"So I finally reached the eighth stage?"
Looking at his new panel, Kitagawa Gen's expression was somewhat indescribable.
After working hard for so long, he had at last almost completed gathering the Source of this God Tree!
Moreover, this time, the enhancement of the God Tree's Source had, as expected, brought him a few pleasant surprises.
"However, this 'can be released' feature seems to be quite interesting."
Kitagawa Gen took a deep breath, feeling the changes in the God Tree beneath his feet.
At this moment, the God Tree seemed to have come to life, completely different from the "Gedo Statue" he had seen before.
The Gedo Statue was more like a dead object; its skin was withered like that of a dead tree, and there were many stake-like protrusions on its back.
Although it possessed nine eyes, they were utterly dull. Even though life force was contained within its body, it still gave off a sense of deathly stillness.
"But my God Tree's Source is not the same."
Gen's God Tree was full of vitality. Its massive trunk was lush with branches and leaves, and the overwhelming life force it radiated was truly astonishing.
At the top of the tree, the flower bud already had the stance of blooming, and the chakra contained within it was enough to make one's heart tremble.
"Only one more to bloom, and then this God Tree will have the Rinnegan, right? Then I too…"
Kitagawa Gen touched his forehead. He could feel that the flower bud about to bloom and the power in his forehead were linked with astonishing intimacy.
Perhaps it really was only a little bit more before he would gain an entirely new harvest!
"Take it slow. Still, if this thing is released, its effect will probably be even more exaggerated than 'True Several Thousand Hands.'"
Shaking his head, Kitagawa Gen looked at the enormous tree beneath him, momentarily dazed.
The 'True Several Thousand Hands' reaching a thousand meters in height could already be said to blot out the sky and the sun, yet this thing was even more terrifying!
"Even if it can't compare with the God Tree of the Fourth War, whose roots covered the battlefield and whose crown reached the clouds, mine shouldn't be much worse. I just don't know what it'll look like when summoned."
As he was thinking, the gigantic tree beneath him suddenly moved.
The immense trunk began to intertwine, while the flower bud suspended at its top slowly closed.
Those endless roots gathered upon his body, transforming in an instant into arms and legs. That tall, slender form stood upon the yellow sand, collapsing the earth in an instant.
Behind him, ten tails quickly appeared, and with just a light sweep, the tails seemed as if they could stir heaven and earth!
"Really…"
Standing atop the Ten Tails' head, Kitagawa Gen felt for the first time that he himself seemed "a bit too insignificant."
This feeling—he had never experienced it, not even when standing upon the head of "True Several Thousand Hands."
"The chakra aura has completely changed; this is already pure natural energy."
Kitagawa Gen murmured softly. He himself was highly proficient in "Sage Mode," thoroughly adept at controlling that kind of natural power.
But the chakra of the Ten Tails—this was truly something formidable!
"However… no eyes?"
Lowering his head, Kitagawa Gen looked at both sides of the Ten Tails' face and discovered that this fellow's eyes were tightly closed, which made him feel somewhat amused and helpless.
Apparently, this Ten Tails transformed from his own "God Tree's Source" was completely linked with him.
Since he had no eyes, this Ten Tails had none either. It must wait until that "flower bud" opened its eyes—only then would this Ten Tails likely have eyes.
"Does this count as a defective product?"
Kitagawa Gen couldn't help but complain, but upon recalling that the Gedo Statue summoned by Nagato also had no eyes, he instantly felt balanced.
"Moreover, Nagato's thing needed to continuously absorb his energy, while mine doesn't need that at all—this is truly my own!"
"Roar—"
As that thought crossed his mind, the Ten Tails let out a roar. Immediately after, a gigantic energy sphere condensed at its mouth.
This was the Ten Tails' Tailed Beast Ball!
That immense fluctuation of energy shook the soul. The purple sphere slowly turned red, and even its shape began to change—
Becoming an object resembling a "droplet," floating in midair.
[Buzz—]
The next instant, that Tailed Beast Ball blasted forth, flying straight into the distance, and soon after, a tremendous roar erupted within the Ame-no-Minaka, accompanied by a mushroom cloud and blazing flames!
"Not bad at all."
Feeling the shockwave rushing toward him, Kitagawa Gen nodded in satisfaction.
Such a transformation of the God Tree's Source was even better than he had imagined, and the changes it brought to his own body were likewise immense!
[Whoosh—]
At a thought, six Truth-Seeking Orbs instantly appeared behind him.
These Truth-Seeking Orbs arrayed themselves neatly at his back, and this time, their number had also changed with his advancement!
"Six of them now, huh."
Kitagawa Gen muttered softly to himself; in truth, he was somewhat surprised.
This advancement had actually brought a 2% increase in the development of his bloodline.
But thinking about it, it seemed reasonable—after all, the "God Tree's Source" had not "advanced in stage" for quite some time.
Although he had been continuously feeding it Ōtsutsuki chakra, its stage level had remained unchanged all along.
"This time, it's as if the long-accumulated power finally erupted, giving me a proper return, huh?"
Moreover, his improvement was not limited to this. Setting aside his physical body, he was already feeling increasingly like an Ōtsutsuki himself.
"The enhancement brought by the 'core domain' related to the God Tree must be the greatest, right?"
Kitagawa Gen could already faintly sense that his eyes' absorption of chakra had begun to stagnate, while a new kind of power seemed to be gestating.
Not only that, he had also gained a new ocular technique!
"Yomotsu Hirasaka? Not bad at all."
Kitagawa Gen had already mastered all the abilities of the Tenseigan, together with all the basic powers of the Rinnegan except for "Rinne Rebirth."
Originally, he had thought he would no longer gain any additional ocular techniques; what he most looked forward to were those "Shinjutsu."
Yet unexpectedly, a brand-new ability had appeared!
"Well, that's fine too. It can serve to distinguish my spatial ninjutsu from that of Ōtsutsuki Genshiki. But isn't this supposed to be an ability of the Kekkei Mōra level?"
Kitagawa Gen rubbed his head, somewhat puzzled.
"Still, in terms of ocular techniques, what I desire most are those 'Shinjutsu.'"
The power of "Shinjutsu" was beyond question. Although his "Yomitsu" had not been used this time, he could well imagine its might.
If his Tenseigan were to advance once more, new Shinjutsu might very well emerge!
"Besides, as long as my 'Rinnegan' gathers all the Tailed Beast powers, it too should begin to form—and by then, my Shinjutsu will only grow in number."
Thinking of this, his mood became even better.
The number of "Shinjutsu" possessed by Ōtsutsuki Shibai was absurdly high. For now, he himself had only mastered one—"Yomitsu"—so there was still quite a gap.
"Other than that, the most gratifying thing is probably that the fusion of chakra has been accelerating."
The Kekkei Mōra was something he had been waiting for all along—that kind of power was also what he desired the most.
"Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito, and Nagato, as well as Isshiki—my future…"
"It'll all depend on you!"
...
"Finally, it's over!"
Time passed quickly. A few days later, Naruto finally completed his training!
His situation was not like in the original story; after all, what resided within his body was much more complicated.
But this kid had truly given it everything he had—perhaps the situation he faced this time had deeply spurred him on.
He had overcome layer upon layer of hardship and at last completed "facing himself," as well as mastering the power of the Tailed Beasts.
He had even reconstructed a chakra channel to ensure that his parents inside him would not be affected in any way.
"Yosh! Now I won't be dragging you guys down anymore!"
Naruto clenched his fists, unable to contain his excitement as he spoke, which made Kitagawa Gen roll his eyes from the side.
"Idiot, is controlling a Tailed Beast that difficult? And is the Nine Tails really that strong? I heard Uchiha Madara used to beat the crap out of the Nine Tails, didn't he?"
"You—you bastard…"
Hearing that, the excitement on Naruto's face instantly vanished.
He wanted to curse, but he didn't dare. Besides, he had also heard the First Hokage mention that Uchiha Madara had once beaten the Nine Tails senseless.
Even the First Hokage himself had beaten the Nine Tails…
And Kitagawa Gen had shattered Susanoo with a single kick and even defeated the One Tail three years ago—by that logic, the Nine Tails wasn't much to brag about.
"Tch, idiot."
Sasuke couldn't help but mutter from the side, which immediately reignited Naruto, who had been holding back from talking.
"You bastard, I'm definitely stronger than you now!"
"Hmph, that's not for certain."
Sasuke gave a short snort. He glanced at Naruto, turmoil flickering in his heart, before finally speaking.
"What Uchiha Madara could do, I can do as well—so don't get too arrogant."
"Tch, I'm not afraid of you!"
"We can't fight here in Iwagakure, but once we're back, shall we test it?"
"Fine! Let's test it—see who's afraid of who!"
"Idiot."
"You bastard!"
These two—Sasuke and Naruto—could start quarreling at the drop of a hat. Watching the scene, Jiraiya could only scratch his head.
Helplessly shaking his head, he looked at Kitagawa Gen, who was still enjoying the show, and spoke.
"The reconstruction of Iwagakure is almost done too. We've been out for quite a while—shouldn't we head back?"
"You're the captain, so why are you asking me?"
Kitagawa Gen tilted his head and gave him a look, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hey, Ōnoki's running his mouth again and you're joining in? You that eager for the Third to get buried early?"
"…"
"Come on then, call me Hokage-sama, let me hear it once?"
"…"
Jiraiya felt his headache grow worse and spoke gloomily.
"You really are as unlovable as ever. Always the same since you were a kid. Fine, I'll go personally visit the Tsuchikage tomorrow and take my leave."
"There you go, problem solved."
Kitagawa Gen nodded, then stretched lazily.
"Finally, we can go back. I've been waiting a long time, though the one who's waited the longest should be the Second Hokage, right? He's been sending messages nonstop asking about us."
"The Second Hokage must have run out of patience by now."
Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh as well. Originally, they were supposed to replace their bodies for Edo Tensei long ago, but Kitagawa Gen had forcefully interrupted the process.
"Still, it's not a bad thing for them to grow stronger—after all, we've got more than enough trouble on our hands."
"Tell me, what if I were to resurrect the Fourth? The real Fourth Hokage and his wife—what do you think would happen?"
Suddenly, Kitagawa Gen looked at Jiraiya curiously as he asked, catching Jiraiya completely off guard.
"Minato? You mean… but his soul is in the Shinigami's stomach, that's…"
"There's always a way. Every jutsu has a countermeasure—the only difference is whether we've found it yet."
"You've found it?"
"I'm just asking—don't you want to try it?"
The real Minato?
For Jiraiya, there was nothing to hesitate about with that question!
The chakra of Minato and Kushina had always existed within Naruto. Although chakra, in some sense, already represented a person, in essence, it was still vastly different.
If it could truly be done, he would absolutely support it with all his heart!
"Are you confident? Don't take any reckless risks."
Jiraiya's expression turned serious as he asked quietly, but Kitagawa Gen only gave a faint, confident smile.
"I never do anything I'm not confident in. Besides, I'm still quite young."
As for Namikaze Minato's situation, the answer had long been clear to him, and he had already eliminated the greatest risk.
What's more, what he sought went far beyond just that!
Since Uchiha Obito was about to become "Ōtsutsuki Obito," Kitagawa Gen naturally intended to prepare a "grand gift" for him.
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