Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The world of the mind has once again returned to tranquility.

"You're just being arrogant because you have unlimited lifespan and unlimited resurrection."

Kirito looked down at the One-Tailed Beast, whose mouth was still struggling, and sneered inwardly.

Having taken over the soul of the One-Tailed Beast, he naturally gained its memories and was very clear about the source of this guy's stubbornness.

Kirito didn't have any specific methods to deal with this. His research on Yin-Yang Release was ultimately not deep enough to destroy the souls of Tailed Beasts, even though it was a special technique left by the Sage of Six Paths within the souls of Tailed Beasts.

"The Nine-Tails is a combination of Yang Release and Yin Release chakra. It is the key to improving Yang Release and Yin Release. However, Yang Release and Yin Release are different from the Five Elements Release Techniques. They are much more difficult to comprehend and cultivate. The Nine-Tails is also incomparable to other tailed beasts. I will go find it after I have improved the remaining three Five Elements Release Techniques to level 5."

Kirito thought of Yin-Yang Release, and then of the Nine-Tails, and thought to himself.

Suddenly, a memory from an Uchiha clone entered his mind, causing his expression to turn serious.

A coup d'état occurred in Kirigakure. Just like in the original story, Yagura Karatachi successfully staged the coup and became the Fourth Mizukage with the strength of a perfect Jinchūriki.

However, unlike the original storyline, since all the older generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had died, the Blood Mist faction lacked sufficiently powerful ninjas. After the successful coup by Yagura Karatachi, the transfer of power and internal purge of Kirigakure were completed very smoothly.

"Because of me, the original plot has been greatly changed. Yagura Karatachi has now completed his coup ahead of schedule. Will there still be an Uchiha standing behind him?"

After learning about the situation in Kirigakure, Kirito couldn't help but think about the possibility that Yagura Karatachi was being manipulated.

It's only been 35 years since Konoha was founded. The Second Shinobi World War has officially ended, and because of him, the Third Shinobi World War may be postponed for even longer.

After all, Konoha's situation is much better now than in the original storyline.

With Danzo gone, the Third Hokage retired gracefully, Tsunade smoothly ascended to power, and Konoha's strength is now on the rise.

As a result, he also gained two enhancement points, which came from Tsunade and Minato respectively.

The order in which the two men succeeded each other as Hokage changed, and their fates were thus greatly altered.

In fact, Kirito felt that the fates of many others were also changed as a result.

Unfortunately, the system was very stingy and did not provide any enhancement points.

Kirito thus gradually came to the conclusion that the system would grant enhancement points under certain conditions.

That is, the creation of enhancement points is not only due to the change in the fate of an important character in the original story, but also because the change in that person's fate must be directly related to him, rather than being indirectly caused by him.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the coup in Kirigakure must be taken seriously.

Because Kirigakure is currently the ninja village with the best-preserved strength and numerous bloodline limits, if Yagura Karatachi were to complete the coup, end the Third Hokage's Blood Dance policy, and not be controlled by genjutsu, Kirigakure's strength could very well take off.

At that time, Kirigakure will definitely become a formidable enemy of Konoha, and it is also very likely to become a trump card for Madara Uchiha in his fight against Konoha.

Because Kirigakure has the Red Eyes, a bloodline limit that severely counters the Byakugan.

"Two years is enough time to change many things. It is necessary for my sister to strengthen the spy network among the major ninja villages. If any of these ninja villages are allied with Uchiha Madara, the threat would be enormous."

Kirito tries to make the worst-case scenario assumptions as much as possible so that he can come up with corresponding countermeasures.

Meanwhile, in the northern part of the Land of Snow, a White Zetsu clone was using its Byakugan to carefully search every inch of the underground land, hoping to find some valuable clues.

After completing the initial arrangements for the reconstruction of the Rain Kingdom, he finally had some free time to search for a path to the moon.

He had been in the Land of Snow for a week, and thanks to his excellent mobility, he had traveled to almost every part of the Land of Snow, but still found nothing.

Left with no other choice, he had to continue his journey north.

With his considerable wealth, he acquired some ancient maps from collectors. After comparing them with modern maps, he discovered that the geography of the continent had changed dramatically. In other words, the information revealed by Hyuga Kazuma was much less effective.

The further north you go, the colder the climate becomes. Everywhere you go, everything is covered in snow, and there is no one for miles around.

Such a harsh environment would make it difficult for even ninjas to survive for long.

For this reason, although his Night Organization sent many people to the Snow Country to assist him in the search, the progress of the search has been very slow.

To survive for an extended period in such an extremely cold environment with temperatures tens of degrees below zero, one must be a Jonin who is proficient in Fire Release techniques.

The reason why the White Zetsu clone was able to stay here for so long was thanks to the traitorous Five-Tails within it. The high temperature generated by the Boil Release chakra it controlled made it almost unaffected by this extremely cold environment.

It just consumes a lot of chakra.

But it doesn't matter, the traitor Five-Tails is very obedient, diligently gathering chakra, keeping the chakra in his body at a safe level.

“Searching inch by inch like this isn’t a solution. Without enough information to point the way, it’s a waste of time. I need to change my approach. If the history of the Hyuga clan is unreliable, I should find someone who has a more reliable understanding of history.”

After searching for another hour without finding anything, the White Zetsu clone frowned and stopped, pondering.

For a moment, his mind raced, seriously considering who else in the ninja world knew more accurate history.

He quickly realized who it was.

That's a spirit beast.

Compared to humans, summoned beasts have much longer lifespans, including some ancient monsters that have lived for thousands of years. These summoned beasts are themselves a living history.

When thinking of summoned beasts, White Zetsu's clones inevitably think of the three great holy lands for summoned beasts.

“These three holy lands are all inhabited by ancient monsters who have lived for countless years. However, my search for the path to the moon is a top secret. If I were to tell these ancient monsters about this, they would likely know my purpose.”

The white-haired clone sighed.

However, now that things have come to this, if he wants to find enough useful information about finding the path to the moon, he can only go and see these old monsters.

When it comes to the old monsters of the three great sacred lands of summoning beasts, the first one that White Zetsu clone thought of was the Slug Sage.

This immortal has always been a peace-loving and gentle person. Even if it knew that he was going to find the path to the moon, it would most likely not interfere. If it did know, it would most likely tell him the truth.

Without delay, the White Zetsu clone decisively used the Flying Thunder God Technique to quickly return to a hidden place in the Land of Rain, and then headed towards the location of the Wet Bone Forest.

Kirito had talked to Tsunade about Shikkotsu Forest, and thus learned that Shikkotsu Forest was a terrible place in the southeast of the ninja world, filled with miasma. Therefore, there was only one place that fit these characteristics, and that was the southern part of the Land of Whirlpools.

The White Zetsu clone flew through the air, quickly passing through the Land of Fire and arriving above the Land of Whirlpools, eventually reaching a place shrouded in white mist in the southern part of this already destroyed country.

With its powerful chakra perception, the White Zetsu clone could clearly sense that there was a terrifying creature in the mist below. The Sage Chakra contained within the creature was as vast and boundless as the ocean, and extremely pure.

"Is this the level that can be reached after cultivating immortal techniques for thousands of years? This foundation is truly astonishing."

Kirito was amazed by the amount of Sage Chakra within the Slug Sage, which was even greater than that of the Nine-Tails.

Then, he activated his Byakugan, pierced through the thick fog, and successfully saw the Slug Sage, thus making his first eye contact with him.

The next moment, a gentle and soft voice rang in his ear: "Hello, human immortal, I am a slug. Did you come to see me?"

Upon hearing the sound, the white Zetsu clone immediately turned its head to look at its own shoulder.

He saw slugs, smaller than ants, gathering together on his shoulder. In just a few seconds, a fist-sized slug with a white body and blue back appeared on his shoulder.

The white Zetsu clone did not find this strange.

Using the power of his Byakugan, he had just seen clearly what the mist below was all about. It wasn't mist at all, but rather tiny slugs that formed the perpetual 'mist' below.

The Slug Sage had clearly sensed his arrival long ago. If it weren't for his Byakugan and soul perception, he might not have known that the other party had already attached a large number of clones to him.

These slugs' miniature clones have an incredibly strong ability to hide. Not only are they invisible to the naked eye, but they can also block perception because they are almost integrated with the natural energy in nature.

"Hello, Slug Immortal, I have long admired your name. Due to my current special identity, I cannot reveal my real name for the time being. Please forgive me. You can call me Soul One. I have come to bother you today because I have a favor to ask."

The white-haired clone spoke apologetically.

The Slug Sage clearly didn't care that the White Zetsu clone was hiding its identity. It continued in a gentle, soft voice, "It's alright, identity doesn't matter, as long as you're interesting enough..."

Chapter 306: The Amusing Immortal

As a wise slug who has lived for thousands of years, the daily life of the Slug Fairy has become very boring, because many of the people she knew have long since turned into dust.

In the entire Wet Bone Forest, the only living thing was actually herself.

In fact, the reason why Shiku Forest exists is entirely because it has been staying here for thousands of years, constantly absorbing and exhaling the natural energy of nature to cultivate immortal techniques.

However, because of this, the environment of Shikkotsu Forest is extremely harsh. It is filled with high-purity natural energy, and apart from herself, no other ordinary creature can live here for long. If they cannot adapt to the environment, they will die a painful death.

Therefore, the Slug Sage is actually very lonely and bored.

To avoid dying of boredom, the Slug Sage begins to sign contracts with ninjas, then silently seeks amusement by acting as their summoning beast.

After thousands of years of observation, it has long since discovered that humans are a very interesting species.

Although humans have many flaws, such as greed, belligerence, and cruelty, it is undeniable that many human lives, even if short, are quite remarkable, far surpassing those of many long-lived creatures.

Therefore, as a summoning beast, she often sees many wonderful sights that she has never seen before and personally participates in many major historical events that will affect the development of the ninja world by staying with those outstanding humans.

Humans are such interesting creatures that she will never be bored as long as she is around some of the most outstanding ones.

A creature that can help her escape boredom—that's how the Slug Sage views humans.

Therefore, the Slug Sage wouldn't care about the true identity of the White Zetsu clone at all.

Because these things are completely unimportant to her. In her long memory, there are very few humans that she can remember, so few that she can count them on one hand.

However, the human who was unwilling to reveal his name in front of her at this moment would surely become someone she would never forget.

A true human immortal, with absolutely no trace of the immortal techniques inherited from the other three sacred lands of spirit beasts.

Clearly, the human in front of her had become an immortal entirely through his own abilities.

In the history of humanity and even the ninja world, this was an absolutely groundbreaking breakthrough, ending the era in which Sage Mode was monopolized by summoning beasts.

"Is being interesting enough? It seems the Slug Sage has high hopes for me. However, what I'm about to do might not be interesting at all; in fact, it could be a bit scary and might even implicate you."

Upon hearing the slug's words, the White Zetsu clone sighed.

After putting himself in the slug's shoes for a moment, he quickly understood what the slug fairy meant by "interesting."

All he could say was that this slug fairy had a rather big heart.

"Oh, that's great! Tell me quickly, is there anything you need my help with? As long as it's not something that could kill me, I'll help you."

The Slug Sage became even more excited upon hearing what the White Zetsu clone said.

Because the scariest things are usually the most interesting.

She wasn't worried at all about being doomed because of this. It wasn't that she was overconfident; it was just that even if she wanted to die, it would be extremely difficult. Perhaps she would only truly die when the planet beneath her was destroyed.

There was no way around it; the immortal arts she possessed not only granted her near-infinite lifespan but also made her survival ability terrifyingly powerful.

As long as there is one of her slug clones still alive in this world, she will not truly die.

She had actually done things like courting death a long, long time ago, such as frequently provoking that stinky snake with a terrible temper, sending her clones into spatial storms to see other worlds, and sending her clones into places with distorted spacetime to see the future.

She's done far too many terrible things, and the number of her lost clones is countless.

"Alright then, do you know where the path to the moon is?"