In Naruto as Zhongli-Chapter 62: INAZ - 61

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Just as Shinji continued to approach, Jūgo's body seemed to have completely transformed. A monster covered entirely in black appeared before Orochimaru and Shinji.

"Roar!!!" Jūgo, having completed his sage transformation, seemed to have completely lost his rationality. Upon seeing Shinji, he only stared intently at him. Moreover, the aura emanating from his body proved the explosive strength currently within Jūgo's body.

"Lord Shinji, his body is now filled with sage chakra," Orochimaru watched the scene before him with great interest. Of course, he wasn't worried about Shinji getting hurt. When he defected from Konoha, Shinji's sword strikes were deeply ingrained in his heart. Although Shinji wasn't carrying that black blade now, Orochimaru still didn't believe Jūgo's attack would cause harm to Shinji.

"Hehe, just right to test it out. Let's see if sage chakra has any effect on me," Shinji chuckled lightly. Sage chakra versus Zhongli's abilities? This was something Shinji hadn't tried before. Now that a suitable tester appeared before him, it seemed like a good choice.

"Roar!!!" However, Jūgo had no idea what these two were planning. Seeing Shinji still walking towards him, the desire for slaughter began to swell within him.

Boom!!! Jūgo's thigh pushed off forcefully. His body shot straight towards Shinji like a drawn bowstring released.

"Impregnable Defense." Following Shinji's whisper, a golden shield appeared around him. Faint, intricate patterns surfaced on the shield, and the skeletal frame of Geo chains formed around it, supporting the entire structure. Just as Jūgo's body reached Shinji, the Jade Shield also happened to form.

Watching this strange scene, the desire in Jūgo's heart swelled again. His hands transformed into sharp weapons, covered with countless amounts of sage chakra, grabbing towards Shinji with unstoppable momentum.

Ding!!! However, what happened next made Jūgo himself regain a bit of rationality. His attack couldn't shatter the Jade Shield in front of Shinji. On the contrary, even the attack covered in sage chakra failed to break Shinji's Jade Shield. Seeing this scene, Jūgo's eyes suddenly turned blood red. Seemingly having lost face, Jūgo began launching frantic attacks against Shinji.

"Tsk tsk tsk, truly worthy of sage chakra? This attack power is quite strong. Wouldn't you agree, Lord Orochimaru?" Shinji didn't even dodge, just calmly watching the frantically attacking Jūgo. However, hearing no reply from Orochimaru, Shinji looked over curiously. But after seeing Orochimaru's actions, several black lines immediately appeared on Shinji's forehead.

At this moment, Orochimaru was holding a small notebook, recording something with great speed. Moreover, to ensure the recorded matter wasn't wrong, Orochimaru even used shadow clones to create two more clones to record together beside him.

"This... treating me like a guinea pig," Shinji said somewhat helplessly. But there was nothing he could do. This was the research fanatic Orochimaru. How could he possibly think of other things while recording sage chakra at such close range?

"Stone Stele!" However, Shinji was getting tired of this. With a wave of his hand, two Geo pillars suddenly appeared on Jūgo's left and right sides. As the Geo elements resonated with each other, Jūgo's body was directly restrained by the Geo pillars.

"Roar!!! What is this thing!!!" Jūgo regained a bit of rationality. But seeing this scene, he was still somewhat surprised. No one had ever been able to pull him out of his sage transformation state so quickly before. Even Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, could only temporarily suppress him. And someone like Shinji, directly suppressing and controlling him at once, Jūgo had truly never encountered before.

Could it be... someone could really control him? Jūgo's heart began to question itself continuously. Before, he sealed himself in a cave precisely because no one could control him in his rampaging state. And now that person appeared, Shinji! He could perfectly control his rampaging self. He really... didn't want to kill anymore! Actually, Jūgo's heart was that of a very gentle boy. He didn't want to kill, but once the sage chakra in his body went berserk, he couldn't control himself. So...

"Awake now?" Shinji looked smilingly at Jūgo, restrained by him. His pupils had returned to their initial orange color. (Known that Naruto is 16 in Shippuden, and Jūgo is 20 in Shippuden, meaning he is 3 years older than Naruto. Since Naruto is currently 1 year old, Jūgo is therefore 5 years old, the same age as Karin.)

"Who are you?!" Jūgo gasped heavily. The black patterns from the Sage Mode began to gradually dissipate. And as the sage chakra disappeared, it also took away most of Jūgo's stamina. The current 5-year-old Jūgo's body simply couldn't withstand such large amounts of sage chakra. If it weren't for the pros and cons of sage chakra, where the healing function also strengthened accordingly, otherwise, a 5-year-old child's body simply couldn't bear it.

"Me? You can call me Boss Shinji of the All-Purpose Shop," Shinji said with a smile. Then, completely ignoring the aura not yet fully dissipated from Jūgo, he walked step by step towards Jūgo.

"Don't come near me!" Jūgo knew well the destructive power of the force within him. Seeing Shinji walking towards him, he quickly spoke up, intending to stop Shinji's actions. However, Shinji acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to walk forward regardless. Amidst Jūgo's disbelieving eyes, Shinji arrived in front of Jūgo.

"Truly a good child, Jūgo," Shinji reached out and gently patted Jūgo's short orange hair.

"Good... child?" Jūgo looked puzzledly at Shinji. This term, he hadn't heard since birth. More often, it was harsh words, like 'Scales', like 'monster'. Or even... 'Killer'! All these, Jūgo had heard. And Jūgo wasn't actually a bloodthirsty person. On the contrary, possessing the Sage Body, in nature, or other places, he was the character most welcomed by animals.

From time to time, various small birds would land on his shoulder, seemingly having no fear of Jūgo at all. But, beloved by nature, he wasn't treated so well in the human world. On the contrary, many people showed extreme aversion towards Jūgo as an individual. Therefore, Jūgo completely sealed off his heart, sealing himself in a dark cave, hidden from the sun.

Until... he was discovered by Orochimaru some time ago and brought to this place. And... met Shinji. Thus, Shinji was the one who understood him best, the one who could best soothe the pain in his heart.

Feeling the warmth from Shinji's palm, for the first time in so many years, Jūgo felt like crying. Seemingly... finally feeling valued, some different emotions began to awaken in his heart.

"..." Jūgo just quietly looked at Shinji, as if everything Shinji did was correct for him.

"Boss Shinji, this child isn't bad, right?" Just then, seeing Jūgo had relaxed, Orochimaru also walked in with a smile. Upon seeing Orochimaru, Jūgo's entire body tensed up directly. He couldn't beat this person before him. And... his smile seemed very evil. As someone possessing a Sage Body, Jūgo could feel the evil energy within Orochimaru's body. Therefore, towards Orochimaru, he was mostly vigilant.

"Tell me your name," Shinji ignored Orochimaru. Although Orochimaru had said his name was Jūgo just now. But Shinji wanted to hear him say it.

"Jū... My name is Jūgo. And you?" Jūgo stammered, then looked expectantly at Shinji.

"Me? My name is Shinji," Shinji withdrew his hand. Feeling Shinji's hand leave, anticipation suddenly arose in Jūgo's heart. If... if only he could receive Shinji's praise again.

"Lord... Shinji," Jūgo looked at Shinji, expectant gazes starting to appear in the depths of his eyes.

"What is it, Jūgo?" Shinji looked towards Jūgo.

"Could you... Lord Shinji, take me away from this place?" Jūgo completely disregarded Orochimaru still being nearby. He just felt in his heart. Shinji... could take him away from this place!

"Take you away from this place?" Shinji repeated his words curiously.

"Yes, Lord Shinji," Jūgo looked firmly at Shinji. After deciding just now, he wanted to follow Shinji! Simply put, he wanted to go with Shinji!

"Fufufu, Jūgo of the Scales, you don't seem to have asked my opinion yet?" Orochimaru walked over, flicking his tongue. He had finally obtained Jūgo, someone born with a Sage Body. And sage chakra was still within Orochimaru's research topics. Under such circumstances, how could he possibly let Jūgo go so easily?

"This is my territory. Fufufu, Boss Shinji, I won't give him to you," Seeing Shinji didn't reply, Orochimaru added another sentence.

"Then, Lord Orochimaru, what if... I insist on taking him away?" Shinji turned his head to look at Orochimaru, a strange smile involuntarily appearing at the corners of his mouth.

"Boss Shinji is actually so interested in him?" Orochimaru said with a smile, but his expression didn't easily reveal his inner thoughts.

"I am quite interested in him. Lord Orochimaru, what do you say?" Shinji walked beside Jūgo, crouched down, and carefully looked at Jūgo. Of course, he completely ignored exposing his back to Orochimaru. And Orochimaru just stared at Shinji's back, a strange look flashing in his eyes. This... Was this Boss Shinji so trusting of him?

"Fine. But Boss Shinji, you can take Jūgo away. However... I need some more time before I can let you take him. I still need some sage chakra for research," Orochimaru thought for a moment. Making the relationship with Shinji too tense here wasn't a good thing either.

Anyway, what he needed was just sage chakra. As long as Jūgo provided enough sage chakra, then what if Orochimaru let Shinji have Jūgo? Thinking of this, Orochimaru directly agreed.

"If it's without harming Jūgo's body, I can agree. What do you think, Jūgo?" Shinji naturally still considered Jūgo's thoughts. If Jūgo refused, then Shinji would correspondingly refuse Orochimaru.

"I listen to Lord Shinji," Jūgo stated calmly, then stood up and came behind Shinji.

"This is truly a wonderful decision. But I have one more condition, Boss Shinji," A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.

"What condition?" Shinji looked puzzledly at Orochimaru. At this time, could there be anything else? frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"Haven't eaten Boss Shinji's cooking for a while, really miss it. How about it? I have pots, pans, and some ingredients here. Boss Shinji, show your skills?" Orochimaru licked his tongue. Previously at the All-Purpose Shop, Orochimaru often used various excuses to freeload meals. And he also knew Shinji's kitchen had some cookware not available outside.

Orochimaru was also prepared; when building this place, he had already thought about these things. He prepared the pots, pans, and those things immediately. Of course, he also knew Shinji would arrive in the Land of Rice Paddies soon, so some delicacy ingredients he wanted to eat were already prepared, just waiting for Shinji, the great chef, to arrive.

"So it was this. Then what does Lord Orochimaru want to eat? I can go prepare," Shinji said somewhat helplessly. Indeed, Orochimaru was still that Orochimaru. Still having so little resistance towards delicious food.

"Jūgo, you come to the kitchen with me too."

"Okay, Lord Shinji," Jūgo now obeyed Shinji's words one hundred percent, directly following behind Shinji and leaving together.

"Truly worthy of Boss Shinji. This skill is as good as ever," Orochimaru sat at the dining table. Although he ate very quickly, his movements were still so elegant.

"Lord Orochimaru, I'm more curious about what you usually eat. I see the kitchen hasn't been used since it was built, right?" Shinji said while picking up garlic sprout twice-cooked pork (PS: This is 小鱼's signature dish).

"Me? I usually just drink some nutrient solution. Cooking, such things are too time-consuming," Orochimaru said without any cover-up while eating. As if these things really affected him.

"Since that's the case, then why doesn't Lord Orochimaru go drink some more nutrient solution? Just leave these things for me and Jūgo to solve, right? You see Jūgo is still growing?" Shinji looked amusedly at Orochimaru, whose smile had somewhat frozen. Let's see if you can still pretend now? Jūgo, hearing these words, kept nodding his head.

"Ahem, Boss Shinji, saying this makes things a bit distant, doesn't it?" Orochimaru coughed twice, seeming somewhat choked by Shinji's words.

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