The instant Shinji activated the summoning technique, a colossal rumble echoed through the arena as the Gedo Statue burst from the ground behind him.
It was an enormous, grotesque humanoid with a body like withered wood, fitting, considering it had once been the Divine Tree. Nine closed eyes lined its face, and ten massive, pillar-like protrusions jutted from its shoulders and spine. Both its arms and legs were bound by giant restraints.
But as it fully emerged, those restraints cracked apart and shattered with a deafening snap.
"ROOOAAARR!!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the Gedo Statue, shaking the entire chamber.
Even among the hardened monsters of the Association, many visibly recoiled. Some were drenched in cold sweat. Others instinctively stepped back, a few outright trembling in fear.
Despite the panic spreading among the lower-tier monsters, the top executives mostly remained composed. Their faces tightened, but they didn't flinch. Black Sperm, in particular, narrowed his eyes, watching with open curiosity.
The Gedo Statue loomed tall enough to nearly touch the rocky ceiling, but the vast underground arena had enough space to hold its massive frame.
To the monsters present, the Gedo Statue simply looked like some otherworldly, terrifying creature. Not a single one realized what it truly was.
Then, under Shinji's mental command, the Gedo Statue slowly sat cross-legged, mimicking the pose it once held while sealed on the moon.
Right now, it was only a shell. The Ten Tails' chakra, which once filled it, had long been split into the nine Tailed Beasts by the Sage of Six Paths. Without that power, the Gedo Statue was just an empty vessel.
Ordinarily, it required immense chakra to sustain. But Shinji had made modifications. Instead of chakra, he used pure mental energy to power it.
Unlike Nagato, who needed to transmit chakra through black receivers embedded in his body, Shinji could channel energy directly.
In practical terms, the statue could remain indefinitely after being summoned, but it would continuously siphon his mental energy to stay active.
Fortunately, the system had optimized even that. The energy drain was surprisingly low. More importantly, Shinji's Hashirama Cells provided near-limitless regeneration, even for mental energy.
Though the statue still drained a bit more than he could regenerate at the moment, the difference was negligible. It would only matter during prolonged, high-stress combat.
That's when a mocking voice broke the silence.
"Gyoro Gyoro, this is the Monster King you were talking about?"
Black Sperm stepped forward, arms crossed. "Looks terrifying, sure... but is that all?"
The creature, pitch black aside from his pale, grinning face and the lone antenna on his head, was none other than Black Sperm, a Dragon-level monster. He was the first to voice skepticism, and frankly, he had the right to. Despite his bizarre, almost laughable appearance, Black Sperm ranked among the strongest in the entire Monster Association.
Although the Gedo Statue was massive and imposing, it lacked the chakra of the Tailed Beasts and relied solely on Shinji's mental energy. Its true combat potential was far below its original form, since it couldn't even fire a Tailed Beast Bomb. But that wasn't the point. Shinji hadn't summoned it for battle. Its overwhelming size and aura were enough to cow most of the monsters present.
"Don't be impatient. Since he's the Monster King, his power naturally surpasses yours," Gyoro Gyoro responded flatly to Black Sperm's provocation.
"Oh yeah? Then let's see how strong he really is," Black Sperm sneered, arms folded, clearly unimpressed.
The rest of the monsters remained silent. The Gedo Statue's presence alone was more than enough to suppress any thoughts of rebellion. Most were too frightened to speak. Only someone like Black Sperm, with his power and recklessness, dared to run his mouth so openly.
Naturally, Shinji decided to respond. With just a thought, the ten massive protrusions on the Gedo Statue's back lit up, gathering dense spheres of crackling lightning. In an instant, they launched, ten bolts of destructive energy flying straight at Black Sperm's position.
But Black Sperm didn't so much as flinch. Smirking, he split into thousands of identical clones to intercept the attack.
Crack! Crack!
The lightning tore through the swarm of clones, vaporizing them in rapid succession. Though the spectacle was impressive, Black Sperm remained unfazed. His body was made of near-limitless cells. Losing a few thousand meant nothing to him.
Unfortunately, not everyone nearby shared that advantage.
[Alert! Host has defeated a Tiger-level monster. Reward: 12 points!]
[Alert! Host has defeated a Wolf-level monster. Reward: 8 points!]
[...]
Because the Gedo Statue was a summoned beast under Shinji's control, any monsters it eliminated automatically contributed to his system rewards.
That sudden revelation sent a chill through the crowd. The nearby monsters quickly backed away from Black Sperm, terrified of becoming collateral damage.
Black Sperm didn't even glance at the fallen bodies. He simply snorted. "I don't know what other tricks you've got, but at least you're not all bark."
He hadn't come here to challenge for the Monster King title, only to test the newcomer's power. Now that his curiosity was satisfied, he stayed quiet.
"So, does anyone else have any objections?" Gyoro Gyoro asked loudly, his voice echoing through the chamber.
A long, heavy silence followed.
No one responded.
And just like that, the Gedo Statue was officially acknowledged as the Monster Association's "Monster King", at least in public. But everyone knew the truth.
The real king was Shinji.
[Alert! The host has become the Monster Association's "Monster King". Reward: 300 points + Sage Mode!]
Honestly, the Gedo Statue didn't quite live up to the image of a true Monster King. Sure, it had near-infinite vitality and could absorb punishment like a bottomless pit, but that was pretty much its only real strength for now. Still, Shinji wasn't disappointed. This was only the beginning. Once the statue transformed into the full Ten Tails, things would change drastically.
With that in mind, he opened the points shop.
As expected, a new item had appeared. On the second-tier page of the store, a fifth entry had been added:
[⑤ Tailed Beast Summoning Scroll]
[Item Description: Use the scroll to summon a Tailed Beast. Starting from One-Tail to Nine-Tails, you may challenge each one. After defeating them, you gain the corresponding Tailed Beast's power. The Gedo Statue can then absorb that power. Challenging all nine requires 900 points.]
[Price: 100 points per summon]
Shinji had already begun to grasp the logic of the system. The moment he received the Gedo Statue, he suspected this sort of follow-up would be coming. After all, giving him an empty husk of a summon with no chakra wasn't particularly useful unless there was a way to fill it.
And this was it. The chance to collect and absorb all nine Tailed Beasts, one by one.
If he succeeded, the Gedo Statue would evolve into the complete Ten-Tails. And when that happened, once he obtained the Rinnegan, which the system would almost certainly make available down the line, Shinji could become the Ten Tails' Jinchuriki.