[Year 23]
After a long slumber, you awaken once more within the Dragon Vein—only to find that the once-surging torrents have dwindled into a mere trickle. Who knows when it will return to its former glory...
Thankfully, your physical body has successfully undergone yet another transformation. Your massive draconic form now nearly fills the entire Dragon Vein passage, and your horns have grown by a few inches.
The bloodline of the flood dragon within you seems to have undergone a natural purification process as you've grown.
You take on human form—appearing as a boy around twelve or thirteen—but when you casually stretch out your limbs, the booming sound is like a clap of thunder!
You begin absorbing natural energy and are surprised to discover that the Senjutsu from Ryūch Cave has somehow merged with that mysterious breathing technique.
Moreover, the breathing method has become second nature. Unless you consciously suppress it, you're constantly absorbing natural energy to enhance your body!
You decide to name it the Breathing Art of the Sage Path...
Unfortunately, the Dragon Vein here has been drained during your self-enhancement, and it can no longer supply the energy needed for further cultivation.
The inherited techniques in your hand have also been fully absorbed. You decide it's time to explore the outside world.
Perhaps Mount Myōboku or Ryūchi Cave would be willing to let you borrow their Dragon Veins for training...
...
The Shinobi World
The scars of war may never fully heal, but they will scab over. The scorched earth, soaked in the blood of fallen shinobi, has once again sprouted fresh green buds.
There are always those with unwavering will, who carry the pain deep within their hearts and continue pressing forward.
The once "Team" of Konoha has grown into an organization.
They study ninjutsu and use chakra not to oppress others, but to help rebuild the world...
Among the surviving humans, the two strongest—Sasuke and Naruto—have long since abandoned their early obsessions with revenge or protecting Konoha.
Instead, they have chosen to shoulder the burden of the entire shinobi world.
But Enra, as a summoned beast who had reached new heights of power, felt he had done all he could within human society.
He decided to leave and head toward the Water Curtain Cave, to avenge the White Ape Sage!
Naruto and Sasuke offered to help, but Enra declined.
Having once witnessed the massacre of the White Ape Clan, Enra understood just how terrifying your power was—far beyond even Nagato wielding the ultimate Tailed Beast Weapon. He resolved to face you alone.
...
Meanwhile, hidden within Isshiki's dimensional barrier, which cut off all perception from the outside world, the White Ape Sage was using the rule-based powers granted by Isshiki to retrain his divine abilities, hoping to one day uncover the full extent of his karmic link with you.
[Year 24]
Perhaps it was the Slug Sage who chose to fuse with the Dragon Vein, turning countless dead shinobi into life force that returned to the land—because the Dragon Vein at Water Curtain Cave began slowly recovering. It's projected that within a decade, it will return to full strength.
However, you know clearly that even when fully restored, this Dragon Vein alone will no longer suffice for your future cultivation needs.
So—
You took the taijutsu and body-technique inheritances collected by the Shark Sage and Eel Sage, compiled them into a massive scroll, and stored it inside your prototype Divine Domain to carry with you.
Then you took the sealed chakra of the nine Tailed Beasts, along with the remaining limbs of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and set off on a journey.
You dove into the vast sea on the far side of the shinobi continent.
The three Great Sages of the Orca Clan swallowed their fear and humbly welcomed you into their tribe to plead for forgiveness.
You didn't blame them—after all, they had been tricked by the White Ape. Nor did you demand that they hand over the hard-earned power of their three rule fragments. You merely asked for a taste of their local specialties.
Then, you proposed to borrow the Dragon Vein beneath their domain.
Although the Orca Clan lacks a Sage-level powerhouse, making them only capable of occupying a secondary-tier Dragon Vein, their overall strength as a race is incredibly high. They control not one, but three of these secondary Dragon Veins—when combined, they are nearly equal to a sacred land.
You decide to use this Dragon Vein to cultivate the Divine Tree Seed.
In your spare time, you also train with those quality taijutsu techniques to reinforce and temper your strength...
...
At the same time, Enra sets out to sea, embarking on his path of revenge and his journey to find you—marking the moment the seed of Indra's Will that you planted within him enters its final stage of maturity...
...
Back on the continent, with Naruto and Sasuke's reputations at their peak, the karmic fruits they have cultivated over a millennium have also begun to ripen, catalyzed by the faith of the masses and the Six Paths Sage.
All of this is absorbed into your mind via your occasionally activated Heavenly Ear, but you still feel that your power is lacking.
So you remain focused on perfecting yourself, reading through all kinds of precious ninjutsu to fill in the gaps in your knowledge.
At this moment, you have no intention of harvesting the fruits yet, nor do you want to invite the ire of the Sage of Six Paths again...
...
[Year 25]
With the help of the Orca Clan's Dragon Vein, you successfully cultivate and transform the chakra of the Nine Tailed Beasts and the remnants of the Demonic Statue into a Divine Tree Seed.
You store the seed in your prototype Divine Domain, then begin practicing various ninjutsu inheritances. Among them, Lightning Release catches your particular interest.
Since you never had Lightning Chakra before, you begin training from scratch.
Fortunately, this body of yours seems naturally compatible with lightning, and thanks to your countless upgrades and enhancements, you quickly master almost every Lightning Release technique—such as Lightning Armor.
Then a sudden inspiration strikes you.
Using the principle of magnetism generating electricity, you enhance the Lightning Chakra Mode—not just to strengthen muscles, but to temper every single cell from the inside out.
Just as you are deeply immersed in practicing various taijutsu...
Enra arrives at the Water Curtain Cave, ready to force his way in and avenge the White Ape Sage.
You immediately halt your training, step forward, and invoke the Rule of Void in place of space to teleport instantly to the island using Divine Foot.
You ask Enra to show you just how much he has grown all these years.
At last, after a mountain of trash talk and activating a whole slew of useless buff-style jutsu, Enra throws a punch at you.
You counter with one punch—and he instantly turns into a puddle of blood. Even his soul is left critically damaged.
The truth is, you hadn't even started using your full strength. He just died by himself.
You had hoped to use him as a punching bag to fine-tune your strength control, but it seems your power has grown too overwhelming.
Now, your only hope is that the White Ape Sage will rise again and be a worthy opponent.
It's unfortunate, but at least you managed to harvest the mature Indra Fruit from Enra's body.
Yet after consuming it, you are sorely disappointed. All it gave was a Yin-aligned rule imprint and a minor boost to your physical and spiritual resilience.
Back when you first stepped into the Six Paths tier, this would've been a precious boon—but now, it's barely worth mentioning.
You use Heavenly Ear once more—and this time, finally receive an interesting bit of news:
While you slept, and just as the Slug Sage was restoring the Dragon Vein, the White Ape escaped.
He even had a fated encounter with Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, and managed to acquire the hidden back-up inheritance of the Buddhist sect—a relic known as the Relic Pearl—which allowed him to rebuild his physical body.
Soon, he will come for his revenge.
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