Chapter 56: Second Relic
"It seems like you have finally figured out what I was asking for." Sero Sensei said, as he stopped swinging his sword and looked towards me.
I myself, while trying to take in some breaths of air, replied to him, "Yes, I have." I told him as I felt the Shadow Dance level up, and the Shadow Serpent itself became stronger.
It was now as durable as a Chunin ranked person.
It also allowed me to save more Shadow Chakra, making me more efficient in battle too.
[Second Relic: Unclaimed]
As I pressed the claim button, [A Drop of Ichor], of the [Shadow Gods lineage], was revealed to me.
Now in the novel, this drop was consumed by the 'Blood Weave,' inside of Sunless, so he didn't even know what the intended effects of the lineage were.
But I guess I would find out soon, since I would be consuming this blood and I didn't have the lineage of the weaver with me.
"The image you want us to fight is our future selves." I told him my theory, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
"And why would I want you to fight yourself?" He questioned me back.
"Because our future selves are our improved versions of our current selves, and if we beat them, we have become better. But this is a never ending battle, just like you wish to tell me that Kenjutsu is a never ending battle."
Sora sensei nodded at my explanation and seemed happy with what I said.
"Alright then, your first part of the training is over. Your sensei told me to inform you after you complete this that the Hokage has approved of your in Field promotion."
As he said that, my heart rate went up a little in excitement.
"Congratulations Shikomu, you are now a Chunin."
[Congratulations Player Shikomu for becoming a Chunin of Konoha]
[A new title has been acquired]
[Title: Hidden Leaf Chunin
Effect: The Player will be allowed to lead missions on his own, if their Kage allows it.]
Not that anything is new, since I have been doing this for a while already. But I guess with this, it is more official now.
But it still felt nice to officially become a Chunin.
"In a month you will be sent to your next mission, so we have until then to get your training in order." Sora Sensei told me, to which I nodded.
After that he went on his way and left me alone.
Now, it was time for me to consume this drop of blood.
After I summoned it from the system and held the crystalised version of dark blood in my hand, it felt as if all the shadows in the vicinity were reacting.
Everything around me was swirling towards the drop, as if greeting their master.
Other than Gloomy, every other Shadow momentarily lost their connection with me, which to me who has been getting used to my powers, made me feel off.
Like my connection to the world was severed.
The gloomy shadow looked at me with confusion, and then motioned for me to consume the ichor of blood.
"Well here goes nothing I guess." I muttered out loud and consumed the blood.
As the ichor of blood slid down my throat, a surge of raw energy exploded within me.
My body tensed, and I could feel every shadow in the vicinity trembling, as if awaiting my command.
The sensation was both intoxicating and overwhelming, like drinking pure darkness.
For a moment, my vision blurred, and I felt disconnected from reality. Then, everything snapped back into focus, sharper and more vivid than before.
The shadows around me seemed to pulse with life, their movements more fluid and synchronized with my thoughts.
I took a step forward and felt a strange pull. Instinctively, I allowed myself to be drawn into the shadow beneath me.
Instead of merely stepping through it, I found myself merging with it, becoming one with the darkness.
This…this was amazing! All the Shadows around me were clearing my fatigue from my training, and I felt myself healing more quickly than ever.
So the Ichor Blood increased my affinity towards the shadows in the recovery aspect, and now I was able to recover more quickly.
But it wasn't to the level of an Aspect Affinity, just that inherently the shadows liked me more than before so they heal me when they can.
This is definitely something useful, since as far as I understand, while my Chakra does drain like crazy, I can hide in the shadows and recover too.
And when I unlock my next few cores, this won't even be an issue.
Following this I continued to experiment with my shadows more until Naido-sensei eventually joined me in the training ground.
He also brought a visitor with him, who was looking around the training ground with slight curiosity before her eyes settled on me.
"Ready for the new Jutsu I am going to teach you?" He questioned me and as he did, the woman who I recognised had a smirk on her face.
"Really Naido, this runt is your student? He doesn't look like much." Anko said as she stood right in front of me.
I couldn't help but show a confident smile on my face as I replied, "Well this runt survived an ambush against 2 Jinchuriki and the Akatsuki. I wonder what you have done with your life, miss?"
A visible frown appeared on her face but she didn't say anything to me at all.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
"Anyways, Shikomu, Anko here will be giving you the summoning contract you have asked for." Naido sensei said he motioned for her to take over.
She then took out a scroll and placed it in front of me.
"With your blood, write down your full name and stamp your fingerprints."
I was also able to see the previous user of the contract, other than herself being Orochimaru, but I didn't mention anything.
When sensei had asked me what summon I wanted, it was pretty much a no brainer for me to take the Snake path.
Even though in the main 3 summons of the Naruto world, the snakes were the worst, my entire bloodline had a relationship to snakes. I could tell that much due to my Shadow, the Shadow Serpent.
It didn't seem like a bad idea to follow my bloodline's path of power.
I took out a kunai from my pack and sliced through my thumb which caused blood to start gushing out.
Following that I did as Anko instructed me and stamped my fingers.
After that, I knelt down a little and dipped my thumb into my shadow, which healed my thumb.
"That's a…neat new trick." Sensei said as he observed my recovery.
"I know. So, what next?" I questioned.
"Just do the hand signs, this Jutsu is pretty easy to use." She told me, to which I nodded. This Jutsu did not seem that hard to learn.
I then performed the hand signs of the Jutsu and channeled barely any chakra of mine to just get a small summon.
However the second my hand made contact with the ground, I felt my buddy get sucked into a vacuum as I got transported to some place else entirely.
…
(3rd Person pov)
"Where the hell did he go?!" Naido asked in shock to Anka who was equally confused.
And as the cloud of smoke moved away, a small creature was in the place where Shikomu was supposed to be.
"I know where he is, and we might have to panic a little." Anko said with a scowl on her face as she turned to Naido.
…
Authors note:
Give me those power stones guys :)))
You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator