Chapter 334: Blaze Release

Chapter 334: Chapter 334: Blaze Release

Early the next morning, ANBU Team 11 assembled once again and left the village on an intelligence-gathering mission.

During their previous mission two weeks ago, Hyuga Kagami had kept Shisui from reporting the intelligence concerning Akatsuki. As a result, Kakashi, their captain, had no real direction for the investigation. They had spent nearly two weeks searching, only to come back empty-handed.

As soon as they left the village, Kakashi said to the others, "Same as last time. We’ll split up and investigate separately."

Kagami was the first to suggest, "I’ll investigate the Land of Rain this time."

Shisui immediately followed, "I’ll go to the Land of Grass."

Guy hesitated for a moment before saying, "Then I’ll head to the Land of Rivers."

With no concrete leads to follow, all they could do was cast a wide net and investigate wherever they could. Kakashi therefore nodded, agreeing to their suggestions, before finally saying, "I’ll go to the Land of Waterfalls. We’ll meet back here in two weeks!"

After a brief discussion, Team 11 split up and went their separate ways.

Naturally, Kagami had no intention of actually going to the Land of Rain to investigate.

It wasn’t that he lacked confidence in his ability to escape safely from the Land of Rain. Rather, he simply didn’t want to alert the enemy and put Akatsuki on guard.

After making a wide detour, Kagami quietly returned to the aerial fortress.

The first thing he did upon returning was check on the cultivation of the Chimera Bud.

After more than a month of cultivation, failed specimens had begun appearing one after another. Of the hundred culture dishes, more than forty had already developed severe rejection reactions.

However, this was entirely within Kagami’s expectations, so he remained perfectly calm.

Accepting failure without surrendering to it was a quality every researcher needed to possess. Even if all one hundred culture dishes ended in failure, Kagami’s steps forward would not slow or hesitate in the slightest.

After checking the cultivation of the Chimera Buds, Kagami immediately used the Tenseigan’s Soul Descent Technique, transferring his spirit into his Fire Release clone.

After moving around a little, Kagami sighed. "The foundation of this Fire Release clone is still a bit lacking..."

In terms of the clone’s physical quality alone, this female Fire Release clone was clearly a step below his previous Water Release clone, and that difference was directly reflected in its physical capabilities.

For example, the Fire Release clone possessed only around seventy percent of the Water Release clone’s chakra reserves.

Although the transplantation of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan made the Fire Release clone considerably stronger than the Water Release clone in terms of combat power, for Kagami, the most important thing was whether a clone met the requirements of his Kekkei Mōra Project.

Standing naked on an electronic scale, Kagami measured and recorded the various physical data of the Fire Release clone.

"Both the weight and height are developing normally. It’s just..."

Immersed in the nutrient solution, every aspect of the Fire Release clone’s body had developed rapidly, and as a result, its feminine characteristics had become increasingly pronounced.

This caused Kagami no small amount of trouble.

After changing into his combat uniform, Kagami entered a training room he had specifically set aside inside the fortress.

Resting a hand beneath his chin, Kagami began to ponder.

Developing Blaze Release was not something Kagami had decided on a whim.

It was difficult for him to verify whether a Blaze Release Kekkei Genkai had ever existed historically, but in the original timeline, Uchiha Sasuke more than a decade later had indeed mastered Blaze Release, developing a type of black flame that looked extremely similar to Amaterasu and could even have its shape manipulated at will.

Having previously used the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and personally controlled the special golden flames while using Susanoo, Kagami had developed his own theory regarding Blaze Release.

He believed that Blaze Release was not a Kekkei Genkai like Ice Release, which was created simply by fusing two different chakra natures.

Besides requiring the fusion of Fire-nature chakra and Lightning-nature chakra, Blaze Release also seemed to require a special kind of ocular power.

In other words, Blaze Release was very likely a Kekkei Genkai unique to the Uchiha Clan. Only someone who simultaneously possessed all three elements—Fire-nature chakra, Lightning-nature chakra, and the Sharingan—might have the possibility of mastering Blaze Release.

As it happened, Kagami’s Fire Release clone possessed all three.

Therefore, developing the Blaze Release Kekkei Genkai was only a natural course of action for Kagami.

Unlike other shinobi, Kagami already had experience developing the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, so he had accumulated considerable insight into how to fuse two different chakra natures.

After rapidly forming a series of hand seals, Kagami shouted softly, "Fire Style: Fireball Technique!"

Boom...

In an instant, a massive fireball erupted inside the training room.

After extinguishing the fireball, Kagami furrowed his brows slightly, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

Relatively speaking, Fire-nature chakra was more difficult to control than Water-nature chakra, while Lightning-nature chakra was more difficult to control than Wind-nature chakra.

Therefore, fusing Fire-nature chakra with Lightning-nature chakra was far more difficult than fusing Water-nature chakra with Wind-nature chakra.

When casting the Fireball Technique just now, Kagami had attempted to infuse Lightning-nature chakra into it. However, the resulting Fireball Technique had remained a completely pure Fire Release ninjutsu, without the slightest change in nature.

"Did the fusion of the two chakra natures fail? Or was it because I didn’t infuse any ocular power?"

With that thought, the dark eyes of Kagami’s Fire Release clone instantly turned scarlet. A moment later, they transformed again, intricate patterns emerging within the crimson irises.

After activating the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Kagami formed another series of hand seals and shouted, "Fire Style: Fireball Technique!"

Boom...

Just like before, another massive fireball appeared, bathing the entire training room in crimson light.

After extinguishing the fireball, Kagami curled his lips. "Why is there still no change at all?"

After pondering it for a while longer, Kagami simply activated Susanoo.

Whoosh...

In an instant, a golden phantom manifested within the training room.

Manipulating his ocular power, Kagami plucked a single golden flame from the Susanoo. Toying with it in his hand, he thought, "These Sharingan of mine don’t possess the ocular ability Amaterasu, so it’ll probably be difficult for me to develop black flames like Sasuke. But I have these golden flames. Maybe I can use them as the foundation and try developing a golden-flame Blaze Release!"

Having made up his mind, Kagami carefully examined the golden flame in his hand.

Unlike ordinary flames, the golden flame in Kagami’s hand was not afraid of water. Although water could affect it to a certain extent, it could still continue burning underwater.

In that respect, it was somewhat similar to the black flames of Amaterasu, though it was nowhere near as domineering.

Bringing the golden flame close to his mouth, Kagami formed another series of hand seals and shouted, "Fire Style: Fireball Technique!"

In an instant, the flames spewing from Kagami’s mouth underwent a nature transformation as they passed through the golden flame near his lips.

Although most of it remained ordinary Fire Release flames, a small portion had indeed transformed into a dazzling golden color...