The final Desert Blood Wolf stood alone on one side of the desert.
Even when faced with isolation and encirclement, it did not choose to flee. Its sharp, feral eyes locked onto Shiraishi as its foreclaws transformed into streaks of afterimages, tearing through the sand as it lunged forward.
Facing the ferocious beast, Shiraishi leaned back slightly. In the same instant, chakra threads shot from his fingertips, turning into invisible chains that wrapped tightly around the Blood Wolf's body. The beast roared and expelled a violent gust of wind, attempting to break free—
—but Shiraishi's pupils glowed faintly.
A surge of psychic force spread outward.
Under the pressure of the externally released psychic power, the Blood Wolf was forced into suppression. Shiraishi's palm formed a special seal, which he slammed directly onto the beast's forehead.
A unique sealing technique was activated.
Countless black characters burst forth, resonating with the seal on Shiraishi's palm. With a muffled bang, the Desert Blood Wolf was sealed into a nearby scroll.
"This Psychic Power technique is getting more and more terrifying in your hands…" Ebizō muttered.
Within Sunagakure, Psychic Power had already undergone several organized study sessions. However, most genin—and even many chūnin—could only manage basic psychic sensing. External release was rare. Even among jōnin who could manage it, almost none possessed Shiraishi's level of precision and mature control.
At first, the higher-ups of Sunagakure had suspected that Shiraishi withheld part of the technique when submitting it. But after extended research, they found nothing wrong with the jutsu itself.
The problem wasn't the technique.
It was the user.
Psychic Power required an absurd degree of fine control—something that, at present, only Shiraishi truly possessed.
After capturing the Desert Blood Wolf, Shiraishi followed Ebizō's instructions and sealed it into a special scroll space, initiating a forced modification contract. This type of coercive transformation was the most common method of creating summon beasts in the ninja world.
The one Shiraishi chose to modify was the Blood Wolf that had fought until the very end.
As he formed the hand seals and completed the contract, the summon beast interface within his glasses automatically generated a card-reading progress bar.
Light gathered from all directions, converging on a single point as the system scanned the Desert Blood Wolf's entire body. A virtual crimson beam shot out from the glasses and carved a special rock-element sigil onto the wolf's forehead.
Desert Blood Wolf
Trait: Unable to generate… Locked
Attribute: Generating… Earth-type…
Compared to humans, summon beasts possessed an additional trait slot, though it was currently sealed. As for its attribute, the earth-type classification made perfect sense.
Overall evaluation: high blue-tier quality.
Among the summon beasts Shiraishi had encountered in the deserts of the Land of Wind, this was one of the rare high-quality specimens.
Three skill slots appeared beneath the blue card, categorized as Innate Skills, indicating that the system had awakened and developed three unique talents from the Blood Wolf's bloodline.
At the same time, under the Learnable Skills category, it could acquire techniques Shiraishi already possessed. Based on compatibility, the available options were High-Speed Movement and Sand-Gathering.
A blue-tier summon beast could possess three innate skills, all of which were automatically unlocked—though their proficiency was only around 1%.
Shiraishi opened the detailed interface.
Rockfall Lock, Scent Detection, Earthly Might.
Just from the names alone, their effects and combat value were obvious.
In contrast to innate skills, learned skills could have up to three cards slotted. Shiraishi immediately inserted High-Speed Movement and Sand-Gathering, bringing the Desert Blood Wolf's total techniques to five.
Beyond system-based recognition, Shiraishi also performed traditional ninja-world modifications—enhancing fur resistance, physical durability, and overall survivability using medicines and specialized sealing marks.
As countless black characters spread through the scroll space, the full modification of the first Desert Blood Wolf was completed.
Ebizō could clearly sense the powerful aura emanating from within the seal and nodded in satisfaction.
"This one was the strongest of the pack. The others may not match it, but as a group, they'll be extremely useful for scent tracking and reconnaissance."
Desert Blood Wolves were notoriously unruly, and they weren't exclusive to Shiraishi alone. Their scent-tracking ability alone made them excellent auxiliary summon beasts.
Since the summon beast card slot was currently limited to one, Shiraishi only performed basic processing on the remaining wolves. With their alpha already strengthened and bound to Shiraishi, the rest of the pack no longer dared to resist.
"Summoning Technique!"
As Shiraishi completed the seals, the Desert Blood Wolf appeared proudly on the battlefield.
Unlike the others, which still looked at Shiraishi with lingering fear, the modified alpha walked up to him affectionately and rubbed its head against his leg.
Ebizō, who was chewing on a chicken drumstick, nearly choked.
"This… why does it feel like you turned it into a giant dog?"
"During the modification, I kept communicating with it," Shiraishi replied calmly. "Maybe I moved it."
He rubbed the Blood Wolf's head. It let out a low whine, then turned around and bared its teeth at the rest of the pack. The other Desert Blood Wolves immediately changed their demeanor, trotting over like a group of obedient dogs—some even begging Ebizō for food.
"There's only one drumstick—don't you dare touch it!"
Clutching his food defensively, Ebizō rummaged through his pack and tossed out several rations. The wolves happily devoured them.
In truth, their earlier aggression toward humans had been driven largely by hunger. In such a harsh desert environment, food was scarce.
"Have you mastered Earth Release: Three Talents Earthen Formation?" Ebizō asked after dealing with the summoned beasts.
After four to five days of Earth Clone simulation battles, Shiraishi quickly shaped three small piles of clay. His hands flew through the seals before slamming into the ground.
"Earth Release: Three Talents Earthen Formation!"
Three different chakra natures surged into the clay piles, rapidly drawing in ambient energy. As the mud constructs grew, the amount of chakra they absorbed skyrocketed.
Shiraishi nearly blacked out.
He hadn't expected the chakra drain to be so overwhelming once the full Three Talents Formation activated.
The ground rumbled as three Shiraishi Earth Clones emerged, each positioned at a different angle.
Sand-Gathering operated subtly beneath Shiraishi's feet, maintaining a minimal chakra balance within his body—but even so, his face was pale.
Still, the proficiency of Sand-Gathering had been steadily improving during this period of training. With each proficiency tier gained, the amount of chakra he could absorb and convert increased significantly.
To activate a complete Three Talents Formation and remain standing afterward—
This level of chakra control was already impressive.
Unaware of the existence of Sand-Gathering, Ebizō was genuinely stunned. Time and again, his disciple exceeded expectations.
A true genius among geniuses.
At this point, Ebizō realized there was little left he could teach Shiraishi directly—beyond advanced techniques and deeper theoretical concepts.
As the master and disciple continued their cultivation, subtle changes began to ripple through the conflict between Sunagakure and Konoha.
On the outskirts of Kikyo Mountain, within Konoha's stationed zone, Orochimaru began setting up large-scale summoning arrays—
preparations for a direct military strike against Kikyo Mountain.
It was clear.
Konoha's strategy toward Sunagakure had shifted.
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