Half a month quickly passed, during which Ling lived a monotonous life.
Every day, she was either forging and cultivating or on her way to cultivate, but Ling found it sweet because the positive feedback from her strength improvement was simply too addicting.
In this half-month, Ling first learned a monstrous strength technique that conformed to her body's parameters, based on the monstrous strength scroll provided by Tsunade, greatly increasing her taijutsu attack power.
Then, combining the monstrous strength technique with Gale Sword Technique, she developed the prototype of the 'Fast Heavy Blade,' where each swing would utilize a Chakra burst effect to instantly increase sword speed and power.
Moreover, using monstrous strength in this way would greatly reduce the self-recoil, with most of the recoil being borne by the weapon; most weapons would shatter after only a few such recoils, but Ame no Habakiri was precisely not among them.
In the Ninja World today, apart from a few special blades, most ninja tools encountering Ling's monstrous strength sword would instantly fall into a disadvantage, even with a Jonin's Chakra dispersion technique, due to the weapon itself.
Furthermore, Ling's current physical fitness allows her to engage in taijutsu combat with Special Jonin using pure physical strength, which is thanks to activating Heavenly Restriction to refine her body and absorb Natural Energy during this period.
In terms of Ninjutsu, she has basically mastered the Ninjutsu recorded in the Ninjutsu scrolls she has accessed, with no instances of inability to use them, and she has also learned Summoning Technique, though she still lacks a Summoning Beast.
Her Chakra reserves have also increased significantly due to her physical improvement; according to Ling's own estimation, she should have about one unit of Chakra like young Kakashi.
In terms of Genjutsu, she has initially constructed a Genjutsu World, greatly increasing the speed and power of her Genjutsu usage; this Genjutsu World, entirely constructed from Yin Release, can provide a significant amplification when casting Genjutsu.
Ling's Fast Heavy Blade, combined with her Genjutsu ability, would leave anyone who encounters it disoriented; even a momentary lapse of concentration would be fatal.
However, in terms of Chakra nature transformation, there hasn't been much progress; this relies entirely on accumulation and talent, and Ling doesn't have much talent in this area, so she can only rely on time.
The Wind Release Chakra Mode is still not perfected, but progress has reached halfway; she can control a small amount of Wind Release Chakra to circulate inside and outside her body, but it cannot withstand interference or increased Chakra volume.
The cultivation of Sage Mode and Reincarnation Technique is also a slow process; currently, it has only accelerated Ling's speed of absorbing and refining Natural Energy, but she still cannot subdue her heart.
In terms of Curse Power, Ling's progress is not significant because her Sharingan has not evolved, but Ling estimates that the evolution of her Sharingan is coming soon; she has already sensed that her Doujutsu is full, and her one-tomoe Sharingan is stirring.
As for Ten Types of Shadow Techniques, due to her own strength, Ling has not made much progress; this entirely depends on the amount of Curse Power.
However, today Ling plans to tame another Shikigami, which is the Great Serpent; this snake is enormous in size, possesses strong coiling power, can burrow underground, emerge from below to attack enemies, and has potent venom. (Second setting: The specific abilities of the Great Serpent were not found; it only appeared once in the original work before dying.)
As for the remaining five Shikigami, Ling currently does not have the confidence to tame them; Full Elephant is tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, can spray water to create tidal waves, and its immense weight allows it to perform a 'Thousand Jin Drop'; Ling feels she is evenly matched with it, and the battle would be too disruptive to tame in Konoha Village.
As for Enka, its Reversal Technique is too powerful, and Ling does not have the confidence to kill it in one blow; although Enka has little offensive power and is a pure support unit that heals teammates, Ling cannot kill it, nor can she wear it down.
Piercing Ox is tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, possesses immense strength, and its impact force is extremely terrifying, especially the further it charges, the more terrifying its impact force becomes; although its attacks are all linear, Ling cannot tame it yet.
The main reason is that most of Ling's current methods are human-level, highly efficient at killing, belonging to the assassin-mage hybrid style; to kill Piercing Ox, perhaps a Great Ball Rasengan could do it. (Second setting: In the original work, Piercing Ox, Full Elephant, Enka, and Tiger Burial might not be that strong, but to balance the strength, they were strengthened.)
Tiger Burial is a defensive Shikigami that can greatly reduce or nullify an enemy's energy and physical attacks; after being tamed, its ability can be applied to the host. (Second setting: I don't know its ability, but considering that Ten Shadows Technique already has offense, control, healing, transfer (toad), and support, I decided to give Tiger Burial defensive capabilities.)
Such a defensive Shikigami, while lacking offensive power, cannot be killed by the current Ling based on its defense alone; perhaps a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken might have a chance to kill it.
As for Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga, needless to say, it is the strongest Shikigami of the Ten Shadows; it is the source of Ling's confidence in a mutual destruction scenario; without an attack capable of creating a mushroom cloud, it's better not to attempt to tame it and die.
After preparing, Ling planned to perform the Great Serpent's taming ritual; Ling had already used Telescope Technique to scout this area of Death Forest, and there were no outsiders present.
"Hm? What's going on, Great Serpent~" Ling had already initiated the taming ritual, but the Great Serpent did not appear. Just as Ling was surprised, the ground beneath Ling's feet suddenly shattered, and a white giant snake over three meters in diameter burst out.
The snake's mouth opened, and it suddenly swallowed Ling; a large number of fangs, like sharp arrows, instantly pierced into Ling's body, venom injected, end of story~ Just kidding.
The Ling in the Great Serpent's mouth instantly transformed into a large number of Escaping Rabbit, which were then swallowed by the Great Serpent, while Ling reformed from the Escaping Rabbit that burst out of the forest.
This was Ling's prepared Escaping Rabbit Style Substitution Jutsu, which directly helped Ling avoid the Great Serpent's fatal blow.
"Hmph! What a treacherous fellow, but quite large." Ling looked at the Great Serpent's hundred-meter length with satisfaction, but without any fear.
Ling had been careless; she thought the Great Serpent's size wasn't too big and could be tamed in Death Forest, but she didn't expect it to be so enormous, so she had to finish the battle quickly.
One might mistakenly think Ling was fighting Orochimaru, as in Konoha and even the entire Ninja World, only Orochimaru could control snakes of such size.
The Great Serpent hissed with its mouth open, and its coiled body suddenly charged at Ling, intending to swallow Ling's body again.
"Hehe! Even a normal Jonin might not be your match, but unfortunately, you met me."
A faint Wind Release Chakra circulated around Ling's body; this was the prototype of the Wind Release Chakra Mode, and although not yet fully perfected, she could still achieve a speed boost.
In Ling's eyes, her one-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly, perceiving and slowing down the Great Serpent's movements. The moment she met the Great Serpent's gaze, the Genjutsu World, driven by Yin Release, invaded the Great Serpent's consciousness.
A terrifying wind blade erupted from Ame no Habakiri in her hand, extending the blade by two meters with Wind Release; this was Gale Sword Technique at full power.