Night.
For once, the skies over the Land of Rain cleared up for the first time since the New Year.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse; the chilly early spring wind was blocked by the thick brick walls.
Uchiha Gen filled a large wooden tub with water, heated it using Fire Release, and took a comfortable hot bath to wash away the fatigue from the day's battle.
Although he hadn't been injured in the battle during the day, it had been extremely dangerous.
If he hadn't possessed a high-quality ninja sword that was sharp enough, and if his Uchiha Style Swordsmanship hadn't allowed him to imbue the blade with high-temperature flames, he would have been caught off guard by the opponent's Gelatinous Water Release the moment they engaged in close combat.
He wouldn't necessarily have died, but he certainly would have been injured.
And if he were injured, his combat condition would have surely declined.
With the enemy gaining the upper hand as he weakened, the fight might not have gone so smoothly.
Splash~
Uchiha Gen stood up from the wooden tub, stretched, dried himself off, left the bathroom, and returned to his quarters.
Sarutobi Enjun and Uzuki Ruri seemed to have been spurred on by something; it was already dark, yet they were still out training and hadn't returned.
Uchiha Gen simply lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and began to check the system panel.
[Character Name: Uchiha Gen]
[Character Level: 20]
[Currently Loaded Character Card: Young Madara]
[Currently Available Item Cards: 0]
[Available Card Draws: 1]
[Current Attributes: Nin 6; Tai 6; Gen 5; Str 5; Spd 7; Sta 5; Seal 6; Int 7; Total: 47]
He had finally reached level twenty!
Uchiha Gen focused his gaze on the character card and unequipped the Young Madara card.
A slight feeling of weakness washed over him.
The bonuses from the character card vanished; the most direct impact was the reduction in his Chakra reserves.
However, aside from that, most of the skills Young Madara possessed had already been absorbed and mastered by Gen.
The only difference was...
Uchiha Gen took a small mirror from the bedside cabinet, closed his eyes, and then snapped them open.
A pair of crimson Sharingan were clearly reflected in the mirror; within each red iris, a single tomoe was slowly rotating.
He had awakened them.
It wasn't by relying on a character card, but by relying on his own Uchiha bloodline that he had successfully awakened the Sharingan.
He had felt it during the battle; his Sharingan's ocular power had surged significantly at a certain moment.
It was almost twice as intense as when he had first obtained the Madara character card.
"During the battle today, my emotions were indeed quite agitated and high, but far from the level required to awaken the eyes."
"It seems my previous guess was correct—the character card can indeed help me awaken my eyes, though the specific principle remains to be explored."
"Regardless, it's a good thing."
"Now, even if I unequip the Young Madara card, aside from the drop in Chakra affecting my endurance, my overall combat strength is nearly ninety percent of what it was when I had Young Madara equipped before awakening."
"If I equip it back, there will be a certain boost in ocular power."
"Though I don't know yet if I'll be able to copy enemy Ninjutsu like with a two-tomoe Sharingan."
Uchiha Gen blinked and deactivated the Sharingan.
He wasn't particularly excited about awakening his eyes; after all, he had already experienced it for a long time through the Young Madara card.
But it was certainly a good thing.
Uchiha Gen steadied his breathing and refocused his attention on the system panel.
[Current Available Card Draws: 1]
[Use?]
[Yes.]
[System drawing...]
[Pity mechanism triggered]
[Successfully recruited Character Card: Young Tsunade; Quality: (Green)]
[Character Card (Green) Description: When equipped, grants all abilities of the character.]
Young Tsunade?
Before Uchiha Gen could examine it closely, a cutscene played once again.
The sound of rolling dice echoed.
A young blonde girl was crouching by a bed, focused intently on shaking the dice until the bamboo cup opened, revealing three dice all showing sixes.
"Grandpa, look! I won!"
Little Tsunade waved her small hands excitedly.
This was the first time she had won a bet.
"Hahaha! As expected of my granddaughter who inherited my great gambling skills—to actually beat your grandpa!"
A long-haired man lay half-reclined on the bed.
His face, which should have been heroic and spirited, was now gaunt and haggard, yet he laughed heartily.
His weak voice carried a sense of open-mindedness and heroism that disregarded life and death.
By the bed, Uzumaki Mito, her face still as beautiful as in her youth with the red diamond of the Yin Seal on her forehead, was silently weeping.
Her time had not yet come; the Chakra stored in the Yin Seal still allowed her to maintain her youth.
Not far away, Senju Tobirama, wearing his Hokage robes, stood solemnly alongside Hashirama's son.
The scene shifted again.
Before Tobirama's portrait, the person weeping had become Tsunade, followed by a series of rapid silhouettes.
There was a scene of Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya becoming apprentices to a young Hiruzen.
A scene of Jiraiya asking Orochimaru to play the villain so he could save the damsel, only to be sent flying by a punch.
And scenes of her first steps onto the battlefield, showing her violent yet beautiful figure.
The image finally froze on the moment Tsunade threw a punch, shattering a massive boulder.
The cutscene ended, but the system prompts weren't over; they came in rapid succession.
[Level 20 detected; the system will update automatically.]
[Starting update...]
[This update includes the following:]
[1. Gacha pool quality cap updated: Blue quality cards unlocked.]
[2. Drop rates adjusted; significantly increased the probability of Green cards.]
[3. Added one card slot.]
[4. Issued a Level 20 Item Lucky Bag, containing five random item cards, the first of which is guaranteed to be a random Blue item card.]
[Update in progress... Update complete; Item Lucky Bag has been issued.]
YES!
Uchiha Gen couldn't help but pump his fist in excitement, springing up from the bed and throwing a punch into the air.
This was definitely a massive power-up!
[Young Tsunade equipped!]
[Young Madara equipped!]
The familiar ocular power surged from his Sharingan once again.
Simultaneously, an extremely vigorous life force surged through Uchiha Gen's body, and his Chakra reserves skyrocketed even further.
"This feeling..."
Uchiha Gen clenched his fists again.
He could feel that the strength in his body was on a completely different level than before.
Is this the constitution of the Senju Clan?
Is this the power of Hashirama's bloodline?
If even Tsunade, who only inherited a quarter of Hashirama's bloodline, is this strong, then how powerful must Hashirama himself have been?
Healing without hand seals, a natural Sage Body!
"This feels really good."
"Although Tsunade in her youth isn't as powerful as her adult self, her Monstrous Strength and Medical Ninjutsu are already quite advanced."
"The Senju Clan's superior Chakra reserves and Tsunade's precise Chakra control are the perfect complements to my current self!"