Early morning.
Yecheng woke up and instinctively opened the bathroom door, intending to wash up.
Tsunade was brushing her teeth at the sink.
She wore a snug camisole and nothing but shorts below, a very breezy outfit that fully displayed her curves and impressive figure. Large stretches of her delicate, fair skin were exposed as well, making her exceptionally enticing, enough to whet anyone's appetite.
Seeing Yecheng, she merely glanced at him and continued brushing.
"How was the gathering the day before yesterday? Did you have fun?"
Having lived together for a while now, they had gradually grown used to each other's presence and come to see each other as family.
Yecheng no longer lost all control and felt his blood surge as he had the first time, either. He could already control himself completely!
Yecheng picked up his toothbrush and began brushing beside Tsunade. Fortunately, the Senju Clan mansion was spacious, and the bathroom was no exception. It wasn't crowded at all.
"It was great. Everyone had a lot of fun, especially Naruto. That guy really made a racket."
"Naruto..."
Tsunade recalled Minato Namikaze's sunny, cheerful smile back when she was still in the village, and the way Kushina's eyes brimmed with love when she looked at Minato, so tender that her gaze almost seemed to cling to him.
They had been such a lovely couple. How had they both ended up dead?
Never mind the mess they had left behind-hadn't they even considered their child's future?
Then Tsunade remembered how Nawaki had died young in the war, and suddenly felt that there wasn't much difference after all.
This world...
"Come have breakfast once you're done washing up. Oh, right, I'll be teaching you the Five Elements Seal today. It's a relatively advanced sealing jutsu, so get ready."
Tsunade rinsed her mouth and spat out the water as she spoke casually.
To learn the Yin Seal, he first had to master most of the prerequisite sealing jutsu. He didn't need to be able to use them in combat, but he at least had to be familiar with the meanings of the various formulas and runes and have some understanding of sealing jutsu runes. Otherwise, even inscribing the Yin Sealing Jutsu Formula on his own body would be difficult.
Sealing jutsu were clearly quite difficult and demanded considerable talent, yet none of that seemed to apply to her precious student.
He grasped whatever he learned and mastered whatever he practiced. Even sealing jutsu posed little difficulty.
What a monster.
"Okay."
Yecheng answered.
After his earlier battle with Aburame Ryoma, Yecheng had also gained a clear understanding of his strengths and shortcomings.
He had numerous methods at his disposal and could easily deal with a wide range of complicated enemies and situations, but he lacked a decisive killing blow.
The fundamental reason was that his stats still weren't monstrous enough.
If he had a tailed beast stuffed in his belly right now, that problem would solve itself.
Being a jinchūriki came with plenty of benefits. It increased chakra reserves, and he could fire Tailed Beast Bombs as an ultimate move.
The only drawback was that he would die if someone extracted the tailed beast. But the thing was, he didn't need to fear that against someone he could beat, and against someone he couldn't beat, there was even less need to fear it. It could hardly be called much of a drawback.
It did tend to attract enemies, though.
Still, scheming to obtain a tailed beast wasn't very realistic at present. The tailed beasts of the Shinobi World's villages were all accounted for, and the only one roaming free, Three-Tails, was probably being watched by the Shinobi World's most devoted lover all along.
If he approached it from another direction, the best solutions for substantially boosting his stats-his chakra reserves, in other words-were the Yin Seal and senjutsu.
As for Hashirama cells...
Honestly, the idea made him uncomfortable. Unless he had absolutely no other choice, Yecheng didn't really want to transplant someone else's cells into his body.
Besides, there was his relationship with Tsunade to consider.
There really was no need.
Even if he just kept drawing cards to strengthen himself, his chakra reserves would sooner or later reach the Shinobi World's top tier. Apart from Naruto, that super stat monster, he wouldn't fall too far behind anyone else.
After finishing breakfast while fending off Shizune's pestering, Yecheng was about to head to school.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the front door.
Only after opening it did he discover that the visitor was Choza Akimichi.
What was he here for?
"Good morning, Uncle Choza."
Yecheng greeted him.
"Oh, Yecheng. Good morning. Thank you for inviting Choji the other day. I heard you all had a great time."
Choza paused. "And everyone in the village really likes the milk tea, too."
Yecheng's thoughts stirred. He had also heard that the milk tea was selling well. Shizune had even bought several cups yesterday.
Had Choza Akimichi come this time because of the milk tea recipe?
But he was still only a student, after all, so it wasn't appropriate to ask too much. He could only leave first.
Still, Yecheng left a shadow clone hidden nearby to listen and find out what was going on.
As usual, Yecheng sent a clone to school while his real body headed straight for the training ground.
Today, he was going to use Subjugation on [Round Deer].
In the original work, [Round Deer]'s ability was the Reverse Cursed Technique, which could rapidly heal injuries and could also be projected outward to heal others. As a prized healer, he was a must-have.
Moreover, once he unlocked this shikigami, he would very likely be a great help with his kekkei genkai disease. Perhaps he could even extend his lifespan.
Yecheng glanced at the panel.
[Current lifespan: 17]
Although he already had some confidence that he could resolve his kekkei genkai disease, that short-lived wretch's number was still truly sickening to look at.
Yecheng formed the Deer Seal with both hands and recited the incantation.
"Come, Round Deer!"
His shadow writhed, transforming into an enormous stag that leaped out and charged at Yecheng with his antlers lowered.
"Want to match strength? Just what I wanted!"
Yecheng laughed, grabbed the antlers with both hands, and began wrestling with Round Deer.
Although his Yang Release Chakra Mode was not yet fully complete, Yecheng's strength was far beyond anything Round Deer could match. He soon flipped him onto the ground.
Taking advantage of Round Deer's fall, Yecheng drew Playful Cloud from the shadows, rushed forward, and delivered a heavy blow!
Round Deer let out a miserable cry.
Just like Max Elephant's long trunk, his lower spine was broken on the spot by a single strike from Yecheng!
Yet his flesh bulged and twisted, as though tumors were wriggling beneath his skin. In mere moments, Round Deer actually healed his injuries, stood back up, and charged at Yecheng.
"The Reverse Cursed Technique is actually pretty efficient?"
Yecheng was delighted. The stronger Round Deer was, the more help it would provide him after Subjugation!
He summoned [Nue] again and stepped onto his back, soaring high into the air.
"Try this!"
Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
Yecheng opened his mouth and spat out a fire dragon. It soared and wheeled, charging at Round Deer with claws and fangs bared.
The fire dragon was orange-white, clearly blazing at an extremely high temperature. The moment it touched Round Deer, the sizzling sound of roasting meat rang out, and Round Deer's fur was immediately scorched black and charred!
That wasn't all. Yecheng controlled [Nue], pouring vast amounts of chakra into him through the cursed technique to unleash Thunderous Wrath. Dozens of crackling bolts of lightning all blasted into Round Deer!
Yecheng's mastery of Chakra Nature Transformation was extremely profound, and the ninjutsu he unleashed were terrifyingly powerful. This combined attack directly exceeded Round Deer's maximum health.
Before he could use the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his injuries, Yecheng blasted him straight to ash. He turned into an ink-black shadow and sank into Yecheng's shadow.
[Round Deer] had been successfully subjugated!
Excited, Yecheng immediately landed, dismissed [Nue], and then summoned [Round Deer].
"Round Deer, let me be enchanted by you!"
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