Time seems to flow exceptionally swiftly across the golden sand dunes of the Land of Wind, yet it appears exceptionally solid under the daily rising and setting of the sun and the starry sky.
In the blink of an eye, almost a year has passed. Shira is seventeen years old now, and she seems to have grown taller, with an even more composed demeanor.
Sunagakure is prospering day by day, its alliance with Konoha is solid, its cooperation with the Land of Snow is bearing fruit, the new oasis is expanding, and the Sand Boat Railroad Network extends like blood vessels to all corners of the country.
On this day, Shira had just returned from a small-scale joint exercise on the southeastern border of the Land of Wind. The exercise was conducted with the ninja armies of several small countries that had recently established diplomatic relations with Sunagakure, and aimed to improve their coordinated defense capabilities.
He stood by the window of Kazekage's Office, listening to Rasa and several elders discuss the details of the latest border trade agreement, but his gaze fell on an inconspicuous file spread out on the intelligence table to the side.
The file label reads "Abandoned Forces Movements - Attention Level," with a smaller line below stating. "Remnants of the Land of the Sky (Suspected)."
The Land of the Sky. This name has long faded in the history of the Shinobi World, but in the corner of Shira's memory, it carries the vivid mark of the movie "Bonds"—that country that disguises itself with Medical Ninjutsu, but in reality pursues the forbidden Body Activation and the power of the Zero-Tails, and that pathetic yet terrifying ambitious man, Shinnō.
He walked over and picked up the file. Inside were scattered pieces of information compiled by border patrols and intelligence personnel over the past few months: in the sea area bordering the Land of Rivers and the Land of the Sea, ancient-looking flying machines were occasionally observed skimming through the clouds;
An unidentified group on the black market is offering high prices for forbidden techniques related to physical regeneration and Chakra meridian enhancement.
A wandering ninja mentioned that he had seen "people wearing white uniforms with blank marks on their chests" on an overseas island...
The information is fragmented, but when put together, it outlines a faint trajectory: the Land of the Sky has indeed risen from the ashes.
Moreover, judging by the timeline, the girl chosen Zero-Tails container— Amaru —should be around fourteen years old now, and may very well have already fallen into Shinnō's hands, becoming a breeding ground for darkness.
Shira put down the dossier, her mind already made up. The power of Zero-Tails is essentially Dark Chakra transformed from people's negative emotions such as fear and despair.
This power is dangerous and twisted, but if its negative energy at its root could be stripped away and transformed, could it be used for one's own benefit?
Although the forbidden techniques of Body Activation and regeneration mastered by Shinnō are evil, if their principles can be refined and perfected, they may have immeasurable value for the medical system of Sunagakure and even for further strengthening his own physique.
More importantly, this hidden danger cannot be allowed to grow. A mad force that possesses forbidden technology and artificial Tailed Beast poses a potentially huge threat to the hard-won stability of the Shinobi World, especially to the sea route across from the Land of Wind.
He kept quiet, but during his next routine report to Rasa, he requested a solo mission under the pretext of "going to the eastern coast to conduct secret military exchanges with several newly established small countries and, incidentally, to investigate some signs of unexplained maritime activities."
Rasa had long trusted Shira's abilities and judgment, and approved the request after only a brief inquiry, only instructing him to be careful and to stay in touch.
A few days later, Shira appeared in a small town on the eastern coast of the Land of Fire. He changed his clothes, disguised himself as a traveling herbalist, and boarded a cargo ship bound for the Land of the Sea.
Based on intelligence and the location from memory, the Land of the Sky's base should be located in an archipelago near the Land of the Sea, shrouded in dense fog and Genjutsu barriers.
After several days of sailing, the cargo ship docked at the port of the Land of the Sea. Shira quietly disembarked, rented a small sailboat, and, relying on the keen perception of Natural Energy and air currents brought about by the Wind Xun Breathing Method, searched for that discordant "void" on the vast sea.
It was a Chakra concealment that was full of artificial traces and clashed with the natural rhythm of the surroundings.
Persistence pays off. On the third day at dusk, as the setting sun dyed the sea a blood-red color, Shira's senses detected an extremely faint but definitely present barrier fluctuation in the thick fog ahead.
He furled the sail, tied the small boat to a rock, took a deep breath, and his aura blended quietly with the surrounding sea breeze and water vapor. Like the most nimble petrel, he silently passed through the not-so-sophisticated Genjutsu barrier.
Beyond the barrier, the scene changed dramatically. Several islands surrounded a massive natural harbor that resembled a hollowed-out mountain. Several uniquely shaped flying warships with wings and propellers were moored within the harbor, forming part of the Land of the Sky's iconic aerial fortresses.
On the island, there are many white buildings built against the mountains, and some people wearing white uniforms with blank signs on their chests are walking back and forth, busy.
Shira clung to the cracks in the cliff face like a shadow, observing the movements below. His goal was clear: to find Shinnō, to find the location of Zero-Tails, and to make the girl named Amaru see the true face of her beloved teacher.
The infiltration was fraught with danger but ultimately safe. The Land of the Sky's defenses rely heavily on terrain and barriers, and its internal defenses have many weaknesses for an infiltrator of Shira's caliber.
He quickly located a white tower-like building in the center of the main island, which was significantly more heavily guarded—it exuded the strongest, most intense aura of herbs, Chakra, and a hint of unsettling darkness.
As night fell, Shira climbed the outer wall of the tower like a gecko and slipped inside through a ventilation shaft. The tower's interior was complex, filled with laboratories, operating rooms, and prison cells.
He evaded the patrolling guards, following the increasingly clear, painful, and chaotic Dark Chakra fluctuations, until he finally arrived at a heavy metal door deep inside the tower.
From within the door came a suppressed, beast-like growl, followed by an aged yet fanatical voice. "Yes, that's it, Amaru! Release your pain, your fear! This is true power! Zero-Tails, grow strong!"
Shira's eyes turned cold. He gently pushed the door open a crack.
The interior scene was horrifying. A huge, rune-covered, transparent container stood in the center, filled with a pale green liquid.
A red-haired girl floated in the container. Her eyes were closed, her face was as pale as paper, and the beauty mark under her left eye was particularly clear.
Countless tubes were connected to her body, which twitched slightly. The massive, viscous, ink-like Dark Chakra was constantly seeping out of her body, gathering and churning in the container, vaguely forming the phantom of a multi-headed monster— the Zero-Tails.
Beside the container stood an elderly man in a white coat, with gray hair and a seemingly kind face—it was Shinnō. He was excitedly recording data, seemingly oblivious to the girl's suffering.
Shira didn't act immediately. He needed Amaru to see it for herself.
He gathered a wisp of extremely subtle Natural Energy at his fingertips, which, like the gentlest breeze, passed through the tiny crack in the container and silently seeped into the girl's brow.
This was not an attack, but a spark of clarity, a gentle and genuine breeze from the outside world, completely different from the negative emotions that filled the container.
This wisp of energy might stir a ripple in the depths of her submerged consciousness.
At the same time, Shira took out a small gadget developed in Sunagakure from her ninja tool pouch—a "recording crystal" capable of recording and briefly replaying images.
He had already investigated and found that, in addition to conducting Zero-Tails experiments here, Shinnō was also conducting inhumane live human forbidden experiments in another secret chamber in order to perfect his " Body Revival " technique.
As she infiltrated, Shira had already used another crystal to record the bloody scene inside the secret room.
He seized the opportunity when Shinnō temporarily left the container due to a data anomaly and walked towards the control panel next to it, and gently launched the "record crystal" that recorded the bloody experiment onto the ground in front of the container.
The crystal shattered upon touching the ground, and the images recorded within were instantly projected onto the container wall in the form of Chakra light and shadow, directly in front of Amaru, who had just barely opened her eyes due to the stimulation of Shira's breath!
Under the pale light, the naked prisoner, the cold scalpel, the limbs that were forcibly cut and roughly joined with forbidden techniques, Shennong's ferocious face revealed an intoxicating smile despite the wailing of the experimental subjects...
Scenes of bloodshed, cruelty, and inhumanity forcefully assaulted Amaru's eyes, shattering the world she had built upon the lie that "teachers are salvation"!
"No, this isn't true. Teacher, he clearly saved me, he gave me hope..."
Amaru trembled violently inside the container, her eyes filled with immense chaos, pain, and disbelief. The forcibly instilled faith clashed fiercely with the naked truth before her, pushing her already fragile consciousness to the brink of collapse.
The violent upheaval of her consciousness directly affected the Zero-Tails, which was deeply bound to her! The Dark Chakra within the container instantly went berserk! The phantom of the Zero-Tails let out a silent roar, frantically assaulting the container walls!
"What's going on?!" Shinnō turned around abruptly and saw the rampaging Zero-Tails and the fading bloody image remaining on the container. His expression changed drastically. He immediately realized that someone had infiltrated and was up to no good, and his sharp gaze swept towards the doorway.
But this was exactly the opportunity Shira had been waiting for! In the instant that Zero-Tails went berserk and Shinnō was distracted, he appeared on the side of the container like a ghost, his right hand with five fingers together, condensing highly compressed "qi" and a trace of "wind and wind" energy, and slammed his palm hard on the energy conduction point of the container!
"Snap!"
The container, made of a special material, cracked instantly! The liquid inside, mixed with rampaging Dark Chakra, gushed out!
"Who dares to ruin my masterpiece!" Shinnō was both shocked and furious. His Chakra suddenly exploded, and his seemingly old body instantly swelled, his muscles bulged, and he entered a state of Body Activation. He threw a punch with a deafening roar as it tore through the air, and smashed it toward Shira!
Shira neither dodged nor avoided, her eyes flashing with a sharp light.
Seven Heavens Breathing Method - Fourth Activation, Activated!
An equally terrifying power awakened within him, and he met the attack with a punch!
"Boom!!!"
The two fists collided, creating a shockwave that shook the entire laboratory!
Shinnō stumbled back several steps, crashing into the control panel, his eyes wide with horror. His body, enhanced by forbidden techniques, had actually been outmatched in pure brute force?
Using the recoil from the collision, Shira flashed to Amaru's side, who had fallen from the broken container, was entangled in Dark Chakra, and was whimpering in pain.
He pointed his fingers like a sword, striking several pressure points on her body with lightning speed to temporarily stabilize her rampaging Chakra. At the same time, he hissed, "Look into his eyes, Amaru! Look at what your so-called teacher looks like when he gains power!"
Amaru looked up blankly, just in time to see Shinnō scrambling up from the control panel. His face was no longer "kind," only a furious rage at his plans being thwarted and a ravenous, greedy thirst for power remained. He roared, his Chakra burning even more intensely, his body swelling again until he resembled a monster. "Give me back the Zero-Tails! You pesky insects!"
At this moment, Amaru's last illusion was completely shattered.
Boundless pain, anger at being deceived, and despair at being reduced to a tool transformed into a raging torrent of negative emotions. This, in turn, caused the already rampaging Zero-Tails within her to break free from its last restraints and fully manifest itself!
A colossal, multi-headed monster phantom, composed entirely of pure Dark Chakra, enveloped her, unleashing a deafening roar, its target Shinnō and Shira!
" Zero-Tails is mine!" Shinnō was overjoyed and was about to use a forbidden technique to regain control.
But Shira moved. Instead of attacking Zero-Tails, he charged at Shinnō once more!
He pushed his speed to the limit, his figure under the Fourth Activation was like a phantom, rapidly moving around the berserk Shinnō, his fists, elbows, knees and legs transforming into the most violent storm of blows!
" Sandstorm Barrage - revised!"
This time, the barrage of attacks was no longer a large-scale clearing, but a highly refined and precise strike targeting the Body Activation!
Each strike hit the crucial connection point where Shinnō's body expanded and his power flowed; each strike contained penetrating "qi" energy.
Bang bang bang bang bang--!!!
The continuous muffled thuds were like the beating of a broken drum! Cracks appeared on Shinnō's dark red "armor," and even his powerful self-healing ability couldn't keep up with such dense and precise destruction.
He roared in agony, throwing wild punches, but he couldn't even touch the hem of Shira's clothes.
"Your power, built on plunder and deception, is nothing but a tree without roots, a castle in the air!"
Shira's icy voice rang out amidst the shadows of fists. The final, heavy downward kick, like a battle axe, struck Shinnō's slightly hunched nape, a result of his injuries!
"Snap!"
A sickening cracking sound rang out. Shinnō roared, and his massive body collapsed to his knees like a mountain of gold and a jade pillar falling, the madness and vitality in his eyes quickly dissipating.
His prized Body Activation Forbidden Technique crumbled under the weight of absolute power, speed, and precision.
Shira landed in front of him, slightly out of breath. Defeating Shinnō in this state had taken a considerable toll.
Meanwhile, Zero-Tails, now completely enraged, reached its peak power under the influence of Amaru's despair. However, it seemed to instinctively fear Shira, who had defeated the "controller" Shinnō, and was also filled with a primal desire to devour Amaru, its "container." For a moment, it roared in a state of confusion.
Shira turned around and looked at the girl and the monster shrouded in darkness.
He knew a crucial step had arrived. He needed the power of the Zero-Tails, but not this Dark Chakra filled with negative emotions.
He slowly closed his eyes, and the rhythm of the Wind Xun Breathing Method within his body began to operate at an unprecedented depth. It was no longer a superficial resonance with Natural Energy, but an attempt to guide, communicate, and embrace it.
He walked towards Zero-Tails, towards Amaru. Zero-Tails let out a threatening roar, and several tentacle-like strands of Dark Chakra lashed out.
Without dodging or avoiding, Shira suddenly shone with a warm, cyan-gold light—a sign that he had initially activated the " Wind Xun Breathing Method " to the point of approaching the threshold of " Sage Mode "!
Although he had not yet fully transformed into an immortal, a mellow, vast, and vibrant aura full of natural life had already permeated the air.
The cyan-gold light made contact with the dark tentacles, but instead of exploding or annihilating, it was like sunlight shining through thick fog.
When the Dark Chakra filled with negative emotions came into contact with this natural and peaceful energy, it began to fluctuate and boil violently. The resentment, fear, despair and other emotions within it seemed to have met their nemesis and were gradually washed away and stripped away.
"Ah--!!!" Amaru screamed in pain. The process of peeling away negative emotions was also painful, but unlike the despair she had been sinking into before, this was a kind of excruciating pain, like scraping the bone to remove poison.
Shira's hand, covered in azure-gold light, pressed against the core of the Zero-Tails phantom—which was also Amaru's chest. He no longer attempted to attack, but instead used himself as a medium, with the power of "Wind and Wind" as a guide, to forcibly guide the Zero-Tails ' massive, relatively "pure" Chakra energy, stripped of most of its negative emotional origins, towards himself!
At the same time, Shira guided her own "qi" and Natural Energy, following the energy circulation route of the forbidden technique of "physical regeneration" that she had urgently memorized from Shinnō's laboratory, attempting to combine and seal this power with her own life energy!
This is an extremely dangerous process, like dancing on a knife's edge. But Shira's control over her own energy has reached a state of perfection, and her understanding of Natural Energy is now completely different.
He endured the swelling and tearing pain of the foreign energy pouring into his body, forcibly compressing and sealing the " Zero-Tails " energy, which had lost its dominant consciousness and only retained the pure Chakra source, deep into his body, where it slowly merged with his own "qi" sea.
The Zero-Tails phantom, having lost its source of power, let out a mournful cry and quickly dissipated. The Dark Chakra on Amaru's body also receded like the tide, and she collapsed softly, unconscious, her face pale. However, the melancholy shrouded in darkness between her brows seemed to have dissipated considerably.
Shira groaned, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Forcibly absorbing the Zero-Tails Origin was a huge burden on him, but he could feel an unprecedented, pure, and enormous energy slowly settling within his body, subtly resonating with his "Qi" Wind Xun Breathing Method.
Given time, once he fully integrates and controls it, his strength will reach a new level.
The forbidden knowledge about physical regeneration and revitalization also became clear in his mind. Although it required a lot of time to study and harmlessly modify, it was undoubtedly a valuable asset.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, walked to the unconscious Amaru, checked her over, and confirmed that she had only fainted from exhaustion and was not in any immediate danger.
This girl is both a victim and a pitiful person.
Shira then acted swiftly. He located Shinnō's secret chamber and obtained all the information about the Land of the Sky's technology, forbidden techniques, and the control core of this base.
With his overwhelming strength and lightning speed, he suppressed the few stubborn Sky Ninja who resisted, and with absolute power and the partial evidence he presented (the crimes of Shinnō ), he persuaded most of the Land of the Sky's remnants, who were merely ordinary technicians and soldiers who had been deceived.
Several days later, when a fast ship flying the flag of the Land of Wind arrived at the archipelago, it saw the Land of Land of the Sky base, which had basically returned to order, and Shira standing on the dock, with a red-haired girl beside her who looked somewhat timid but whose eyes were gradually becoming clear.
As a special envoy of the Sunagakure, Shira announced that the Land of Wind would establish an observation post and cooperation base here. The remnants of the Land of the Sky could choose to join the Land of Wind and enjoy the treatment of civilians or skilled craftsmen, or continue to live here, but would have to accept the protection and supervision (in reality, indirect control) of the Land of Wind.
Most of the Land of the Sky's remnants, weary of wandering and intrigue, chose the former.
The Land of the Sky's accumulated aircraft technology, some energy technology, and unique medical knowledge over hundreds of years were compiled by Shira into several enormous sealed scrolls.
After Amaru revealed the whole truth to her and gave her a choice, Yuru, Shira homeless girl yearning for redemption and to learn true Medical Ninjutsu, silently chose to follow Shira back to Sunagakure.
Standing at the bow of the returning ship, looking at the gradually shrinking archipelago, Shira's gaze was far-reaching. The power of Zero-Tails still needed to be digested, the technology of the Land of the Sky needed to be integrated, and the resettlement and training of Amaru also required careful attention.
But the trip yielded far more results than expected.
The strength of Sunagakure will become even more unfathomable due to these forces from beyond the sky and darkness.