Chapter 10

After hastily setting up their organization, everyone went home. Right now, Jin was nothing more than an idea. If they truly wanted to put it into action, they had to first break free from the constraints placed on them. Otherwise, everything would be just empty talk.

With Zixu's personality, the first thing he did after returning home was obvious—eliminate the hidden dangers in his body.

"Deep Blue—no, system, add some points!" Zixu called out in his mind. Just the thought of the poison Konoha had planted in him made his skin crawl. If he didn't get rid of this ticking time bomb immediately, he'd feel like ten thousand ants were crawling all over his body.

[Do you want to spend 9,500 points to increase Kaido's physical fusion to 25%?]

"Do it!"

Zixu watched as his points plummeted from five digits down to three. He couldn't help but mourn for them. They hadn't even had the chance to warm up in his system before being spent.

But deep down, he knew—these points couldn't be hoarded.

As the numbers dropped, his body started changing. He felt his bones compressing and solidifying, his muscles expanding and contracting in cycles, like dough being kneaded over and over. It was as if his body was being refined, forced into something tougher and more durable.

Strangely enough, there was no pain.

Instead, it felt good.

It was like stepping into a hot bath after a long day, lying in bed at the perfect temperature, and having someone scratch an itch at just the right spot. A subtle but undeniable pleasure.

"Damn… this is way better than my usual self-inflicted pain to improve fusion. Just burns a hell of a lot of points, though," Zixu muttered, analyzing the difference between using points and training manually.

He clenched his fist, feeling the surge of explosive power running through his body.

CRACK.

The sound of his joints popping echoed through the room, unsettling even him. He tried to control his newfound strength but quickly realized how difficult it was. Just to test himself, he pulled out a shuriken—but the moment he gripped it, the metal bent under his fingers.

His physique hadn't changed much on the outside. His bone structure and muscle mass looked about the same. But inside? He was completely different.

If he had been like a cotton pillow before, now he was a block of iron compressed into the same size. His density had increased, making him far stronger than before, even without visible bulk.

"Is it hard to control fusion gained through system points? Maybe that's the trade-off," Zixu thought to himself. He carefully considered the pros and cons.

When he trained the old-fashioned way, progress was painfully slow—but he had full control over his abilities. With the system, he could level up instantly, but adjusting to the power was another story.

Both methods had their advantages.

Still, unless he was desperate, he decided to rely on his own training rather than wasting points.

"System, is the poison in my body gone?" Zixu asked. His personal safety was the biggest priority. He had burned through nearly all his reward points—if that wasn't enough to get rid of Konoha's leash on him, then he was screwed.

[Potential toxins have been eliminated. The host is now immune to most poisons.]

Hearing that, Zixu let out a relieved sigh.

"Alright, that's one problem solved," he muttered. Now that his body was clean, he turned his attention to what else he could do with the pathetic 500 points he had left.

"System, how do I unlock the other abilities from the template?"

[Devil Fruit abilities require points to unlock. The Haki system can be unlocked either through personal comprehension or spending points.]

Zixu narrowed his eyes. "How many points are we talking about?"

He already had a bad feeling.

[Unlocking Devil Fruit abilities: 50,000 points.]

[Unlocking Haki system: 30,000 points.]

PAK!

Zixu smacked his forehead.

Fifty. Thousand.

Thirty. Thousand.

His heart ached just thinking about it.

With only 500 points to his name, unlocking those abilities was impossible. Maybe, maybe he could awaken Haki on his own through training, but the Devil Fruit? He had no choice but to grind for points.

For now, all he could do was focus on his current strength.

And with that, Zixu closed his eyes, taking a moment to process everything.

He was officially free from Konoha's poison, his body had evolved to another level, and he had confirmed the cost of unlocking his template's full power.

"By the way, is it possible to master the abilities of multiple Devil Fruits at the same time without using the Dark-Dark Fruit?" Zixu's mind became active again.

[The plan is feasible, but the host needs to learn specific ninjutsu…]

The system responded. Although it didn't give any specifics, just knowing it was possible was enough. If he wanted to learn a certain ninjutsu in the future, he could just ask the system.

"Let's save up points to unlock the fruit ability first. I can comprehend the Haki system on my own… so I better stockpile as many points as possible," Zixu muttered, setting a small goal for himself.

Of course, plans were made by people, and circumstances could change. If he encountered an emergency—like having enough points to unlock Haki but still falling short on a Devil Fruit ability—he wouldn't hesitate to awaken Haki first if it could turn the situation around.

"Hmm… there's a Power section? What's that for?" Zixu asked. The system quickly answered by listing out the relevant details.

[Faction Name: All]

[Members: Uzumaki Xuanwu, Hyuga Chinano, Aburame Hatsuizumi]

[Organization Charter: Will of Fire (New)]

[Organizational Mission: Break Away from Konoha's Control]

[Organizational Strength: D-]

[Organization Funding: None]

[Organization Warehouse: None]

[Organization Building: None]

[Affiliated Organizations: None]

[Organization Visibility: Unknown]

[Host, please work hard to improve the influence of the organization. The system will reward the host based on the organization's growth.]

Looking at a list full of "None", Zixu finally understood—what they had established wasn't even a proper organization yet. It was more like a secret society.

Still, as long as the system recognized it, that was enough.

"Accept the second round of tasks," Zixu said. He remembered that this was a sequential mission. Maybe it was because their organization was too small that it triggered a multi-step task.

[Mission Accepted: Initial Organization Establishment (Second Stage)]

[Mission Details: Improve the Organization's Strength to C+]

[Mission Deadline: Before Graduation from the Academy]

[Mission Reward: 30,000 Points, 4 Random Item Draws, 1 Random A-Rank Ninjutsu]

The deadline was quite long. Based on their team's current progress, they still had about four years left in the Academy. Plenty of time.

While he had solved the problem of Konoha's leash on himself, the real challenge lay in the cursed seals on Hatsuizumi and Chinano.

But since the system encouraged him to build this organization, he couldn't take it lightly. After all, if the group's influence grew, he'd be rewarded with points.

Right now, their overall strength was D-, which was roughly equivalent to an apprentice ninja. To reach C+, they needed to be among the stronger Genin.

Most students graduated from the Academy at Genin level, meaning they had to surpass most of their peers by the time they left school to clear the mission.

Zixu himself wasn't worried—his own growth was secure.

But the mission required everyone in the organization to get stronger.

That meant it depended on how far Hatsuizumi and Chinano could grow. Fortunately, both of them came from powerful clans in Konoha, so their potential wasn't a problem.

"Alright, another mission accepted. Now, it's time for the main event," Zixu muttered, cracking his knuckles.

With the organizational tasks out of the way, he could finally move on to his favorite part.

Zixu didn't have many hobbies, but one of his guilty pleasures? Drawing cards.

Even in his past life, despite countless unlucky draws proving he had no gambler's luck, he still held on to that one thought: What if?

"Come on, three chances to draw random items," Zixu muttered, rubbing his hands eagerly as he pulled up the system.

A massive virtual wheel appeared before him, filled with a dazzling array of items. His eyes shone as he scanned through them.

The size of each item's section varied depending on its rarity. The more precious the item, the smaller its space on the wheel.

The golden-tier rewards were so tiny that the pointer itself seemed bigger than their space.

"Kurobuta Yaiba… Kusukimi Kirigiri… Yama… Soul-Soul Fruit… Tremor-Tremor Fruit… Adam Wood… Pluto…"

A long list of legendary items that could make anyone drool.

But next to these god-tier rewards…

There were some questionable choices.

"Pink Feather Coat? The Empress' Cheongsam? Chopper's Hair? Sanji's Cigarette? Artificial Devil Fruit?"

Zixu's eyelids twitched.

For some reason, he had a bad feeling about what he'd end up drawing.

"Bah, bah, bah! Don't jinx yourself! System, I believe in miracles! Three draws, let's go!"

Hyped up, he activated his first draw.

[You received: Tashigi's Glasses]

"...Glasses?"

Totally useless.

Still, maybe he could give them to Hatsuizumi to boost team morale.

[You received: A Pair of Slippers]

…Slippers.

At least they were wearable. Practical, even. Better than some useless cosmetic item.

Then came the third draw—

[You received: The Silence Fruit]

!!!

Zixu immediately tossed the glasses and slippers aside. They were trash. The Silence Fruit, though? That was real loot.

"A Devil Fruit…!" His heartbeat quickened.

Even though his Kaido template wasn't unlocked yet, a real, usable Devil Fruit was right in front of him. How could he not be excited?

But after the initial rush, he quickly calmed down and started analyzing.

"Wait… in the One Piece world, Devil Fruit users rarely fight using water because everyone is an ability user. But here, in the Naruto world? Water Release is common as hell. If eating this fruit gives me the same weakness to water… wouldn't that be a huge problem?"

Zixu frowned, thinking it through.

"Like, imagine me transforming into a dragon, ready to wreck my opponent… and then getting KO'd by a single Water Dragon Bullet. That'd be so embarrassing."

There was no seastone in the Naruto world, but he wasn't 100% sure if the fruit's water weakness would carry over.

Not to mention, he still needed to unlock Kaido's fruit ability.

What if eating this Devil Fruit messed with his ability to awaken Kaido's powers?

Wouldn't that be game over for his whole plan?

After weighing the risks, Zixu made a decision.

"For now… I'll keep the Silence Fruit stored. Once I master Shadow Clones, I'll use one of them to test it out first. Better safe than sorry."

And in case the water weakness did transfer over?

He needed countermeasures.

"If I really end up weak to water, I'll need to hide that vulnerability at all costs. And I should start learning more ninjutsu—specifically Earth Release techniques to counter Water Release."

With that, Zixu reluctantly stored the Silence Fruit inside the system.

Then, without wasting any more time, he went right back to training—pushing his body to fully adapt to his enhanced strength.

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