Naruto: Eating Kaido's Azure Dragon Devil Fruit-Chapter 356: The Name of a God
The Land of Wind, Sunagakure.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, looked at the intelligence report, his eyes flickering.
Kumogakure suffering heavy losses wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Sunagakure; at the very least, the pressure from the north would be greatly reduced.
"Ryūgakure... the Azure Dragon... perhaps, it might be possible to try and make contact?"
He calculated in his mind.
After all, the weakest shinobi village in the ninja world at this moment was neither the turbulent Kirigakure nor Kumogakure, which had lost the Third Raikage, but Sunagakure.
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The Land of Fire, Konohagakure.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the urgent intelligence delivered by the Anbu, silent for a long time, the cigarette in his hand no longer fragrant.
After the incident at the Valley of the End, he had already placed Sora’s strength at an extremely high level.
But he hadn’t expected that Sora could even face the Third Raikage, along with two jinchūriki, head-on, defeat him, and kill him!
This level of power far exceeded that of Danzo and his two companions back then.
"Sigh..."
He glanced toward the adjacent Hokage’s office and issued an order: "Dispatch the order, strengthen border patrols, especially along the eastern coastline. Classify all intelligence regarding Ryūgakure and the Azure Dragon as S-rank secrets. Strictly forbid any leaks." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
"Yes!"
The entire ninja world was now seething with undercurrents because of the battle between the Azure Dragon, Sora, and the Third Raikage.
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The Land of Rain, Amegakure.
Inside the tall tower, Pain stood quietly by the window, his purple Rinnegan emotionlessly overlooking the scene below.
Konan stood silently behind him, as cool and aloof as a paper butterfly.
"Azure Dragon, Sora."
Pain spoke coldly, breaking the silence: "The intelligence provided by ’Madara’ has a significant deviation from the strength he has displayed."
When Obito had previously described Sora to Nagato, although he emphasized his potential threat, he positioned him more as a "rising star" of considerable strength who needed watching.
Far from being someone who could directly kill an old-school, peak Kage-level shinobi like the Third Raikage.
Konan frowned slightly: "Nagato, do you mean that ’Madara’ concealed this from us?"
"Perhaps he himself didn’t know the Azure Dragon’s true strength, or perhaps... it was intentional."
Pain’s voice carried no fluctuation: "The title of ’Demi-God’ coming out of Konoha is even more ridiculous. That waste Hanzo is not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as the Azure Dragon of today."
He had personally killed Hanzo the Salamander, who was hailed as a "Demi-God," and was very clear about the limits of Hanzo’s strength.
The power displayed by the Azure Dragon, Sora, in this battle was on an entirely different level.
"Being able to transform into a thousand-meter dragon, possessing chakra reserves and destructive power close to that of a Tailed Beast, powerful defense and regenerative abilities, and multiple abilities at the level of Kekkei Tōta..."
Pain analyzed slowly: "An existence like this has already surpassed the scope of an ordinary ’Kage’."
He paused, a glimmer of light flashing in his Rinnegan.
"Calling him a ’God’ would not be an overstatement."
A flicker of surprise crossed Konan’s eyes.
She rarely heard Nagato give such a high appraisal to anyone else, even to the masked man who called himself "Uchiha Madara."
"Then, should we make a move against him? Gather intelligence on him, or..."
Konan asked softly, her meaning left unsaid but clear.
The Akatsuki’s goal was the Tailed Beasts, and the power the Azure Dragon had shown was undoubtedly a huge variable.
Pain was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"No need, for now."
"His way of doing things seems somewhat different from what ’Madara’ described. He established a village, took in orphans, and hasn’t shown obvious aggression."
"Observe for now. See the purpose behind him founding Ryūgakure, and his next moves."
"Our plan needs to advance steadily. It’s not appropriate to come into direct conflict with a powerhouse of this level too early."
Konan nodded: "I understand."
Pain once again turned his gaze toward the rainy scene outside the window, his Rinnegan profound and deep.
"Azure Dragon... Sora..."
"I hope you won’t obstruct Akatsuki’s peace."
"Otherwise, even if you possess the power of a ’God,’ before the eyes of a true God, you will have no choice but to bow your head."
The cold rain continued to fall without cease.
And the name "Azure Dragon," accompanied by the rumor of "Kage Slaying," officially resounded throughout the entire ninja world, solemnly marked on the highest threat-level lists of all major powers.
The era belonging to Sora and Ryūgakure had begun.
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Ascension Island, Underground Laboratory.
Sora stood before the experimental table, two sealed scrolls spread out in his hands.
Sealed within them were a complete octopus tentacle from the Hachibi, and one-third of the remains of the Nibi.
Sora’s gaze was calm, but his mind was racing.
’The path to the Kekkei Mora—the fusion of the seven natures is the foundation, but according to the Otsutsuki clan’s setting, the Jūbi is the ultimate form of chakra.’
When he watched Naruto in his past life, he was deeply impressed by the world-shaking powers of the later stages.
The Six Paths level, Jūbi Jinchūriki, Kekkei Mora...
These were originally distant goals, but now, with his increased strength, they had gradually entered the realm of possibility.
Sora was very clear-headed.
He didn’t need a complete Jūbi.
A complete Jūbi would require gathering all nine Tailed Beasts. That would cause too much of a stir, equivalent to making enemies of the entire ninja world.
Although he now had power beyond Kage level, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could single-handedly challenge the Five Great Villages plus the Akatsuki.
A small, weakened version of the Jūbi would be sufficient.
His goal was very clear—
To become a mini·Jūbi Jinchūriki, to experience that state of being the "source of chakra," and from it, comprehend a higher level of the essence of power.
This should provide an invaluable reference for his subsequent fusion of the seven natures and achieving the Kekkei Mora.
Moreover...
Sora touched his abdomen.
One Dragon Vein wasn’t enough.
Not to mention he still had five clones to deal with later; ideally, each clone should be equipped with a "power bank."
Thinking of this, Sora’s train of thought became clearer.
Using Tailed Beast chakra as a "power bank" for his clones was the optimal solution.
Tailed Beasts themselves are aggregates of chakra; as long as you don’t completely drain them dry, they can recover on their own, making them veritable perpetual motion machines.
What’s more, he already had one-eighth of the Hachibi and one-third of the Nibi.
The Hachibi is a powerful Tailed Beast second only to the Kyūbi. One-eighth, while not much, should be barely enough as a chakra source for one clone.
One-third of the Nibi would also be enough for one clone.
Sora rolled the scrolls back up and placed them on the experimental table.
’Still need energy sources for three clones.’
He quickly reviewed the distribution of the nine Tailed Beasts in his mind.
He found that the most suitable target at the moment was the Sanbi, which was in a wild state.
But not necessarily; Yagura hadn’t been dead long, and the Sanbi might not have revived yet. Fortunately, he had only developed one clone so far, so there was no immediate hurry.
Thinking this far, Sora already had a complete plan in mind.
But before that, he needed to solve one problem—
He didn’t plan to use a seal similar to a jinchūriki’s, but rather, like with the Dragon Vein, to forge a vessel and create an "Artificial Tailed Beast."
Because he wasn’t sure how it would be judged when his soul left the clone. If it was judged as death, the Tailed Beast inside would also disappear.
And the Artificial Tailed Beast technique required using Sea Dragon Jade as a chakra carrier and stabilizer.
The Sea Dragon Jade Sora had found before was almost used up.
He would need to go and get some more Sea Dragon Jade.
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