Fortunately, Shin'un has been ordered to lead a team to meet with Nara Shikahito and go to the Land of Birds as a figurehead to help Nara Shikahito with negotiations.
They were temporarily freed from the torment of guarding more than two thousand Sunagakure prisoners.
"Sigh, it's not easy..."
Shaking his head, Shin'un felt a pang of emotion.
Although he has now killed Chiyo of Sunagakure on the battlefield and stepped on her corpse, truly becoming the new generation of Konoha's face and strongman.
But this might not necessarily be a good thing.
If Shin'un had only displayed the strength of an ordinary Jonin today, he would have been able to return to Konoha to train and increase his strength long ago, thanks to his connection with Orochimaru.
After all, Shin'un is only fourteen years old this year, and he still has great potential for development in all aspects. Focusing on cultivation is the most important thing. Just like Minato Namikaze, he returned to Konoha as soon as the battle with Iwagakure ended.
There was nothing they could do. Shin'un had killed Chiyo, demonstrating strength that was among the best in the Shinobi World. Naturally, the village wouldn't waste such a powerful fighter by keeping him in the village to train.
"You should worry about your own affairs first..."
Shaking his head, Shin'un stopped daydreaming and brought up the Skill Editor panel.
Looking down, Shin'un took another careful look at the panel in front of him.
Skill Name: [Input Field]
Skill effect: [Input bar]
Equipped skills: [ Extreme Reaction ], [ Lightning Release Mastery ], [ Qi Sea ], [ Diligent Study ]. (Click on the skill name to view details.)
Loading: [ Bloodline Essence ] (Progress: 6%) (Click the skill name to view details.)
Shin'un glanced around the panel, then raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
"Six percent?"
"When we left the camp yesterday, it was still around five percent."
Frowning, Shin'un lowered his head, silently calculating in his mind.
"A month ago it was 0.1%, a month later it's 6%..."
"The progress bar has reached 6% in 30 days... which is roughly one progress bar every five days..."
"At this rate of loading, it will only take a little over a year to complete?"
Nodding, a glint of light flashed in Shin'un's eyes.
"The skill loading speed is getting faster and faster... I can't figure out why."
"However, this is a good thing."
Nodding, Shin'un frowned as she looked at the skills in the skill loading bar.
Loading: [ Bloodline Essence ] (Progress: 6%) (Click the skill name to view details.)
Using his mind as a trigger, Shin'un clicked on the skill name of [ Bloodline Essence ].
Immediately, another panel appeared on the main panel.
[ Bloodline Essence ]
Skill Effect: [Pursue the hidden power within your bloodline, continuously excavating and expanding it, and refining and optimizing it according to your conscious inclinations.]
Clicking his tongue, Shin'un looked at the skill effects displayed on the panel in front of him and nodded in satisfaction.
Since returning to Konoha a few years ago, when Hiruzen Sarutobi told him that he possessed the Senju bloodline and Tsunade took him to the Senju mansion, he immediately decided on the next skill after [ Diligent Study ] was completed.
When the Senju is mentioned, most ninjas in the Shinobi World only think of the First Hokage Hashirama Senju.
Shin'un, who possessed the Skill Editor, first thought of Hashirama Senju's ancestor's ancestor, the Hashirama Senju Ōtsutsuki Clan.
The skill [ Bloodline Essence ] originated from this.
Its specific function is clearly stated in the skill description; you can understand its general effect just by looking at its skill name.
In short, it's about endlessly exploring and optimizing bloodline power.
Of course, this does not mean that Shin'un will follow in the footsteps of the Ōtsutsuki Clan and become a pale-skinned Otsutsuki.
He is quite satisfied with his human identity and has no plans to undergo a full-body skin whitening treatment or change his nationality.
For this reason, Shin'un put a lot of thought into writing the skill effects.
At the end of the skill effect description, Shin'un specifically added that the skill requires refining and optimizing the bloodline according to one's own conscious inclinations.
Shin'un was very clear about his own inclinations.
First, it needs to bring great power; second, it needs to look like a normal human being... at least he doesn't want to wake up one day to find that he suddenly has an extra tail.
Thirdly... if it could bring even a slight improvement in appearance, that would be even better.
Of course, Shin'un might have some tendencies deep down that she herself is unaware of, such as... strange desires like becoming a human female... although Shin'un is quite certain that she does not have such thoughts.
In any case, with this guarantee, at least the [ Bloodline Essence ] won't transform Shin'un into some strange creature.
After all, who knows what's in their blood?
If the [ Bloodline Essence ] were allowed to run rampant, it would be fine if Shin'un became a pale-skinned Otsutsuki clansman. But if he turned into a tentacle monster dwelling in the deep sea, or a minotaur with yellow hair, that would truly be a cause for despair.
The wind howled, and all was quiet, when suddenly a voice rang out.
" Lord Hirakawa."
A Konoha Jonin onto a boulder, walked a few steps behind Shin'un, pointed to a group of people in the distance, and respectfully said, "That should be Lord Nara's group."
"It should be." Turning to look at the Konoha team in the distance, Shin'un nodded. "The timing is about right. Tell everyone to stop resting and prepare to depart."
"Clear!"
The Konoha Jonin the order, turned around, jumped off the boulder, and announced the command.
Shin'un stood up from the boulder and jumped to the ground, standing still and watching Nara Shikahito approach in the distance. The other nine Konoha Ninja stood quietly behind Shin'un, waiting together for Nara Shikahito's group.
A dozen seconds later, Nara Shikahito led dozens of people to approach quickly and greeted Shin'un first.
" Shin'un, it's been a long time."
Having finished speaking, Nara Shikahito was already standing in front of Shin'un.
"Long time no see," Shin'un replied with a smile.
For the past month, he had been guarding the Sand Ninja prisoners in the heart of the Land of Rain, while Nara Shikahito continued to lead his team to the border of the Land of Wind, so it had indeed been a long time since they had met.
Turning his head, Shin'un glanced at the team Nara Shikahito had brought, then looked at the three small teams he had brought, and couldn't help but smile.
Of the nearly one hundred people, most were well-known Konoha and Jonin of Shinobi World, and like Shin'un, they went to negotiate for the same reason: to serve as a face for Konoha.
However, there were relatively few ninjas who were actually in charge of negotiations, and they appeared to be older and more like clerical staff. There were only about a dozen of them.
Seeing Shin'un smile after surveying the group behind him, Nara Shikahito immediately guessed what Shin'un was thinking, shook his head, and said with a smile:
"Stop looking. This negotiation is a major event between several villages, so naturally, we have to consider Konoha's reputation."
"Besides, although it's unlikely that anything unexpected will happen during these negotiations, it's only natural to bring them along just in case."
"It's not just us; I imagine Sunagakure and Iwagakure will feel the same way."
Upon hearing this, Shin'un smiled and nodded to indicate that he understood.
Looking up, Shin'un glanced at the sky, then turned to Nara Shikahito and said:
"In that case, let's set off quickly. We're still a few hours away from the negotiation location, and we need to get there before dark."