Ever since Yoru brought the poison sample back to the Konoha base and Tsunade successfully created an antidote, some time had already passed.
Yoru and Tsunade's status in the hearts of Konoha's ninjas had risen higher and higher.
Especially Yoru—alone, he had ventured deep into the battlefield to retrieve the poison sample for everyone.
Many Konoha ninjas who had recovered regarded Yoru as if he were their savior reborn. Together with their closest comrades, they came to Yoru's tent to express their gratitude.
In response to their thanks, Yoru simply smiled and encouraged them, telling them not to take it too seriously.
Seeing how approachable Yoru-sama was, the Konoha ninjas felt even greater respect for him.
Yoru's prestige had already begun to faintly surpass that of the Konoha frontline commander—Orochimaru.
News of Yoru's tremendous achievement had also reached the village. The people of Konoha cheered one after another for their hero.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was extremely gratified—Yoru had never let him down.
Meanwhile, Kushina, Mikoto, and Konan were all delighted upon hearing the news. All three were kind-hearted girls, and knowing that the man they cared about had saved so many lives filled them with pride.
Yoru's reputation within Konoha had grown even greater!
Gurgle! Gurgle!
Inside Yoru's tent—
Yoru's entire body had transformed into magma. Yet with his terrifying control, the heat did not spread outward to affect the surroundings.
Ever since he had completely controlled his own power through the "Zen" state and pushed both Armament Haki and Observation Haki to their current limits—
Yoru had also been steadily developing his most fundamental ability: the power of the Magma Fruit.
Devil Fruits—the treasures of the sea. It was said that within every Devil Fruit resided a terrifying demon!
Because each fruit contained a different demon, the abilities granted upon consumption were also different!
The fruit Yoru had eaten—the Magma Fruit—stood at the very pinnacle of Logia-type fruits! The power within it came from the magma demon itself!
However, after consuming a Devil Fruit, one did not immediately gain the power to destroy heaven and earth.
It required continuous development.
The most basic stage of development was to constantly strengthen one's body. As the body grew stronger, the power of the Devil Fruit would naturally increase as well. This was the first stage of Devil Fruit development—
"Understanding!"
This stage was primarily about understanding the characteristics of the Devil Fruit and using it in combat. For example, when Yoru first began, he could only rely on the high temperature of magma to fight.
At this stage, one could not actively stimulate the demon within to make it more powerful.
Once one reached a certain level, after mastering the "Zen" state, Devil Fruit development could advance to the second stage—
"Control!"
Because the "Zen" state was a process of continuously understanding oneself and ultimately gaining complete control over all of one's power. From the moment one consumed a Devil Fruit, it became a part of the body.
Thus, as Yoru continuously gained control over his own strength, he was also gaining control over the demon within him.
Upon reaching this stage, one could deeply utilize their abilities. For example, the explosive power of Yoru's magma abilities later on was born from this stage.
Of course, when Yoru first used magma's terrifying explosive force, he had not yet entered the "Zen" state. The reason he was able to utilize it more deeply at that time was—
Firstly, due to the knowledge in his mind. He understood that the most terrifying aspect of magma lay in its explosive power, so he adjusted his methods of use accordingly.
Secondly, with the assistance of chakra, Yoru was able to access a deeper level of magma power—even without entering the "Zen" state—achieving explosive output.
Now, Yoru had reached the "Control" stage of the Magma Fruit.
As he continued to master the demon's power, once he could fully control it, he would step into an even deeper level of Devil Fruit power—
"Awakening!"
This was the highest level of Devil Fruit usage currently known!
After awakening, the demon's power could influence the surrounding environment and even other objects.
Moreover, this process consumed very little stamina. This was the most terrifying aspect of awakened Devil Fruit power—a complete and absolute suppression over those who had not awakened.
Of course, Haki and taijutsu would still affect overall combat strength. This was only referring to the use of Devil Fruit power alone.
At this moment, Yoru was continuously striving to control the demon power within him, pursuing that supreme state of "Awakening"!
At the instant he entered the "Zen" state, Yoru had clearly felt that he was brushing against the edge of awakening.
But in truth, that was merely an illusion brought on by entering the "Zen" state for the first time. Yoru was still far from true awakening.
However, after entering the "Zen" state, Yoru had indeed gained the qualification to reach awakening!
Now that Yoru had reached the "Control" stage, he could actively stimulate the demon within him, making it grow stronger.
This process focused mainly on enhancing the explosive power of his magma ability—his eruption index.
If one were to classify magma's eruption intensity, it could roughly be divided into nine levels, represented by VEI—from VEI-0 to VEI-8.
The explosive power increased geometrically with each level.
To give a few simple examples—
The Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, which disrupted European air travel systems, was VEI-4.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which buried two ancient cities in volcanic ash and pyroclastic flow, was VEI-5.
The eruption of Thera, where pyroclastic flows swept across the entire island of Santorini and caused tsunamis reaching Crete, was VEI-6.
A massive eruption that devastated the western United States, with ash spreading as far as Canada and leaving dozens of kilometers devoid of life, was VEI-7.
Approximately seventy thousand years ago, the Toba supervolcanic eruption covered twenty thousand square kilometers with pyroclastic flow, and ashfall spread across four million square kilometers. Over sixty percent of life on Earth perished, followed by a ten-year volcanic winter and a two-thousand-year cooling period. This was the terrifying VEI-8—releasing energy equivalent to billions of tons of TNT!
Of course, in Yoru's current state without awakening, large-scale ash and pyroclastic flows were not something he could produce.
What Yoru could control was the energy released at the instant of magma eruption.
At present, Yoru had just entered the "Control" stage and could only barely reach the level of VEI-2.
Because his physical strength was still relatively weak, this was his current limit.
Hiss—
Yoru opened his eyes, as if two blazing furnaces were burning within them.
In this session of training, Yoru had officially stepped into the "Control" stage!
From now on, when Yoru fought using magma's explosive power, he could directly condense that terrifying force into his fists!
Every punch he threw would carry the explosive might of magma!
Combined with the coating of Armament Haki—
It could be said that Yoru had now truly stepped into the Kage level in one-on-one combat
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