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Chapter 271: Empowering Kameda
Now that he had a physical body, this was his first time having such intimate contact with the other girls, aside from Konan.
Samui pulled him into a tight embrace. Her Snow Seeds were so thick that he couldn't even feel her heartbeat.
This girl... feels like she's gone up a size again.
He instinctively glanced toward Konan's chest. However, Konan immediately caught his gaze. She smiled sweetly and asked, "Alex, are you thinking about something inappropriate?"
Even though her tone was gentle and her face was full of smiles, he felt an inexplicable wave of pressure radiating from her.
"Haha," Alex laughed awkwardly, gently pushing Samui away and rubbing his nose. "No, not at all. Big or small, they're all absolutely wonderful."
In truth, Konan's figure was exceptional in its own right, but Samui was simply too gifted, boasting at least two sizes larger. Not that it mattered much anyway. With Konan's current strength and absolute mastery over her body, she could have any proportions she desired. Back when they were fighting hard in the Amenominaka dimension, she had even asked for Alex's opinion on whether she should change her shape. He had simply told her that natural was best and there was no need to deliberately alter herself.
Kameda was incredibly tactful. As soon as Samui had thrown herself at Alex, he had immediately retreated ten meters away. He lowered his head and covered his ears, putting on a perfect display of being blind and deaf to the situation. He knew exactly where the boundaries were, which was exactly why the butler had been so heavily trusted.
Alex looked at Kameda. His stout, short stature and silly round face gave him a rather comical appearance. However, his strength as a mere Chunin was undeniably lackluster.
"Kameda."
"Lord Alex, your subordinate is here." Kameda rushed over and stood before Alex, bowing respectfully. "Please give your orders."
Alex didn't say a word. He simply raised his right hand and tossed out a dense cluster of chakra, directly injecting it into Kameda's body.
In a fraction of a second, the butler's aura and power began to skyrocket. Chunin, Special Jonin, Jonin... his power surged relentlessly until it finally stopped at the absolute peak of Kage level.
The scene left Tsunade, Shikaku, Inoichi, and all the other ninjas from the former great villages staring in absolute disbelief. They all knew that the two leaders of Akatsuki possessed transcendent strength rivaling the gods. But that was in terms of combat power and sheer destructive capability. They never imagined their powers extended to something this miraculously absurd.
In just a few short seconds, a perfectly ordinary ninja with Chunin-level strength had been forcibly elevated to the peak of Kage level. He leaped into the realm of Kage-level powerhouses in a single bound.
And looking at the casual flick of Alex's wrist, it seemed so effortlessly simple, as if he had done nothing more strenuous than flipping a light switch. Yet, that simple action had directly manufactured a Kage-level powerhouse. If this were the old era, a warrior of this caliber would instantly stand on the same level as the Five Kage, perched at the absolute peak of the shinobi world's pyramid.
"Such power, such methods…" Orochimaru murmured, his eyes filled with more burning fanaticism than shock. He trembled with excitement. "This is a god… This is the absolute truth…"
In his eyes, the current Konan and Alex were two living gods walking the ninja world. Immortality and invincible power were synonymous with them. This was the very culmination of everything he had pursued his entire life. Even though someone else had achieved it, at this moment, he felt the immense relief and sheer thrill of seeing fellow seekers who had reached the end of the path. His philosophy and his ultimate goals hadn't been wrong. He had simply lacked the proper methods and opportunities.
Beside him, Tsunade's emotions were far more conflicted. A bitter smile crept onto her face. I already knew their power vastly surpassed my grandfather's. But the gap is clearly far, far wider than I ever could have imagined…
"Lady Tsunade." Shizune supported the weakened Tsunade, her eyes brimming with worry. "The past is the past. It's time to let it go. We just need to focus on living our lives properly from now on and stop dwelling on these frustrating things."
Her voice was low and defeated. In the face of two living gods, there was absolutely nothing they could do except accept their arrangements and face reality. Surviving... just continuing to live was enough. Thinking too much about anything else would only bring unnecessary misery.
Unlike the shock and despair gripping the majority of the crowd, the faces of Hinata, Honoka, and Samui—who stood close behind Alex—were alight with pride and honor. This only further proved that their choice to follow him had been absolutely right. They basked in the envious and awe-struck gazes of everyone from the ninja world. If they hadn't joined Akatsuki back then, they would probably be just another face in this crowd right now, reduced to mere background characters.
Once the empowerment was complete, Kameda opened his eyes, feeling the vast, boundless chakra and power surging through his body. Despite his best efforts to suppress his grin, his fat cheeks still quivered uncontrollably under the sheer weight of his intense excitement and euphoria.
To jump from an ordinary Chunin to a Kage-level powerhouse in the blink of an eye—this leap was far too intoxicating. Only a ninja, especially an ordinary ninja without any innate talent, could truly understand the preciousness and insurmountable difficulty of acquiring true power. When he was young, he had worked tirelessly and fought hard, but he could never break past the Chunin barrier. He couldn't shatter the absolute shackles of his lack of talent.
That despair... that lingering envy and deep unwillingness he felt every time he looked at ninjas with superior strength and talent... it had deeply tormented him in the darkest corners of his heart. Under the crushing weight of that frustration, he had slowly grown numb, slowly accepted reality, and slowly learned to accept his own mediocrity. Because there was no other choice.
But then, everything changed.
From the very first moment he met Lady Konan at the Sky Fortress, his miserable fate had been completely rewritten. Not only was his life far better than before—no longer forced to hide in damp, underground gutters—but he had also joined Akatsuki as a core member, wielding more authority than anyone else outside of the core Akatsuki group. The former Five Kage, the elite Jonin, everyone had to obediently follow his orders.
And now, Lord Alex had personally bestowed power upon him. He was a Kage-level powerhouse.
What kind of cosmic luck did I, Kameda, stumble into in my past life to receive such an opportunity and blessing?
Kameda trembled all over, his face flushed red with emotion. He bowed deeply toward Konan and Alex, his voice trembling with absolute sincerity. "Kameda... thanks both of you for your cultivation and care. Whether in the past, the present, or the future, I will always be your most loyal subordinate."
Even if they ordered him to die right this second, he wouldn't hesitate for a single moment.
"Mm." Alex smiled. "You've done a great job recently. Keep up the good work. I'll leave things here to you."
With that, he firmly grasped Konan's hand and, taking Hinata and the rest of his entourage with him, vanished instantly, returning to the Sky Fortress. He trusted Kameda to handle the on-site arrangements and construction. In fact, he was certain Kameda would do a better job than he could have ever imagined.
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