Root Headquarters.
Deep underground.
Within the vast training grounds—
Akira flipped through the secret technique scrolls organized by the Second Tsuchikage, Mū, memorizing them by heart.
He effortlessly mastered the Light-Weight and Added-Weight Rock series of Earth Release secret arts.
However—
As a Bloodline Elimination that stood above ordinary Kekkei Genkai, formed through the fusion of the three chakra nature transformations of earth, wind, and fire—
Dust Release was not as simple as he had imagined.
It was considerably more complicated.
To save time—
Akira directly used the Spirit Transformation Technique, attaching himself to Mū's body.
He had him repeatedly demonstrate every application of Dust Release.
From the inside out—
Akira carefully observed the chakra flow within Mū's body, as well as the subtle changes that occurred when the wind, earth, and fire chakra nature transformations fused together in varying proportions.
"Whoosh—"
The Second Tsuchikage, Mū, floated in midair.
His hands rapidly formed seals as a dazzling point of light appeared within his palm.
Moreover—
It gradually expanded at a visible rate, transforming into a transparent cubic barrier.
Within it—
A radiant sphere of light floated.
"Dust Release: Primitive World Severing Technique!"
"Whoosh…"
Under Mū's control—
It flew outward.
A massive stone pillar was pierced by the cubic barrier and enveloped within it.
The next instant—
The glowing sphere inside the barrier erupted with blinding radiance.
Continuously expanding…
"BOOM—"
In an instant—
The enormous stone pillar turned into dust and vanished without a trace.
It had been forcibly disintegrated into an atomic state.
A terrifying sight that made one's scalp go numb.
"That's enough!"
Taking in the entire scene—
Akira Ren's spirit directly detached from Mū's body.
Returning to his own physical body.
"Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique!"
No hand seals were required.
Under the watchful eyes of Danzo Shimura, Mū, Torune Aburame, and the others—
Akira Ren's body visibly escaped the pull of gravity itself.
He rose directly off the ground—
Floating freely in the air.
"It really is quite a good technique…"
Akira revealed a faint smile.
Although with the Peacock Mystical Method and even the powers of the Forest-Forest Fruit, he could already fly freely—
He had to admit—
A technique that allowed one to float and fly at will without relying on external objects, without even needing wings—
Was undeniably stylish.
Of course—
Given the ninjutsu theories and accumulated knowledge he currently possessed—
Along with his absurd chakra control and his increasingly perfected mastery over all chakra nature transformations—
If he were willing to invest the time and effort, developing a wind-based flight technique would not actually be difficult.
But why bother—
When he could simply "take" one directly?
Moreover—
The Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique could stack with other flight abilities.
Allowing him to achieve even greater flying speeds.
Perhaps even reaching levels beyond imagination.
"He mastered the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique in a single attempt… truly unbelievable…"
Mū exclaimed in astonishment.
Only he truly understood how difficult these Iwagakure secret techniques actually were.
And making oneself float freely was even harder.
"Peacock Mystical Method!"
Akira raised two fingers before himself.
The next instant—
Under the shocked gazes of Danzo, Mū, Torune, and the others—
Visible chakra burst from his body.
Transforming into dazzling blue chakra wings.
Brilliant beyond compare.
"Whoosh—"
The gorgeous chakra wings suddenly flapped.
Akira Ren's figure instantly transformed into an afterimage of chakra at astonishing speed.
In the blink of an eye—
He shot to the very end of the passageway.
So fast that people could barely react.
"So fast!"
Mū's pupils contracted sharply as he cried out:
"That's the Peacock Mystical Method of Hoshigakure? It looks modified as well… what a genius!"
As the Second Tsuchikage of Iwagakure—
He had traveled across the ninja world throughout his lifetime.
His knowledge and experience were immense.
Naturally—
He recognized Hoshigakure's secret art, the Peacock Mystical Method.
But the version Akira displayed was clearly different from Hoshigakure's original.
"Dust Release…"
Akira formed no hand seals whatsoever.
Within his palm—
A dazzling point of light directly appeared.
It transformed into a transparent cubic barrier.
Continuously expanding.
It instantly enveloped another stone pillar not far away.
The radiant sphere within the barrier immediately erupted with incomparably brilliant light.
"BOOM—"
In a single instant—
The stone pillar was reduced to ash.
Completely erased.
"What a terrifying technique…"
Danzo sighed emotionally.
"In terms of power, it's absolutely no weaker than the Second Tsuchikage himself!"
"As expected of Akira Ren-sama!"
Beside him, Fū, Torune, and the others all sighed in admiration.
"What terrifying talent…"
Even Mū himself was overwhelmed with shock.
"He doesn't even need hand seals!"
Not to mention himself, the creator—
Even his disciple, Onoki, despite being personally taught by him, had still needed several years before barely managing to fuse the three chakra nature transformations of earth, wind, and fire to master Dust Release.
One could easily imagine just how monstrous Akira Ren-sama's talent truly was.
Within such a short period of time—
Not only had he mastered the Bloodline Elimination Dust Release that Mū painstakingly developed through combining the wind, fire, and earth chakra natures—
He did not even require hand seals.
"Next…"
Akira completely ignored Danzo, Mū, and the others.
Closing his eyes—
He instantly entered Sage Mode.
His hair surged wildly longer, transforming into crystalline green.
His dark pupils faintly shifted into a deep emerald hue.
Green markings appeared around his eyes.
"This is…"
"Sage Mode?"
Danzo and Mū's eyes sharply contracted.
They stared fixedly at Akira Ren—
Who now seemed fused together with nature itself.
Yet the overwhelming aura radiating from him was enough to make one's heart tremble.
"Whoosh!"
His eyes turned scarlet.
The complex patterns within them rotated.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan activated.
The dōjutsu: Ōanamuchi was unleashed!
Akira Ren's figure instantly vanished from where he stood.
In the blink of an eye—
He entered the Netherworld Space.
Akira Ren's perfect figure floated proudly in midair.
At the same time—
An identical copy separated from his body.
In an instant—
It flew several hundred meters away.
The two identical figures faced each other from afar—
Each unleashing Dust Release simultaneously.
Blinding radiance emerged within their palms.
"Sage Art: Dust Release — Primitive World Severing Technique!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two spheres of light rapidly expanded at visible speed.
One transformed into an enormous cylindrical barrier.
The other formed a gigantic conical barrier.
They hurtled toward one another—
Colliding in an instant.
"BOOM—"
Time itself seemed to freeze.
An incomparably terrifying aura of destruction spread endlessly outward.
Blinding light burst forth—
So dazzling it could not be looked at directly.
Even the vast Netherworld Space itself appeared to distort and tremble.
"BOOM BOOM… RUMBLE…"
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