With a heavy silence between them, Kakashi and Kitagawa Minamoto set off together.
"Why does my student feel more like a true shinobi than I do?"
Along the way, Kakashi couldn't help but reflect on this thought.
He had never seriously considered it before, but thanks to Minamoto's earlier suggestion about throwing explosive tags into Kamui's Dimension, he now found himself genuinely contemplating the idea.
"Though it's shameless... it might actually work."
While Kakashi was caught in his internal dilemma, Minamoto wasn't dwelling on such things. Instead, his thoughts were focused on who they might encounter this time.
"The Akatsuki members are all incredibly strong and terrifying. Last time, I managed to defeat them partly due to raw strength and partly thanks to intel. But now..."
Now, Minamoto had grown significantly, especially in terms of raw power. He felt that even without prior intel, he could handle most situations.
"Especially since I've made some considerable improvements recently."
[Status Panel]
Name: Kitagawa MinamotoBloodline: Ōtsutsuki Clan (Development: 38%)Dōjutsu: Tenseigan (Initial Awakening)Special Techniques: Ice Release, Magnet Release, Silver Wheel Reincarnation ExplosionSpecial Ability: Source of the Divine Tree (Third Stage)
Looking at his Status Panel, Minamoto couldn't help but chuckle softly.
The "Source of the Divine Tree" bore some similarities to his bloodline, but unlike the uncertainty surrounding his bloodline, this ability was much simpler.
"The key lies in the Tailed Beasts' Chakra."
As long as he injected Tailed Beast Chakra into it, the Source of the Divine Tree could fuse and feed back into him. It was an incredibly practical and powerful ability.
"Ōtsutsuki's development at 38%, huh..."
Aside from his bloodline progress, the most significant change was in his eyes.
Thanks to the Source of the Divine Tree, he had gained new ocular abilities.
"Kishin Rejuvenation and Heavenly Hindrance Star."
Kishin Rejuvenation was one of the basic abilities of the Ōtsutsuki, allowing him to directly extract Chakra to replenish or enhance himself.
"As for the second ability..."
The second ability, Heavenly Hindrance Star, was something he hadn't expected—it was the technique to summon meteors!
This ability was akin to the Tenseigan's meteor-summoning powers but now had a more defined name.
"Still, without the infinite Chakra of Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation or the boost from Susano'o, how large a meteor can I summon?"
Minamoto wasn't sure. Uchiha Madara had gone to great lengths to summon two meteors, and Minamoto didn't know how far he could push himself.
But it wasn't something he couldn't test. Perhaps he'd find time to try it out soon.
"My current abilities are already quite substantial—gravitational pull, repulsion, Chakra control, Sealing Absorption, Kishin Rejuvenation, and Heavenly Hindrance Star."
He felt he had nearly mastered the smaller abilities, each of which was immensely practical.
"The most critical thing, though, is that this time I've sensed what they call planetary Chakra."
Planetary Chakra, or planetary energy, was the essence of all life on a planet.
Without planetary energy, a planet would lose its vitality, leaving it barren and lifeless.
Minamoto was deeply curious about the secrets of this planet.
Even after being subjected to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's Divine Tree, the planet had managed to retain its vitality despite some losses.
"Perhaps there really is something unknown hidden here."
After pondering for a while without finding an answer, he decided to stop overthinking it.
"Still, it seems I can attempt to use Kishin Rejuvenation to extract planetary Chakra..."
He had been eyeing the "Rasengan: Uzumaki Spiral" technique for a long time. No matter what, he wanted to give it a try!
"Everything's going well, except for my Main Quest..."
[Main Quest Updated]
Objective: Become the Strongest in the Shinobi World
Looking at this task, Minamoto fell silent.
The Shinobi World was filled with monsters: Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, not to mention Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, a terrifying existence.
"Not to mention, even if I conquer the world, there's always the possibility of enemies descending from the heavens..."
The Main Quest was as straightforward as ever, and Minamoto had grown used to it. After all, he had waited thirteen years for his Starter Pack; patience was his forte.
As they traveled, a few days later, they finally arrived in the Land of Rain, standing before the small house Jiraiya had once used.
"Why not head straight to the Land of Grass? It'd be more efficient that way."
After placing flowers at the doorstep and observing a minute of silence, Minamoto asked curiously.
"We'll go on the way back."
Kakashi adjusted the brim of his straw hat and replied with a smile.
"We can take our time then. For now, it's better to deal with the current situation. After all, we don't know what might happen on this mission."
"You're worried about encountering enemies?"
Minamoto raised an eyebrow, and Kakashi nodded directly.
"Exactly. Every time we leave the village, nothing good ever comes of it. Who knows what we'll run into? It's better to resolve things in the Shinobi World first before worrying about anything else."
"True, but we've been pretty lucky so far. Things have gone relatively smoothly each time."
"If you call running into a bunch of rogue ninjas every time 'smooth,' then yeah, sure, it's been smooth."
Kakashi rolled his eyes and patted Minamoto on the shoulder.
"Let's go. It's time to head to Amegakure."
"Alright."
Meanwhile, in Amegakure, Black Zetsu observed a White Zetsu clone disguised as Hanzo of the Salamander and nodded approvingly.
"Not bad. Looks convincing."
"Of course! But are you sure this is okay?"
This White Zetsu wasn't like "Tobi" and lacked many capabilities.
"It's fine. It'll do. You don't need to talk much anyway."
Black Zetsu spoke calmly, having prepared thoroughly.
"Some things can be conveyed through others, and there's no need to get too close."
He had no intention of letting Minamoto and Kakashi enter Amegakure. He was particularly wary of the potential trouble Minamoto could bring.
Even though the appearance of Ōtsutsuki Minamoto had consumed much of his attention, Black Zetsu hadn't forgotten about Kitagawa Minamoto.
At times, he even suspected that Minamoto might have come from the moon!
But with Ōtsutsuki Minamoto occupying most of his focus, he didn't have the capacity to delve deeper into Minamoto's origins.
"Besides, with the Chūnin Exams in a year, we'll get a clearer picture of that kid's abilities."
Black Zetsu muttered to himself before turning to the White Zetsu at his side.
"Are Nagato and Obito ready?"
"They're already waiting at the border, hehe."
The White Zetsu grinned and added,
"Plus, we've been monitoring their movements the whole way and reporting everything to Obito and the others."
"Good."
Black Zetsu nodded. Even though he wasn't optimistic about this operation, he decided to go along with it.
Nagato wanted to go all out, and this would also allow Black Zetsu to gauge Nagato's capabilities, which was beneficial to their plans.
"I wonder how much of those eyes' power Nagato can truly unleash..."
Black Zetsu pondered silently.
Suddenly, the White Zetsu disguised as Hanzo spoke up.
"They've arrived."
"Then get ready. Let's begin."
(End of Chapter)
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