Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Soul Shennong sneered upon hearing the words of the Uchiha clone.

"Will do."

The Uchiha clone said without hesitation.

As he spoke, a soul flame ignited in his right hand, and he moved it toward the Soul Shennong.

Before the soul flames even got close, Shennong sensed a deadly threat from them and quickly relented, "Alright, alright, I promise you. Just don't let this thing get any closer to me."

It's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. Although Shennong's physical body died, if he could continue to live in his soul form, he could still reluctantly continue living in this way, just in case he could find a way to be resurrected in another body in the future.

He considered himself exceptionally talented. If he hadn't been born in a small ninja village, the resources he could have obtained would have been limited. Yet, he still became the leader of the Sky Ninja, developed many powerful forbidden medical techniques, and successfully researched how to utilize the power of the Zero-Tails.

As long as he continues to live, there is still hope of him being resurrected. Doesn't Konoha have the Impure World Reincarnation Technique, a ninjutsu that controls the dead, and the Spirit Transformation Technique, a powerful soul ninjutsu?

He was now fairly certain that the Uchiha ninja in front of him had a significant connection with Kirito Tohsaka, and was very likely one of his important subordinates.

In other words, he will most likely meet with Kirito Tohsaka next and work under him.

If things develop to this point, he might actually have come out ahead. Working under Kirito Tohsaka is no small feat; given that person's abilities, he might very well have the power to bring him back to life.

"Perhaps we can also gain access to many of Konoha's core secrets through this, and then obtain even greater power."

Shennong tried to think positively, while also convincing himself that he was only temporarily holding back and would deliver a fatal blow to Konoha when the opportunity arose.

The Uchiha clone was unaware of Shennong's thoughts, but was satisfied with his answer. He immediately withdrew his soul flames and then took out a porcelain bottle containing gangster substances, temporarily sealing Shennong's soul inside.

……

Meanwhile, on the banks of a large river within the Land of Rain, a fierce chase is unfolding.

One of the fleeing individuals is a person wearing a white and blue mask, revealing a pair of abnormal red eyes. The other is a green-haired boy named Amegakure, who is currently riding a two-meter-tall green toad in hot pursuit.

Before long, the two arrived at the turbulent river, but the rushing water did not cause them any trouble, and they moved quickly across the river as if walking on flat ground.

"You're really persistent, kid. I haven't caused any trouble in your Rain Country, why do you have to keep chasing me like this?"

Seeing the orange-haired boy relentlessly pursuing him, the man in the white and blue mask suddenly stopped on the river and stared at the orange-haired boy with his red eyes, saying something.

"Yahiko, this guy's eyes are the Blood Dragon Eyes of the Blood Pond Clan, possessing powerful illusion abilities. Be careful."

Upon seeing this, the green toad immediately stopped and then spoke to the orange-haired boy on its back.

"I know that, Gamataro. I didn't expect this guy to be a ninja from the Blood Pond Clan. I heard that he has the bloodline limit of Ice Release. I thought he was a rogue ninja from Kirigakure."

Upon hearing the green toad's reminder, Yahiko smiled and then stared directly into the toad's blood-red dragon eyes without a care.

"Arrogant fellow, you actually dare to point your finger at my eyes. Well then, let me show you the power of the Blood Dragon Eye."

Upon seeing this, the man in the blue and white mask said coldly.

As soon as he finished speaking, two lines of bloody tears flowed from his eyes, instantly unleashing the unique illusion technique of the Blood Dragon Eye.

Yahiko suddenly found himself sinking into a lake of blood. Despite his excellent swimming skills, he was unable to stop himself from sinking deeper and deeper into the blood lake, and a strong feeling of suffocation followed.

Despite this, Yahiko showed no panic. As he calmed down and drew in an energy different from chakra, he instantly broke free from the genjutsu's control.

In the illusion, Yahiko felt that more than ten seconds had passed, but in reality, Yahiko actually broke the enemy's illusion in less than half a second.

"Well done, Yahiko. I didn't expect you to be able to use natural energy so skillfully so quickly."

Knowing all this, Toad Taro immediately praised it.

Mount Myōboku has begun training Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato in Sage Mode, but to the surprise of many ninja toads, Yahiko is the one with the highest talent in Sage Mode among the three.

After discovering this, Fukasaku carefully observed Yahiko and eventually found that Yahiko's outstanding performance was not due to his own exceptional aptitude for cultivating immortal arts. Rather, it was because Yahiko had far fewer distracting thoughts than Nagato and Konan, and possessed a firm will and a single-minded mind, enabling him to quickly calm his inner self.

It was precisely because of this that, with the help of the well-established Sage Mode training methods at Mount Myōboku, Yahiko quickly made progress in his Sage Mode training. For example, he was already able to sense natural energy without needing the special toad oil from Mount Myōboku.

Currently, the only obstacle is the crucial point of fusing natural energy with chakra.

Even so, Yahiko's strength has been greatly improved. By being able to sense natural energy, he can allow natural energy to enter his body, thereby continuously improving his physical qualities. He can also use natural energy to temporarily strengthen his body and enhance his senses.

In short, after gaining the power of natural energy, Yahiko felt himself getting stronger every day.

"Natural energy? What is that?"

The man in the white mask overheard their conversation and asked a question.

Unfortunately, the answer he received was a water bullet released from Gamataro's mouth.

Water Release: Gunfire Ball!

But the next moment, an ice wall as smooth as a mirror instantly blocked the white-masked man, stopping and freezing the giant water bullet.

At the same time, a layer of solid ice emanating a terrifying chill rapidly spread beneath the white-masked figure, quickly freezing the river surface, and creating numerous ice mirrors in the surrounding air.

Ice Release: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal!

"Don't try to succeed."

Yahiko shouted, and his hands quickly completed the hand seals. A large number of yellow lightning balls appeared and shot towards the white-masked man like bullets. They even bypassed the ice wall and attacked the enemy.

Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!

A large number of lightning balls successfully struck the white-masked man. The moment they hit him, the white-masked man turned into an ice sculpture and exploded, and a terrifying chill spread rapidly in all directions.

At this moment, the sky over the Land of Rain was still pouring rain. Yahiko and Gamataro were already soaked to the bone. They were caught off guard by the icy cold air and were instantly covered with a layer of solid ice, turning into two ice sculptures.

"You overconfident brat, die!"

Then, a white-masked figure suddenly appeared on the mirror-like ice wall and made a triumphant sound. He then emerged from the ice mirror and threw a kunai with an explosive tag at the two ice sculptures.

"Oh!"

The detonator exploded, shattering the ice sculpture into pieces.

However, the scene of his familiar enemy's frozen body being smashed to pieces did not appear.

Upon seeing this, the white-masked man instantly realized something was wrong and quickly activated his Blood Dragon Eye's ability to sense blood. However, at that moment, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his eyes and cursed inwardly, "Damn it, this backlash has to happen at this time."

Yes, his Blood Dragon Eyes were not innate, but were stolen from a Blood Pond Clan ninja by Hiruko using the Oni-Garara Technique. The same goes for his Ice Release.

It must be said that this method of plundering other people's bloodline limits is excellent, which made his strength skyrocket from an ordinary Jonin to an elite Jonin. He could kill elite Jonin without much effort.

He felt that he could fight even against a Kage-level powerhouse.

The only pity is that the bloodline limit he obtained in this way has always been unstable, and sometimes it would suddenly go out of control, causing him unbearable pain.

Just like it is now.

He had to find a safe place quickly to take the medicine given to him by Hiruko and stabilize the power of his bloodline. Otherwise, even if his body didn't collapse, he would die from the pain.

The next moment, the white-masked man quickly re-entered the ice mirrors and moved through them at an incredible speed.

During his recent encounter with Yahiko, while using the Magic Mirror Ice Crystal for defense, he also prepared a retreat route, with a row of ice mirrors connecting to the other side of the river.

In no time, the white-masked man reached the other side of the river and continued to use Ice Release: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal to retreat at high speed through the ice mirror.

In the brief moment he paused to unleash Ice Release: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal, a long tongue shot out from the river and wrapped around one of his feet.

As a tremendous force emerged from the tongue, the white-masked man was instantly dragged into the river.

It was Gamataro who made the move, and Yahiko was still standing on Gamataro's back, looking coldly at the white-masked man being dragged into the water.

The cold air had only frozen their water clones; their true forms had already submerged in the water.

The white-masked man reacted quickly. As soon as he was dragged into the water, he tried to use some kind of ice-style ninjutsu to freeze himself, but the increasingly intense pain in his body made him pause for a moment while performing the ice-style ninjutsu.

In that brief moment, Yahiko seized the opportunity and unleashed a Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique that he had been planning for a long time.

The moment the ninjutsu was activated, the raging water dragon had already taken shape, and it directly bit the white-masked man, pulling him out of the water and soaring into the sky.

When the white-masked man fell from the sky, he was already dead, his skin was cracked all over, and his death was gruesome.

"What happened to this guy just now? His chakra suddenly became unstable, and he turned and ran like a madman. Otherwise, we probably would have had to expend a lot of effort to kill him."

Yahiko looked at the gruesome corpse in front of him and said with a puzzled expression.

The enemy possesses both Ice Release and Blood Dragon Eye bloodline limits, making him far stronger than an average elite Jonin. If it weren't for Gamataro's powerful ally, he might not have been able to defeat this enemy on his own.

"That's true, but he's definitely dead. Your mission can be considered successfully completed, Yahiko."

Gamataro was equally puzzled, but didn't take it too seriously, and spoke up.

"Yes, it's done. I owe you a lot for your help this time, Toad Taro. When I get back to the village, I'll definitely buy you your favorite insect ramen."

Yahiko smiled and nodded.

"Then it's a deal. I'll head back now. See you at Mount Myōboku in a couple of days."

"Gamataro said with satisfaction."

As soon as he finished speaking, he voluntarily stopped the psychic spell and disappeared in a wisp of white smoke.

As soon as Gamataro left, Yahiko's smile vanished instantly, and he turned to stare intently at the corpse.

Finally, his gaze fell on the ring with the character 'jade' engraved on the corpse's right thumb, and then he took the ring off the corpse's hand.

After observing it for a while and finding nothing unusual, he muttered, "So this is one of the Ten Commandments of the Demon Organization? It looks quite ordinary."

The next moment, Yahiko felt a pain in his palm and subconsciously loosened his grip on the jade ring. He then discovered that the jade ring suddenly emitted a burst of chakra, which pierced his hand, and blood immediately flowed from his palm.

He ignored the injury on his hand and quickly grabbed the ring again.

At this moment, the chakra on the ring disappeared, and it returned to its original ordinary appearance.

"Strange, why is there a sudden surge of chakra? It seems this ring isn't as ordinary as it looks."

Yahiko looked at the ring stained with his blood in his palm and said with a solemn expression.

After a dozen seconds, seeing that the ring no longer had any new reaction, he put it in his pocket with peace of mind, then picked up the corpse on the water and quickly headed towards Amegakure.

He had spent too much time hunting down this member of the Ten Commandments of the Demon Organization. He still had many things to do, and Konan was waiting for him to return. He couldn't linger here any longer.

Yahiko then quickly departed.

Meanwhile, on the riverbank, a strange-looking man, half-grown and with a dark complexion, emerged from the ground. It was Black Zetsu. He looked in the direction Yahiko had left and sneered, "The goods have been successfully delivered. Now all we need to do is patiently wait for the results. I'm really looking forward to it, hehehe~"

Chapter 319: The Cunning Nine-Tailed Fox and the Space-Time Magic Array

In the basement of the Sealing Team building in Konoha, in a huge room, members of the Sealing Team were drawing and writing on the ground, diligently inscribing a sealing array according to the blueprints in their hands.

Kirito was also among them, but he was at the center of the sealing array.

Unlike the other members of the sealing team who used carving knives to carve on the ground, he did not pick up carving knives and various materials to carve the sealing array. Instead, he clapped his hands together, activated powerful chakra, transformed the chakra into a large number of sealing formulas, and then let these sealing formulas permeate the sealing array beneath him.