Rising Again

Time passed slowly amid the Nine-Tails' furious roars.

When the blue Experience Orbs around the Nine-Tails had shrunk to the size of ping-pong balls, Naruto stopped gathering Experience Points. He waved at the Nine-Tails and returned to reality.

The Nine-Tails' Experience Orbs were actually a little smaller than Hinata's, and the Experience Points they contained were slightly fewer, but...

But every time, the Nine-Tails gave +3 Experience Points. As a result, only a short amount of time had passed by the time Naruto finished collecting them.

This left Naruto quite puzzled. He did not know why the Nine-Tails gave +3 while Hinata gave +1.

Suddenly, Naruto thought of something. His eyes narrowed slightly as he vaguely guessed the answer.

The answer was combat power. The Nine-Tails' combat power was several times greater than Hinata's; she simply could not compare. This was very likely related to the Experience Point bonus.

However, he could not confirm this for now. He needed more information before he could be certain.

Putting those thoughts aside, Naruto examined the Saiyan Shop again and considered exchanging for Saiyan Blood. The issue with his hair made him hesitate.

This Saiyan Blood seemed somewhat overbearing. Normally, Saiyan hair was black, but there were actually Saiyan descendants in the original story whose hair was not black.

Yet after Naruto obtained a single drop of Saiyan Blood, a patch of his hair immediately turned black. Such an overbearing trait seemed to prove that this Saiyan Blood was stronger.

But the combat power boost brought by a single drop was still too little. He needed to continue improving himself in secret.

After thinking for a while, Naruto got up and went to the storage room to search through it. He remembered that there should be a bottle of hair dye somewhere in the house, and he planned to find it.

But after searching for quite some time, he found nothing. "Is there none left? Looks like I'll have to go out. It's still early anyway."

Naruto quickly got up and tidied himself, preparing to go buy a bottle of hair dye. After all, once he exchanged for more Saiyan Blood, his hair would definitely change again. His goggles would not be able to hide it then.

Therefore, hair dye was a very useful thing.

Carrying what little money he had, Naruto stepped out of his home and openly headed toward the other side of the Hidden Leaf Village.

The nearby residents knew him well. Many were unwilling to sell him anything, and he did not want to suffer their cold stares either. But there were still people on the other side of the Hidden Leaf Village willing to sell him things.

He had bought his milk in that part of the village before. It was just a little farther away, and only some people were willing to sell him anything.

Filled with anticipation, Naruto walked quickly, advancing step by step beneath the strange looks of those around him.

A few minutes later.

Having successfully bought hair dye, Naruto hurried home. However, when he reached his front door, he encountered three people.

The leader of the three was a fat boy, accompanied by two skinny boys. They were the three who had once bullied Hinata.

Because Naruto had focused on training since childhood, he had beaten them up badly when he first encountered them, thoroughly becoming enemies with them.

Furthermore, influenced by their parents, they discriminated heavily against Naruto. The two sides had clashed several more times afterward, and their grudge had long since taken root.

Now that they were loitering outside his home, they clearly meant no good. Naruto had no intention of being polite to them and spoke coldly.

"Fatty, what are you doing outside my house?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to ask whether you want a ninja dog. If you do, you can come pick it up from my place," Fatty said with a grin.

"A ninja dog? You'd be that kindhearted?" Naruto sneered, his azure eyes fixed coldly on the other boy.

"Hehe, that ninja dog is too fierce. Ordinary people can't tame it, but I think you definitely can," Fatty taunted.

"Idiot!"

Naruto cursed at him, forcefully shoved Fatty aside, and walked back into his house with a cold expression. He even slammed the door shut.

The sight made Fatty's face turn green with rage. He huffed angrily. "Damn it, this brat is getting harder and harder to deal with."

"Then what do we do? We can't just leave our grudge unavenged," one of the lackeys said.

"How about this? We bring that ninja dog over and scare Naruto," the other lackey suggested.

"That's a good idea, but that ninja dog is too fierce. I don't really dare get close to it," Fatty said hesitantly, somewhat afraid to act.

"Then... what should we do?"

"I don't know either."

The three brats muttered among themselves without finding a solution. In the end, they left in frustration, though they clearly had not given up.

Inside the house.

Naruto mixed the hair dye with his tools. Standing by the window, he watched the three brats walk away, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes before he drew the curtains to block the view.

Silently returning to his chair, Naruto set down the hair dye and placed a small mirror before him. Then his consciousness sank into the system shop as he began exchanging for more Saiyan Blood.

He now had 45 Experience Points, enough to exchange for four more drops of Saiyan Blood. Added to the one drop from before, that made five drops—enough to raise his physique to another level.

[ Ding! 40 Experience Points consumed. Successfully exchanged for 4 drops of Saiyan Blood. ]

As the mechanical voice faded, Naruto's body began to boil once more. His blood seemed to come alive, as though it were cheering in celebration and welcoming its rebirth.

At the same time.

Naruto's hair changed again. The original patch of black hair expanded slightly, still located at his forehead.

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror but had no intention of dyeing his hair. He only needed to buy a bottle of hair dye. No one would know whether he had actually used it or not; all he needed was an excuse.

"Hmm?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed suddenly. He glanced in the four directions around his home and vaguely sensed four figures watching him nearby. They were clearly ANBU surveillance personnel, which surprised Naruto somewhat.

He remembered that Saiyan bloodlines were not especially outstanding in terms of perception. Although they could sense exceptionally powerful ki, they could easily overlook certain dangers.

For example, Goku had suffered several losses because of this in the original story. Yet Naruto had only received five drops of Saiyan Blood and had already gained such outstanding perception. It truly baffled him.

"Could it be that the Saiyan Blood I received is stronger? More overbearing? If that's the case, then I really struck it rich."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto clenched his fists tightly. He could clearly feel that his strength had increased, and the effects of the Saiyan Blood within him had only just begun to show.

His physique would grow stronger and stronger in the future. If he focused on training, he would become even stronger.

"Looks like I need to devise a training plan. Right, and weighted training too."

Naruto considered and set his future training goals. At the same time, he sat cross-legged and began refining his ki once more.