In the world of Hokage, the absorption of natural energy is divided into different schools.
The main ones are the training methods of Mount Myōboku and Ryuuchi Cave.
The former uses toad oil to increase the skin's sensitivity to natural power, and the latter involves being bitten by the Great Snake Sage of Ryuuchi Cave, who injects natural energy.
Although the methods are different, the logic is—
To passively expose those who are not sensitive to natural energy and cannot perceive it on their own to natural energy.
After becoming familiar with the fluctuations of natural energy, get rid of the auxiliary toad oil and achieve independent absorption of natural energy, entering Sage Mode.
However, Linto doesn't need a guiding process.
Because Ripple Breathing is inherently a power that uses breathing to make the body resonate with the outside world.
Linto stepped into Phase Two Ripple, mastering many changes, such as controlling water flow, creating high temperatures, and enhancing metal items. This is inherently using Ripple to influence nature.
By slightly adjusting the frequency of Ripple, Linto can absorb natural power.
"...Doesn't that mean, Brother Shou, you can enter Sage Mode?!"
Sasuke said in surprise.
Linto shook his head: "You forgot, I don't have Chakra, but..."
He took a breath.
Buzz—
A yellow-orange Ripple surged in his palm.
It was stronger than before, with a small increase in power, speed, and reaction, and Linto felt a sense of being "connected" to everything in the world.
He could "touch" the breath of all things.
Not only that, Linto also vaguely felt some subtle, indescribable changes happening deep within his cells.
Linto didn't know if this change was good or bad.
But at least he didn't turn into a stone man.
Seeing the envious look in Sasuke's eyes, Linto smiled and said, "Don't worry, when I get the hang of it, I'll definitely let you learn it."
Sasuke nodded vigorously.
...
Kimimaro crossed his arms.
Jugo was crying and holding his head, if not for the limbs and blood on the ground, and the blood and flesh on his body, one would have thought he was the victim.
"I killed them... it's all because of me... I'm sorry..."
Jugo was sobbing softly.
As a psychopath with a split personality, Jugo, after regaining his conscience, fell into deep self-blame.
He suddenly turned around and grabbed Kimimaro's shoulder with his blood-stained hand.
"Take me back, lock me up, I really don't want to kill people anymore."
Kimimaro didn't care that his snow-white robe was stained with foul blood, and handed him a towel: "Wipe yourself off."
"Please! Lock me up!"
Kimimaro remained unmoved.
"Wipe yourself off."
He and Jugo were close friends, and their friendship was beyond doubt.
If it were any other request, Kimimaro would definitely fulfill Jugo's wish, but not this one.
Because letting Jugo out to kill was Orochimaru-sama's order.
"I've checked Jugo's blood during his calm periods, Kimimaro, take him to kill people, I need to do a two-way control experiment,"
Kimimaro didn't understand what a "two-way control experiment" was, but since it was Orochimaru-sama's order, he would complete it unconditionally, even at the cost of his close friend's suffering.
As for the ordinary people who died?
Although they lost their lives, Jugo, who killed them, was in pain, so...
Didn't that even things out?
In addition to constantly making Jugo commit murder to increase the power of the Cursed Seal, Kimimaro also had another task.
Five figures appeared.
They were wearing black clothes and black pants, without headbands, and their faces were covered with white masks, making it impossible to tell which village they were ninjas from. But following the holes in the masks, you could see pairs of cold, lifeless, and emotionless eyes.
Ninjas from the Root organization.
Judging from their skills, all five were Jonin.
This was Kimimaro's second task.
In recent years, the great ninja villages have been increasing their strength, and Danzo naturally wanted to increase the strength of Konoha Village, so...
He needed money.
The Land of Fire Daimyo, however, disagreed with military spending.
In order to make the Land of Fire Daimyo realize the importance of Konoha Village, Danzo cooperated with Orochimaru to deliberately create massacres and riots, thereby threatening the Land of Fire Daimyo to provide them with more financial support.
This was basically creating bandits to increase his own value.
On the other hand, there were too many bounty hunters in the Land of Fire.
Because of these hyena-like guys, Konoha Village was able to receive fewer commissions, and the Daimyo and financial groups had more choices. Therefore, Danzo planned to take the opportunity to kill a group of bounty hunters.
Five Root Jonin.
Jugo, who possessed the power of the Cursed Seal.
And Kimimaro, who possessed the Bloodline Limit, Corpse Bone Pulse.
This was a trap set for bounty hunters.
"Can we end this?" Kimimaro asked.
The Root ninja was holding two heads, which were the bounty hunters they had found.
Having massacred six villages along the way, it was probably time to go back for Orochimaru-sama's control experiment.
"Not yet."
The Root ninja said coldly: "I haven't received Lord Danzo's order yet."
This meant that the Daimyo was still watching, still hesitating.
They would continue killing until the Daimyo approved the funding.
Kimimaro said, "Then let's go."
As the group left, the crying suddenly stopped.
Kimimaro turned his head to look.
The tear stains on Jugo's face had disappeared. His eyes were cold as he held up a finger, pointing to the vast sky.
The scene froze.
Linto shook the photo paper.
The others gathered around, meeting Jugo's cold gaze.
Jiraiya raised his eyebrows: "Ho! That gesture, that look... how arrogant!"
Linto didn't expect the other party to be able to detect Hermit Purple's peeping, it seemed like he did have a few tricks up his sleeve. Linto repeated his old trick, summoning Star Platinum again to draw out the detailed information in the photo.
Because Kimimaro and the others had traveled some distance, the photo only captured Jugo and the corpses on the ground.
"White Box Village."
Jiraiya pointed to the clothes on the corpses: "This village is famous for its Kiku tea. Their clothes are also embroidered with Kiku. It's about a day's journey from here."
It's convenient to have a local, otherwise, even if Linto contacted Kambara Hayato, considering the time it takes for carrier pigeons to travel back and forth, their information would be delayed.
Considering the injured in Hope Village, Linto decided to split up.
Linto, Jiraiya, and Sasuke went to find the wanted criminals.
Among them, Linto and Sasuke were in the open, and Jiraiya hid in the shadows, lest Orochimaru see it was Jiraiya and deliberately hide and refuse to come out.
The remaining Momo-chan, Mayuri, White, and Amber stayed behind to take care of the injured.
After buying out all the Polaroid cameras in the camera store, Linto and the other two set off to hunt down the criminals.
Along the way, they didn't sleep or rest, everyone knew that every one or two hours of rest and sleep could result in innocent people in a village dying a miserable death.
Jiraiya thought that Linto and the others would complain, but he didn't expect even the youngest Sasuke to grit his teeth and persevere. Later, even Jiraiya couldn't bear to watch.
"Let's take a break."
Sasuke was silent for a long time and said, "I don't want to see any more clan massacre tragedies happen."
He smiled at Jiraiya, a carefree smile.
"There should be fewer unlucky guys like me."
After speaking, he activated Ripple again and ran forward.
Jiraiya was moved by this, and the fire burning in his heart condensed into one sentence:
"Damn Danzo."
Linto kept summoning Hermit Purple, spitting out photos, and adjusting the tracking path.
Finally, Linto saw two figures, one tall and one short, at the end of his vision. There were already many corpses on the ground, and many injured were wailing in despair.
They found them!
"Star Platinum!"
Star Platinum suddenly appeared, Linto threw the Destruction Greatsword to it, and jumped.
"Ora!"
Star Platinum roared angrily, swung the Destruction Greatsword around, and slapped it flat on the soles of Linto's feet as he leaped into the air.
A huge force was transferred over, and Linto was like a missile, and with a loud crack, he exceeded the speed of sound, creating a sonic boom with his body.
Star Platinum threw the Destruction Greatsword again.
It landed in Linto's hand at just the right moment, yellow-orange Ripple flowed into the Destruction Greatsword, and a sizzling golden flame emitted from the back of the blade.
Greatsword, golden aura, terrifying body...
This characteristic was too obvious.
"Linto!"
The indifference in Kimimaro's eyes changed for the first time.
He recalled Linto's past achievements and wanted to find a way to deal with him, but he found that his usually calm brain, when faced with the man who was attacking like a demon, was actually...
A mind gone blank!
---
You can read 50 Chapters ahead on my
pat reon.com/GMadman