Chapter 199: Innate Ability: Tailed Beast Physique! Critical Information!
When Uchiha Ci woke up again, the throbbing headache had subsided considerably, and his thoughts began to clear.
This allowed him to gain a clear understanding of his physical condition.
How should he put it?
Currently, his entire body—except for his face—was covered in sealing techniques, including the Four Symbols Seal, the Eight Trigrams Seal, the Evil Sealing Method, the Four-Limb Re-Seal, the Finger Carving Seal, and the Four Black Snake Bind.
There were also numerous other seals he couldn't recognize.
Borrowing the Nine-Tails' chakra and using Sage Art: Brilliant Great Sword—The Oppression of Eight Million Deities, he had temporarily broken through to an entirely new level,
but this single strike had drained all his power.
Even his immortality, which locked his soul within his body to continuously regenerate his flesh, had part of its energy siphoned away.
However, this also caused his body to become like a sieve, leaking vitality continuously.
The sealing techniques engraved on him were to suppress the life force within his body.
Still, he had a vague feeling that these seals were a bit of a desperate measure,
and his condition might not actually be as dire as it appeared.
---
Uchiha Ci immediately opened his interface.
When he saw the text displayed on it, his expression turned somewhat strange—
Ding!
Through your fearless confrontation with the Nine-Tails, Kurama, who tried to kill you, you have acquired a random skill from it: Innate Ability: Tailed Beast Physique (S-).
Innate Ability: Tailed Beast Physique (S-): Allows rapid chakra recovery, enhanced physique, accelerated healing, increased chakra reserves, and chakra transfer capabilities.
Innate Ability: Tailed Beast Physique (S-), Fire Release: Chakra Mode (A), Forbidden Technique: Body Revival (S), and Immortality (S-) have automatically combined to form a new skill: Pseudo Tailed Beast Cloak.
Innate Ability: Pseudo Tailed Beast Cloak (S, Beginner): You can use massive amounts of chakra, regardless of type, to form a tailed beast cloak. This greatly enhances your damage resistance and self-healing abilities. Different chakra types will endow the cloak with unique properties.
Now, as long as you have enough chakra, you are a genuine Jinchūriki!
Your Heartsteel has advanced further.
Uchiha Ci could feel it.
The Tailed Beast Physique was generating a profound, mysterious energy within him. Though this energy could not be directly used in combat, it seemed to be replenishing something his leaky body desperately needed.
It was likely life force!
The life force leaking from his immortality was roughly in a 1:1.2 ratio compared to the life force being generated.
And now, with various sealing techniques patching the holes in his immortality, his life force—without even integrating Hashirama cells—was gradually recovering.
The most intuitive feeling Uchiha Ci had was warmth spreading through his body, like basking in the sun on a winter day.
The stiffness in his joints caused by cursed seal-induced genetic mutations, the hidden injuries from fierce battles, and the soreness from overusing his eyes were all being repaired by this energy, like soaking in a hot spring.
Additionally, his physical strength…
Uchiha Ci couldn't help but squeeze his now rock-hard chest muscles and admire his increasingly perfect abs.
At this moment, he felt like he could say to the truck that had hit him at 150 km/h and sent him to this world, just as Madara might have said:
"Among those I've faced, none surpass you in sheer physical prowess!"
"I, Ci, declare you the strongest!"
Hmm, this time, he likely wouldn't get crushed to death again.
The thought brought a silly grin to Uchiha Ci's face.
After all, what real man wouldn't enjoy using his body to stop a speeding truck?
---
At that moment, a tall man with white hair, wearing a headband marked with the kanji for "oil," and red markings extending from his eyes to his jawline, suddenly leaned in close. His carefree expression and jovial tone were hard to miss:
"Yo~!"
"Kid!"
"Dreaming of the soft and tender warmth of the hot springs in the Land of Hot Water, were you?"
"That smile of yours suits a man of my caliber!"
"Huh?!" Uchiha Ci instinctively pulled his head back, slapping the man's face away with a startled expression.
"Isn't this... Jiraiya?!"
---
"Alright, Jiraiya-sensei, stop teasing Ci."
At that moment, a familiar gentle voice came from beside him.
Uchiha Ci turned his head to see Minato Namikaze lying on the hospital bed next to him. His abdomen and forehead were bandaged, and he was slicing an apple with a small knife.
As expected of the fastest man in the ninja world, he swiftly peeled the apple in one clean stroke, leaving behind a perfectly intact peel.
Noticing Uchiha Ci's stunned gaze, Minato smiled warmly and tossed the apple over.
"The higher-ups wanted me to lead a team to the Land of Hot Water for a highly dangerous mission."
"But in my current condition, Lady Tsunade said I'll need at least three months to recover."
"So," Minato turned his head, his gaze serious as he spoke:
"Ci, you might be selected to undertake a very dangerous mission."
"Be extra cautious this time!"
As he spoke, Minato gritted his teeth and bent slightly to retrieve a Flying Thunder God kunai from the white cabinet next to his bed.
Handing it to Uchiha Ci solemnly, he said:
"Take this with you. If you encounter something you can't handle, signal me immediately!"
"From Konoha to the mission location, I only need half an hour."
"I've already sent a shadow clone to leave markers along the way."
---
Minato's gaze lingered on the sealing marks visible on Uchiha Ci's skin under his hospital gown.
After learning from Tsunade about the price Ci had paid to save him and Kushina, and realizing how little life his close friend had left, Minato and Kushina had both fallen silent for a long time.
If he could have just formed his Rasenshuriken ten seconds faster, Ci wouldn't have had to use that life-draining technique.
For this reason, Minato now fixed his gaze on Ci and promised solemnly:
"This time, I won't be late!"
Uchiha Ci was momentarily stunned but then smiled as he accepted the kunai. Looking at Minato, he responded with equal seriousness:
"I trust you!"
---
Jiraiya shook his head with a laugh, watching his student and Orochimaru's student exchange words.
"Hey, hey, hey~"
"Plotting something this rebellious right in front of me? That's not cool!"
Hearing this, Minato scratched his head awkwardly and chuckled.
"Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't do that, right?"
Jiraiya's expression sobered as he turned to the newly awakened Uchiha Ci.
"Uchiha Ci, telling you this right after you woke up might be uncomfortable, but..."
"For this mission, based on the information I have, I need to warn you—"
"Your enemies won't just be from Kumogakure."
"You need to be wary of two women!"
"The first is Chiyo of Sunagakure."
"The second is Kirigakure's newly rising genius—Terumi Mei!"
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