Chapter 320: Another Upgrade

After acquiring the chakra brought by Kankuro, Charles's attention once again fell on Haruno Sakura. She was one of the Konoha twelve, and now, Charles had gathered half of the Twelve.

He was curious about the title reward that would come after completing the Twelve. He was quite looking forward to it!

Opening Haruno Sakura's profile, he saw that she had 11 out of 10 fragments. The prompt asked if he wanted to recruit her, and Charles clicked "Recruit."

A new scene appeared the next second.

Sakura Haruno had a headband tied to her forehead, and she held two shurikens in a crossed position.

Congratulations on successfully recruiting the new ninja, C-Rank: Sakura Haruno.

Opening the ninja details, Charles first confirmed the ninja's skills.

Sakura Haruno: C-Rank Ninja

Skills:

Iron Ball Trap: Creates an iron ball falling from the sky, smashing airborne enemies to the ground and shaking them up again upon landing.

Girly Steps: Rotates forward with a flying kick. If it successfully hits an enemy, follows up with two consecutive attacks. The final powerful punch will send the enemy flying.

Giant Sakura: Enlarges the giant persona in the girl's mind, materializing it from the sky. Assists with two powerful punches, and enemies hit will be sent flying far away!

Basic Attack: Normal taijutsu attacks.

Looking at Sakura Haruno's ninjutsu skills, Charles initially didn't care much. After all, during the Chunin Exams period of the Konoha Twelve, she could be considered the weakest.

He regarded her as merely an increase in chakra.

However, her ultimate technique surprised Charles. Enlarging the inner persona of her falling from the sky, even Sakura's strength would be comparable to Ant-Man after the enlargement.

If he were to use it, the manifested inner persona would likely have overwhelming power.

With Sakura Haruno successfully recruited, Charles's chakra increased by 1, reaching a total of 58. He also gained knowledge of Sakura Haruno's skills.

For this technique of summoning a giant inner persona, Charles was filled with curiosity. However, instead of experimenting immediately, he looked at his gold coins.

He currently had 29,326 gold coins. Considering that the next battle slot would cost 16,000 gold coins, leaving around 13,000, it was enough to purchase 79 ninja recruitment scrolls.

Opening the ninja recruitment interface, Charles directly began purchasing scrolls with gold coins. He bought 43 scrolls in one go, completing 50 ninja recruitment scrolls, spending 7,224 gold coins in the process.

After completing all this, Charles exited the system space. Remembering that he hadn't prayed last time, and considering his bad luck, he decided to give it a shot.

Since the Ancient One didn't allow him to find others, he decided to pray directly to her. After all, the Sorceress Supreme's power was effective; having blessed him before, he hoped for similar results.

Charles Doyle extended his right hand, adorned with the Ring of the Dragon's Treasure. Placing it on his chest, he uttered, "Sorceress Supreme, May the Ancient One bless me with continuous good luck and grant my wishes!"

After completing the prayer ritual, Charles Doyle's consciousness entered the system space.

Meanwhile, the Ancient One, who had been paying attention to the magical world, couldn't help but be surprised. This result was one of the phenomena she had never seen before.

At the same time, she felt a bit helpless. Didn't I forbid you from seeking blessings from unknown entities? Why did you come to me? Others offer sacrifices, and what's with this weird ritual of putting your right hand on your chest?

However, after some contemplation, the Ancient One still decided to throw a blessing spell onto Charles.

Charles, entering the system space without hesitation, immediately opened the ninja recruitment interface and began the recruitment.

"Ninja Recruitment, ten consecutive draws, go!"

The symbol of the Whirlpool Country appeared, emitting a peculiar light. After a dazzling glow, the recruitment results appeared before Charles Doyle.

"Ding! Received C-Rank ninja, Tayuya fragment 1!"

"Ding! Received B-Rank ninja, Naruto Uzumaki fragment 2!"

"Ding! Received A-Rank ninja, Gaara fragment 1!"

"Ding! Received C-Rank ninja, Jirobo fragment 1!"

"Ding! Received A-Rank ninja, Itachi Uchiha fragment 5!"

"Ding! Received A-Rank ninja, Gaara fragment 4!"

"Ding! Received C-Rank ninja, Jirobo fragment 2!"

"Ding! Received C-Rank ninja, Ninja Trainee-Naruto Uzumaki fragment 1!"

"Ding! Received A-Rank ninja, Itachi Uchiha fragment 5!"

"Ding! Received A-Rank ninja, Itachi Uchiha fragment 1!"

Glancing at the results of his ten consecutive draws, Charles knew that the blessing from the Ancient One was not in vain. Half of the ten draws were A-Rank ninja fragments. He wouldn't believe it if the Ancient One didn't throw a blessing spell on him.

Without immediately tallying the recruitment results, Charles directly clicked the button for another ten consecutive draws. This time, he went even further, directly conducting four sets of ten consecutive draws.

After five sets of ten consecutive draws, Charles recruited a total of:

A-Rank Ninjas:

Itachi Uchiha: Successfully recruited 8 times, totaling 20 fragments.

Killer B: Successfully recruited 3 times, totaling 9 fragments.

Gaara: Successfully recruited 2 times, totaling 5 fragments.

B-Rank Ninjas:

Hinata Hyuga: Successfully recruited 3 times, totaling 5 fragments.

Naruto Uzumaki: Successfully recruited 1 time, totaling 2 fragments.

Tenten: Successfully recruited 3 times, totaling 9 fragments.

Sakura Haruno: Successfully recruited 1 time, totaling 2 fragments.

Kimimaro: Successfully recruited 4 times, totaling 13 fragments.

C-Rank Ninjas:

Tayuya: Successfully recruited 1 time, totaling 1 fragment.

Jirobo: Successfully recruited 2 times, totaling 3 fragments.

Ninja Trainee-Naruto Uzumaki: Successfully recruited 5 times, totaling 11 fragments.

Hinata Hyuga: Successfully recruited 1 time, totaling 2 fragments.

Sakura Haruno: Successfully recruited 3 times, totaling 5 fragments.

Shizune: Successfully recruited 1 time, totaling 5 fragments.

Hanabi: Successfully recruited 1 time, totaling 1 fragment.

Iruka: successfully recruited 4 times, totaling 7 fragments.

[T/N: Just to let you know, I am confused by many translated names myself, so there might be some inconsistencies.]

However, as the recruitment results became worse, Charles didn't know if the Ancient One's blessing had ended so quickly, or if his luck hadn't fully recovered.

Charles looked at the recruitment results he had tallied and realized that he was still far from recruiting the powerful ninjas he wanted. It seemed that even with Itachi Uchiha's fragments from before, which totaled 26, he was still a considerable distance away.

Even if he managed to recruit more powerful Itachi Uchiha, he might need another four or five sets of ten consecutive draws. It was evident that he wouldn't be able to provide much assistance in the upcoming battle.

Nevertheless, he had successfully recruited two members of the Sound Ninja Four—Jirobo and Sakon/Ukon. As for other C-Rank ninjas, he was a bit short.

Looking at his remaining gold coins, he concluded that he could only afford three more sets of ten consecutive draws at most. This wouldn't be enough to recruit a powerful ninja. Therefore, Charles decided to pause for now.

He had successfully recruited two ninjas from the Sound Ninja Four, Jirobo and Sakon/Ukon. Despite being rated as C-Rank, their strength was quite notable, particularly in their prime condition.

Entering the ninja section, Charles decided to recruit them first to increase his chakra pool.

First, he clicked on Sakon's avatar. This guy could act as two ninjas in special situations. "Fragments: 11/10. Recruit?" He clicked to recruit.

A new screen appeared the next second.

Under the moonlight, Sakon looked forward while Ukon looked backward, extending his right hand to his chest!

Congratulations, successfully recruited new ninja, C-Rank: sakon and ukon.

Opening the ninja details, Charles immediately checked the ninja skills.

Sakon and Ukon: C-Rank Ninja

Skills:

Rashomon Gate: Sakon and Ukon opens the Rashomon Gate through summoning. The Rashomon Gate can withstand most attacks and, when it appears, will knock people above it into the air.

Foot Blade Kick: Boosted by Sakon, Ukon bounces forward. If he hits an enemy, he grabs the enemy with one hand, turns from above the enemy's head to behind the enemy, tosses the enemy towards Sakon, and then Sakon and Ukon together knock the enemy into the air.

Massacre Formation: Sakon and Ukon, in their combined state, separates to the left and right, forming the Massacre Formation. The Massacre Formation continues to explode, causing damage to enemies.

Basic Attack: Extremely fast physical technique attacks

[T/N: I am not really sure if it is Sakon and Ukon. I just put the name based on the skills. The translated name was showing something else totally.]

Seeing that Sakon and Ukon didn't have State 1 and State 2 enhancements, there was still some disappointment.

If they could activate these two states, their peak strength could reach Jounin level without any problem. However, Charles was quite satisfied with their skills, especially the defensive ultimate technique, Rashomon Gate.

If he could use Triple Rashomon Gate and Quintuple Rashomon Gate, it would be possible to withstand Tailed Beast Balls. The Massacre Formation could also be used for group attacks, making it useful in the upcoming battle. Overall, Charles was quite content.

After recruiting Sakon and Ukon, Charles shifted his gaze to Jirobo. Ninja fragments: 16/10. Recruit? He clicked to recruit.

Next, a new screen popped up.

Dressed in Sound Ninja attire, a rope with Orochimaru's emblem tied behind him, Jirobo extended his palm in an attacking posture.

Congratulations, successfully recruiting a new ninja, C-Rank: Jirobo.

Opening the ninja details, Charles first confirmed the ninja skills.

Jirobo: C-Rank Ninja

Skills:

Earth Style: Earth Return: Squat down, strike an enemy with a stone slab, then charge forward to shatter the stone slab. If it hits an enemy, grab them, turn around, and smash them to the ground.

Earth Style: Earth Burial: Lift a large stone from the ground in front and smash it towards the enemy.

Earth Prison Obliteration: Commune with the ground to create a semi-circular earth prison that traps enemies. It absorbs the strength within the trapped enemies and eventually explodes along with the earth prison. (No matter how much the small fry struggles, it's still a small fry!)

Basic Attack: Earth Style: Earth Spikes combined with taijutsu attacks.

Discovering that Jirobo still lacked the State 1 and State 2 enhancements, Charles was somewhat disappointed. Even the corresponding skills only added a bit of Earth Style Ninjutsu, not very significant. The only benefit was the increase in chakra.

However, now that he had gathered the Sound Ninja Four, he could send them out individually to establish strongholds and attract more resources.

Otherwise, the cost of deploying battle positions was too high. He wondered if there would be title rewards for the Sound Ninja Four.

With the successful recruitment of two Sound Ninjas, Charles's chakra increased by 2 cards, reaching a total of 60 cards. Although it was far from a Tailed Beast, he could be considered a decent chakra ninja.

Looking at his remaining 6,102 gold coins after spending a fortune, Charles calculated that even if he used all of them to recruit ninjas, he still couldn't accumulate enough summoning qualifications for Itachi Uchiha. Therefore, he decided to save them for later use.

Arriving at the battle lineup, after spending 16,000 gold coins, Charles once again opened a position. After pondering for a while with Sakura Haruno, Kankuro, Jirobo, Sakon and Ukon, Charles finally placed Kankuro in the battle position.

Mainly because of his identity as a Sand Ninja, Kankuro could team up with Temari in the future and establish strongholds of the Sand Village.

After placing Kankuro within three meters of him, Charles waved his hand, donned the Merlin robes, picked up the Merlin staff, summoned the control center of the Merlin Magic Tower, and authorized it to the four grand mages of the Merlin Knights.

Then, with Kankuro, he headed towards the direction of the Abyss.

Arriving at the Abyss, everyone was busy setting traps. The mages were arranging magical traps and drawing magic circles, ninjas were making explosive tag traps, and Iruka was setting up a barrier array.

Seeing Charles's arrival, the mages respectfully greeted, "Supreme Merlin!"

Kankuro, who followed behind Charles, looked at everyone's respectful attitude towards Charles and kept it in mind. At this moment, Tony, flying over, curiously asked, "Is this painted-faced kid also a ninja?"

"Why are all the ninjas around you so small? Aren't they sending some other people to support you?"

"This is Kankuro, Temari's younger brother, he is here to protect his sister."

Kankuro, looking at Tony's face full of makeup, curiously asked, "Lord Charles, is he also a puppeteer?"

"Kid, this is not a wooden puppet. This is the Ironclad Armor Mark VI."

Kankuro touched the puppet behind him with a little desire to test, but considering the current situation, he didn't speak.

On the other side, Temari, who was setting traps, also saw Kankuro's arrival and ran over excitedly.

"Little brother, I didn't expect you to come here too."

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