I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 461 Dragon Vein Sealing? Plan Goes Well!

The dragon vein of Loulan is actually the residual chakra of the divine tree!

Nara Rinkachi took a deep breath, his heart churning with emotions.

With his intelligence network, how could he not know what kind of existence the Divine Tree truly is?!

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire foundation of the ninja world is built upon the Divine Tree!

The goddess of the Rabbit descended from the heavens, planted the Divine Tree in the ninja world, nurtured the Chakra Fruit, and devoured it.

In this way, the Goddess of the Rabbit transformed from an ordinary member of the Otsutsuki clan into the progenitor of chakra in the ninja world!

Because of the goddess of the rabbit, there came the Sage of Six Paths (and his two brothers), the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura, and this ninja world came into being...

Prior to today, Nara Rinka had encountered these beings who symbolized the pinnacle of power in the ninja world.

Putting everything else aside, there's that SSS-grade miscellaneous item—

[The Divine Tree Splits Off]

Nara Rinka has no idea how many "nature masks" he has created using those "divine tree branches"!

The problem is that these branches of the sacred tree collected by Nara Rinka only have an SSS-level rating.

According to Nara Ranke's subsequent investigation, all of the "divine tree branches" he possessed were actually branches derived from the "Gedo Mazo" summoned by Uchiha Madara.

Although the [Gedo Statue] also originated from the [Divine Tree].

However, in essence, there is at least a two-level difference between the [Outer Path Statue] and the [Divine Tree]!

The Gedo Mazo (Outer Path Demon Statue) and the Nine Tailed Beasts can be combined to form the Ten-Tails.

The Ten-Tails and the Chakra Fruit are needed to synthesize the Divine Tree.

In Nara Rinkei's mind, the [Gedo Mazo] was merely an "empty shell" of the Divine Tree.

Even if those [divine tree branches] have an SSS-level rating on the panel, they are just empty names.

Therefore, Nara Rinkazu did not take the "divine tree branching" too seriously.

If what he gets his hands on isn't some [Branch of the Divine Tree], but rather a [God of the Heretic]...

That's completely different in nature!

Unfortunately, Nara Rinkazu was of humble origin and did not have alien blood, so he could not summon the [Gedo Mazo].

Madara Uchiha sent that thing back to the moon before he died...

If Nara Ranka wants to see the Gedo Mazo again, he'll probably only be able to rely on Pain, who's currently still farming and developing in the Land of Rain.

"Hmm? Speaking of which, the most important reason why Nagato could become Pain was because Danzo Shimura, in conjunction with Amegakure, killed Yahiko, the first leader of Akatsuki, right in front of Nagato, right?"

"Now that the scapegoat of Konoha is long dead and no longer has the ability to cause trouble in the Land of Rain, will the Akatsuki's development path... be affected in some way?"

"Nagato—no, Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan implanted in Nagato's eye sockets is something that cannot be ignored..."

A few thoughts inexplicably flashed through Nara Rinka's mind, but he quickly buried them deep in his heart.

"It seems that besides the Temple of Fire, I'll also have to go to the Land of Rain..."

The Rinnegan is of great importance.

Once Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, unleashed his full power, very few in the ninja world could rival him.

Nara Rinka didn't trust anyone else to handle such an important matter as the Rinnegan, so he had to make the trip himself.

I forcibly pulled my thoughts away from the Rinnegan (Gedo Mazo) and back to the dragon vein of Loulan.

"The Living Slug Immortal"

Nara Rinka gazed at the purple chakra before her and spoke softly.

He remembered that the Living Slug Sage had mentioned that if the dragon vein of Loulan was indeed the residual chakra of the Divine Tree, then it would be a deadly poison for ordinary ninjas!

For ordinary ninjas, the corrosive and harmful effects of the residual chakra from the Divine Tree far exceed those of natural energy!

However, the dragon vein of Loulan is right before our eyes.

This chakra still possesses extremely high activity and a large volume, and Nara Rinkei is really unwilling to let go easily.

Not to mention that this chakra was aimed directly at the Divine Tree!

Once a ninja's strength surpasses S-rank (super Kage level).

To continue to improve, one must "revert to one's ancestral ways"!

The closer you are to your ancestors, the stronger you become!

Rinnegan, Tenseigan, Sage Body...

What our ancestors knew is the strongest!

The Nara clan, who originated from Nara Rinka, did not have that innate "alien bloodline" and were unwilling to take the path of "science + mutation".

If you want to improve your strength, then you can only honestly study natural energy and chakra.

If we want to study these two energies, what would be a better subject of study than the "residual chakra of the Divine Tree"?

Even Kaguya Otsutsuki became the Goddess of the Rabbit because of the "Chakra Fruit of the Divine Tree"!

If the Loulan Dragon Vein were merely a mysteriously mutated natural energy, Nara Rangsuke wouldn't have placed such importance on it.

But what about the remaining chakra of the Divine Tree?

I will not let go, I will never let go!

Nara Rankei asked, "Do you think the 'Dragon Vein Jinchuriki' plan can still be continued?"

"Lord Nara, I must remind you one more time."

The live slug sage wriggled its body and crawled along the shadow to Nara Rinka.

"The residual chakra of the Divine Tree is extremely dangerous."

"I do not recommend that you hastily absorb it into your body."

"I completely understand what you mean."

Nara Rinka stroked his chin, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

Even becoming a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast requires a selection process.

For example, when the "Three-Tails Jinchuriki" was being selected, Uchiha Shisui, who was born with the wind and fire chakra attributes, was eliminated during the first test.

Nara Rinkei's ambition to become a "Dragon Vein Jinchūriki" is not so simple.

"But what if we don't aim for a 'Jinchūriki,' but instead seal this residual chakra within a special device... wouldn't that also be possible?"

"From the perspective of the route, Lord Nara's idea is not problematic."

This time, the Living Slug Immortal gave an affirmative answer.

"But Lord Nara, the amount of dragon vein chakra is so enormous that finding a suitable sealing vessel for it is not so easy."

"That's easy."

Nara Ranke shook his head, lightly tapped his wrist with his index finger, and cast the [Summoning Technique: Lightning Sword Transformation]. An ordinary-looking mask immediately fell into his palm.

"The Living Slug Sage can take a look at this mask."

"This mask?"

The live slug shrew crawled onto the mask, tapped it with its soft, white head, and let out a gasp.

"Huh?"

The next moment, the Living Slug Sage couldn't help but inject a stream of chakra into the mask, but the mask didn't react at all.

Then it injected a stream of natural energy into the mask, but the mask still did not react.

"Nara-sama!"

The Living Slug Immortal looked at Nara Rinka in awe.

Having lived to this age, there's practically nothing in the ninja world that can shock the Living Slug Sage anymore.

But it is still extremely surprised by this mask.

"You...have found the Divine Tree!?"

"No, this is not the divine tree, but only a small branch of the divine tree."