Furen swallowed nervously, staring at the one and only reward in Kin Tsuchi's 120% Favorability Lottery. His eyes blazed with intense excitement.
"Draw the reward!" Furen commanded the system.
Beep!
Drawing...
Congratulations, Host! You have drawn the 120% Favorability Reward from Kin Tsuchi: Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu (Sealed)!
The sole reward in Kin Tsuchi's 120% favorability is none other than the First Hokage's Senjutsu, the Senjutsu of the Slugs from the Shikkotsu Forest!
In Naruto, the three great sources of Senjutsu are Ryuchi Cave, Shikkotsu Forest, and Mount Myoboku.
Ryuchi Cave is where the White Snake Sage resides, which is where Kabuto learned his Senjutsu later on. As for Mount Myoboku, it's where both Naruto and Jiraiya studied Senjutsu.
The most mysterious of the three sacred lands, however, is the Shikkotsu Forest, where the First Hokage learned his Senjutsu. In Furen's memory, only the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the currently snot-nosed kid in Konoha, Moegi, are known to have any association with it.
"If I, with my Wood Release, combine it with Senjutsu... I'll be able to unleash the True Several Thousand Hands technique!" Furen's eyes burned even brighter than before.
The True Several Thousand Hands is Hashirama's most powerful technique!
"I can't believe it's actually the Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu!" Furen stared at the Senjutsu he had just drawn, but the technique had a seal placed on it by the system. Unlike the Wood Release or Edo Tensei he had drawn previously, he couldn't learn it directly.
After some careful thought, Furen understood why.
After the First Hokage was revived using Edo Tensei during Orochimaru's Konoha Crush, he didn't use Senjutsu, so the drawn technique couldn't be used immediately either.
"System, how can I unlock this seal?" Furen asked the system.
System: "The host must figure it out on their own."
Furen: "..."
Since the system didn't provide an answer, Furen had to figure it out himself.
"The only person who can use the Shikkotsu Forest's Senjutsu is the First Hokage. The one related to it… is the giant slug in the Shikkotsu Forest!" Furen immediately thought of the only ninja in the current Shinobi World who could summon slugs.
"…Tsunade! Hashirama's granddaughter!" Furen suddenly realized.
Tsunade could summon slugs, meaning she must have been to or had some connection with the Shikkotsu Forest. To unlock the sealed Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu, Furen figured he would need Tsunade's help.
"It seems, old man Sarutobi, you're either going to die, or I'll have to kill you myself..." Furen stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi sitting ahead of him, contemplating how to deal with him if Orochimaru didn't manage to kill him.
After drawing all of Kin Tsuchi's favorability rewards, Furen decided to open the 100% Favorability Draws for Sakura and Ino.
When drawing Ino's 100% favorability reward, Furen didn't use the Operator skill since there was nothing particularly rare in her draw pool.
Beep!
A golden light flashed, and Furen was lucky enough to draw the best reward.
Congratulations, Host! You have drawn Yamanaka Ino's 100% Favorability Reward: Mind-Body Split Technique!
"The Mind-Body Split Technique allows the user to project their spirit into multiple bodies simultaneously." After grasping the technique, Furen nodded in approval—it was quite a useful jutsu.
When it came time to draw Sakura's 100% Favorability Reward, Furen didn't hesitate to use the Operator skill after glancing at her prize pool.
"Use Operator to draw Sakura's 100% Favorability Reward: Yin Seal!"
Beep!
Congratulations, Host! You have drawn Haruno Sakura's 100% Favorability Reward: Yin Seal!
As the system's voice echoed, a small blue diamond-shaped mark, similar to the ones on Tsunade and Sakura, appeared on Furen's forehead. However, the Yin Seal was just the technique itself—there was no chakra stored in it yet.
"Since I don't have the chakra for it, let's hide it for now." Furen murmured, wiping his forehead to conceal the Yin Seal mark.
"Hashirama's cells need chakra to recover and grow, and the Yin Seal requires chakra to store… Seems like I'm running low on chakra…" Furen licked his lips. "Maybe I should capture a tailed beast to replenish my chakra?"
After another round of elimination matches, the screen displayed the names for the final match.
Tsukiyo Furen vs. Akimichi Choji
"Ninjas, please step forward for the match," Hayate Gekko said in his usual raspy voice.
Furen stood in the arena, looking at Choji, who was still munching on snacks. He thought for a moment before saying, "You should just forfeit."
As someone who had just learned Wood Release and Senjutsu, two of the most powerful abilities in the ninja world, Furen felt it was odd to be fighting Choji during the Chunin Exams—it wasn't even on the same level.
Choji, frustrated, swallowed his potato chips, about to retort that he was stronger than Furen thought.
But before he could speak, Furen released a tiny bit of his chakra, causing a large part of the ground beneath him to crack open.
Choji closed his mouth and swallowed his words. For a moment, he was tempted to forfeit.
Just as Choji was about to raise his hand, he glanced back at Asuma's expectant gaze. Determined, Choji clenched his fists and formed hand signs.
Ninja Art: Expansion Jutsu!
Choji, already a bit chubby, inflated like a balloon, turning his stomach into a giant ball and rolling toward Furen.
Human Boulder!
Furen sighed. He was about to intervene without killing Choji when, just as the human boulder was about to hit him, Choji veered off in a sharp turn.
Boom!
Choji crashed into the wall and immediately passed out.
His entire movement was so fluid and natural that it seemed as though Furen had used Almighty Push to send him flying.
Furen: "..."
Hayate Gekko, seeing Choji's actions: "...The final match goes to Tsukiyo Furen."
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T/N:
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