160. Untitled

Hearing Tsunade's scream, Kisame stepped out of the wooden cabin just in time to see her crawling ashore from the water, dripping wet and looking thoroughly shaken as she rested by the bank.

Clearly, just like Kisame earlier, Tsunade had been backlashed by natural energy due to a moment of distraction during her training, resulting in physical alienation.

However, her condition seemed somewhat worse; even the small slug was unable to completely absorb the excess energy in a short period.

Therefore, when Tsunade noticed Kisame walking over, her expression changed involuntarily. She hurriedly put on a windbreaker, covering up awkwardly so he wouldn't notice anything amiss.

Yet Kisame possessed sharp eyes. Hearing him speak to Tsunade with an astonished expression, he said,

"Yo, how interesting. You've... turned two pectoral muscles into three pectoral muscles? Impressive, truly impressive."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade instantly felt a mix of shame and annoyance. She glared fiercely at Kisame, then turned on her heel without a word and hurried away, plunging straight into her own wooden cabin.

"Lady Tsunade." A cluster of small slugs chased after her. It was easy to imagine that until Tsunade's body returned to normal, she would be unable to practice Sage Art any further.

Consequently, over the next few days, Kisame further widened the gap between himself and Tsunade, taking a massive lead in the progress of mastering Sage Art.

Soaked in the hot spring, the cellular tissue throughout his body, from his limbs to his torso and internal organs, underwent natural revitalization at an astonishing speed.

Finally, half a month later, Kisame completed the first stage of Sage Art training.

That afternoon, when every single cell in his body had naturally revitalized,

Boom!

An extraordinarily powerful surge of chakra erupted from the hot spring, forming a dazzling pillar of light that even scattered the floating clouds hundreds of meters high in the sky.

Standing up within the hot spring, Kisame hovered above the water's surface.

At this very moment, the natural energy in the water was continuously flowing into the soles of his feet, spreading throughout his entire body, and fusing with the chakra inside him to forge an even more formidable energy.

"Is this Sage Chakra?"

Kisame murmured, feeling a profound warmth spread through his bones and marrow, as if he were filled with endless, formidable power.

He casually flicked his fingers, generating a powerful gust of wind that expanded outward in a gale, stirring up ripples across the water's surface.

On the shore, Tsunade stared with horrified eyes, her complexion rather unsightly.

Half a month ago, she and Kisame had begun their Sage Art training at the same time, but until now, she had barely managed to complete the natural revitalization of the cells in her limbs, her progress falling short of even a third of Kisame's.

This once again proved the saying: comparing oneself to others only leads to frustration.

Right at that moment.

Whoosh.

Kisame leaped up from the water's surface, arriving on the shore and landing on the ground not far from Tsunade.

Crash.

Descending from the sky like a cannonball, with a deafening roar, he instantly smashed a crater several meters deep into the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.

"Cough, cough..."

Enveloped by the oncoming cloud of dust, Tsunade coughed while waving the dust away, shouting at Kisame within the haze, "Did you really have to make such a huge commotion, you jerk!"

"Sorry, I can't quite control my power right now."

Kisame walked out from the dust, speaking with a somewhat helpless expression.

Seeming unsatisfied, he clenched his fist right in front of Tsunade, flashed her a smile, and threw a punch forward.

Boom!

With Kisame's punch, the massive Sage Chakra surged from within his body along his arm into his fist, ultimately forming a tornado-like gale that swept aggressively forward.

Tsunade was too slow to dodge; her pupils dilated sharply, and for a split second, she thought she was going to die.

In reality, however, Kisame was merely frightening her. The fierce wind of his punch brushed past Tsunade's shoulder and hurtled toward the Shikkotsu Forest not far behind her.

Crack, snap.

A series of snapping tree trunks echoed from behind. Tsunade turned back with lingering fear, only to see a row of fifty-to-sixty-meter-tall bone trees snapped in half by the pressure of Kisame's fist, crashing down in a thunderous rumble.

Could this truly be the power possessed by a human?

Not only Tsunade, but Kisame himself felt deeply shocked.

In the past, he would have needed to enter the Form of Enlightenment and unleash his full firepower to wield such strength. Now, aided by Sage Mode, he had effortlessly caused the exact same destructive output.

At the same time, however, Kisame could distinctly feel—

Right now, the fire of life within him was burning at an accelerated rate, resembling a brightly burning candle melting away at a visible and rapid pace.

That was because, under the side effects of natural revitalization, every cell in his entire body was instinctively and frantically dividing, solely to accommodate more natural energy and generate more Sage Chakra.

If this continued, even with Kisame's powerful physique comparable to a human-shaped Tailed Beast, he would rapidly age and march toward death within a year or two.

"Lord Kisame, please begin the next stage of training immediately."

A clone of Katsuyu crawled over and reminded Kisame.

"Hmm."

Kisame stopped teasing Tsunade and nodded with a solemn expression.

The second stage of Sage Art training involved entering a state of introspective meditation through seated contemplation, learning to use one's consciousness to control the activated cells within the body and drastically slow down their division rate, ultimately achieving a dynamic equilibrium.

For this stage of training, Kisame had long since made preparations.

He brought the index and middle fingers of both hands together in a crisscross fashion, forming a special hand seal.

Poof, poof, poof!

The next second, after plumes of white smoke dissipated in the open space, a full ten shadow clones of Kisame appeared.

Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

This was Uzumaki Naruto's signature ninjutsu from the original work. After acquiring the Scroll of Seals from Konoha's forbidden jutsu library, Kisame had singled out this technique, practiced it, and mastered it.

In Kisame's view, multiple shadow clones offered fairly average results in actual combat, but since the memories and experiences of shadow clones returned to the original body upon dispelling, the technique was exceptionally suited for training purposes.

Ten shadow clones meant his training efficiency would be multiplied tenfold.

Thus, under Tsunade's astonished gaze, Kisame and his shadow clones formed a circle, sitting cross-legged with closed eyes, and embarked without pause on their new training.

Tsunade withdrew her gaze, walked silently toward the hot spring, stripped off her outer garments, and stepped into the water.

In the mountains, there is no sense of days and months.

While Kisame and Tsunade were secluded in the Shikkotsu Forest at the edge of the world, undergoing closed-door training, the situation in the shinobi world had undergone new changes.

A little over a year ago, the disappearance of the Third Kazekage became the catalyst for the Third Great Ninja War. Village Hidden in the Clouds struck first, seizing the opportunity to attack Village Hidden in the Sand with the intent of annexing it.

At that critical juncture, the young Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, stepped forward and defeated Cloud's forces by relying on his personal Kekkei Genkai—Magnet Release: Gold Dust technique—defending the village.

Ever since then, the Sand Village had been recuperating and secretly accumulating strength. Just when everyone assumed the ninja war would conclude after Hoshigaki Kisame defeated Konoha—

The Sand Village suddenly mobilized a massive army of several thousand shinobi, launching a war against the neighboring Land of Rain to the northeast.

At this time, due to Hanzo's death, the Land of Rain had long fallen into headless chaos, closely mirroring the situation the Sand Village had previously faced.

Unfortunately, the Hidden Rain Village lacked its own "Rasa," so under the onslaught of the Sand army, they suffered successive defeats until the entire Rain Village was occupied by the enemy.

Facing this military action by Sand, Konoha and the Village Hidden in the Stone were evidently unprepared.

Among them, Stone had successively clashed with Cloud and Konoha, losing a vast number of combat personnel, and was currently incapable of organizing a large-scale shinobi force in the short term.

Konoha went without saying; following the battle with the Village Hidden in the Mist, the entire spine of the village had been snapped by Hoshigaki Kisame. Present-day Konoha villagers and shinobi desperately yearned for peace, and the anti-war sentiment within the village had reached its peak.

Under such circumstances, even the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya, was unable to assemble troops to enter the Rain Country battlefield and halt Sand's annexation of the Rain Village.

Consequently, the entirety of the Land of Rain was thus captured by the Sand Village.

Within a secluded forest inside the Land of Rain, violent chakra fluctuations erupted, accompanied by flashes of fire and explosions.

A brief yet fierce battle had just taken place here.

The combatants consisted of a search squad on one side, comprising over a dozen members made up of both Sand shinobi and Rain ninja. However, they had already been completely annihilated.

The ones who slaughtered these individuals were Nagato and Konan, who had been in hiding for a long time.

"I never expected them to track us down even in such a remote place. Konan, you were right; those people have no intention of letting us off easily."

Nagato glanced at the corpses on the ground and spoke to Konan beside him.

"Nagato, it seems we must leave the Land of Rain as soon as possible." Konan wore a grave expression, her intuition telling her that a crisis was imminent.

"Konan, I've dragged you into living a life of constant flight and hiding with me. But don't worry, once I fully unlock the power of the Rinnegan, no one in the shinobi world will be my opponent. When that time comes, I will definitely avenge Yahiko and, in accordance with his dying wish, spread Akatsuki's ideals to the entire world."

Nagato made his vow with unwavering determination, his eyes radiating intense hatred and murderous intent.

He was vastly different from what he used to be.

However, the moment Nagato finished speaking,

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Four figures emerged from behind the woods: Obito, Danzo, Orochimaru, and the Kazekage Rasa, who was controlled by Obito.

"Nagato, we meet again."

Obito said as he walked toward Nagato. Konan's gaze turned icy as she launched a barrage of paper shuriken at Obito, attempting to stop his approach, but as expected, he ignored them entirely through his intangibility ability.

"Konan, step back. I'll handle them."

Nagato blocked Konan behind him, raised his hands to form hand seals, and prepared to fight Obito and the others to the death.

Obito, however, shook his head and attempted to dissuade Nagato:

"Nagato, I advise you not to make a move. Because your opponents are not just the few of us here; a joint army of several thousand shinobi from Sand and Rain has already set up an inescapable net on the outer perimeter. Even with the Rinnegan, it is impossible for you to fight your way out of the Land of Rain."

"Heh, are you implying that I should surrender without a fight?"

Nagato let out a cold laugh, unwilling to exchange any more idle words with Obito. He intended to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path once again and fight his way out of the encirclement alongside Konan.

"What if I told you I can revive Yahiko?" Obito suddenly spoke up.

"What?!" Hearing this, Nagato shuddered violently, his hand seals halting mid-motion.

Seeing this, Konan hurriedly reminded Nagato:

"Nagato, have you forgotten Yahiko's dying words? Do not ever be deceived by this man's lies."

"Please give me one minute. You will know very soon whether I am lying or not."

Saying this, Obito glanced back at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru nodded and stepped forward as well. Simultaneously, Zetsu emerged from the ground, bringing forth a prime White Zetsu clone and laying it flat on the ground.

What is the meaning of this?

Amidst the suspicious and startled gazes of Nagato and Konan, Orochimaru wore an eerie smile, quickly formed hand seals, slammed his palm onto the ground, and shouted sternly:

"Reanimation Technique!"

Moments later.

The White Zetsu clone slowly opened its eyes and stood up from the ground with a dazed expression.

Unlike before, its appearance had undergone a drastic transformation, turning into a young man with short orange hair.

"Nagato, Konan... didn't I die? Why..."

He stared blankly at his two former comrades, looking utterly shocked.

"Yahiko..." Nagato and Konan were likewise shocked to the extreme, whispering the name in disbelief.

Thud.

Obito stepped forward, placing a hand on Yahiko's shoulder, and then flashed a smile toward Nagato and Konan:

"Now, let us put aside our past grievances and discuss a matter of cooperation. Afterward, you will have all the time you want to catch up."

...

Land of Fire, Hidden Leaf Village.

Following the ascension of the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya, and after a period of time, the situation inside the Leaf Village finally stabilized, and the village's reconstruction work was largely completed.

The Third Great Ninja War had been a massive reshuffling for Konoha; from the higher-ups to the various prominent clans, and down to ordinary shinobi, the identities of many had transformed dramatically overnight.

Some plummeted from grace to the very bottom, while others soared from the lowest tiers straight into the sky.

A day ago, the young Might Guy was summoned by the Hokage, personally commended by Jiraiya, and publicly announced as being promoted to Jounin.

Regarding this decision by the Fourth Hokage, people in the village raised virtually no objections.

On one hand, Might Guy had distinguished himself in this ninja war, earning numerous achievements, and in terms of strength, he had even defeated Konoha's other genius—Kakashi, who was already a Jounin.

On the other hand, it was due to Might Guy's lost father, Might Duy.

That eternal Genin of Konoha had traded his life on the Mist battlefield to open the Eight Gates Dun Jia Formation, engaging in an earth-shattering battle with Hoshigaki Kisame that shocked the entire shinobi world.

From then on, no one ever dared to look down on the surname Might, nor underestimate the taijutsu of the Eight Gates Dun Jia.

Konoha Shinobi Cemetery.

Might Guy clenched his fists tightly, standing before his father's gravestone.

"Father, I will definitely train diligently, open the Eight Gates Dun Jia Formation at an early date, and become five times, ten times, or even dozens of times stronger than you. When that time comes, I will challenge Hoshigaki Kisame and avenge you with my own hands."

Guy murmured, his eyes radiating an incomparably resolute brilliance.

Kisame's words might have been correct. Might Duy's twenty years of obscurity and bitter cultivation, culminating in a stunning breakout where he burned his life and died on the battlefield, was perhaps the best ultimate destination.

As his son, Guy felt happy and proud of his father, but that did not mean he would forgive Kisame.

Just then, the white-haired Kakashi walked over, silently kneeling down to place a bouquet of flowers before Might Duy's gravestone. Afterward, he patted Guy's shoulder, still not uttering a single word.

At this moment, Kakashi had his Sharingan, which had been gouged out by Kisame, successfully re-transplanted back into his own eye socket. Although he had lost the power of the Sharingan, he no longer needed to consume massive amounts of chakra just to adapt to that eye.

"Kakashi, let's train together."

Guy suddenly turned his head, flashing a smile as he extended a clenched fist toward Kakashi.

Hearing this, Kakashi raised his fist as well, gently tapping it against his close friend's.

"Guy, youth has only just begun."