Chapter 104: Invasion of Natural Energy

Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Invasion of Natural Energy

Seeing the companion rushing ahead of them suddenly come to a stop, the Sunagakure shinobi behind him hurriedly asked, "Hey, what’s wrong? Why did you stop?"

The Sunagakure shinobi who had stopped stared blankly toward the horizon and pointed.

"Look! What’s with that golden light?"

Everyone turned to look.

Far, far off on the horizon, a dazzling golden radiance was flickering. Its brilliance was so intense that it was hardly inferior to the sun hanging high in the sky.

"That looks like... golden light?"

"That doesn’t make sense. Isn’t the sun right above us?"

"Maybe it’s a mirage?"

Several Sunagakure shinobi began discussing it among themselves.

At that moment, one of them seemed to remember something and asked, "That direction... isn’t that where Oura and Nosuke’s group should be?"

Another Sunagakure shinobi’s expression immediately darkened.

"Oura and Nosuke couldn’t possibly cause something on this scale!"

This time, Sunagakure had mobilized such a massive force not merely to pursue the caravan of Roran survivors, but more importantly, to capture the mysterious person who had stolen the Dragon Vein.

The Dragon Vein had been sealed by the Fourth Hokage with an extremely powerful Dragon Vein seal. Yet the mysterious individual had not only broken through the Fourth Hokage’s seal, but had also stolen the Dragon Vein within an incredibly short period of time. It was obvious that his strength was anything but ordinary.

Thus, the extraordinary phenomenon in the distance immediately made the Sunagakure shinobi present realize that something was wrong.

A phenomenon on this scale simply wasn’t something an ordinary shinobi could produce.

And if there really was someone capable of causing something like this, then it could only be the mysterious person who had stolen the Dragon Vein.

Realizing this, the group of Sunagakure shinobi didn’t dare waste another second and immediately raced toward the place where the golden light was shining.

Meanwhile, on Hyuga Kagami’s side.

"Damn it! Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion consumes this much chakra!?"

That single slash of Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion had nearly exhausted all of the Tenseigan chakra within Kagami’s body. At this point, even maintaining Tenseigan Chakra Mode was becoming difficult.

But if he exited Tenseigan Chakra Mode now, there was little he could do about the Sunagakure Jonin, Nosuke, who was hiding more than ten meters beneath the sand dune.

After all, at that depth, whether it was taijutsu, ninja tools, or even explosive tags, none of them would have the slightest effect.

So, gritting his teeth, Kagami had no choice but to directly draw upon the Dragon Vein’s chakra without converting it first.

Forcibly driving Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion with the raw Dragon Vein chakra, he locked onto the faint chakra signature beneath the sand dune—

and brought the golden sword down with a vicious slash!

No matter what, anyone who had seen him enter Tenseigan Chakra Mode had to be completely silenced. Otherwise, information about his abilities would spread far and wide, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Whoosh...

Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion descended once more.

The golden blade effortlessly sliced through more than ten meters of sand, completely obliterating the Sunagakure Jonin, Nosuke, who had hidden himself deep beneath it.

"Whew..."

After confirming that the Sunagakure Jonin was dead, Kagami gently exhaled in relief.

But at that very moment, he was shocked to discover that the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion held in his right hand had begun to collapse on its own.

And that wasn’t all.

Starting from his fingertips, his right hand gradually began slipping out of the sky-blue Tenseigan Chakra Mode, slowly returning to its normal state.

Immediately afterward, however, his hand began turning dull and gray, bit by bit—

until it was completely petrified.

"This—!?"

Shocked, Kagami hurriedly descended to the ground and gathered what little Tenseigan chakra remained within his body, desperately resisting the petrification spreading from the fingertips of his right hand.

However, he had already consumed far too much Tenseigan chakra earlier while practicing his control over the Truth-Seeking Balls. On top of that, he had subsequently unleashed Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion twice in succession.

There was barely any Tenseigan chakra left within him to begin with.

So no matter how desperately he squeezed his reserves, he could only gather a pitifully small amount.

As a result, the petrification gradually spread from his fingertips to his wrist.

Then, little by little, it continued creeping upward—

until it reached his elbow.

"Damn it! This is an invasion of natural energy!"

After his initial panic, Kagami quickly regained his composure.

If someone who had not mastered senjutsu absorbed a large amount of natural energy, their body would gradually return to nature. In other words, they would undergo an uncontrollable process of petrification, eventually turning completely into stone.

And the reason Kagami’s body was undergoing exactly that phenomenon right now was because the Dragon Vein’s chakra contained an extremely high proportion of natural energy.

If he used Tenseigan chakra to convert it beforehand, there would naturally be no problem using it.

But when Kagami unleashed Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion for the second time, there had barely been any Tenseigan chakra left in his body. Yet he absolutely had to kill that Sunagakure Jonin to silence him.

So he had been left with no choice but to directly use the Dragon Vein’s chakra.

He had originally thought that using it just once shouldn’t cause any problems.

Unfortunately, the chakra consumption of Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion was simply too enormous.

He had drawn upon far too much Dragon Vein chakra in a single burst, causing his body to absorb an excessive amount of natural energy. And since he had never mastered senjutsu or learned how to control natural energy, his body had naturally begun to petrify.

Even after reaching his elbow, the petrification showed no signs of stopping.

It continued spreading toward his shoulder.

At this point, Kagami no longer hesitated.

Once the petrification reached his torso and internal organs, there truly would be no saving him.

So he immediately activated the Physical Regeneration Secret Technique.

At the cost of his own lifespan, he forcibly squeezed out a fresh surge of Tenseigan chakra!

In an instant, the sky-blue Tenseigan chakra collided with the advancing petrification at his shoulder.

The two forces entered a fierce tug-of-war, surging back and forth, neither able to overpower the other!

Only after quite some time, when the natural energy that had entered his body was finally completely worn away by the Tenseigan chakra, did the petrification gradually come to a halt.

At last, it stopped spreading to the rest of Kagami’s body.

Only then did Kagami finally let out a long sigh of relief. He couldn’t help but secretly rejoice.

"Good thing I picked a few Sunagakure shinobi who weren’t particularly strong to test my abilities on. If I’d gone straight up against a true powerhouse, the consequences would’ve been..."

When natural energy invaded his body, forget maintaining his combat strength—even resisting the natural energy itself was extremely difficult.

If something like this happened in the middle of an intense battle, it would practically be a death sentence.

Whether it was the Truth-Seeking Balls or Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, they were all abilities Kagami was still unfamiliar with. As a result, there was simply no way for him to accurately estimate their chakra consumption beforehand.

Because of that, all kinds of unexpected accidents could easily occur during actual combat.

That was why he was extremely glad that, for his first real combat test, he had chosen a group of Sunagakure shinobi who weren’t particularly powerful.

Even if something unexpected happened, he would still have enough leeway to withdraw safely.

Otherwise, if he had confidently challenged a powerful opponent right from the start, all of the hidden dangers and flaws in his abilities would inevitably have revealed themselves one after another during the fierce battle.

And by then, with a powerful enemy standing before him, there would be no easy way out.

After all, as long as a hidden danger existed, it was bound to erupt sooner or later.

Rather than having it erupt at a life-or-death moment, it was far better to deliberately expose it under relatively safe circumstances.

At the very least, that way, he would know exactly what he was dealing with.

Finally, Kagami swept his gaze across the battlefield one last time.

After confirming that there were no survivors, he cast aside all distracting thoughts and swiftly left the battlefield...