Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The main reason for their defeat was that they underestimated Mito Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha at the time. They never expected that Mito Uzumaki's strength would be so terrifying. She almost single-handedly defeated their Sky Ninja, and even the Zero-Tails, which was comparable to a Tailed Beast at the time, was nearly killed.

Fortunately, Konoha did not possess flying ninja tools and lacked the ability to pursue in the air, which allowed their aerial ninjas to retreat.

After years of hiding and recuperating in secret, their power as Void Ninja has gradually recovered, and Zero-Tails has also recovered to its current size by absorbing a large amount of materialized dark chakra.

However, judging from the current situation, their hopes of revenge and to regain their footing in the ninja world are getting smaller and smaller.

"Lord Shennong, something terrible has happened! The enemy has broken in!"

Just as Shennong was feeling sad, a high-ranking ninja rushed into the room, looking terrified.

"What? They broke in? What are you all good for? There's only one enemy, and you can't even handle this?"

Shennong was immediately angered by his subordinate's words.

Although the flying fortress has not yet recovered to its peak, some basic functions have been restored, such as the chakra radar for inspection. It is thanks to this technology that they were able to successfully detect the approaching enemy and their number and strength level.

There was only one enemy, and its chakra level was only at the elite Jonin level. Logically speaking, such an enemy's strength was at most at the elite Jonin level.

When did their ninja become so weak that they couldn't even handle a mere elite jonin?

"A bunch of good-for-nothings. They've been hiding for too long; these guys have turned from pigs into pigs."

Shennong cursed inwardly.

"That's not how it is, Lord Shennong. It's not that we're useless, it's just that that person is too strong. He's definitely at the Kage level. He's coming over here soon. Please take Zero Tail and leave quickly, my lord."

"It's a high-ranking ninja!" the solitary ninja explained loudly.

Upon hearing this, Shennong recalled Zero Tail's earlier anomaly and finally realized the seriousness of the situation. The attacking enemy was likely much stronger than he had imagined, but he remained calm.

During the years he led the Sky Ninja to hide in the East and secretly recover his strength, he never forgot the humiliation. He worked hard to train for this reason, and thus mastered the Eight Gates technique and developed the Dark Medical Ninjutsu that uses dark chakra.

As long as he temporarily merges with the Zero-Tails and becomes its jinchūriki, he is confident that he will not be afraid even when facing a Kage-level powerhouse, and may even be able to defeat him.

So he immediately said to his subordinates, "So what if that's the case? What's the panic? The power of our Sky Ninja is not something that a mere Kage-level expert can defeat. Go out and hold them off for a while, and I'll be there right away."

Seeing Shennong so calm and composed, the Jonin Kongin's panic subsided considerably, and he accepted the order.

Only after his subordinates left did Shennong show a slight hint of tension on his face.

He was confident that he could gain the strength to fight against Kage-level powerhouses as long as he became the Zero-Tails Jinchuriki, but in the end, he had not actually tried it yet, and he was not really sure if he could do it.

"Never mind, let's give it a try. Zero-tail is very emotionally unstable right now. It's probably not easy to get it to leave with us by command, and it might even run away. The right choice is to merge with it and take it away together for the time being."

Shennong quickly made a decision, immediately unsealing his hands and using the technique to control the Zero Tail, before tearing off the seal talisman pasted on the glass wall.

As the technique to control Zero-Tails unfolded, a large number of yellow and white lines shot out from Zero-Tails' body, which was freed from the seal, and then wrapped around Shennong's entire body.

At that moment, a huge explosion suddenly occurred outside, which made Shennong's heart tighten. He knew that the enemy was probably coming, so he quickly accelerated the fusion with Zero Tail.

But the next moment, the sturdy door was blown away in an explosion, and a mysterious ninja wearing a Sharingan mask appeared in front of Shennong.

At the same time, Shennong also made eye contact with the mysterious ninja.

"Sharingan, you're a Konoha ninja!"

Shennong exclaimed in surprise when he saw the mysterious ninja's familiar eyes.

He never expected that the person who had chased him here would be a ninja from the Uchiha clan, and apart from the traitor Madara Uchiha, the ninjas of the Uchiha clan were most likely Konoha ninjas.

If that's the case, doesn't that mean Konoha has already discovered the Sky Ninja and is now planning to settle old scores with them?

The thought of Konoha's current strength filled Shennong with dread and intense fear.

Then, just as he was about to ignore Zero and use the Eight Gates technique to escape, he found that the scene in front of him suddenly changed, and a pair of huge three-tomoe Sharingan appeared in front of him.

He knew he was under an illusion spell and tried to break the spell himself, but he couldn't.

Just as he was filled with despair, a familiar dark chakra suddenly surged within him, disrupting the flow of chakra and freeing him from the genjutsu.

"Hmph, little bug, why don't you just surrender obediently?"

The Uchiha clone spoke coldly to Zero-Tails, who had just broken through the glass wall.

Zero-Tails didn't want to listen to the Uchiha clone's idle chatter for a moment. It pulled Shennong to its side as fast as it could, then poured a large amount of dark chakra into his body and officially connected with Shennong. Its massive body quickly disappeared into Shennong's body.

After Shennong obtained the power of the Zero-Tails, the exhilarating surge of power made him instantly forget the fear and despair he had felt from being unable to break free of the genjutsu. He then said to his Uchiha clone with a smug look, "You'll regret this, arrogant Uchiha. This is my power."

As soon as he finished speaking, a black chakra wave erupted from his body, and his originally thin body quickly became strong and muscular, and his gray hair quickly turned black and grew longer.

In just a few seconds, Shennong transformed from a middle-aged man who looked rather old into a strong young man, with powerful chakra fluctuations constantly erupting from his body and his aura continuously increasing.

That's it? That's all?

The Uchiha clone looked at Shennong's current performance and said with some disappointment.

He could have killed Shennong the instant he trapped him in the illusion, but he didn't, because he wanted to see how Shennong would perform after obtaining the power of the Zero Tail.

In his memory, this Shennong was a master of the Eight Gates technique. Although he didn't know where he came from, that's what he said in his conversation with Naruto in the movie. He also developed a forbidden medical technique called Body Transformation.

This forbidden medical technique requires the use of dark chakra to be performed. Once performed, it grants the user an ultimate physical body and the ability to remain immortal even with all eight gates of the Eight Gates fully open.

Judging from Shennong's current performance, his physical strength has indeed been greatly improved, but he doesn't look like he has opened all eight gates at all.

"It seems that even with the ultimate physical body, opening the Eight Gates is not an easy task. This guy probably hasn't mastered the Eight Gates Technique yet."

The Uchiha clone quickly saw through Shennong's true nature.

It's not that the other party's forbidden medical technique is ineffective, but rather that the person using this forbidden technique is not very skilled in physical combat, which is why they were unable to fully unleash the potential of this forbidden technique.

"court death."

Shennong felt deeply humiliated to see that he was still looked down upon by the Uchiha clone despite having already gained great power, and roared angrily with a ferocious expression.

The next moment, he used his physical strength to unleash a speed no less than that of the Body Flicker Technique, suddenly appearing behind the Uchiha clone and then throwing a chakra ball formed from dark chakra at the Uchiha clone's chest.

Taijutsu: Super God Fist!

Just as his attack struck the Uchiha clone, a burst of dazzling lightning erupted from the clone.

In an instant, Shennong felt his Super Transformation Fist strike an incredibly hard wall, a wall formed from lightning chakra.

"Oh!"

The chakra ball exploded.

Shennong was blasted away, and his body was immediately covered in horrific wounds, but these wounds healed in the blink of an eye.

This is Shennong using another forbidden medical technique he mastered: physical regeneration.

With this ninjutsu, even if his body is torn to pieces, he can reassemble and revive, and his severed limbs can regenerate.

The rapid healing of his physical injuries did not bring Shennong much sense of security. He stared solemnly at the center of the explosion, which was covered by the thick fog of the explosion.

The explosion of the chakra ball was incredibly powerful. If he hadn't possessed the forbidden medical technique, Body Regeneration, he would likely have been severely injured and unable to fight.

"Impossible, this is the Cloud Village's Lightning Release Chakra Mode, how could you know this ninjutsu?"

The thick fog from the explosion quickly dissipated, and Shennong looked at the unharmed Uchiha ninja in front of him, and at the lightning armor covering his body, and exclaimed in surprise.

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and ran away without saying another word.

No way! He just used his Super God Fist, which was his strongest attack, but he couldn't even break through the enemy's defense. What's the point of fighting? Escaping is the most important thing.

The Sky Ninja once harbored ambitions to dominate the ninja world, and naturally, they had conducted some research on the powerful ninjutsu of the various ninja villages.

Therefore, Shennong was quite familiar with the famous Lightning Release Chakra Mode of the Hidden Cloud Village. This ninjutsu was powerful, but it was a ninja that consumed a lot of chakra. He judged that the Uchiha ninja in front of him, who did not have much chakra, could not last long.

As long as he stalls for time, victory will still be his.

But he had only run a short distance when he fell to the ground. The reason was that, without him noticing, one of his feet had been entangled by a black shadow hook.

Secret Technique: Shadow Stitching!

Besides Fire Release, the Uchiha clones are also skilled in Yin Release, so the Nara Secret Techniques can also be very powerful in their hands.

Where do you think you're going?

The Uchiha clone stared coldly at Shennong and then instantly appeared in front of Shennong.

Seeing that the Uchiha clone was so arrogant as to appear so close to him, Shennong shouted and quickly threw a punch at the Uchiha clone.

Body Technique: Bone-Splitting Fist!

However, his fist was still blocked by the lightning armor on the Uchiha clone, and it couldn't touch him at all. Instead, his own fist was injured by the high-voltage current wrapped around the lightning armor.

Shennong, disregarding his injuries and defying superstition, continued to throw punches like a madman.

The Uchiha clone didn't intend to retaliate; it simply watched Shennong's performance, using it as a way to test its own strength.

Shennong's strength at this time was actually not bad, barely reaching the level of a Kage. He also possessed a forbidden medical technique with super healing abilities and a strong physique, making him extremely resilient. An ordinary Kage-level expert might be worn down by him.

"Hoo~, this Lightning Release Chakra Mode is indeed a bit difficult to use. That's fine, I've let you have a few hundred punches, now you should let me hit you a few times."

A dozen seconds later, the Uchiha clone grew tired and sighed.

The next second, he raised one hand, and under Shennong's incredulous gaze, a dark chakra appeared in his palm and quickly gathered into a chakra ball. This was the taijutsu that Shennong had just used: the Super God Fist.

However, Shennong was not concerned about the Uchiha clone replicating his taijutsu, but rather that the Uchiha clone had actually mastered the ability to use dark chakra. He shouted in disbelief, "Impossible! You clearly don't have the power of the Zero-Tails, so why can you use dark chakra?"

Upon hearing Shennong's words, the Uchiha clone scoffed, "This kind of chakra, born from negative emotions within a person, is something everyone possesses. Why would we need to rely on external means to control it? However, I must thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have mastered the means to control this kind of chakra so quickly."

He let Shennong punch him so many times not only to test his own strength, but also to use his Sharingan to spy on the other party's use of dark chakra.

After observing it hundreds of times, he finally figured out the trick.

No sooner had he finished speaking than he punched Shennong hard in the abdomen, piercing through it.

Chapter 317: Pure Darkness, the Possibility of Artificial Evolution of the Sharingan

"Impossible, impossible, impossible..."

Shennong's abdomen was pierced by the Super God Fist of the Uchiha clone, causing him to vomit blood violently and repeatedly shout.

The method he spent nearly half his life researching to manipulate dark chakra was actually learned by others in just a few minutes, and they even innovated upon it, doing so without needing Zero-Tails as an 'assistant'.

For Shennong, nothing could pierce his heart more than this.

Shennong was immediately enveloped in endless despair.

Destroy everything, destroy everything.

After despair came the thought of destroying everything.

At this moment, Shennong completely relinquished control over Zero-Tail, allowing it to occupy his mind without hindrance and devour the darkness within him, only asking Zero-Tail to help him destroy everything.