked the door and headed into the distance, while Sakura silently followed behind him, looking thoroughly dejected.

However.

When they were nearly at Konoha's gate, Sakura realized that she was still holding the statue from earlier. She wanted to return it to Naruto, but Naruto was walking quickly ahead of her, and in the end, she said nothing.

[ Experience Points +1 ]

Konoha's gate.

Kakashi stood at the entrance and waved to Naruto and Sakura.

"Naruto, Sakura, you two got here quickly."

"Mm, Naruto walks rather fast." Sakura forced a smile, her mood clearly low.

"Alright, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Tazuna. This is Sakura, and this is Naruto." Kakashi began the introductions.

"Mm."

Naruto responded and turned to glance toward the forest. Within his senses, two figures had appeared atop a large tree in that direction.

The two wore forehead protectors from the Land of Water. Judging by their attire, they were clearly rogue ninjas from Kirigakure.

After noticing them, Naruto said nothing. He merely turned back without revealing any reaction and quietly considered how to deal with the two of them.