Naruto: Eating Kaido's Azure Dragon Devil Fruit-Chapter 323: The Trial of the Blood Mist

One week later, within the Land of Water.

Outside a remote valley, a battle had just ended.

Uchiha Kenta was panting slightly, looking at the corpse of a Kirigakure rogue ninja on the ground, his three-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotating.

Sora walked out from the shadows, skillfully took out a blank scroll, and sealed the corpse on the ground into it.

"This is already the fifth one this week."

Uchiha Kenta looked at Sora, his brow slightly furrowed. "Continuously taking missions from the bounty station, hunting down these small fries, can this really increase my strength? Can it help me awaken the Mangekyo?"

His tone carried a trace of doubt and urgency.

This week, Sora had taken him through the border areas of the Land of Water, specifically taking bounty missions targeting Kirigakure rogue ninjas or enemy ninjas.

The process was not exactly easy, but the strength of the opponents was mostly only at the level of special jonin, with occasionally one or two jonin. For him, an Uchiha jonin, the pressure was not too great.

He yearned for a qualitative change, a breakthrough, not this kind of quantitative accumulation.

Sora put away the sealed scroll and said calmly,

"Accumulation is necessary. Combat can hone your skills, familiarize you with the feeling of the edge between life and death."

"And anger, resentment, the thirst for power... these emotions will settle and ferment amidst constant killing."

He paused, looked at Uchiha Kenta, and subtly guided,

"Moreover, the next target is not as simple as today’s."

Uchiha Kenta’s gaze sharpened. "What do you mean?"

"Tomorrow, we will encounter an Anbu squad from Kirigakure."

"They are true elites."

...

The next day.

Near a deserted port, Sora and Uchiha Kenta encountered the target.

There were only three of them, but their uniform animal masks, cold killing intent, and their stealth skills that almost merged with the thick fog all proclaimed their identity as Kirigakure Anbu.

According to the bounty station’s intelligence, this squad was pursuing a traitor who knew certain secrets, and their route happened to overlap with Sora and his companion’s bounty target.

"Two unidentified individuals. Kill them all."

The leader, wearing a salamander mask, coldly issued the order.

The battle erupted instantly!

Two Kirigakure Anbu rushed towards Uchiha Kenta, their coordination seamless, their attacks fierce!

Uchiha Kenta did not dare be careless. His three-tomoe Sharingan operated at full power, perceiving every movement of the opponents.

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

"Water Release, Water Wall!"

Boom!

A wall of water rose, generating a large amount of steam as it was evaporated by the fireball, but it successfully blocked the attack.

The other Anbu seized the opportunity to flank, thrusting a ninja sword straight at Uchiha Kenta’s side!

’Such fast coordination!’

Uchiha Kenta was startled internally and hurriedly blocked with a kunai.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing rang out urgently within the thick fog, sparks flying.

Relying on the perception of his Sharingan, Uchiha Kenta could keep up with the opponent’s speed, but the opponent’s combat experience was extremely rich.

The sword techniques were vicious and tricky, and they showed no desire to prolong the fight. A failed strike would be followed by immediate retreat, using the thick fog to conceal themselves and look for the next opportunity.

This was completely different from the scattered rabble he had dealt with before!

The pressure increased sharply! 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Sora was kept busy by the leader with the salamander mask.

The other clearly saw Sora as the leader and opened with a killing move.

"Water Release, Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A massive water dragon coalesced, roaring as it charged at Sora.

Sora still responded with Wind Release and Magnet Release.

"Wind Release, Vacuum Great Sphere!"

The air cannon collided with the water dragon, canceling each other out, transforming into a shower of water droplets.

The Salamander Captain’s eyes narrowed slightly, clearly surprised that Sora could so easily receive his Water Dragon Bullet.

His hands flew through seals rapidly. "Hidden Mist Technique!"

The surrounding thick fog instantly became even heavier, visibility dropping sharply. Even the Sharingan’s field of vision was severely hampered.

’An expert at utilizing the environment... Kirigakure Anbu, truly deserving of their reputation.’

Sora assessed internally, continuing to maneuver with Wind Release and Magnet Release. On one hand, he was further acclimating the clone. On the other, his main attention was actually focused on Uchiha Kenta’s side.

At this moment, Uchiha Kenta’s situation was somewhat unfavorable.

Hampered by the thick fog, his Sharingan’s perception was greatly reduced.

The two Kirigakure Anbu were like venomous snakes hiding in the shadows, launching ambushes from time to time, each time aiming for his vital points.

"Damn it! This cursed fog!"

Uchiha Kenta felt irritable internally. His Fire Release’s power was already limited in the damp environment, and now he could hardly accurately locate the enemies.

Sschlick!

One moment of carelessness, and a ninja sword that appeared without a sound sliced open a deep, bone-revealing gash on his thigh!

"Argh!"

He groaned in pain, falling to one knee.

The two Kirigakure Anbu immediately thrust from the left and right simultaneously!

The tips of their blades aimed straight for his heart and throat!

Uchiha Kenta’s pupils contracted violently, his three tomoe spinning wildly, almost linking together!

He could see the trajectory of the blades, but the intense pain in his body and the drain on his chakra made it difficult for him to perform a perfect evasion.

He would die!

He would truly die here!

Intense fear and resentment instantly overwhelmed him!

He did not want to die here!

He had not yet surpassed Uchiha Takumi!

He had not yet obtained the power of the Mangekyo!

He had not yet made those who looked down on him pay the price!

’Awaken! Awaken for me!’

He screamed madly inside, hoping for the legendary power to erupt in this desperate situation.

However, the spinning three tomoe, though restless and agitated, still failed to undergo a qualitative change. They remained those three tomoe, unable to connect into a new pattern.

Despair seeped into his heart.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two sharp sounds of something cutting through the air rang out!

Two pitch-black Iron Sand needles, arriving later but striking first, hit the ninja swords of the two Kirigakure Anbu with precise accuracy!

Clang! Clang!

The tremendous force deflected their blades, which slid past Uchiha Kenta’s body.

The two Anbu were greatly alarmed internally. Before they could react, more Iron Sand surged from the ground, instantly transforming into solid shackles that tightly bound their hands and feet!

"Captain!"

They cried out in fear, looking towards the direction of the Salamander mask.

But they only saw their captain, now also surrounded by countless Iron Sand spikes, unable to move. The eyes beneath the mask were filled with shock.

Sora slowly walked out from the thick fog, his gaze falling on the still shaken Uchiha Kenta.

"It seems I overestimated you."

"Merely this level of desperation is not enough to ignite the flames in your eyes."

Uchiha Kenta opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but found he had nothing to say.

At that moment just now, he had truly felt death, but the anticipated transformation had not occurred.

Sora no longer looked at him, turning instead to the three Kirigakure Anbu.

"Sorry, you saw something you shouldn’t have."

He moved his fingers slightly.

Sschlick, sschlick, sschlick...!

The Iron Sand shackles instantly tightened, transforming into sharp spikes that instantly pierced the vital points of the three Anbu!

Without even having time to scream, the three elite Kirigakure Anbu were already dead.

Sora skillfully sealed their corpses into scrolls as well.

After finishing this, he walked up to the still despondent Uchiha Kenta.

"Relying solely on the pressure of life and death in combat to awaken seems to be unworkable."

Sora said flatly, as if stating a fact.

Uchiha Kenta raised his head, his face full of defeat and confusion.

"Then... how exactly can I..."

Sora did not answer, turning and walking deeper into the thick fog.

Uchiha Kenta looked at his retreating back, then at the wound on his leg and the mess on the ground. Gritting his teeth, he limped and followed.

Sora walked ahead, pondering internally.

’Indeed, for awakening the Mangekyo, the stimulus from pure combat pressure and the threat of death is still insufficient.’

’In the original story, the awakenings of Obito, Itachi, and Sasuke were all accompanied by the death or betrayal of a loved one or a close friend...’

’It seems the core of the plan still has to fall upon that Uchiha Yami.’

---

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Like the story? Read 120 Chapters ahead!

patreon.com/atomelectron

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━