Free Action

In the forest, Aoba moved at high speed through the treetops. From time to time, he looked back to make sure no one was following him.

He did not trust Orochimaru. That man was moody and unpredictable, an anti-human lunatic. Once Orochimaru set his sights on him, Aoba feared he would not even sleep peacefully at night.

A whirlwind wrapped around his body, making Aoba resemble one of China's ancient masters of lightness kung fu. With just a light tap of his feet on the leaves, he could dart dozens of meters away.

It was an entirely different concept from ordinary ninja using chakra to leap through the trees.

After running for dozens of li without finding anyone following him, Aoba finally let out the breath he had been holding.

He found a hidden cave, slipped inside, and set up a series of warning measures. Then he dropped onto the ground and began to rest.

The entire operation tonight, from controlling the wind to deliver a message to Orochimaru and arranging their later meeting—

To charging at the forefront once the battle began, then remaining fully focused during his trade with Orochimaru. He was utterly exhausted now.

Aoba's original chakra affinities were wind and lightning. He usually used wind, while lightning techniques served as his trump card. He would not use them lightly.

So far, he had only used it once when facing the Raikage. Using the principle of electromagnetic acceleration, he had fired a steel pellet.

Unfortunately, that technique had not been fully developed at the time, and it was too slow to launch. It gave the Raikage time to react, and in the end, it had merely broken one of his little fingers. It had not affected the Raikage much.

Still, he had briefly intimidated the Raikage with that technique and escaped from his grasp.

However, the technique was actually rather ineffective against Orochimaru. Orochimaru's skin-shedding version of the Substitution Technique was simply too shameless.

When facing Orochimaru, Aoba had actually prepared another trump card, but fortunately, he had not needed to use it in the end.

Because Aoba was running low on chakra.

This world ultimately valued bloodlines and background. A civilian ninja like Aoba Kamikawa, with neither bloodline nor background, inevitably possessed the weakness shared by all civilian ninja: too little chakra.

That was the fundamental reason he used a sword and developed Wind-Style Nintaijutsu. He wanted to clap his hands together and summon whatever he wanted too.

But he could not. He simply did not have enough chakra to cast large-scale ninjutsu more than a few times. He could only miserably wield a sword and fight others in close combat.

It was not as though there were no ways to solve this problem. In fact, as a transmigrator, Aoba knew quite a few methods for dealing with chakra shortages.

The first option was Tailed Beasts. As long as he became a Jinchūriki, he would naturally never lack chakra.

But Aoba's current combat strength made facing a Jinchūriki far too difficult. So for now, that path was not viable.

The second method was the Sage Mode he was currently training in. As long as he could overcome the petrification caused by Natural Energy, he could absorb large amounts of it and enter Sage Mode. Natural Energy would replace part of his chakra.

That would effectively increase his chakra reserves. More importantly, once Natural Energy was added, the effects of all kinds of ninjutsu would be greatly enhanced. Sage Mode was an all-around improvement and Aoba's current main focus.

Besides that, there was another backup method: transplanting the First Hokage's cells.

The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, should have possessed an innate Sage Body. As long as he transplanted Hashirama's cells and gave his body some of the characteristics of a Sage Body, he naturally would not lack chakra. There was even a chance of gaining the Kekkei Genkai of Wood Release. It would kill two birds with one stone.

After all, he had never heard of the First Hokage running out of mana.

But the risks of that method were simply too high. Out of so many test subjects, only Yamato had survived. Aoba did not think he was lucky enough to survive.

He actually knew how to lower the risks and improve the success rate. But he could not use those methods for the time being. Thus, this could only remain a backup plan. He would definitely use it in the future, but he needed a great deal of time to prepare.

There were also several other viable options, but none of them currently met the necessary conditions. For example, Tsunade's Yin Seal.

Leaving aside whether he could even find Tsunade, learning the Yin Seal required not only extremely precise chakra control, but also profound mastery of Sealing Jutsu.

And Sealing Jutsu was simply too far beyond the reach of a civilian ninja like Aoba.

Aoba had also considered the Dragon Vein in the Land of Priestesses. He had once wondered whether sealing the Dragon Vein inside his body would grant him Tailed Beast-level chakra without the danger of a Tailed Beast going berserk.

Unfortunately, accomplishing that required an even higher level of Sealing Jutsu mastery. He had no hope of achieving it anytime soon.

Then there was Kisame Hoshigaki. If Aoba could find him and steal his Samehada, it could also make up for his weakness. But the Shinobi World was vast. Where was he supposed to find Kisame Hoshigaki?

Once Kisame joined Akatsuki, he would be easier to find. But his teammate would be Itachi Uchiha. At that point, Aoba could only think about it.

So after considering it again and again, Aoba Kamikawa decided to first complete his Sage Mode. Once he obtained that king-tier trump card, he could slowly pursue the other possibilities.

For now, he would strengthen himself through other means. The Kusanagi Sword he had just acquired was one such method.

As a swordsman, obtaining a divine weapon like the Kusanagi Sword directly increased his combat strength by thirty to fifty percent.

The Kusanagi Sword was not only exceptionally sturdy and nearly impossible to destroy, but it also possessed excellent chakra-conducting properties.

Most importantly, the one Orochimaru had given him could lengthen and shorten according to his will. It was the weapon of a swordsman's dreams.

After swallowing a Soldier Pill and recovering some chakra, Aoba had no intention of seeking out his other teammates.

After all, the current situation where everyone had lost contact with one another was something he had deliberately created.

It was all so that he could move freely.

So after resting for a while, Aoba directly began meditating and training his Sage Mode.

The next morning, after resting thoroughly, Aoba left the cave. But he did not return directly to the Land of Fire. Instead, he headed in another direction.

The five great nations did not actually border one another directly. Various small countries and villages lay between them.

For example, the Waterfall Country he had visited before was a small country on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.

There were many such small countries along the borders of the major nations, such as the Rice Fields Country, the Land of Hot Water, and the Land of Grass, where Aoba was currently headed.