The deep purple demon-god power slowly rotated inside the Dragon-Snake Orb, giving off a chilling, eerie coldness.
It wasn't pure cold; the temperature itself hadn't changed.
It stirred a coldness inside a person's heart, a chill from deep within the bone marrow.
Under the shrine, within the priestess training formation, Ryosuke absorbed the demon-god power inside the Demon-Sealing Jade Stone.
But compared to what Moryo had… that little bit of power was worlds apart.
He had gone through so much trouble and even consumed his life-limit just to obtain this demon-god power. Hopefully…
'...it can help Ripple break through its current bottleneck.'
Ryosuke pressed two fingers together, touched them to the Dragon-Snake Orb, and lightly hooked.
A strand of condensed demon-god power spread outward.
Ryosuke took a deep breath. The deep purple demon-god power rushed into his nose and mouth, flowed through his limbs and bones, freezing muscle, blood, and marrow. As the breathing technique circulated,
BOOM!
A blaze like the descent of a scorching sun spread across Ryosuke's skin.
The golden flames grew more intense, more refined, and Ryosuke's Ripple continued rising. At the same time, natural energy entered his body.
Ripple and natural energy fused, transforming into trillions of thin needles that pierced into Ryosuke's cells, resonating with the foundational genetic code.
Ryosuke's life origin was boiling.
The more the golden flames burned, the more transparent their color became. A small portion of the flames shifted from plasma form into a half-transparent, half-golden crystalline solid, floating in the air, fluctuating.
Ryosuke understood.
Once all the flames transformed into crystals, Ripple would enter the fourth stage, and his life form would step into a brand-new realm.
Half the demon-god power remained inside the Dragon-Snake Orb.
As long as he absorbed all of it, he would definitely succeed.
Thinking that, Ryosuke continued absorbing, yet in the next breath...
Bang!
The blood vessels at his shoulder burst open, flesh spraying outward. Then his arm, waist, abdomen, and back...
Large chunks of flesh exploded. The crystallization progress of Ripple was disrupted and returned to flames.
Ryosuke was forced to stop absorbing demon-god power. The burst flesh turned into swarms of butterflies midair, returning to his body, restored in an instant.
This body… had reached the limit.
Humans do have limits.
Ryosuke cultivated Ripple and natural energy, constantly evolving his body, but this evolution had a threshold.
Breaking that threshold was simple.
Aja Red Stone.
But without that special item, Ryosuke had tried to rely on technique and natural energy.
It didn't work.
Right now, his body had reached an evolutionary limit.
Ryosuke could no longer evolve, nor could he contain more Ripple. Even using demon-god power to turn extreme yin into yang, bypassing the bottleneck to some degree, still wasn't enough.
This so-called bottleneck was both a restriction and a protection for Ryosuke.
What Ryosuke was doing now was like bypassing system limits to force an overclock. The endlessly rising energy ultimately caused self-collapse of the body.
An invisible ceiling was right there, blocking Ryosuke's path to becoming stronger.
He closed his eyes, reached one hand toward the sky.
Tap!
His fingertip seemed to touch the ceiling. A faint icy sensation came through, along with a detached, arrogant gaze.
Ryosuke snapped his eyes open and met the gaze's owner.
Kars.
Above him was a brilliant starry sky. A gentle night breeze brushed Ryosuke's face. There was no sign of Kars, of course not, Kars couldn't possibly appear in the Naruto world, but Ryosuke could feel it.
The one stopping him was Kars.
Without a doubt. Not a single mistake.
This was a connection formed between a Ripple warrior who evolved to humanity's limit and another ultimate lifeform.
Ryosuke lowered his hand. The feeling of confronting Kars gradually faded.
He understood, 'If I want to continue breaking through Ripple and evolving my body, I need to challenge Kars just like evolving a Stand, and complete the corresponding trial quest.'
'But to activate the trial quest, I need an Ascension Star Core. And now that the world's trajectory has shifted, the Five Great Nations have already joined my faction…'
Ryosuke bowed his head, thinking. 'How else can I obtain a new Ascension Star Core?'
While thinking, he noticed the shadow on the ground.
He looked up again, an arc-shaped black moon hung in the sky, like a long curved blade.
Perhaps…
Humanity's first step into space might bring Ryosuke a new Ascension Star Core.
Kaguya's seal.
The Otsutsuki clan.
A new Ascension Star Core.
All clues pointed to the moon.
'From here on, I can only wait for the research institute's results.'
Ryosuke returned the Dragon-Snake Orb, now half-full of demon-god power, to the ghost room.
Even though he touched the limit of his body and didn't truly step into Fourth Stage Ripple, his gains this time were still significant.
Aside from learning important information about Kars' trial quest, more practically, first, the life-limit he consumed using the Tear Blade had been restored.
His previously withered left hand was already back to normal.
Next, one after another, translucent pale-gold rhombus crystals floated in the air, circling Ryosuke along a specific path.
Ryosuke was only half a step away from the fourth stage. The demon-god power he absorbed earlier hadn't gone to waste. Now it could be roughly considered…
Ripple: Stage 3.5.
Recalling Ripple's evolution pathway, first stage, stored inside the body.
Second stage, Ripple released externally, forming tiny arcs of lightning.
Third stage, lightning condensing into flames.
'Fourth stage is crystals… the form changed a lot, but in the end, it's just higher-density Ripple.'
'It's all about raw numbers.'
Ryosuke quite liked this straightforward style. Perhaps that was why it took him just a little over four years to cultivate Ripple to humanity's limit.
He took out a can of green tea from the ghost room, took a drink, then stood up and looked toward the city.
After briefly enjoying victory, the priestess Shion, the warriors and doctors of the Land of Demons, along with Naruto and the others, began rescue operations across the city.
Ryosuke had suppressed the leaking demon-god power of Moryo.
Konan had stopped most of the undead army.
But with the enemy being a centuries-old evil spirit, and with the battle erupting in the city center, expecting zero casualties would be a fairy tale.
The quakes collapsed buildings, crushing people beneath.
Some undead soldiers evaded Konan's attacks and assaulted civilians. Thin strands of demon-god power seeped into their wounds and were corroding their souls.
Many others fled in panic, leading to large-scale trampling.
Konan didn't join the rescue. To stop the undead spread, she consumed too much chakra and had to wait for her strength to return.
Seeing Ryosuke arrive so quickly, Konan asked, "You're not resting a bit longer?"
"I already rested. My stamina has always been excellent."
As Ryosuke said this, he handed her a bottle of water.
If the shameless merchant Tokugawa Yukino heard this, she'd probably let out a flirtatious "Oh~" and squeeze Ryosuke's hand.
But Konan only nodded, took the bottle, and drank in small sips. A few droplets slid down her neck and disappeared into her deep collar.
She lifted the collar slightly and wiped away the droplets, movements casual, completely unconcerned about Ryosuke standing right in front of her.
Ryosuke didn't look.
He was staring at the chaotic city, and a new idea formed in his mind.
Ryosuke slowly floated upward until he was above the city. He raised a hand, "Weather Forecast."
Dark clouds spread across the sky again, rain swirling within them.
"Pearl Jam."
With no regard for cost, he poured massive amounts of mental energy into it. Tens of thousands of small tomatoes were thrown into the cloud layer.
Clouds as pot, lightning as spatula, rain as the main ingredient.
How was this not cooking?
Then....
One after another, the pale-gold crystals entered the clouds.
They dyed the dark clouds golden.
"Go."
Ryosuke pointed toward the city.
Clusters of golden clouds descended into the city, like auspicious clouds falling from heaven. The darkened city suddenly brightened.
The auspicious clouds passed through the crowds. Ripple and Pearl Jam's healing effects entered the human body with each breath, naturally completing the healing.
Watching their bodies heal as though by a miracle, the people of the Land of Demons looked up at Ryosuke suspended in the sky.
They felt as though they were seeing a god descending to earth.
In that moment, they understood, the era belonging to demons has ended.