Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 153 Ice Dragon

Judging from his tone, you'd think he'd come to challenge us.

The saying "money talks" is something that Penguin Mani fully understands and agrees with.

"I'll pay in advance, and I'll come back to you after I've finished my business. I've been quite busy lately, so I'll come back to you to practice immortal arts once I'm done."

Aokiji was always a little uneasy about carrying too much money, so he would spend some of it first. Referring to the cultivation methods of Mount Myōboku, he subconsciously felt that cultivating sage techniques was very troublesome.

Mani the penguin gave an unexpected answer: "No need for that trouble, cultivating immortal arts is quick."

Aokiji was taken aback: "How fast?"

"As fast as you want."

Aokiji was even more puzzled upon hearing this.

Manny the penguin waved her wings at the blue pheasant: "Come closer."

Aokiji obediently complied, and following the other party's subsequent instructions, he raised his arm and extended his right hand, and used his other hand to roll up his sleeve, revealing his fair skin.

The blue pheasant is quite fair-skinned.

Manny the penguin patted the pheasant's little arm with its wing and clicked its tongue in admiration: "Look at this little arm, it's so soft and tender."

Aokiji thought this sounded like it had ulterior motives.

Before he could react, Manny the penguin acted first, opening his mouth to reveal a terrifying array of sharp teeth.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing!?"

Without a word, Manny the penguin started gnawing, its sharp teeth embedding themselves in the flesh, causing blood to gush out immediately.

After Mani the penguin withdrew her beak, Aokiji was about to curse when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm. His knees buckled, and he curled up in the icy snow, clutching his right arm with his left. The pain then spread throughout his body, as if he were in the late stages of cancer, and he let out a whimper.

After a minute of discomfort, Aokiji's pain slowly subsided. With beads of sweat on his forehead, he glared angrily, desperately wanting to tear the penguin in front of him apart. If he weren't outmatched, he would have already attacked.

"I know what you're trying to say, but before that, could you please take a look at what's on your arm?"

Aokiji was taken aback upon hearing this. He raised his arm and was shocked to find a mysterious black pattern on it. Specifically, there were two black diamond rings on his wrist, and along them was a pattern that looked like the horns of a one-eyed demon.

(P.S.: This is based on the image of Gray's arm when he uses his evil-slaying magic in Fairy Tail.)

"This is..."

Aokiji's anger dissipated, and he looked at the dark patterns wrapped around his arm with surprise.

Penguin Mani said, "Surprised? Unexpected?"

Aokiji: ...

"I just infused your body with Sage Chakra through my teeth, causing changes in your body. The warm-colored markings on your arm are the best proof of that. When you use Sage Mode, the black markings will spread along your arm to your body."

Upon hearing this, Aokiji recalled the cursed seal Orochimaru formed when he bit someone's body with his teeth. And it seemed that the method of cultivating Sage Mode in Ryuchi Cave was also similar.

Seeing that he had withstood the blessing of the sage technique, Aokiji said excitedly, "So, does that mean I've passed the trial?"

Mani the penguin, with an air of detached wisdom, said, "This is just the first round. What's so great about you being able to withstand it?"

"Uh..." Aokiji seized on the key phrase: "Judging from your tone, there are still several rounds to go?"

Penguin Mani said, "Based on my observation, with your abilities, I think you should have no problem getting through the first two rounds. As for the third..."

"What will happen?"

Mani the penguin flapped his wings, indicating that he should pay.

Gan!

Aokiji gritted his teeth, reluctantly took a wad of cash from his briefcase and handed it to the other person, saying irritably, "Is this alright now?"

"Then I wouldn't know..."

Aokiji: ? ? ?

Even a clay figure has a temper; Aokiji's anger flared instantly: "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Don't get agitated, don't get agitated, I really don't know."

Aokiji is now the big spender, and Penguin Manny "can't afford to offend him," so she kindly advised, "Let me explain the three stages of Sage Mode to you."

Aokiji's anger subsided considerably: "That's more like it."

Penguin Mani organized his thoughts: "In the first stage, I will inject Sage Chakra into your body. If you can survive the first round, you can use Sage Mode Stage 1. If the injection of Sage Chakra was just the beginning, then the second stage is an enhancement on that basis. In other words, I will bite your arm again."

Aokiji: ...

"As for the third stage, that's more complicated. It's a process where quantitative change leads to qualitative change. To reach the third stage, besides talent, you also need determination..."

At this point, Manny the penguin paused deliberately, as if waiting for the other party to respond.

Aokiji's interest had been piqued, and seeing its hesitation, he couldn't wait any longer and asked, "What determination?"

Manny the penguin glanced at him, paused, and then said in a low voice, "Abandoning one's human identity..."

Aokiji's wide eyes were filled with astonishment: "What do you mean?"

Mani the penguin remained silent, then flapped his wings and repeated his old trick.

The meaning is clear: you have to pay more.

Aokiji was taken aback.

He understood, and he was furious.

I really want to confront Tencent, but unfortunately, they own the intellectual property rights, so I have no choice but to keep paying to obtain information.

Seeing Aokiji's filial piety, Penguin Mani didn't make things difficult for him: "To complete the third stage of transformation, the first two stages are the foundation. If you pass the first two trials, I will teach you a Sage Technique. After using it, a huge amount of chakra will surge from the surface of your body, weaving into a cocoon that covers you, like an egg. It is incredibly strong and cannot be destroyed from the outside by any attack. After a long period of brewing, it will trigger a change from quantity to quality, and finally hatch."

Hearing this, Aokiji swallowed hard. "What happens after it hatches?"

"The body will change and develop animal characteristics. At this point, there are two possible outcomes: either the body cannot withstand the explosion and the person dies, or the person completes the final transformation."

"You just mentioned that animal characteristics will appear. What exactly do you mean?"

"There are many scenarios, such as penguins, birds, and bears. The specific manifestations reflect the latent inner world of the person. You can understand it as a reflection of the soul."

Does it reflect the state of one's heart?

Aokiji thought about what he would look like if he were in that situation.

Descendants of the Dragon?

Ice Dragon?

and many more……

He looks handsome, but what's the point?

Now that things have turned out like this, how am I supposed to get close to Tsunade in the future...?

Dragon Knight?

No way, he doesn't want to be the one being ridden.

As if he had just thought of something, Aokiji asked, "Excuse me for asking, but you just said that Sage Mode has three stages. You don't mean you're dividing these stages into different prices, do you?"

Manny the penguin blinked: "Yeah, how come you're so smart?"

really……

Aokiji asked dejectedly, "So, how much will the second stage cost?"

Due to the uncertainty and side effects of the third stage, Aokiji decided to learn the second stage of Sage Mode.

Aokiji spent 3 million yen on the first stage of his training, including the apprenticeship fee. The price for the second stage would be at most a few hundred million yen.

He has found a way to get rich quickly through robbery; he is referring to ill-gotten gains.

"It's not expensive, only 50 billion."

"Pfft." Aokiji argued vehemently, raising his voice: "Why don't you just go and rob it?"

"The second phase is the price bundled with the third phase."

"Oh, I see, that makes much more sense... what a load of rubbish!" Aokiji retorted loudly, "Packed together? What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Never heard of bundled sales?" Penguin Mani looked puzzled.

"I only want to learn the second stage; I don't want to learn the third stage."

For him, using the third stage of immortal techniques was no different from courting death. Even if he managed to survive by sheer luck, he would no longer be human, so what would be the point?

"no?"

Why?

"How can I sell the third phase without this bundled sales approach?"

Mani the penguin knows what's going on.

Aokiji cursed loudly, "What a shameless, unscrupulous merchant..."

Penguin Mani shrugged it off: "A swindler? That's going too far. You get what you pay for, and besides, I've clearly marked the prices. I'm honest with everyone, young and old."

Aokiji certainly knew that you get what you pay for, and where else could you find a Sage Mode that cost 50 billion?

The problem is, what he learned in the third stage was completely useless...

"Alright, don't mind my dark complexion. How about you experience the first stage of Sage Mode now? Then we can look at the price?"

You know you're dark-skinned... Aokiji glanced down at the black markings wrapped around his arm: "How do I activate the first stage of Sage Mode?"

P.S.: To explain, the "Summoning Beasts" story didn't receive a good response, but since I'd already written it, I couldn't just abandon it, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and continue writing it.

Let's think of it as a "system" that grants the protagonist magical powers. Doesn't that look much better? (parentheses)

Overall, my personal abilities are probably limited.

(End of this chapter)