Hagoromo Black Horn watched Kakuzu, unable to believe he would attack without a word, seemingly indifferent to the intelligence he possessed. He had miscalculated, and the consequence of losing his gamble was his life.
"I'll take your heart. I'll make good use of it and cherish it." Kakuzu was a meticulous person; he even allowed his victims to die in peace, creating a bizarre feeling of 'I shall nurture your heart.'
Hagoromo Black Horn probably couldn't believe he would die so ignominiously. Shouldn't a normal person first ask for information, confirm it, and then kill?
After adding the Lightning Release heart mask, Kakuzu felt a long-lost sense of security return. Kakuzu had lived so long precisely because of this spirit and style of clinging to life.
When he had one less heart, he would become anxious and irritable. When he had two less, he would be cautious in his words and actions, living by night. When he lost three hearts, Kakuzu would enter a silent state, immediately hunting down the hearts of some Chunin to replenish them.
Kakuzu collected Hagoromo Black Horn's corpse, intending to sell it at an exchange for money. For the time being, he had no plans to wander around the Land of Rain and Land of Fire.
Leng naturally didn't know that Hagoromo Black Horn had died; otherwise, she would have regretted it, because she hadn't yet obtained the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Since she couldn't get it from Hagoromo Black Horn, she could only hope to encounter a Hidden Cloud Village Ninja who could use Lightning Release Chakra Mode during this Chunin Exams.
This journey was particularly long, lasting from noon until midnight, which was the limit for Obito and Rin Nohara.
At this moment, Obito leaned against a large tree, swallowed a Soldier Pill, and fell asleep instantly. Kakashi and Shisui were also very tired, but they forced themselves to stay awake and listen to Minato Namikaze assign the night watch.
"There are about eight hours until dawn, so I and Leng will take the first half, and you two will take the latter half," Minato Namikaze said to the two Jonin from the other teams.
Leng wasn't particularly sleepy or tired. At this intensity, she wouldn't feel fatigued even if she ran for another two days, so she had no objections to taking the night watch.
The other two Jonin also had no objections. They all knew Minato Namikaze's reputation, which was far beyond what ordinary newly promoted Jonin like themselves could compare to.
Leng casually found a large tree, let her Shadow Clone take the night watch, and then began her exploration of Sage Mode.
Leng's speed in achieving a state of clear mind and sensing Natural Energy had become very fast; she could begin drawing in Natural Energy in about ten seconds.
The anime mentioned that the concentration of Natural Energy in the Ninja World had significantly decreased, and the concentration varied in many places. Leng had never been to the Three Great Sage Locations, so she didn't know how big the difference was.
In any case, Leng had already confirmed that in some places, Natural Energy was indeed more abundant. Other places weren't without Natural Energy; it was just difficult to quickly absorb a large amount of Natural Energy to enter Sage Mode.
Leng once thought of reserving two small pools in her Yin Seal Chakra reservoir for storing Natural Energy and Sage Art Chakra.
However, she found that the reservoir she designed did not have strong sealing and storage capabilities for Natural Energy and Sage Art Chakra.
Therefore, Leng had to reserve space for two small reservoirs for future design, meaning her Sealing Technique mastery was still insufficient.
Leng also knew that her Sealing Technique was probably not inferior to Minato Namikaze's, but because Sealing Technique itself did not have specialized sealing runes for Natural Energy.
So Leng had to create and combine them herself. It was all because none of the Uzumaki Clan ancestors knew Sage Mode; otherwise, such runes would probably have been designed long ago.
Instead of slowly figuring it out herself, if before it was learning, now it was about researching, and the progress of the two was incomparable.
Leng mixed the Natural Energy absorbed into her body with her own cell energy and mental energy in equal proportions, quickly extracting a mass of Sage Art Chakra under her control.
Leng slowly felt the Sage Art Chakra nourishing her cells. Leng had actually discovered that Chakra from different Bloodline Limit had a radical effect on the body's evolution or atavism.
The continuous upgrades of the Sharingan and the different qualities of Doujutsu they brought would also constantly stimulate the dormant genes of the Uchiha Clan to awaken.
And Sage Art Chakra also had such an effect, seemingly able to help Leng gradually activate those secondary Body of the Sage, such as the Uzumaki Body and Senju Body, and so on.
However, such a process was too long. Leng estimated that it would take ten years of nurturing with Sage Art Chakra to activate a certain secondary Body.
As for the Sage Body, it would probably take decades of continuous nurturing day and night to potentially activate it. Fortunately, there were other methods.
Leng's research on Hashirama cells and White Zetsu Cells could still yield some "Ashura Yang Release Chakra." Leng didn't know if this was Ashura Yang Release Chakra, but this Yang Release Chakra could slowly activate the genes belonging to the Sage Body and Wood Release.
So Leng also considered transplanting White Zetsu Cells or Hashirama cells to supply this special Yang Release Chakra, and then excising these flesh and blood tissues after she advanced to the Sage Body and activated Wood Release.
However, there had to be a prerequisite: transplanting White Zetsu Cells required at least the Revolving Sharingan with three tomoe to suppress these active White Zetsu Cells with the Doujutsu of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
And to suppress Hashirama cells, the Mangekyo Sharingan was unavoidable. Leng, with only a two-tomoe Sharingan, dared not take the risk of transplanting prematurely.
So Leng planned to first fuse Wood Release Chakra or Paper Release Chakra herself, at which point she might be able to directly activate the Wood Release gene.
As for the Sage Body gene, that would have to wait until she had the Revolving Sharingan with three tomoe or for subsequent research. This was not something to rush. Leng already felt her Doujutsu had reached the limit of the two-tomoe Sharingan, and she should be able to break through to the Revolving Sharingan with three tomoe soon.
Leng had comprehended three nature transformations for three different Chakra attributes. Water and Wind attributes could produce Ice Release, and Earth and Wind attributes could produce Magnet Release.
So it could be said that Leng's situation was very promising, and her future was bright. Although Leng had not yet developed any Bloodline Limit, it didn't stop her from fantasizing.
Leng didn't rest all night, just continuously refining Sage Art Chakra and nourishing her body. This was the authentic path of cultivation.
Those who practiced Sage Mode for combat were completely on the wrong path. The hard-won Sage Art Chakra would be completely converted into Sage Art and released, which was incredibly wasteful.
This process of Sage Art Chakra nourishing the body would continuously increase the amount of super-energy substances within Leng's body, indirectly boosting her cell energy and mental energy.
By noon the next day, due to the previous day's forced march, they had entered the Land of Rain early, and the sky above them had not cleared since.
The continuous gloomy rain dampened spirits, and their bodies were damp, constantly losing body heat. If it weren't for Ninja having Chakra to protect their bodies, they would probably have caught colds.
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