Chapter 331: Decoding the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, The Mystery of the First Puppet Master
Konoha Year 51.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since the Cloud incident.
The news of Kyosuke single-handedly killing the Raikage, defeating the Eight-Tails, and annihilating a force of a thousand Cloud ninja had already spread throughout the shinobi world.
While various factions admired his immense power, they were even more terrified by his ruthless methods.
Thus, titles like "God of Shinobi" and "Asura of the Ninja World" were bestowed upon Kyosuke. Many also realized from this incident that Konoha was no longer the village that preached "peace and love," allowing itself to be bullied without retaliation.
Although this made other villages more wary of the powerful Konoha, it also avoided many potential troubles. Konoha now truly stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world.
Especially after crippling the Cloud Village and forming an alliance with the Sand, no faction in the entire ninja world, including the other Great Ninja Villages, dared to stroke the tiger's whiskers.
Under these circumstances, the somewhat stubborn Hiruzen Sarutobi and his peers finally accepted Minato Namikaze's—or rather, Kyosuke's—foreign policy. Having completely handed over power, they began their retirement lives in comfort.
To honor Kyosuke's contributions, Minato, who had successfully consolidated his power, appointed him as a Konoha Elder, also serving as an advisor to the Hokage.
It could be said that in today's Konoha, in terms of authority, no one except the Hokage himself could match Kyosuke—not even Danzo, who controlled Root.
If Hiruzen hadn't successfully persuaded Minato, Kyosuke would have already secretly dispatched people to eradicate Root, which wouldn't have been difficult for him.
Aside from his promotion to Elder, Kyosuke and Minato accomplished another major feat: relocating the entire Uchiha clan to the core area of Konoha, becoming neighbors with the Hyuga clan.
This was a mutual decision made during a deep conversation between the two. Furthermore, Minato assigned other personnel to intervene in the Konoha Military Police Force, freeing up many Uchiha members.
These liberated Uchiha members, except for those who wished to lead mission teams, were all integrated into the Hokage's direct Anbu, under Minato's personal command.
Many uninformed clan members lamented the loss of police authority while simultaneously being excited about joining the Anbu.
But most of all, they were genuinely happy that the clan was finally recognized by the village and would no longer be ostracized.
The "Uchiha Coup" that might have occurred in the future vanished invisibly under the joint manipulation of Kyosuke and Minato.
Konoha Dungeon.
The future Fourth Raikage, Buraza, had been imprisoned for over half a year since his defeat by Kyosuke. During this time, the Cloud had sent envoys multiple times to negotiate, but Kyosuke had rejected them with various excuses.
Helpless, the Cloud had to temporarily abandon plans to ransom Buraza. Instead, they nominated Killer B as the acting Raikage, intending for him to formally succeed the position once Buraza returned.
However, given B's eccentric personality, he was utterly unsuited for the highest leadership position. In just six months, the entire Cloud Village was in chaos. His mandatory promotion of "rap art" was particularly draining on the village's resources and morale.
What angered the Cloud high command even more was that the cunning Onoki, to "help" promote the development of rap art, had sent several musical troupes to support B, even privately suggesting he launch a so-called "Ninja World Tour Concert."
This was why Kyosuke kept delaying Buraza's return. He was happy to see the Cloud Village decline under B's leadership.
Of course, there was another important reason he couldn't publicly state: stealing the Cloud's hereditary secret technique, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
It was well known that besides Fire Release, many Uchiha had developed Lightning Release chakra, especially after the widespread adoption of the "Chidori."
If Kyosuke could improve the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the Uchiha clan's combat power would increase significantly.
Kyosuke had experienced the power of this secret technique firsthand. Strong defense, outstanding speed, and formidable single-point attack power—these three combined were enough to mass-produce elite experts unique to the Uchiha.
As for obtaining the training method, with Saori's Mind Reading technique, extracting information from Buraza's mind was a simple matter.
Over the past six months, Kyosuke had leveled up his "Ninjutsu Analysis" skill. Then, collaborating with talented ninja like Kakashi and Shisui, they improved the training method for the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, lowering the entry barrier while also increasing the training speed.
Currently, thirty Uchiha members had successfully mastered this secret technique. Depending on their talent and strength, the power they could exert varied.
To prevent intelligence leaks, Kyosuke secretly sent these thirty people to the Moon, where they trained diligently in the newly built Moon Palace.
Kyosuke had high hopes for them. Not only did he personally supervise their training, but he also transplanted Hashirama cells into them in batches. Although the level of Sage Body they awakened wasn't high, the surging vitality as a foundation significantly lowered the difficulty of training the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
The principle of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode was to stimulate cells with Lightning Release chakra, thereby increasing cell activation and enhancing the user's overall capabilities.
In other words, succeeding in training wasn't hard, but reaching a high level required a robust physique. This was why Kyosuke risked transplanting Hashirama cells into them.
Fortunately, with his current scientific technology, the transplant experiments went smoothly. After handing these thirty people over to Uchiha Ukyo's command, Kyosuke stopped visiting the Moon frequently to supervise their training.
As for why Kyosuke was acting with such urgency, it stemmed from Saori's infiltration of the minds of two mysterious enemies.
On that day, Saori used her Mind Reading technique to dive into the spiritual worlds of the two enemies, intending to uncover their origins.
Unexpectedly, a seal seemed to have been placed on their minds. Even with Saori's current strength and the uniqueness of the Tenseigan, she could only see fragmented images.
The caster of the seal seemed to understand the Tenseigan's abilities well. No matter how hard Saori tried, her mental probe couldn't break through the inexplicable seal.
However, Saori still managed to glean some intelligence from the limited images.
First, these people came from a mysterious organization. They chose to emerge at the request of someone named Toneri Otsutsuki, with the goal of eliminating Kyosuke, the culprit behind the destruction of the Moon Palace.
This didn't surprise Kyosuke. Only the ancient Otsutsuki clan would likely have the ability to contact such a mysterious faction.
Second, Saori learned from some images that the organization was quite large. Although it wasn't clear, there were at least a hundred members. This discovery instantly weighed heavily on everyone present.
Even if they didn't believe all hundred possessed the strength of the two they had faced, they wouldn't be weak. This was a problem that had to be taken seriously.
The third discovery came from the woman's mind.
It was information about the "Mr. Mon" who had escaped. Perhaps due to the woman's special feelings for Mr. Mon, there were many images of him in her mind.
Luckily, these included his identity and origin.
He was none other than the First Puppet Master, Monzaemon Chikamatsu. The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets wielded by Chiyo were works he had left behind.
Upon learning this, Kyosuke finally understood why Mr. Mon possessed such superb Human Puppet skills. If he was the First Puppet Master, it wasn't strange at all.
This also indirectly proved the strength of that mysterious organization. If they could recruit even the First Puppet Master, the appearance of even more terrifying powerhouses wasn't impossible.
Simply put, in Kyosuke's mind, the threat of this mysterious organization had gradually surpassed that of Obito and his group, ranking as the top priority to be eliminated. This was why Kyosuke accelerated the cultivation of his subordinate forces.
He had a premonition that the organization would soon surface completely. When that happened, he or the entire Leaf Village would have to face this powerful enemy head-on.