Gelel Stone

Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique!!

Blazing flames poured from Sasuke's mouth, surging toward the two armored soldiers before him like a massive dragon.

The fire dragon scorched their armor, but the searing heat only slowed the soldiers slightly! They still continued advancing toward Sasuke step by step.

"Damn... what kind of monsters are these?!"

Sasuke's Sharingan fixed tightly on the two soldiers as he searched for their weaknesses.

Two spheres of lightning also appeared in his hands.

"Aim for the heart."

Hearing the voice, Sasuke immediately targeted the soldiers' hearts. The instant the lightning spheres flew out, they exploded!

Furious lightning seemed capable of destroying everything as it struck fiercely at the hearts of the two soldiers.

"Yamei! How are Naruto and the others?" Sasuke asked happily, hurriedly turning toward Yamei—only for his entire body to suddenly stiffen.

"They went after the enemy."

Yamei stared at the two soldiers, his eyes having already shifted into the form of the Mangekyo.

"Those were... two people's souls?"

Yamei looked in surprise at where the soldiers had vanished. Two figures dressed in white floated out of their bodies, then simply disappeared!

"So... these soldiers were powered by something similar to stored Chakra, while human souls controlled them?"

Yamei frowned deeply. The sight felt extremely familiar, and his thoughts raced through his mind!

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and Yamei's expression turned ecstatic!

Phantom Traces of Earth! The Heide Legion!

The Gelel Stone!!

No wonder it had felt so familiar!

In this story, everything had begun because of the Gelel Stone vein—the Source of Life!

It possessed enough powerful energy to destroy half a continent! It also contained terrifying life energy!

An ancient civilization had once used it to establish a powerful nation, yet that very power had also led to the nation's destruction!

Later, Heide had accidentally discovered the Book of Gelel and the Gelel Stone. He then established the Heide Legion and began searching for the Gelel Stone's source—the Source of Life.

These soldiers were mechanical monsters created using Gelel Stones and idealistic young people whom Heide had deceived with his promise of building a peaceful nation without war.

"Interesting. By all rights, the Heide Legion should only have been exposed after Sasuke defected, and they even attacked the Land of Wind."

"Did our early arrival cause us to run into them ahead of time? I wonder if we can still find the Source of Life! That's some good stuff!"

A glint of greed flashed through Yamei's eyes!

After all, the energy contained within the Source of Life was no weaker than that of several tailed beasts! It might even be stronger! It was said to be capable of destroying half a continent, after all!

And it contained the purest life energy! It gave off the feeling of a Divine Tree.

Yamei even suspected that the Source of Life might be a Divine Tree Fruit!

Having made his decision, Yamei began plotting in secret as he looked at Sasuke. "Let's go support Naruto and the others."

When he received no response, Yamei turned around curiously.

"Your eyes..." Sasuke stared at Yamei's eyes with a complicated expression, as if trying to confirm an answer.

"The Sharingan." Yamei smiled lightly.

"You have Uchiha blood? And... is that the Mangekyo?" There was a trace of anticipation in Sasuke's voice, one even he had not noticed.

He knew that a stolen Sharingan would remain activated at all times!

But Yamei's could open and close normally! That meant Yamei possessed Uchiha blood!

Though Sasuke did not understand why Yamei's eyes were pink... or why they remained pink even after activating the Sharingan...

A Sharingan mutation?

"Uchiha blood? I'm not sure either. It just awakened for no reason."

Yamei shrugged, then his Sharingan spun. "It is indeed the Mangekyo."

Sasuke opened his mouth at those words, but in the end, his entire body slumped in dejection.

Why?

Yamei was clearly about the same age as him, so why was he so strong? And even his Sharingan was stronger!

Compared to him, Sasuke was like useless trash.

Seeing Sasuke's dejected appearance, Yamei could not help teasing him. "Feeling discouraged? That doesn't sound like the Sasuke I know."

"Who... who said I was?! It's just the Mangekyo! I'll definitely achieve it too!"

Sasuke clenched his fists. I'm the one who will kill that man! How could I possibly crumble from such a small setback!

"Good, as long as you're not discouraged. Come on, let's support Naruto and the others." Yamei reached out and ruffled Sasuke's hair.

Sasuke's little face turned red.

For some reason!

Whenever he was in front of Yamei, he sometimes felt as though he acted like a child!

Feeling the warmth from atop his head, he had wanted to speak several times... but each time, it ultimately became silence.

Yamei naturally noticed Sasuke's embarrassment, but... wasn't Sasuke like this really interesting?

As they darted through the dense forest, Yamei finally could not hold back his laughter when he saw the troubled Sasuke.

Sasuke scratched his head awkwardly. "W-what are you laughing at?"

"Do you want me to teach you how to use the Sharingan?" Yamei asked bluntly.

"N-no!" Sasuke immediately denied it.

"Oh... I was originally planning to teach you... but it seems..."

"If you want to teach me, I can learn."

"Hahaha..."

Listening to Yamei's laughter, Sasuke could not help blushing furiously. What was he supposed to do with this inexplicable shame?!

The camp was not far from the shore. As soon as the two arrived at the coast, they saw the towering fortress on the sea and the fierce battle unfolding on the beach.

"Eh!? Kakashi and Kurenai have already joined the battle?"

Yamei looked down. Shikamaru, Choji, and the others were struggling to hold back the soldiers' assault, and they had already been injured.

Not far away, a monster transformed into a gorilla and covered in lightning, along with a humanoid bat constantly flying through the sky and launching attacks, had joined over a dozen soldiers in tightly entangling Kakashi and Kurenai.

"Naruto!!"

Sasuke suddenly cried out. Yamei followed his gaze and saw a man holding a short sword carrying the bound Naruto toward the fortress.

"Let's go! Join the fight!"

Yamei drew his ninja blade from his waist and vanished in a Body Flicker. Sasuke hurriedly followed.

Fang Over Fang!!

Human Boulder!!

Two soldiers approaching Ino, who was sitting on the beach, were blasted away by Choji and Kiba.

Nearby, one soldier smashed another soldier to the ground with a hammer. Then, Ino's voice came from it. "Shikamaru! Naruto is about to be taken away!"

Shikamaru used his shadow to restrain several soldiers, his expression turning grim as he glanced toward Kakashi and the others! Realizing that Kakashi's group could not break free anytime soon, he became extremely anxious.

"Why haven't Yamei and the others arrived yet?! If they don't come soon, we'll all be wiped out!"

These soldiers did not fear pain. Even missing arms and legs, they could still fight, making them truly difficult to handle.

Thankfully, Hinata had discovered some of the soldiers' weaknesses with her Byakugan. Otherwise, whether they could have held on until now would have been questionable.

Shikamaru could not help looking toward Hinata, but his expression immediately changed!

"Hinata! Watch out!"

Hearing the warning, Hinata's heart tightened and she hurriedly tried to dodge, but the ground suddenly split apart! A hammer burst from the earth and smashed toward her!