"Uhh... I think the plot's totally off the rails now..."
Yamanaka Shinno froze for a moment, then quickly brushed off his concern.
So what if the original timeline had collapsed and reshaped itself? At his current level, he didn't need to lay low and bide his time.
If it meant earning more rewards, let it collapse all it wants.
Piu~ piu~ piu~
Small pebbles bounced across the lake's surface, skipping in a line before sinking into the water.
"System, initiate extrac—"
Halfway through the sentence, Shinno suddenly realized—he hadn't received any Trait Extractions this time.
Damn it!
He was already in the habit of doing a draw after every big event, and now the system was suddenly breaking tradition!
He glanced at the system interface, filled with traits.
At the bottom of the "Inactive Traits" list sat one new entry: [Dust Release Inheritor].
Shinno sat down on the grassy bank of the lake and silently activated it.
Hum—
A torrent of training methods and memories for Dust Release surged into his mind.
The training and application of Wind, Earth, and Fire chakra natures and their shape transformations also poured in.
Unlike Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, which had been developed to near perfection, Dust Release—a Kekkei Tōta—only had one signature techniques, strictly speaking.
Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique.
The flashy names from the original series were mostly just combinations—restricting an enemy's movement or vision before blasting them with Dust Release.
Even with Shinno's current chakra control, launching a large-scale Detachment of the Primitive World Technique instantly was nearly impossible.
After mulling over the mechanics of Dust Release for a while, Shinno turned his attention to the infused memories for Wind and Fire chakra training.
In the end, copying Dust Release was really about this.
Wind—sharp, forceful, gentle, chilling...
Fire—fierce, domineering, scorching, destructive...
"...So it only fuses upward into more complex Kekkei Genkai, not downward?"
He pondered for a while but never heard the system chime. With a bored sigh, he clicked his tongue.
With his current power, most Kekkei Genkai wouldn't even outperform a single punch from him in close combat.
Still, having more techniques meant more style, didn't it?
Should he try creating one himself?
Shinno scratched his cheek thoughtfully. The difficulty of fusing chakra natures into a Kekkei Genkai could be gauged by the system-fed training memories from when he first created Wood Release.
Not impossible, but certainly no walk in the park.
First, max out the nature transformations of two chakra types. Then try countless ratios of fusion until they generated a stable, unique new effect.
After that, train repeatedly until both the fusion process and the result became instinctive.
Finally, use that Kekkei Genkai's energy to gradually influence his own genetic structure...
"Forget it. No time to look cool right now."
Shinno muttered to himself. With everything else going on, it was better to leave this kind of time-consuming experiment for later.
He glanced over the system interface at his current traits: [Yin-Yang Sage], [Wood Release Jinchūriki], and [Dust Release Inheritor].
Yin, Yang, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind...
Just missing Lightning.
Copying a simple "Lightning Master" trait felt like a waste of a precious trait copy.
Going for something like Storm Release, a Kekkei Genkai, had the same issue.
Then there was that walking headache, the Third Raikage.
That guy had three Lightning-related traits: the red one [Strongest Spear], and two purple ones—[Slightly Imperfect Shield] and [Thunderous Might].
If all three were bundled into one, Shinno would copy it without hesitation.
But of course, they weren't.
"Whatever... I'll just copy whoever I run into next. One step away anyway."
Shinno patted the dust off his pants and stood up.
His gaze drifted toward the pavilion in the middle of the lake, where Tsunade and Hashirama were still deep in conversation.
Even though he was too far away to hear their words, it was obvious from Tsunade's body language that she was not in a good mood.
If Hashirama weren't her grandfather, he'd probably already be...
Boom—!
Shinno blinked in disbelief as Hashirama's soul form came flying out of the pavilion, clearly launched by a punch, and headed straight toward him.
You've gotta be kidding...
She hit her own grandpa!
Classic Tsunade.
Hashirama flipped midair, chakra flaring, skimming across the lake and gouging a deep trail in the water before finally landing beside Shinno, momentum spent.
Rubbing his chest—which appeared completely unharmed—he looked up with a sheepish grin.
"Haha~ ha... Son-in-law, I talked her into it for you! You're heading to Sunagakure soon, right? Well, good luck! Bye now!"
With that, his glowing white soul form floated a few meters into the air and shot back toward the Pure Land.
"Man, that was fast..."
Shinno watched him flee at top speed and didn't need to guess—Hashirama had definitely left him in a mess.
...
From the lakeside pavilion, Tsunade leapt out, chakra gathering at her feet as she landed lightly on the shimmering water.
She strode toward Shinno with a raised voice.
"No fancy jutsu! I want a proper fight—taijutsu only! I want to see exactly what kind of strength you think qualifies you to help me 'get stronger!'"
"...You could've just said you wanted to beat me up."
"I do want to beat you up! So can you stand still and take it?"
"Nope."
"Then shut it and fight me seriously with taijutsu!"
"Seriously, huh... tch. Tsunade, I usually don't hit women."
Shinno clicked his tongue, seeing that Tsunade wasn't backing down. Her face clearly said, We're fighting, period.
He widened his stance, feet shoulder-width apart.
Took a deep breath and shouted low:
"Eight Gates! Gate of Opening—Open! Gate of Rest—Open! Gate of Life—Open!"
"Heh—so just three gates—"
"Gate of Pain—Open! Gate of Limit—Open! Gate of View—Open! Gate of Wonder—Open!"
As the first seven gates flew open in rapid succession, Shinno's blood surged like a raging river.
His skin flushed red, and the black glow of Sage Mode shifted into a radiant white light rich in Yang chakra, continually repairing and nourishing the overtaxed cells inside his body.
Water vaporized from within, forming fierce blue streams of energy that shot skyward—white Sage chakra mingling with it like a beacon.
Grass tore from the ground, earth cracked, and a roaring pressure wave exploded outward!
"..."
Tsunade stared at the rising waves across the lake, her face darkening.
Shinno, you bastard!
She told him to take it seriously, not try to kill her!
But she wasn't the type to back down—not now, not ever.
"Yin Seal: Release! Ninja Art: Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Technique!"
Though the technique wasn't fully formed and still drained a ton of chakra, it was more than enough for a showdown with Shinno!
She launched herself off the water like an arrow, shooting toward him.
BOOM—!
CRACK!
Splurt—
The world shook as Tsunade was sent flying back even faster than she came, blood spraying from her mouth mid-air.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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