Chapter 227: 227 - Seeds of the Sage
The Explosive Flame Formation was one of the signature moves of Hanzō.
Although it relied on explosive tags to function and required pre-planning, making its setup a bit cumbersome, it was still a formidable technique.
The Second Hokage’s Tandem Paper Bombs also utilized explosive tags. However, his method continuously summoned explosive tags to the initial position, making it more discreet and inescapable once triggered.
That didn’t mean the Explosive Flame Formation was ineffective.
Masashi took inspiration from Hanzō’s Explosive Flame Formation and combined it with the power of the Uchiha Flame Formation, creating a devastating area-of-effect jutsu.
The result was far superior to Hanzō’s version, with a much simpler activation process.
The inward-compressing barrier completely confined the Fire Release within, and with each successive compression, the fire’s intensity escalated.
The Hannya ninjas had no means to break the barrier. In fact, by the third compression, there were no survivors inside.
Not even ashes remained.
Sensing that all chakra signatures within had vanished, he ceased his technique and lifted the Flame Formation.
What lay before Team 7 was a perfectly "clean" stretch of land.
Seeing the extraordinary results, even Sasuke’s mouth dropped open in shock.
From this moment on, Team 7’s understanding of ninjutsu would never be the same.
The first to recover from the shock was Sasuke.
"Masashi-nii, I want to learn this too! Teach me!"
"’Nii’ again? We’re on a mission—be respectful and call me ’teacher’." Masashi ruffled Sasuke’s hair into a bird’s nest. "As a ninja, you should be mindful of your surroundings."
"Ah, sorry, teacher," Sasuke immediately corrected himself.
He made up his mind—starting today, he would be the most well-behaved member of Team 7.
Naruto? Hah! There was no way Naruto could be more disciplined than him.
"Teacher, what’s our next move?"
"What else? We head back. The protection mission isn’t over yet." Masashi thought to himself, Is this kid forgetful or what?
Not that it mattered—Sasuke was always forgetful when he was having fun.
With that, he led the three members of Team 7 back.
By the time they returned to the lord’s manor, the people there were still trembling with fear.
To ordinary people, the power levels of ninja were difficult to grasp. Even a genin was immensely powerful in their eyes.
Those with some knowledge understood that chunin were stronger than genin, jonin were stronger than chunin, and the Five Kage stood at the pinnacle of power.
Those in positions of power knew that beyond the Kage, a handful of individuals represented the absolute peak of the ninja world.
Most people, however, gauged strength by numbers—who had more ninja on their side.
When Masashi returned with Team 7, the manor’s residents looked on with anticipation.
And soon enough, they got the news they were hoping for—the missing-nin had been completely wiped out.
The feudal lord’s family was especially grateful, relieved that the scourge that had plagued their lands was finally gone.
Their overwhelming gratitude could ultimately be summed up in one phrase—"Konoha is the best!"
Masashi, along with Team 7, graciously accepted the Daigo’s gratitude but remained firm in refusing any gifts out of principle.
However, to ease Daigo’s mind, Masashi presented him with an exclusive ticket to next year’s Uchiha Ice and Snow Festival as a gesture of goodwill.
The Uchiha jonin had developed a habit of carrying a few of these exclusive tickets on missions. Whenever they encountered particularly agreeable clients with whom they had a smooth collaboration, they would offer a ticket. This way, they could maintain their principle of not accepting gifts without making the other party feel uneasy.
Of course, this was a privilege unique to the Uchiha clan. For the wealthy nobility, the festival itself wasn’t the true appeal—the significance of the ticket was. The Uchiha clan strictly limited the number of internal tickets each year, never exceeding one hundred.
For the remainder of the mission, Team 7 dutifully carried out their protection duties.
No more missing-nin showed up to make a scene, and with little left for Masashi to do, he fully settled into the role of a "mentor."
However, just before the mission period ended, he once again left the feudal lord’s estate and headed toward the coast.
Black Zetsu had mentioned that if Masashi ever needed to find him, he would know where to go.
To Masashi, that meant—Come find me when you’re free.
Black Zetsu wouldn’t send him a signal without a good reason.
After all, it was the type to act more, talk less—a true shadowy schemer.
Arriving at the beach where he had previously met Black Zetsu, Masashi used Earth Release to sink underground.
Following the principle of learning only what was useful, he hadn’t mastered many Earth Release techniques, but he had learned the basics of earth traversal.
At his level, the distinction between elemental releases hardly mattered.
Whether fusion techniques or single-element jutsu, there was no definitive superior choice—only the one best suited for the situation.
Even a fully charged Great Fireball could send an opponent flying into the sky, practically touching the sun—if they were foolish enough to take it head-on.
Unlike in the Land of Grass, this time, he could clearly sense chakra below.
Now that was more like it.
Increasing his speed, he plunged straight down.
The moment he broke through the last layer of earth, he flipped midair and landed upside down, sticking to the rocky wall.
The underground was shrouded in darkness, but the moment his Sharingan activated, a vibrant world of humanoid chakra signatures lit up before his eyes.
He descended lightly, summoning a fireball that floated in front of him, illuminating the cavern.
Black Zetsu stood in the darkness, utterly silent, staring directly at him.
Beside him were several White Zetsu clones.
Judging by their vacant expressions, they were undoubtedly freshly created copies.
"What took you so long?" Black Zetsu’s voice was low, blending eerily with the unsettling atmosphere. It felt like a scene straight out of a horror film.
Unfortunately, such an ambiance had no effect on Masashi.
He had been sleeping in graveyards since his first playthrough. At this point, if he watched a horror movie, the best the director could hope for was that he didn’t burst out laughing.
"I had students to train," Masashi replied. "What’s with all the secrecy? Oh, by the way, next year’s festival, are you coming?"
"Festival?" Black Zetsu gave him a long, silent look before turning and walking deeper into the cave.
"Konoha should focus on surviving this year first." Black Zetsu’s words came somewhat abruptly.
However, Masashi’s expression remained unchanged.
This dark and sinister place seemed to hide too many things that could not see the light of day. In the darkness, a pair of eyes, imprisoned for a thousand years and now released, were watching him, who stood there alone.
Suddenly, Masashi murmured softly, "You want to die?"
The feeling of being watched vanished.
He walked in the direction where Black Zetsu had just left.
This base was newly established, and renovations weren’t even finished yet. The sound of dripping water echoed all around.
But this was the perfect environment for cultivating White Zetsu.
After passing through a long corridor, he entered a spacious area.
There was light here.
Breeding White Zetsu still required equipment and light.
In the vast underground space, Black Zetsu was fiddling with some freshly acquired equipment.
"Where did you get these?" Masashi walked up to him and glanced at the machines.
All traces that could reveal their origin had been erased. The supplier was a professional, with a strong black-market style.
It seemed a visit to Granny Cat was necessary.
"I have my ways," Black Zetsu replied.
"What did you mean by that earlier?"
Black Zetsu stopped what he was doing and looked at Masashi.
From his eyes, Masashi could tell the meaning: You really have the nerve to ask?
"Honestly, I’m a good person," he said. "I absolutely hate fighting and killing."
Black Zetsu lowered his head and continued working on the machines.
"Then congratulations, you’ve arrived in a world built by killers."
"Black Zetsu, when did you become so poetic?" Masashi sighed. Just a few years, and you’re already getting impatient.
He really didn’t want to kill people. Why couldn’t these ninjas be a little more patient?
They always resorted to violence to solve problems—so crude and straightforward. No wonder Madara turned against society.
Hashirama was more down-to-earth, but he lacked a proper understanding of his peers’ patience in normal circumstances.
"Give me a hint—who are the people involved?"
"I can’t," Black Zetsu said as he finished adjusting the machine and moved on to another one. "I’m just reminding you—since you’re interested in the tailed beasts, make your move early."
He was getting cheekier—keeping secrets like this.
No, he had always been like this.
"Alright, I won’t ask then," Masashi said. "Was that all you wanted to tell me?"
Hearing this, Black Zetsu finally stopped fiddling with his equipment and turned around.
"Are you really not interested in Asura and Indra’s chakra?"
"Saying I don’t want it would be a lie. But honestly, I have my doubts," Masashi mused, thinking about how things played out in the original timeline with Naruto.
Something just felt... off.
Sasuke, on the other hand, made perfect sense. He was just forcibly "normalized" by a group of people constantly telling him, "You’re not acting right."
"What do you doubt?" Black Zetsu asked.
"Asura and Indra reincarnated their chakra for their own goals. Chakra can carry a person’s will—how could they ensure that their reincarnated chakra would follow their original intentions?"
In the shinobi world, chakra could essentially be used for possession.
In the original timeline, Kushina and Minato had done it.
There was no reason Asura and Indra couldn’t.
Not to mention Hagoromo, who still existed in the form of pure chakra.
"Madara wasn’t affected," Black Zetsu gave a vague answer.
"That’s because what he obtained was only a tiny fraction of it," Masashi said.
"For him, the First Hokage’s power served more as a guide. Otherwise, do you really think I could strip Asura and Indra’s chakra from your disciple?" Black Zetsu admitted truthfully.
"At most, I can only extract a portion of it."
"Anyway, how do you know I’m interested in tailed beast chakra? Can’t I just want to capture them for the sake of it?"
"I can tell the difference," Black Zetsu sneered. "But you’ve hit the mark by accident. Tailed beast chakra is an essential part of the Sage of Six Paths’ power—the very ’Sage Body’ you like to talk about. So, have you given up on the ’Sage Eyes’ and decided to pursue the ’Sage Body’ instead?"
Masashi neither confirmed nor denied it.
Just looking at how difficult it was to "glitch" the Rinnegan’s mechanics, as evidenced by an aging Madara, showed how unreliable that path was—even though Madara was an actual reincarnation of Indra’s chakra.
By comparison, gathering all the tailed beasts’ chakra seemed much more feasible.
He didn’t need to reach the level of Naruto in the original timeline. He just needed to enhance his current Sage Body capabilities.
Right now, he was stuck at this stage—quantity had increased, but there was no qualitative change.
If the Sage Body was stuck, then the Sharingan was pretty much in the same state.
But if he could push his Sage Body to the next level, it might have a significant effect on his Sharingan as well.
He still had about ten years left. Once he passed forty, both his mental and physical condition would start to decline. At that point, his gains and losses would cancel each other out.
And that would be meaningless.
Both Hashirama and Madara had reached their peak during this same age range.
For a ninja, the peak they reached determined the highest point of their entire life.
"So that’s what you’re thinking." Black Zetsu confirmed Masashi’s intentions. This was exactly why he had arranged to meet Masashi.
The plan was steadily advancing. Despite many unexpected twists over the years, it was still unfolding as Obito and he had envisioned back then.
Weakening the Five Great Villages, especially Konoha, was an unshakable core objective.
Right now, Konoha, along with Kiri, Iwa, and Suna, had all strengthened in different ways.
But the war between Kumo and Suna against Iwa had already weakened Iwa. Suna as well. Kumo had already been weakened, and now it was weaker than ever.
Inciting another full-scale war between the Five Great Villages was still a challenge. The village leaders weren’t fools—they remained highly vigilant.
Now, only Konoha and Kiri remained in peak condition. Konoha, in particular, was at its prime.
The only reason the other villages had been able to restrain themselves was the alliance between Kiri and Konoha.
But Kiri’s nature was never about making friends with its neighbors.
Black Zetsu wanted Masashi to understand that.
To ensure these villages were weakened even further, he wanted all of them to be prepared for war.
And before he truly started collecting the Tailed Beasts itself, stirring Masashi’s ambition and pushing him to gather their chakra on his own was a strategy worth trying.
"If you manage to collect all of it, come find me again." Those were Black Zetsu’s last words. After that, he completely ignored Masashi.
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Currently 80 advance Chapters!
/Malphegor