Chapter 137: The Location of Shikkotsu Forest is Found!
As Akiyama Makoto injected a large amount of chakra, a large tree slowly grew out, waving its branches at him a few times.
He sighed and deactivated his Yin Seal. He had just used nearly a Jōnin's worth of chakra just to grow a single tree. Forget the First Hokage's version of Wood Style; this was far inferior to even Yamato's. It seemed that only after he had upgraded his Earth, Water, and Wood Style talents to the Advanced level would his Wood Style have any real combat capability.
He wasn't discouraged by this, however. He had obtained the Wood Style primarily to prove his identity and lineage. For now, fighting with the Flying Thunder God and the Yin Seal was more than enough. And Moegi had also allowed him to awaken Cell Activation, which further motivated him to train his body.
But just having his own motivation wasn't enough. He had to speed up the improvement of the girls' strength. Otherwise, if their panels didn't improve, his subsequent simulation gains would also be stalled.
But this matter couldn't be rushed. Besides improving their panels, he also had to consider what kind of talents to leave them. Everyone had a different personality, past experiences, and teammates. Therefore, he had to first think carefully about what kind of enhancement path to give them. Of course, once he had maxed out all his own stats in the future, he could naturally max out theirs as well. But the current him couldn't afford such an expenditure. Even with 25 simulation attempts remaining, he couldn't lock in too many stats and talents every time he simulated with someone.
With a general direction in mind, he returned to the Kazematsuri Bathhouse. His new home was almost finished with its renovations, and it wouldn't be long before he left. It had to be said, his stay here had been quite comfortable. The feeling of being served was indeed much more relaxing than managing everything by himself.
Perhaps, in my new home, I can invite some of the girls to live together? At first glance, the idea was a bit risqué, but it didn't seem entirely impossible—
Forget it. I'll think about it after I move back.
For now, he hadn't even had the chance to experience the pleasant parts of this simulation yet.
First, of course, was to appreciate the world-famous painting, "Danzō, Go to Hell with Me," up close.
He arrived in front of the Four Violet Flames Formation and tried to use the Flying Thunder God to get inside, but to his regret, he failed. It was clear that his entry would directly change the outcome of the battle, which was unacceptable to the simulation itself. He could only regretfully summon half a watermelon, eat it with a spoon while watching the drama between Danzō and Hiruzen again under the angry glares of the Anbu and the Sound Four, and then he transferred his consciousness to that joyous night several years later.
Anko on his left, Kurenai on his right, and in front of him, a pregnant Ino with a wicked smile. Faced with the provocation of the three girls, you release your Yin Seal and fight a bloody battle until dawn.
Only then, still wanting more, did he turn his attention to the night he had made Moegi a woman. Although there was still some guilt in his heart, this was just a simulation. What was wrong with being husband and wife with Moegi?
After experiencing the beautiful life, Makoto collected himself and turned his attention back to what his simulated self had left for him: two opportunities.
One was when he had arrived at Shikkotsu Forest in the simulation and had left a Hiraishin mark there. He arrived at the simulated Shikkotsu Forest, and his eyes suddenly lit up. From here, he could also feel the Hiraishin marks he had left in the real Konoha. Didn't this mean he could use the method of intersecting multiple straight lines to determine the current location of Shikkotsu Forest?
With this idea, he didn't rush to try it. Instead, he went to see how Ino had used the Hiraishin mark to call him. After seeing the real thing, he had a sudden realization. It turned out his simulated self had come up with a very simple method. He had left multiple sheets of paper with the Hiraishin formula on them for Ino, and she had bound them together. This way, in his senses, there were several overlapping Hiraishin marks. When she was in danger, she could just destroy one of the marks. When he sensed that there was a problem with a mark, he could interpret it as her being in trouble.
This was not much different from Minato giving the Hiraishin kunai to Kakashi and telling them to throw it when they were in danger. The advantage was that his method allowed Ino to keep the marks on her person for a long time. He just needed to have a shadow clone check on them once in a while.
However, he was still a little dissatisfied with this. Could he design a jutsu in the future that would split off a part of his consciousness to constantly check the positions of these marks, just like the Illusion-Breaking Seal? It seemed very feasible. He would record it and study it slowly.
At this point, he had experienced about seventy to eighty percent of the gains from this simulation. His consciousness then returned to the real world, and he began to calculate the distance based on the spatial coordinate system in his mind.
Finally, his eyes looked in a certain direction. At the end of that direction was the most mysterious Shikkotsu Forest!
He had actually done it!
His simulated self and his real self had worked together. Without signing a contract scroll, he had directly locked onto the location of Shikkotsu Forest. This meant that his real self could go directly to find the Slug Sage.
He immediately took out a map of the ninja world and began to calculate. A strange expression then appeared on his face. He was surprised to find that Shikkotsu Forest was on the sea! No, "on the sea" was not an accurate way to put it. He took the curvature of the planet into account and was stunned to find that it should be at the bottom of the sea.
This—
His excitement dissipated quite a bit. Even the Six Paths of Pain had been unable to retrieve Jiraiya's body from the deep sea, and they weren't even human. Could he enter Shikkotsu Forest on his own? Wait, maybe it wasn't impossible.
The possibility of him sneaking in by himself was not high. But if he carved a Hiraishin mark on a heavy object, dropped it into the sea, and then used the Hiraishin to get in—
This was a method worth trying, but he still had to consider whether to do it. The Chūnin Exams were in a few months. After that, he could go find Tsunade. Was it possible that finding her and getting the summoning scroll would be much simpler than him going through all this trouble to get into Shikkotsu Forest?
He put away the map. In any case, he had something to do now.
For the next period, he began an even more high-intensity training regimen.
He occasionally ran into Guy, and even he was amazed at his diligence.
When Tenten was on leave, she also asked with confusion, could he really handle this level of training? She then tasted his upgraded Yang Release chakra and, blushing, lay in his arms, completely subdued by his powerful Yang energy. Of course, the two of them didn't do anything overly intimate, but instead channeled their excess energy into training.
Half a month later, the renovation of his house was complete.
He began to seal his things by himself, preparing to go home. Moegi was helping him, but from her expression, it was clear she was very sad.
He patted her head. "If you want to come and play at my house in the future, just come. My door will always be open for you."
Before she could be happy, he continued, "When your grandmother wants to retire, I will take over this shop. At that time, you can be the new proprietress."
Moegi froze, not understanding how he had managed to hit her weak spot twice in a row.
She put her hands on her hips and said with feigned maturity, "I know why so many big sisters like you now. You can see right into a girl's heart, Big Brother Makoto!"
"Alright, I admit I'm moved. In the future, if I don't want to be a ninja anymore, I'll come and be the proprietress, and I'll keep this room for you forever."
"Then I thank you, Madam Kazematsuri."
Moegi smiled and rubbed her nose, but there was one question she didn't dare to ask. If she was the proprietress, then who was the proprietor? There were too many girls around him. She'd better not join in the fun.
The next day, he moved back into his own house.
Looking at the spacious courtyard and the brand-new house, he revealed a happy smile. Although he was now worth more than twenty million Ryō and had achieved fame and success many times in his simulations, in reality, this was the first time he had a house of his own.
He was in high spirits, so he took out a brush and ink, stepped onto the wall to get close to the nameplate, and wrote the two large characters for "Akiyama."
Then, an old man's voice sounded from behind him. "Nice calligraphy."
He turned back, stunned, not expecting to see Hiruzen Sarutobi.
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