"So two +1s stack to make SSS..."
Shinji stared at the panel.
Last time, he had used the S-rank upgrade card on his A-rank Lightning Release. So when his mastery of Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation reached SS-rank...
Storm Release had appeared as a fused Kekkei Genkai.
Boil Release had also formed through fusion, combining Water Release and Fire Release at their extremes into another new Kekkei Genkai.
Then Blaze Release—
Shinji focused on that Kekkei Genkai and sank into thought.
Which two Chakra Natures had fused to produce it?
He closed his eyes.
Without thinking, Shinji opened his palm.
Before Orochimaru's stunned eyes, a wisp of golden-red flame slowly "grew" in Shinji's hand. It did not burn fiercely.
Yet it radiated a terrifying heat that made the heart tremble!
Even Orochimaru's fragile soul shuddered, as though it had encountered a natural enemy...
"?!"
Orochimaru was edging backward.
Shinji did nothing else.
His eyes remained closed. He merely raised an eyebrow.
The golden-red flame in his hand twisted into the shape of a fearsome dragon. It swooped and soared, so lifelike it could have been a real creature...
"What is that?"
Orochimaru's eyes widened.
Feeling the flame change in his hand, Shinji suddenly understood what Blaze Release actually was.
Put simply, it was the fusion of Yin Release and Fire Release Chakra Natures pushed to their extremes, producing a stronger flame with remarkable malleability...
And other properties he could not yet identify.
The user could draw on Yin Release energy...
In other words, mental energy—to control the flame's state and shape with precision.
And unlike ordinary Fire Release Ninjutsu, it could simply be "summoned" into existence.
But...
Wasn't that just Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi?
Shinji fell into thought.
Could a technique that shaped flames and amplified their power really exist as