Naruto evolution system

Chapter 172: Target: Sage Mode

Baishi closed the interface, noticing a strange sensation in his body. Curious, he turned his senses inward.

However, as soon as he did so, an unbearable itching sensation swept through his entire body, reaching the depths of his soul. The feeling was almost too much to bear.

His expression stiffened, and instinct urged him to scratch. Yet, his strong willpower stopped him from giving in.

The reason was simple—the itch didn't originate from any external source. It was a side effect of the second advancement of Regeneration. The sensation stemmed from the transformation of his cells across his entire body.

This itching was merely a natural response of his body during such a transformation. Scratching would achieve nothing.

The only way to overcome it was to stop focusing on it.

With great effort, Baishi withdrew his awareness from his body and suppressed his sensitivity to the changes. As expected, the itching sensation disappeared.

Relieved, he exhaled deeply.

Still, he decided not to leave the underground chamber.

The transformation wasn't something that could be completed in a single day, and while his sensitivity was blocked, his combat capabilities were greatly diminished. In this state, he preferred to remain in a safe and secluded location.

Though he couldn't train or evolve during this period, the prospect of a more powerful future made the inconvenience worth enduring.

---

Days turned into nights, and a week passed in the blink of an eye.

At midday, Baishi's tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open. He murmured to himself, "The transformation is complete."

Releasing the suppression on his body, he fully opened his senses. The dreaded itching sensation didn't return—his transformation had indeed concluded.

He raised his right hand, channeling wind-style chakra to his fingertips. With a sharp motion, he slashed his left arm. A chunk of flesh detached and fell to the ground.

What happened next was extraordinary.

The severed flesh began wriggling as if alive, sprouting tiny tendrils of tissue that pulled it across the ground toward Baishi.

Stay still.

Baishi commanded silently, and astonishingly, the piece of flesh obeyed, ceasing its movement.

Grow and develop.

He gave another mental command, and the flesh reacted immediately. It began to wriggle and morph, rapidly growing and dividing. In mere moments, it had taken on the faint form of an infant.

"Stop!" Baishi suddenly barked, his voice urgent and tinged with tension.

The piece of flesh froze mid-transformation.

It wasn't fear of the flesh taking on a life of its own. Even if it completed its transformation, it would merely be an empty shell—a perfect spare body without a soul.

Rather, Baishi's concern stemmed from his chakra reserves.

Yes, the growth and development of the severed flesh required a steady supply of chakra from Baishi.

Even with his vast reserves of nearly two thousand chakra points, the process had drained 90% of his energy in a matter of moments. How could he not feel alarmed?

Thankfully, the experiment proved his theory correct. The concept of regeneration from a single drop of blood was feasible.

In the future, he would need to accumulate more chakra or enhance his body's energy efficiency to make the process more practical.

The former required unlocking the full potential of his body to raise his chakra capacity—a task that would become easier with the improvements brought by the second advancement of Regeneration.

As for increasing energy efficiency, Baishi's best option was to train in Sage Mode and incorporate senjutsu chakra into his arsenal.

Senjutsu chakra, derived from nature energy, possessed a significantly higher energy level than ordinary chakra. It was potent enough to influence even Yin-Yang Release techniques.

If he could convert all his internal chakra into senjutsu chakra and maintain this state, the burden of cellular regeneration would decrease significantly.

However, achieving such mastery would require him to not only learn Sage Mode but also refine it to the point of making it his default state.

Such aspirations were lofty and required gradual progress.

For now, his goal was clear: mastering Sage Mode. Further refinements could wait until he achieved this milestone.

---

With his path set, Baishi began considering adjustments to his evolution strategy.

Now that Regeneration had achieved its second advancement, further progress in the short term would be slow and yield diminishing returns.

It made more sense to redirect his energy toward enhancing other abilities, maximizing the efficiency of his chakra investment.

As for when to resume focusing on Regeneration, he planned to wait until he captured a few more Tailed Beasts or advanced his Energy Absorption ability to unlock new energy sources.

"Yes, that's the plan," Baishi concluded.

Now came the question of where to redirect the freed resources.

Baishi reopened the interface, carefully reviewing his abilities.

Before long, his attention settled on Skin Reinforcement.

This ability had once been instrumental in improving his physical durability, but it had long fallen into disuse.

With the creation of his Chakra Armor, the protective properties of Skin Reinforcement were largely redundant. Few opponents could even breach his chakra armor, and minor injuries were easily healed by Regeneration.

As a result, Skin Reinforcement remained at level IX, far behind abilities like Energy Absorption, which had already reached its first advancement.

Still, Baishi now saw its potential.

In scenarios where his chakra was sealed or depleted, neither his chakra armor nor Regeneration could protect him. In such cases, Skin Reinforcement could be his only line of defense.

While the likelihood of encountering such situations was low, it wasn't zero. Preparing for the worst was always prudent.

---

With his decision made, Baishi wasted no time. He packed his belongings and left the underground chamber.

Despite the pressing demands of his training, he had no intention of halting his travels across the shinobi world.

Additionally, he intended to use this journey to test a hypothesis. If proven correct, it might lead him to seek out Orochimaru for answers.

(Chapter End)

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