Divine Ability, War Begins!

"It hadn't been easy. It took more than half a year just to level up!"

Asuma chuckled.

It was a double blessing. He had just used a Skill Point, and now he had gained one back.

He once again assigned the Attribute Point to Constitution.

Combined with his lengthy training and his body's natural growth, his Constitution had now reached 73.

Constitution: 73
Agility: 63.8
Intelligence: 86
Charm: 79

Asuma glanced over his attribute panel and was quite satisfied.

Moreover, he had discovered something.

Creating ninjutsu yielded far more Experience Points than learning one.

If he had not synthesized Scorch Release and figured out Wind Release Chakra Mode and Lightning Style Chakra Mode,

it would probably have taken him over a year to gain a single level.

After all, his usual training now provided pitifully little experience.

Furthermore, he had not been taking missions as frequently as before, and there had been little combat, so his experience gains had been low as well.

"Getting Constitution above a hundred is still a long way off!"

Asuma sighed.

But then inspiration struck, and he suddenly thought of a Divine Ability.

Yes, a Divine Ability, not ninjutsu!

Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover!

Of course.

Its original form was a magical treasure.

But it could absolutely be turned into a Divine Ability!

After all, this world also had the concept of Divine Abilities.

"Let's do it!"

"I have to do it!"

"If I can create it, it'll be a powerful ninjutsu that combines offense, defense, and barriers—no, a Divine Ability!"

Asuma was thrilled. Once he calmed down, he began considering what knowledge he would need to create such a Divine Ability.

After pondering for a moment, he immediately began gathering the necessary materials.

For example, he went to the Hokage Building to exchange for the barrier-type ninjutsu Four Red Yang Formation, while also collecting knowledge related to barriers.

Fortunately, barriers and Fūinjutsu often went hand in hand. When he had previously studied Fūinjutsu, he had also mastered plenty of related knowledge.

However.

Even as he developed this Divine Ability, Asuma did not neglect his Sensory Ninjutsu.

He knew that truly creating the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover would be extraordinarily difficult and take a great deal of time. He could not devote himself to it wholeheartedly.

Especially when Konoha could be dragged into the mire of war at any moment.

When that happened, Sensory Ninjutsu would become immensely important.

Spring passed, and summer arrived.

Asuma began taking mission after mission.

Because the Sand Ninja and Mist Ninja had reached a ceasefire agreement.

The Sand Ninja then fought a decisive battle with the Iwa Ninja. Though it could not be considered a great victory, they had still driven the Iwa Ninja back to the Land of Earth.

The war seemed to have ended all at once.

However, the undercurrents in the ninja world only grew more turbulent.

Judging from his missions alone, Asuma could sense that they were being watched.

The Sand Ninja had suffered losses. Wouldn't they need to make up for them?

The Iwa Ninja had suffered losses too. Wouldn't they also need to make up for them?

The Cloud Ninja had it even worse. The Third Raikage was dead, so they needed compensation all the more, didn't they?

The Mist Ninja had attacked the Sand Ninja and gained nothing from it either. Scorch Release Pakura had slaughtered them mercilessly, so they wanted compensation too?

Who could they make compensate them?

Only the Land of Fire and its allies!

Konoha Year 44, July 21, 9:00 p.m.

The border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.

Beneath a tree, Asuma sat cross-legged with his eyes lowered, Chakra spreading outward in every direction.

Like drops of ink diffusing through the air.

Boom!

The sudden explosion startled Asuma awake. He flashed to the top of the tree and looked up, just as a signal flare burst in the sky.

It was a signal from the first warning line ahead.

"Asuma!"

Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune appeared.

They were stationed along the third line of defense.

That was because, over the past month, the Sand Ninja had repeatedly tested Konoha's deployments along the Land of Fire's border.

The three of them had arrived here seven days ago to carry out a mission.

"Those Sand Ninja bastards are probing us again. It looks like they'll attack before long!"

Kurenai frowned.

These raids and infiltrations had become far too frequent lately. The approach of war was clearly accelerating.

That was also why Konoha had begun dispatching large numbers of people to the border.

Asuma was about to speak when signal flares shot into the sky one after another.

"Something's wrong!"

"This is a large-scale surprise attack!"

All three of their expressions changed at once.

The signal flares stretched across a broad range. The Sand Ninja were launching an assault against Konoha's entire defensive line.

"Kurenai, Shizune, report to the border force outpost in the rear immediately!"

Asuma shouted as he created two Shadow Clones, one a Wind Style - Shadow Clone and the other a Lightning Style Shadow Clone.

After leaving behind the two Shadow Clones, his true body vanished from the treetop.

Yet barely over a minute later, another signal flare rose into the sky.

"So fast!"

Asuma was startled.

The first line of defense had been breached so quickly.

Crackle!

Lightning Style Chakra Mode activated. Lightning flashed through the pitch-black forest, and Asuma's speed increased again.

Two minutes later.

Asuma suddenly came to a stop, staring at the purple mist spreading toward him from ahead.

"Poison Gas!"

And it was a large-scale poison gas attack.

"No wonder they broke through so quickly!"

Asuma immediately took an antidote from his ninja tool pouch and held it in his mouth.

It was Tsunade's secret formula, an Antidote Pill he had specifically asked Tsunade to make for him earlier.

The Poison Gas spread rapidly, and Asuma could also sense the violent movement of the airflow.

Clearly, Wind Style was being used to accelerate the gas's spread.

"In that case..."

Asuma brought his hands together. The instant he released Lightning Style Chakra Mode, a White Eye Golden Dragon emerged from his body and lunged forward.

Then his cheeks swelled, and he opened his mouth and exhaled.

With a rumble, a gale swept forth.

Fire Style - White Eye Golden Dragon!

Wind Style - Pressure Damage!

Wind fed the flames. The Fire Dragon, already over ten meters long, rapidly expanded under the stimulation of Wind Style. With a boom, it swept across an area forty to fifty meters wide.

Wherever it passed, towering trees were shredded to pieces and swiftly ignited by the scorching flames, burning into ash.

Naturally, the purple Poison Gas was instantly incinerated by the high-temperature flames.

Moreover, Asuma's Wind Style and Fire Style were too powerful, and their range was too vast.

Within the poison gas, the first wave of Sand Ninja wearing gas masks did not even have time to react before they were swallowed by the blazing firestorm. Their screams lasted only three seconds before nothing but skeletal frames fell to the ground.

"Watch out!"

The ninja behind them let out shrill roars.

Immediately afterward, seven or eight people halted and formed Hand Seals together.

The same large-scale Wind Style, accompanied by the thunderous roar of frictional airflow, collided with the raging firestorm sweeping toward them.

The searing air currents immediately surged out to both sides. Some Sand Ninja had intended to launch a flanking attack, but they were caught directly in the currents and instantly screamed as they were swept away.

Before they even hit the ground, they had already become charred corpses.

One Fire Style and one Wind Style had left the Sand Ninja with seven corpses.

The aftershock had yet to dissipate.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—figures descended one after another.

Some landed on the ground, others on tree branches.

Some stood, while others crouched.

Every one of them stared fiercely at Asuma, killing intent boiling in their eyes.

He was just a brat!