Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Xia Zuo recalled that the memories of the Heavenly Demon Xia Zuo included this sentiment:

"The Emperor Engine is not only the foundation of swift speed, but also the support of a man's dignity. You don't have to worry about being called the fastest man."

Ah, I see.

Xia Zuo was filled with unwavering belief that he would successfully fuse with the Swift Release Kekkei Genkai.

What does pain matter?

What does risk matter?

For the sake of a man's dignity, for the sake of achieving the ultimate goal, for the sake of a happy future, and for the sake of all Xia Zuo's happiness, he was willing to take risks and endure pain.

Grandpa Xia Zuo is a true man; he would never choose to back down at such a crucial moment.

Absolutely not!

Thanks to the shared memories from the two sessions, coupled with Xia Zuo's two weeks of deep contemplation and practice, he truly mastered the refinement, transformation, and qualitative change of all chakra attributes.

In just one day, Xia Zuo completed the qualitative changes in Wind Release and Lightning Release required for the fusion of Swift Release.

But when he thought he was fully prepared and tried to combine Swift Release for the first time, Xia Zuo suffered a shameful defeat.

As the old saying goes, once the wound heals, the pain is forgotten.

That's Xia Zuo.

He thought that he had suffered from kidney stones in his past life, and that he could endure it in this life by just gritting his teeth.

Xia Zuo's idea was also correct; he really endured it and was able to continue circulating his chakra despite the intense pain.

However, he couldn't control his mouth, and his uncontrollable, piercing screams shattered the roof, terrifying all his neighbors.

Especially the parents of Uchiha Izumi next door.

Startled by Xia Zuo's screams, the two elderly people rushed to his home, interrupting his Swift Escape technique and the healing process of his kidneys.

Two elderly neighbors saw Xia Zuo rolling on the ground and concluded that he was seriously injured, so they rushed him to the hospital for emergency treatment that very night.

As a result, Xia Zuo caused quite a stir at the hospital.

Xia Zuo was a large patient who was almost too big to fit on a bed, with his legs sticking out when he lay down. Every medical ninja who saw him was curious.

Curiosity would drive them to inquire about what illness Xia Zuo had.

"Have you heard? That 1.88-meter-tall guy is only 14 years old."

"To be this tall at 14 years old, that's a monster."

"Hey, do you know what illness he was hospitalized for?"

"What is it?"

"Kidney failure!"

"Oh? It's just a pretty face that's all show and no substance."

"Poor child..."

"Maybe it's because he's grown so tall that he got this kind of middle-aged man's disease!"

"No, the medical ninja said it was because of an incorrect method of practicing the secret technique that caused the injury."

"That means you'll recover if you stop and rest properly."

"Of course, he's young after all, and he hasn't suffered any permanent damage."

Then the rumors started spreading.

Not everyone who spreads rumors knows that much, and there is no authoritative information to confirm it, so the followers of the gossip cult began to fabricate their own stories.

The imaginative and down-to-earth fabrications quickly turned the rumors about Xia Zuo into outright lies.

Unreasonable and fabricated rumors are inherently the most contagious. Once people hear them, they can discover the flaws in their fabrication and then spontaneously rework them.

As the rumors are further processed, they become increasingly outrageous and spread faster and faster.

Bad money drives out good money, and rumors destroy the truth.

Xia Zuo's reputation was ruined, and he became the laughing stock of everyone in the hospital.

He only has one mouth, and he can't explain things to everyone.

The problem is, even if Xia Zuo had a hundred mouths, he couldn't explain it clearly, because his illness is real; he really has kidney failure.

He was even relieved that Aunt Miko and Mr. Heishiro were ordinary people, and that they were slow in getting up, dressing, and entering the Natsusa house after being woken up.

Given some time, Xia Zuo's powerful self-healing ability managed to repair his badly damaged kidneys, at least healing the obvious surface wounds.

Otherwise, if they were sent to the hospital, the medical ninja's examination would not have revealed kidney failure, but rather severe kidney damage.

Moreover, the wounds caused by the surge of Wind Release and Lightning Release chakra cannot be hidden from medical ninjas. They will definitely find that the situation is not simple and there is a high probability that it will alert the intelligence department and initiate an investigation into Xia Zuo.

After being discharged from the hospital, Xia Zuo, after much agonizing reflection, dug a basement in his own yard.

The basement was dug very large and deep, and he filled and sealed it with various porous materials to create an absolutely soundproof room.

This time, he would not be interrupted again.

We must complete the fusion of Swift Escape, and we must obtain the strongest Emperor Engine.

The Wind Release chakra transformed into extremely fluidity, and the Lightning Release chakra transformed into gentle and stable bio-nerve electricity. Then, Xia Zuo injected the two types of chakra into his left and right kidneys respectively.

Lightning Release and Wind Release each use a kidney as their core, penetrating each other's locations.

Because the process had been close to success, the body had developed a relevant memory of it, and the fusion process went very smoothly.

But the pain of tearing open the old wound was far more intense than the first time he tried.

Xia Zuo couldn't help but scream from the very beginning, yelling at the top of his lungs, but fortunately the soundproof room blocked it all out, so he didn't disturb the neighbors again.

A few minutes later, the second attempt at chakra fusion was successful.

The healing of the kidney damage then begins.

At this moment, the pain did not lessen at all; instead, an even more unbearable itching sensation appeared, a deep-seated itch that was more unbearable than the pain itself.

Xia Zuo clenched his teeth tightly to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

This is the truly crucial moment; the traces of healing are the structure of the Swift Release chakra's operation.

The healing process of the kidney wound determines the quality of the Emperor Engine and also the maximum speed that Swift Escape can achieve.

It will even determine Xia Zuo's stamina.

Thinking of the serious consequences of relaxing at such a crucial moment, Xia Zuo suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of courage and perseverance, and forcibly resisted the onslaught of pain and itching.

For a happy life, let's give it our all!!

The pain and itching intensified, but abruptly ended at a peak that Xia Zuo found unbearable.

It's like someone who is in so much abdominal pain that they're sweating profusely, but the pain disappears instantly after sitting on the toilet.

The more violently it comes, the more suddenly it goes.

Xia Zuo then felt a slight warmth on the lower back of his waist, with a surge of power flowing out from it. The power first converged in his lower abdomen and then extended upwards and downwards respectively.

The warm current spreads rapidly through blood vessels and nerves to the legs, feet, torso, arms, hands, and even every fingertip.

The heat spread to every inch of the skin, eventually reaching the facial features, especially the eyes and ears.

The area deep within the ear is where the sensation is most pronounced and where the temperature is highest.

Xia Zuo happily felt the transformation of his body by the Swift Release chakra: the balance bones in his cochlea, the dynamic vision of his eyes, the skin's sensitivity to wind, the speed and agility of nerve conduction, and the timeliness and stability of his muscle reactions.

Add to that a powerful heart, and the pulsating double-kidney imperial engine.

All of this delighted Xia Zuo; Swift Escape truly was an all-around extreme speed.