Land of Iron.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Amid the howling storm, even those standing close could barely hear each other. The snowflakes swept up by the tempest turned the entire field of vision into a white blur.
Standing in such a storm, Hiruko wore a faint smile.
He had every reason to be smug. After successfully completing his own Bloodline Limit fusion ritual, his understanding of the Chimera Technique had deepened significantly, allowing him to comprehensively refine the ritual.
With these improvements, the ritual no longer required such stringent celestial conditions. Unlike his own experience, where he had to wait a decade or two for the right cosmic alignment to harness its power, the ritual could now be conducted by simply selecting an appropriate location.
Like right now!
The distant mountain peak, faintly visible through the storm, was the ritual site Hiruko had prepared for Ranmaru.
Like Hiruko, Ranmaru had chosen five Bloodline Limits to fuse. However, since Ranmaru was already a dojutsu Bloodline Limit shinobi, he only needed to fuse with four others, significantly reducing the ritual's difficulty and ensuring a high success rate.
To further boost the odds, Hiruko had carefully selected this ritual site.
The distant peak appeared to be a snow-covered mountain, but in reality, it was an active volcano on the verge of eruption.
When the volcano erupted, and the earth's fire melted the ice and snow, Ranmaru's ritual could harness that fiery power to complete the Bloodline Limit fusion.
Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the ground beneath Hiruko's feet, and a grin spread across his face. "Heh, the show's finally about to begin!"
Before his words faded, thick plumes of white smoke billowed from the distant peak!
In just a few minutes, the smoke completely shrouded the summit. Even with Hiruko's powerful Mangekyo Sharingan, he could only faintly discern the peak's outline.
Rumble! Then, accompanied by a deafening roar, a massive burst of firelight illuminated the white smoke.
The volcano had erupted!
The scorching lava spewed forth, painting the entire sky a fiery red. Amid the blazing glow, the roaring grew louder, as if a colossal dragon were roaring ferociously toward the heavens from within the faint white smoke!
The sheer power of nature made Hiruko sigh. "I'm still too insignificant!"
With his current Kage-level strength, he stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world. Yet, compared to the spectacle before him, he felt humbled.
...
On the Mountain Peak.
Amid the searing heat waves, Ranmaru began the ritual.
"Damn you, I'll kill you!"
"You're doomed to a bad end!"
"I curse you, scum of the shinobi world!"
"Hahaha, I'll be waiting for you in hell!"
The four Bloodline Limit shinobi bound to the ritual site were fully conscious, aware of their impending fate. They hurled the most venomous curses at Hiruko and Ranmaru.
Ranmaru ignored them, methodically following Hiruko's instructions to activate the Chimera Technique.
Whoosh! In an instant, translucent chimera buds seeped from Ranmaru's body, rapidly expanding into a massive, gelatinous mass with writhing tentacles.
Seeing the enormous chimera in the mist, the four bound shinobi froze in terror, momentarily forgetting their curses.
Soon, the gelatinous tentacles of the chimera began reaching toward them.
"No… don't come closer!"
"Get away! Stay back!"
"Aaah!"
As the chimera drew near, the four Bloodline Limit shinobi either cursed loudly, trembled with eyes closed, or stood paralyzed.
Faced with such overwhelming terror, all four collapsed!
The gelatinous chimera seemed drawn to their fear, its tentacles writhing even more eagerly. Before long, the tentacles wrapped around the four shinobi and, under their horrified gazes, slowly devoured them.
The screams and wails from the ritual were insignificant compared to the volcano's roars but pierced the air sharply!
Ranmaru's body twitched, betraying his unsettled emotions.
But he quickly reined in his feelings, his gaze firming once more.
Soon, as the four Bloodline Limit shinobi were fully consumed by the chimera, the screams and chaos abruptly ceased.
Ranmaru moved to the next phase, using his Hogan Bloodline Limit as the core to retract the chimera buds he'd released.
Releasing the chimera was easy; retracting it was far more difficult.
Fortunately, Hiruko's ritual setup kicked in at the critical moment. The ritual, fueled by the earth's fire, formed a searing barrier, forcing the chimera attempting to escape Ranmaru's body back inside.
"It… it hurts!"
As the chimera, carrying the four Bloodline Limit shinobi, merged into him, Ranmaru immediately felt the immense pain of his body's natural rejection.
The agony felt like it would tear him apart!
"Ah!"
Even Ranmaru, accustomed to enduring pain, couldn't withstand it and roared in anguish.
...
In the Distance.
Hearing Ranmaru's heart-wrenching scream, Hiruko wore a gleeful expression.
He was all too familiar with this pain, so seeing someone else endure it filled him with an indescribable sense of satisfaction!
After a long while, the screams from the peak gradually subsided.
Hiruko's lips curled upward. "That kid actually succeeded. My efforts weren't in vain!"
With a whoosh, he vanished from his spot.
Arriving at the ritual site on the opposite peak, Hiruko's gaze sharpened, puzzled. "Where is he?"
The site was in disarray, but as someone familiar with the ritual's process, he knew that if Ranmaru hadn't survived the fusion phase, he wouldn't have even had the chance to scream. Since he had endured the most difficult phase, the ritual was likely 80-90% successful.
So, not finding Ranmaru at the site left Hiruko deeply confused.
Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, sensing something. He whirled around, but his vision still held no trace of Ranmaru.
"What's going on?"
Hiruko's brows furrowed tightly.
He distinctly felt he was being watched, yet he couldn't pinpoint the source of the gaze.
For someone with a Mangekyo Sharingan, this was utterly absurd, even with the mist swirling around!
As he stood perplexed, the air less than a meter in front of him shimmered, gradually revealing Ranmaru's figure…