A mass of golden flames burned in Ryosuke's palm.
If you came closer and examined carefully, you would notice that the so-called "flame" was actually formed by a great amount of Ripple lightning converging together.
This was Ryosuke's greatest gain from absorbing the life force within the Dragon Pill.
He had broken through his former bottleneck, his absorption, mastery, and manipulation of Ripple had become incomparably solid, and the power it contained was dozens of times stronger than before.
This wisp of flame, which looked weak, could in an instant erupt to a temperature of 1,500 degrees, enough to burn a person into ashes.
"This is…"
Ryosuke looked at the golden flame in his palm.
"Third Stage, Ripple."
The first stage, being able to manifest Ripple, using it for basic combat and healing.
The second stage, when manifested, the Ripple's color changes, can augment metal, manipulate water flow, elevate spiritual strength, even release two Substitutes in a short time.
The third stage, life force rises further, Ripple condenses to an ultra-high degree.
At this moment, even without relying on natural energy, without using gene-control techniques, Ryosuke's very life force itself was incomparably tough. As long as it wasn't an instant-kill strike, he could regenerate at super speed.
'The Ripple's offensive power is much weaker than Golden Spin, but this survival method… it really is too strong.'
'And as for insufficient attack power, that only applies while I'm flying, once I touch the ground...'
Ryosuke slowly descended, his feet stepping onto the earth.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then clenched his fist sharply.
The flame in his palm suddenly spread, covering his whole arm.
Blazing fire moved without wind. The ground cracked beneath the high heat, the air became unbearably scorching.
As if a blazing sun had fallen upon the earth.
Ryosuke opened his eyes, feeling the golden flame's burning, 'Once my feet touch the ground, the shortcoming of Ripple's lack of offensive methods can be greatly compensated.'
This was the entirety of Ryosuke's harvest from the Dragon Pill.
He withdrew the flame, looked at the White Snake Sage's head placed by the roadside as if it were a scenic monument, and from his pocket took out a little peach, placing it in front of the snake's head, sincerely thanking it for its gift.
Before the snake head lay many other offerings.
Some were freshly picked flowers, some were bugs caught by the toads, and there was even a brand-new, unopened book from Jiraiya.
The reason for the toads' offerings was simple.
The White Snake Sage was the only dead sage among the Three Sacred Lands, once in the Underworld, maybe it could say a few words. The group of toads simply treated it as a wishing machine.
Beside the White Snake Sage's head also stood a little stone carving, a statue of Orochimaru.
That was placed there by Jiraiya, to at least let their "family" be gathered neatly together.
Ryosuke patted the big head of the White Snake Sage, said, "I'm going now," and turned to leave.
In order to break through the Ripple's third stage, Ryosuke had been secluded in Mount Myoboku for nearly half a month. Now that his training had borne fruit, it was time to say farewell to the Great Toad Sage and leave.
But just as he stepped out of the training grounds, he ran into the waiting liaison, Toad Kōsuke.
Seeing Ryosuke come out, Toad Kōsuke let out a sigh of relief, "Lord Ryosuke, you finally came out."
"Five days ago, Lady Mizukage said she received an invitation from the Daimyo of the Land of Water, asking you to come discuss matters together."
"If you didn't come out soon, they might have set out without you."
Toads were afraid of heat by nature. With Ryosuke's training grounds constantly erupting earthquakes and high temperatures, Toad Kōsuke hadn't dared to go in and disturb his training, so he had only been waiting outside all this time.
'An invitation from the Daimyo of the Land of Water?'
"Thank you, I understand. Over at the Great Toad Sage, "
Toad Kōsuke patted his chest and said, "His lordship is asleep. When he wakes, I'll tell him. Leave it to me."
"Thanks."
Ryosuke returned to Kirigakure.
Though only half a month had passed, the village was strung up house by house with lanterns, streets lined with many small vendors, people bustling about. Everywhere carried the atmosphere of a festival.
Ryosuke made his way straight to the Mizukage's office and lightly knocked on the door.
Inside came the sound of clumsy shuffling, and only after quite a while did Mei Terumi say, "Come in."
Ryosuke pushed the door open and entered.
Mei Terumi was standing in front of a file cabinet, her back pressed against the cabinet doors, face nervous. When she saw it was Ryosuke, she finally let out a breath of relief, "Oh, it's you. Scared me to death."
"What were you hiding?" Ryosuke asked.
Mei Terumi slightly lifted her chin, lips curving, "A woman's secret."
Ryosuke shrugged, not pressing further, pulled out a chair and sat down, "The Daimyo of the Land of Water sent you an invitation?"
"That's right."
Mei Terumi carefully locked the cabinet, came over to her desk, and from a drawer took out a fine wooden box.
The box was inlaid with gold and jade, in the center the sunflower crest of the Daimyo of the Land of Water.
The box itself was worth a fortune.
She opened it, inside lay a letter with golden embossing.
Mei Terumi gave Ryosuke a look, signaling him to read its contents.
Ryosuke took out the letter. It was hundreds of characters long, the handwriting clean and neat, each stroke upright.
The style of writing reflected the man, simply from the text one could imagine the writer was an upright, gentle gentleman.
The letter's main contents were that the capital of the Land of Water, Kyoto, would soon begin the Mizusono Festival, and Mei Terumi and Ryosuke were invited to participate. At the end was the signature, [Daimyo of the Land of Water, Oda Ieyasu.]
Ryosuke set down the letter.
"What do you think?"
Mei Terumi, knowing Ryosuke well, understood what he meant, and said, "Very unlikely it's an ambush."
"Why?"
"Not worth it."
Mei Terumi pulled out a stack of documents from her drawer.
Ever since Oda Ieyasu took office as Daimyo, she had been collecting intelligence on him.
"Right now, in the hearts of the people of the Land of Water, there are two heroes."
"One is you, spreading technology and thought, letting more people fill their stomachs, and defeating the Land of Lightning's invasion."
"The other..."
She took out a photo and placed it on the desk.
In the photo was a man about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. His looks were handsome, his long black hair like ink, smiling at the camera, his smile gentle and sincere.
"That's him, the new Daimyo of the Land of Water, Oda Ieyasu. Since taking office, in taxation, law, official appointments and more, he's brought earth-shaking change to the lives of commoners."
"Did you notice the festive atmosphere in Kirigakure? It's people celebrating the Mizusono Festival, giving thanks to the Daimyo and to you. People are spontaneously holding small festivals in the village."
"To make a move on you would bring him not the slightest benefit. It would ruin the prestige and influence he's only just gathered. Besides..."
Mei Terumi pointed to a photo on the wall.
In the photo, she was shaking hands with Killer Bee. Behind the crowd taking the picture stood a newly founded Institute of Military Science and Technology.
Her meaning was very clear.
Even Kumogakure couldn't take down Ryosuke. Even if Oda Ieyasu wanted to kill him, he would not choose to do it in Kyoto.
Ryosuke nodded.
"So," Mei Terumi looked at Ryosuke, "will you go?"
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but in her eyes Ryosuke thought he saw expectation.
He leaned forward slightly, meeting her gaze, smiling as he asked, "Do you want me to go?"
Mei Terumi averted her eyes. "Go if you want. What's it got to do with me."
Ryosuke chuckled softly. "I'll go."
He picked up Oda Ieyasu's photo, "Until now there wasn't a suitable chance. But now, I'd like to have a good talk with this Daimyo of the Land of Water."
Hearing him say "a good talk," Mei Terumi slightly opened her mouth.
'This "good talk"… wouldn't mean fists again, would it?'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰