Reincarnation Paradise Park-Chapter 1002 - 4: Stronghold

The gentle breeze rustled the leaves.

In the Country of Fire, near a grand canyon.

A rushing river surged past, with large stretches of red rocks on both sides. Su Xiao sat atop one of these red rocks, lost in thought.

This vast area of red rocks was once a stronghold of the Akatsuki Organization in Konoha Village. It had been abandoned and destroyed from the inside.

From the current traces, it seemed not to have been attacked by enemies; it was likely destroyed by the Akatsuki members themselves.

Su Xiao took out the ’Ring of the Void’ from his storage space. This item had been confiscated when he left the Naruto World, but now he had regained the right to use it.

The Jutsu of Phantom Lantern attached to the Ring of the Void could no longer be used, probably due to Nagato’s death. Nagato was the master of the Jutsu of Phantom Lantern, a ninjutsu usable only with the Rinnegan.

The inability to use the Jutsu of Phantom Lantern significantly impeded the communication of the Akatsuki. In the past, as long as Su Xiao was in the Naruto World and held the Ring of the Void, he could contact other Akatsuki members; now that was no longer possible.

Su Xiao stood up, ready to search at other strongholds. If he still couldn’t find anything, he would have to fish for information.

Fishing, in this context, meant causing trouble. The name Bai Ye was fairly notorious in the Naruto World, known as one of the villains of the Akatsuki Organization.

Once Su Xiao made a major move, the Akatsuki would definitely receive the news and contact him actively.

This was a clumsy method, but what could he do: the Akatsuki Organization operated in the shadows, and its members had strong concealing abilities.

Just as Su Xiao was about to leave, he paused.

"Hmm? This aura."

Su Xiao’s gaze fixed on the distant forest, and moments later, it was as if a landmine exploded beneath his feet, sending fragments of red rock flying.

Alas!

The Blade Aura slashed horizontally, cutting large swathes of trees into logs and scattering green leaves. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Su Xiao stood within the forest, and there were no intact trees within ten meters of him. This wasn’t even the result of his full force. If he had unleashed his full Blade Aura, the trees within a hundred meters would have been shattered.

"Come out."

Su Xiao’s eyes scanned the surroundings, and as he stomped the ground, a large amount of Blue Steel Shadow energy penetrated into the earth.

With a loud crack, the earth nearby exploded, spraying white liquid.

This white liquid seemed both fluid and solid, coalescing into irregular shapes, wriggling on the ground like a giant crawler.

Upon seeing this white creature, Su Xiao’s eyes lit up. He knew what it was—this was a cell clone of Bai Jue, also known as the Spore Technique.

With the discovery of Bai Jue’s clone, could finding the Akatsuki Organization be far off?

Bai Jue’s concealing ability was strong enough that even perception-type ninjas couldn’t detect him. However, Su Xiao’s intuition sensed Bai Jue’s presence. Bai Jue’s aura fell between life and energy, allowing him to evade most detection.

Su Xiao walked forward and directly dragged the irregularly-shaped Bai Jue clone from the soil.

This particular Bai Jue cell clone had no subjective consciousness. It was likely left by Bai Jue as a coordinate and surveillance to monitor whether someone came to this abandoned stronghold.

The cell clone tried to attach itself to Su Xiao’s body via his arm, intending to absorb Blue Steel Shadow energy. Su Xiao immediately shook off the Bai Jue cell clone. If the clone absorbed Blue Steel Shadow energy, it would be the one to suffer.

Just after Su Xiao shook off the cell clone, A Mu strode forward, grabbed one of the clone’s legs with one hand, and swung it wildly, slamming it to the ground.

Bam, bam, bam...

Dust flew up, and the earth burst as pits appeared.

Initially, the cell clone intended to cling onto A Mu. However, after being smashed for a full minute, the clone became much more compliant, involuntarily twitching slightly with its surface covered in ice crystals—A Mu’s frostbite ability.

Once A Mu, glaring with cow eyes, confirmed the cell clone was sufficiently subdued, he tossed it in front of Su Xiao.

The Bai Jue cell clone indeed behaved, barely moving except for occasional twitches.

Su Xiao didn’t stop A Mu. He had been pondering how to use this cell clone to contact Bai Jue. A Mu’s treatment might catch Bai Jue’s attention.

Half an hour quickly passed, and the ice crystals on the cell clone vanished. It began trying to burrow into the soil again.

"A Mu, continue."

As soon as Su Xiao spoke, A Mu stepped up, expertly grabbing one of the cell clone’s legs...

Soon, the cell clone lay motionless on the ground, twitching occasionally, indicating it still had some life in it.

External beatings seemed unable to catch Bai Jue’s attention. It’s unknown if Bai Jue had abandoned this cell clone or was focusing on something else.

Discovering this, Su Xiao hesitated for a moment, taking out a metal syringe.

The syringe pierced the cell clone’s neck, injecting the pale green liquid into it.

Su Xiao immediately stepped back, and Bubu Wang also retreated. Only A Mu hesitated before positioning itself in front of Su Xiao and Bubu Wang, showing strong guardian instincts. Meanwhile, Bubu Wang observed the surroundings, excelling in concealment and reconnaissance.

The cell clone on the ground twitched, and the face of Bai Jue started swelling.

Crack, crack, crack...

The cell clone rapidly multiplied, soon growing into a giant entity.

At this moment, in a forest near Konoha Village, Bai Jue, who was monitoring Konoha’s movements, froze. Initially puzzled, he soon appeared incredulous.

"Original Hashirama Cells?"

Bai Jue sensed that a cell clone of his had been injected with Original Hashirama Cells.

The so-called Original Hashirama Cells are the cells from Hashirama’s living body. The Hashirama Cells studied by Orochimaru, Danzo, and others were taken from Hashirama’s corpse after his death. The difference between them is substantial, with the former being worth immeasurably more.

Few possess Original Hashirama Cells in the Naruto World; the Senju Clan once possessed them, after all, Hashirama was a clan leader of the Senju. Besides the Senju Clan, only Obito and Uchiha Madara had Original Hashirama Cells.

Uchiha Madara was dead, and Obito couldn’t have injected Original Hashirama Cells into Bai Jue’s clone. Moreover, Bai Jue noticed that the injected cells had been optimized and modified multiple times, significantly reducing the risk of wood transformation.

Bai Jue was baffled, but the matter was too significant to ignore. After hesitating for a few seconds, he abandoned monitoring Konoha’s movements and began contacting Obito.

Shortly afterward, Bai Jue received a reply from Obito. The reply was strange, instructing him to receive a lost Akatsuki member missing for nearly a month.

Obito figured out that the one behind this was Su Xiao, not because Obito had miraculous foresight, but because the Original Hashirama Cells that Su Xiao used had come from him.

Such a precious item wasn’t something Obito would give easily, but the conditions Su Xiao offered were irresistible—Kakashi’s Sharingan, the one Obito had ’lost.’ How could Obito refuse?

Bai Jue burrowed underground and started moving at high speed. Both of them were in the Country of Fire and weren’t too far apart.

...

An hour later, in the forest where Su Xiao was.

A vine grew from the trees, indicating not only Bai Jue’s arrival but Kakuzu’s as well. Although they were two individuals, within the Akatsuki Organization, they disguised themselves as one entity.

"Oh, it’s Bai Ye. I thought he died when he and Nagato attacked Konoha."

Bai Jue spoke.

"Hush, Bai Ye isn’t known for his good temper. Anger him, and he might just cut you down,"

Kakuzu’s voice was hoarse and deep, entirely different from Bai Jue’s. Bai Jue resembled a curious youth, surprised at everything, while Kakuzu was steady and seasoned, like an elder who has lived a long time. Indeed, he is from the age of Kaguya, more of a consciousness than a person.