Infinite Anime [292-293] (Patreon)

Chapter 292: Spirit-Seed Evolution, A Thousandfold Training Speed

They parted on bad terms.

It could only be called an awkward breakup. Gusion felt he probably wouldn't be able to be friends with the sailor-uniform girl anymore.

That straight-faced humblebragging made him seriously suspect his initial Luck stat was way too low.

Judging by her tone, the sailor-uniform girl clearly had a base Luck in the double digits—Gusion couldn't accept that.

The only consolation was that his own Luck was now quite high too.

After the sailor-uniform girl left, Gusion took out the dark-gold chest dropped by Obito.

This time, he didn't hesitate. He opened it under a sky-defying 7 points of Luck.

Whether it was his first time basking in such high luck or simply that confidence invites favor, Gusion was greeted by a blinding flash.

It popped!

[You have obtained a bloodline item: Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan (Kamui Variant)]

Holy—he hit the theoretically highest reward, and it wasn't even a bait-and-switch. Not a Hashirama-cell-supported ordinary Mangekyo, but a full Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

The description did note that this pair's abilities matched Obito's, with initial ocular techniques locked. Until it develops into the Rinnegan, no custom ocular technique will awaken.

Compared to the Mangekyo he got via quest, this pair had pros and cons. The downside: no bespoke ocular technique. The upside: Obito's ocular technique is already strong—some Explorers might never awaken anything stronger.

As a dark-gold bloodline item with a no-side-effect spatial Mangekyo, this would be a killer weapon through mid-game space content, and should be hot on the market.

Sell this, and Gusion would be loaded.

To maximize his power before entering the Bleach world, Gusion raced against time and headed straight to the market.

He first listed the enhancement stones he'd gotten from Titan in the Tier-3 market, then went up to the Tier-4 market.

He set up a stall and displayed Obito's Sharingan, quickly stirring a commotion.

Turns out his entry timing into Naruto was perfect for chaos. This Eternal Mangekyo scored 930 (range 700–1000), top-tier even among dark-gold bloodline items.

This isn't something your average Tier-4 Explorer can snag, let alone Tier-3. Obito's power wasn't strong, but he had great eyes.

He'd scouted the Tier-4 market: most Tier-4 Explorers used epic gear; weaker early Tier-4s still had plenty of legendary gear.

Dark-gold gear users were rare, and not everyone could afford a dark-gold bloodline.

"Nice piece… looks like a chest pull. Popping a chest and getting a bloodline of this tier—hell of a roll!"

A passing Explorer sighed in admiration, and Gusion loved hearing it.

They didn't know the chest was a compensation, not a live drop.

Maybe it was residual luck from the room, but his luck was absurdly good today: a real buyer appeared shortly after he set up.

"Seven hundred fifty thousand. If you'll part with it, we can close right now."

The buyer was a man in ninja tactical gear—clearly a chakra-path enhancer—very taken with the Sharingan.

Gusion had listed it at 800k, admittedly a bit high. He'd checked dark-gold prices in the Tier-4 market.

Max-score gear went for ~700k, but bloodlines were special and pricier. His Mangekyo wasn't max score; 800k was a feeler to invite negotiation.

The bargain wasn't harsh, so Gusion accepted readily.

"Good man—add me? I'm Bug Shadow, captain of the Shinobi-Slayers adventure group."

The man introduced himself, elated at the purchase.

Gusion didn't refuse. More contacts, more outlets for future deals.

With cash in hand, Gusion began authenticating items in his storage.

As before, because he'd gotten high exploration completion, the End Space gave him a 40% discount on authentication.

[Crude Sage Body] was cheap to authenticate—just 50,000 End Coins after discount (low-scoring epic).

[Edo Tensei Scroll] cost much more—130,000 after discount.

[Konoha Forbidden Techniques Compendium], being a max-score dark-gold special skill-learning item, was very expensive: 300,000 after discount.

Meaning normally it would cost 500,000 to authenticate, and since authentication usually represents half market price, this thing likely had a market value of around 1,000,000.

Understandable: it includes all Konoha forbidden techniques, with many individually dark-gold skills—a "mega-bundle" scroll.

Split apart, it might be worth even more.

But it's a hard sell in practice. Not all Naruto forbidden arts are practical; there's plenty of filler. No Tier-4 would drop a million on this.

So, Gusion decided not to sell and would use it himself as feed for the Origin Spirit-Seed. He'd already learned the practical stuff; he didn't have time to research the chaff.

Used as a skill item, the Space could directly "load" him the contents, saving time.

After authenticating, he showed Edo Tensei, Cursed Seal, and Living Corpse Reincarnation to Bug Shadow before he left.

"Need these?"

Bug Shadow's eyes lit up. "Brother, did you butcher Orochimaru, or are you in cahoots with him?"

He'd been Tier-4 for a while. His last Naruto run was a past cycle—he'd been too weak then and got little.

He wanted to go again, but Space has a rule: within a cycle, if you don't clear a world, you can't re-enter that same world in the same cycle.

In short, you get only one attempt per world per cycle. No "learn and retry."

For Bug Shadow and his group—Naruto system fanatics—it was painful not to get favorite jutsu or kekkei genkai. Seeing Gusion's stock was tempting.

"How much? If the price is right, I'll take them all."

Their group had done well last world. As late Tier-4, they had decent funds.

"Edo Tensei 400k, Cursed Seal and Living Corpse Reincarnation 130k each."

Gusion noticed they were flush but didn't gouge, quoting what he felt was fair.

"Not bad. I'll ping my teammates to pool funds."

Half an hour later, funds arrived and the deal closed for 660k.

"I actually have another nice scroll. Want to look?"

Gusion produced the Konoha Forbidden Techniques Compendium to test the waters; groups like theirs were his ideal buyers.

Sadly, though Bug Shadow's eyes shone, he sighed and shook his head. "This won't be cheap, and I can't blow the team's assets just to satisfy my collector itch."

He liked the Naruto path but wasn't purely chakra-specialized. Explorers in Space are generalists; he wouldn't spend the team dry on a bundle with lots of padding.

No sale—fine. Gusion would keep it as planned.

He'd also gotten some Cloud Village secret arts in trade, but he'd already learned those in-world. Space considered the reward "consumed."

Once he learned a secret art, the scroll couldn't leave the world as a reward item unless authenticated.

Initially, Gusion felt that unfair, but then he understood. Self-learners are rare, but not nonexistent. Space is preventing edge-case exploits.

In-world it's fine, but in Space, issues arise. Suppose Gusion bought a skill scroll on the market. Instead of using Space's assisted-use pipeline, he self-comprehends the skill.

Now he knows the skill and still has the scroll. If he sells it again, that's a freebie duplication—bad for the market economy.

So self-learning to consume the reward scroll is a loss in one sense, but there's also a benefit: self-comprehended skills feel smoother than Space-injected ones.

He tries not to rely on Space assistance unless necessary. He plans to use inheritance crystals mostly for bloodlines.

Today's clearance sale went great—sold out in less than half a day. Luck was indeed good. Cash on hand surged.

After the back-and-forth, he had 850,000 End Coins left—enough to pick up another one or two epic items.

He didn't buy dark-gold gear because dark-gold items usually have high base stat requirements—generally for mid-to-late Tier-4s. Buying now would be useless.

Bloodline items, by contrast, even at high tiers, usually don't demand harsh base stats.

With cash in hand, he took it easy. Seeing nothing tempting, he went back to self-enhance.

In his room, he first used the Kirigakure Ninjutsu Compendium—also a dark-gold scroll. In sheer number of skills, it even exceeded the Konoha compendium, though many were low-level.

After use, his Origin Spirit-Seed had feed to spare—enough to absorb for a long time.

Then he used the Konoha Forbidden Techniques Compendium to top up high-level skills.

By his estimate, this Naruto haul should be enough to open the fifth slot of his Origin Spirit-Seed. The fourth was nearly open—maybe a week or two away.

After absorbing the scrolls, he checked his Spirit-Seed status.

The seed in the slot was no longer just sprouting—a green sapling poked from the soil, brimming with vitality.

[Spirit-Seed: Origin]

Seed Sequence: 1
Growth Stage: Seedling
Ability 1. Divine Body:
Choose an active skill you currently have and place it in an Origin Seed slot to convert it into a zero-cost passive.

Ability 2. Harmonize:
If the placed skill conflicts with your current enhancement path, the Seed auto-adapts it for smooth use.

Current Slots: 3
Skill-switch cooldown: 12 hours

[]

The Origin Seed had reached seedling stage, gaining a new ability.

But the growth rate disappointed him. He didn't know if Seeds differed in power, but though he got Origin early and knew many skills to begin with, its growth was slow and laborious.

By contrast, the Chaos Seed had only a single world of feeding, yet after successive Devil Fruit and bloodline absorption it already unlocked the fourth slot—shockingly fast.

At this stage, the Chaos Seed had evolved slightly.

[Spirit-Seed: Chaos]

Seed Sequence: 5
Growth Stage: Growing Seedling
Ability 1. Fusion:
When you use a bloodline item, you may place it into a Chaos Seed slot. Bloodlines in the Seed will no longer conflict; the Seed harmonizes and removes possible side-effect conflicts.

Ability 2. Optimization:
After using a bloodline item, the Seed performs adaptive optimization to better fit your physique, modestly raising its ceiling.

[Note: Bloodlines placed in the Chaos Seed can be actively removed. At the current stage, removing a bloodline will also remove any attribute gains it granted. Removal is irreversible—use with caution.]

Current Slots: 4
Bloodline removal cooldown: once per task-world interval or once per subjective natural year

[]

After the upgrade, the Chaos Seed could not only fuse bloodlines but also optimize them—essentially a free mini-upgrade to raise the original ceiling. In Gusion's eyes, that was broken, with huge long-term value.

The flexible removal cooldown didn't matter much—he had no plans to remove bloodlines yet.

With three Origin slots, his setup could now be flexible. In Space, he'd maximize training gain: Shadow Clone, Spiritual Pressure Training Method, and the cultivation method from Transforming-Dragon Art.

Yes—Transforming-Dragon Art, judged by Space as a cultivation skill, had daily practice methods counted as active skills; it could be slotted into Origin to auto-train.

With those three, he could keep spawning Shadow Clones and pack them onto the bed to cultivate. The multiplicative stacking could accelerate training by over a hundredfold.
Add his Limiter-Release talent, and he could be over a thousand times faster than ordinary Explorers' natural training.

Thus, even slow self-cultivation would yield great returns when multiplied.

After confirming the Origin slot layout, Gusion took out his Mangekyo Sharingan. He planned to use the bloodline and see what bespoke ocular technique he'd get.

Chapter 293: Mangekyo and Sage Body

[Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan (Pending Activation)]

Origin: Naruto (Derivative World)

Quality: Dark-Gold
Type: Bloodline Item

Use: Best activated in Space

Requirement: Pioneer No. 008 exclusive

Details: A custom Pioneer-exclusive Mangekyo evolved into Eternal Mangekyo by End Space mission crafting. As it hasn't been used, ocular techniques are not yet active. Please research after activation.

Score: 999 (700–1000)

Evaluation: Because it is unknown, it contains infinite possibility.

[]

After confirming the details, Gusion consumed the high-score bloodline item.

Its score surpassed Obito's mainly because it was custom. Whether the awakened ocular technique was stronger than Kamui or not, it would be what suited him best.

[Initiating bloodline awakening for Pioneer…]

This time, in the operation chamber, his consciousness was much clearer. Unlike the usual violent full-body overhaul, Space simply fused the Mangekyo into his eye sockets and then bathed him in special energy.

When the Chaos Seed activated, the bloodline received additional strengthening as it fused.

After a while, Gusion returned to his room. Opening his eyes, the world felt crystal clear.

It was strange—if he focused, he could observe dust motes in the air in microscopic detail, down to irregularities on their surfaces.

Pulling focus long, distant details were crisp. He felt his dynamic vision had improved greatly.

He opened the bloodline menu to check his Mangekyo's specifics.

[Bloodline: Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan]

Rating: S+
Level: 1/20
Intro: The Yin-Release Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha from Naruto. The bearer's ocular power never decays, and using Mangekyo abilities does not reduce vision.

Gains: Dynamic vision +200%, dynamic neural reflexes +20%, Spirit +2. Each bloodline level adds dynamic vision +100%, reflex +10%, Spirit +1.

By upgrading and developing this bloodline, the Pioneer can gain new bloodline skills and higher direct gains.

[Note: This bloodline can mutate. Absorbing certain bloodlines may allow it to mutate into the next form at max level.]

Skill 1. Void-Sense (Passive)
Effect: See energy flows—creatures, barriers, etc.

Skill 2. Hyper-Reflex (Active)
Effect: Consumes ocular power to enter hyper-reflex state, doubling Mangekyo's base boosts (including Spirit gain).
Cooldown: None

Skill 3. Susanoo (Active)
Effect: Consumes ocular power and Soul-Source to summon Susanoo armor with great offense and defense.
Cooldown: None

Evaluation: Pierce falsehood, cut down all foes!

[]

A quick read showed a simple, no-frills Mangekyo—exactly his style.

Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, space-time tricks—none suited his combat approach.

He wanted Mangekyo mainly because, in his fight with the Raikage, he'd struggled to track the opponent, and even in Lightning Chakra Mode his own charges blurred his path.

So he wanted Mangekyo's powerful baseline, with any extra ocular technique as a bonus.

Custom indeed—the heart-reflecting eye delivered, pushing his key areas hardest.

"Hyper-Reflex" is a plain name, unlike Naruto's habit of mythic Shinto naming—likely because this Mangekyo had left Naruto's framework as a End Space custom, so it followed his taste.

In hyper-reflex, Mangekyo base gains double. Even at level 1, that's plenty.

At higher levels, the doubled returns only scale up. Beyond vision and reflexes, the doubled Spirit spike alone is terrifying.

He wasn't sure if this temporary boost could break attribute walls. If it could, at max bloodline level, Spirit could temporarily rise by up to 21 points!
That's wild. He wasn't a mage, but Spirit boosts mean richer Soul-Source, higher Spiritual Pressure; plus his Lightning God Fruit's damage would soar.

All just a nice dream for now—the inheritance crystal cost to level such a high-grade bloodline would be staggering. He didn't have that kind of money.

The Mangekyo's basics were all there. Susanoo he likely wouldn't use often—piloting a giant to hack people wasn't as satisfying as doing it himself.

After awakening Mangekyo, Gusion took out another bloodline: a degraded Sage Body derived from Hashirama cells.

"End, use this bloodline item."

He wanted to test a hypothesis.

…

Some time later, Space spat him out. He landed with bright eyes and checked the menu.

[Bloodline: Sage Body]

Rating: S+
Level: 1/30
Intro: A Yang-Release special physique from Hashirama Senju, granting excellent all-around boosts.

At current level: +3 Constitution, +3 Strength, +3 Spirit.

Each level adds +3 to those same stats.

Skill 1. Potential Unshackled (Passive)
Effect: The bearer can excavate potential through training and can level this bloodline relatively easily without inheritance crystals.

Skill 2. Wood Release (Active)
Effect: Influenced by the source of the sample, this bloodline can use Wood Release techniques. Acquire or research specifics yourself.
Cooldown: Varies with technique.

Skill 3. Sage's Boon (Passive)
Effect: All skills you use have their potency increased by 10%—damage, control, etc.
This bonus rises by 5% per bloodline level, calculated independently.

Evaluation: Tsk, you lucked out, kid.

[]

Reading the details, Gusion realized this was a windfall. The Chaos Seed had adapted a knockoff Sage Body into one tailored to him.

Compared to Hashirama's version, this one was more suitable to him—a result of Space converting Hashirama cells into a bloodline item and the Chaos Seed's optimization.

Only then did Gusion fully grasp why Hashirama and Naruto were so strong.

Base-level, a level-1 Sage Body is modest—even optimized. As an S+ bloodline, +9 total stat points was less than the Lightning God bloodline.

But the big perk: it doesn't require inheritance crystals to level. Its essence is to facilitate rapid self-potential excavation—fast stat growth via training.

Think Asura vs. Indra: Indra was born with powerful ocular force; Asura relied on effort.

Yet Asura caught up in short order and surpassed Indra—that's Sage Body, insane postnatal growth.

Meaning Gusion didn't need to invest crystals. With training and Shadow Clones, he could skyrocket like Naruto.

So while the baseline buff is small, over time it will yield the fastest stat growth.

Beyond raw numbers, Sage Body's second edge is multiplicative skill power.

Same technique, equal chakra, different results. Naruto's Frog Kata from Mount Myoboku one-shotted a Path of Pain. Jiraiya's same move only blinded one Path.

At that point, Naruto hadn't even tapped Nine-Tails chakra. In pure chakra terms, Jiraiya wasn't weaker. That's the Sage Body vs. normal body multiplier.

And it boosts control, too—Hashirama's Wood Release had enormous control, partly thanks to this.

Truly a pleasant surprise. He had originally planned to use it as a kicker to stimulate Sharingan leveling, but the Chaos Seed "upgraded" it into the real deal.

His initial goal also worked: the influx of Yang energy stimulated his Yin-based Sharingan; it now showed signs of leveling—likely reaching level 2 after a few days of tempering.

Which suggested a new combo: he might not need inheritance crystals to level his Mangekyo.

By training to raise Sage Body, its upgrades would in turn stimulate Mangekyo upgrades—two birds with one stone.

At Mangekyo level 20, with Sage Body's push, he might not even need Nagato's path to get the next-stage Sage Eyes.

After finishing the bloodline upgrades, he reviewed his current state.

[Pioneer 008, your naked attributes (including gear/title bonuses):]

Constitution: 77 (+3)

Strength: 75 (+3)

Agility: 72

Spirit: 79 (+5)

Charisma: 5

Luck: 2

[]

Since Sage Body didn't add Agility, Agility lagged a bit, but he wasn't worried—Mangekyo could compensate.

All four combat stats had broken 70. Pity it happened post-settlement and couldn't waive the promotion task. Luckily, he had no spare free attribute points anyway—no loss.

Satisfied with the two bloodline upgrades, Gusion headed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

A tough, handsome face stared back. Under the light, his pupils were a dark red, with three violet-black lightning sigils connected at the base like a shuriken.

"Is this the Lightning God bloodline's influence? Why the purple tint?"

He muttered. He'd never heard of anyone with colored Mangekyo patterns; in the manga, the shapes were pure black.

He tried suppressing ocular power down to three tomoe—the tomoe were still violet-black.

After thinking it over, he chalked it up to the Chaos Seed harmonizing bloodlines—Lightning God had tinted the Mangekyo.

The back-to-back enhancements had tired him. For once, he didn't grind; he lay down to rest, planning to hit the market and shopping district tomorrow.

He had 850,000 End Coins left—less cash than last world because he'd kept several expensive items for himself, converting them into direct power or Seed feed.

Even so, it was enough for his next plans.

…

The next morning, after waking and washing up, just as he was about to head out, he heard a prompt from End Space.