blogombal Chapter 308 Gains and Losses
Chapter 308 Gains and Losses
Chapter 308 Gains and Losses
The sun had fully risen above the sea, and endless sunlight bathed the entire land.
The sky was already bright, but Taiyi was still sitting on the beach, the seawater reaching his knees, at high tide.
He was still trying to control his mental energy, striving not to waste a single bit of it, but this was more difficult than he had imagined. The further outward his mental energy was, the harder it was to control.
When the tide reached Taiyi's belly, he finally opened his eyes. At this moment, his gaze was no longer as bright as before, but instead revealed endless exhaustion.
"Thank goodness, I almost died on this deserted beach today."
Taiyi placed one hand on his chest, trying to calm himself down.
He thought that since he hadn't officially started cultivating the Immortal Mode, there wouldn't be any danger. Little did he know that the danger was unpredictable, and he almost lost his spirit and destroyed the world.
Recalling what had just happened, Taiyi still felt lingering fear.
Taiyi summoned his panel, and sure enough, there were very detailed records there.
[Experience nature, understand nature, and gain a basic grasp of natural energy.]
[Skill: Sage Mode Lv0 (0/100)]
[Manipulate natural energy, Sage Mode experience points +1]
Taiyi focused his mind on this, and immediately a message came through, making Taiyi understand that this was the moment when his mental power was communicating with natural energy and he began to try to control the movement of natural energy.
[Consciously perceive nature, and assimilate your spirit.]
[Consciously perceive nature, and assimilate your spirit.]
[Manipulate natural energy, Sage Mode experience points +1]
[Consciously perceive nature, and assimilate your spirit.]
After receiving several notifications about mental assimilation, Taiyi noticed that the experience points gained in Sage Mode always increased faster at these times.
However, when Taiichi learned the specific meaning of this prompt through the panel, he was not happy at all.
Spiritual assimilation occurs when your will is not strong enough. As you continue to understand and manipulate natural energy, your spirit will unconsciously spread, just like before, until it spreads to a certain distance. Then you will truly be assimilated by natural energy and become a living dead whose soul has dissipated.
When Taiyi scanned the entire panel, he finally discovered the disastrous consequences of this experience of manipulating natural energy.
【Spirit: 32 (33)】
The spiritual attribute was actually reduced by a bit. This was the loss caused by the spiritual power that had spread too far and Taiyi could no longer retrieve.
Fortunately, as more detailed information came in, Taiyi discovered that this was not a permanent loss, and that with proper rest, he could recover his energy quickly.
Taiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief, putting his heart, which had been in his throat, back down.
Cultivating Sage Mode is truly difficult. Even Taiyi, who was exploring on his own in the early stages, faced numerous dangers. He was only able to survive this time thanks to a sudden impulse; otherwise, he would have really died on this beach.
Looking up at the sun in the sky, Taiyi's face froze. At this altitude, it must be almost 9 o'clock.
Taiyi immediately stood up, surrounded by flames, and his dripping clothes were all dried by the fire.
With his eyes closed, Taiyi carefully sensed the location of the shadow clone below, and his figure disappeared from the spot.
It reappeared above the vast ocean.
The shadow clone Taiichi gave the original Taiichi a strange look. Without any communication, Taiichi knew what it meant—had he taken the wrong medicine today? Why is he so late!
Only here in the sky, if Taiyi were on the ground, he could awkwardly dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his feet.
This was the first time he had ever been looked at like that by his own shadow clone.
With two awkward laughs, Taiyi decisively disbanded his shadow clones. As his memories returned, Taiyi realized where he was.
The Misty Fleet has been sailing south for about 50 kilometers from the coast without any sign of changing course. At this speed, they should be able to enter the waters of the Land of Wind by noon today.
Taiichi created another shadow clone to monitor the situation, while his main body disappeared from the spot to report the results of his surveillance to Jiraiya.
Southern camp, central command tent.
Jiraiya stared at Taiichi with a strange expression. Taiichi's eyes were lifeless, his eye circles were dark, and his spirit seemed to have been drained away.
These symptoms made him think of things that were inappropriate for children.
"Taiichi—you're still young. Even if you want to try, you don't have to push yourself so hard. You still need to abide by the three ninja rules at this age."
Jiraiya spoke earnestly, with the tone of someone who had been through it all, offering Taiichi heartfelt advice.
Taiichi was initially confused, wondering what Jiraiya was talking about, but when he heard about the three forbidden ninjas, his face immediately darkened.
Damn it, what is this guy thinking? The three ninja prohibitions? Shouldn't he be minding his own business first?!
"I've simply misbehaved during my training, it's not what you think about the three forbidden ninja techniques!"
Taiyi gave a resentful explanation.
When Jiraiya heard that it was a training issue, his expression immediately became serious. He was Taiichi's teacher, and if training could cause Taiichi's current condition, then the problem was no small matter, much more serious than the Three Forbidden Techniques of Ninjas.
"What exactly is the problem? Can you tell me? I'm your teacher, after all."
Taichi could naturally feel Jiraiya's concern. While feeling warm inside, he also thought that Jiraiya would also have Sage Mode in the future, but he didn't know if Jiraiya had mastered it yet.
"Does the teacher know about Sage Mode?"
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya raised his right eyebrow and revealed an extremely solemn expression. He looked Taiichi up and down carefully, as if there was a flower on Taiichi's body.
"You learned the magic of Shikkotsu Forest?"
"No, it's just that this morning I accidentally entered a special state and observed natural energy. Then, without warning, I almost lost my mind and died on the beach."
Taiya recounted the events of this morning to Jiraiya, picking out the parts he could talk about, and Jiraiya's eyebrows twitched incessantly as he listened.
Is there any justice in this world? Just think how much suffering and beatings I endured to learn Sage Mode, and Taiyi just passed the most difficult hurdle so easily.
Just thinking about those colorful insects makes Jiraiya feel a churning in his stomach.
Seeing Jiraiya's constipated expression, Taiichi quickly understood the situation after a moment's thought.
While secretly amused, I also looked forward to his explanation.
"The cultivation of Sage Techniques is inherently accompanied by significant risks. The cultivation conditions and risks in the three sacred lands that I know of are all different, not to mention other methods of cultivating Sage Techniques that may exist in the ninja world."
Jiraiya composed himself and recalled the limited knowledge he had about Sage Mode.
However, he himself is still struggling to use Sage Mode, let alone instruct Taiichi.
However, he couldn't lose face as a teacher, so he decided to go to Mount Myōboku today to ask the two hermits, Fukasaku and Shima, and if that didn't work, he'd see if he could ask the Great Toad Hermit for advice.
"Wait for me to go back and think about it carefully. I've never encountered a situation like yours before, so I need to think about it carefully."
Taiichi looked at Jiraiya suspiciously. If he knew, he knew. Did he think he could just go back and think about it and find out?
However, Taiyi didn't think too much about it. His teacher was trying to find a solution, and it would be best if there was a result. Even if there wasn't, he could just be more careful when cultivating in the future.
The panel clearly indicated that my willpower was not strong enough, which caused my mental energy to spread uncontrollably once it was attracted by natural energy.
However, willpower is even more subjective than mental strength, and there is no specific value given on the panel. Taiyi doesn't have any good training methods at the moment.
Logically speaking, given Taiyi's unwavering dedication to rigorous training every day, his strength has grown from its weakest state to its current level, so his willpower must be quite strong.
Unfortunately, he was too young and had not trained for long enough. Perhaps his willpower was much stronger than that of ordinary people, but he had not yet reached the point where he could easily resist natural assimilation.
However, cultivating Immortal Mode is indeed a way to temper one's will, but it is a bit dangerous, and one must always be vigilant during the training.
After finishing with the miscellaneous matters, we finally got down to business.
"The Hidden Mist Village is now almost at the sea area of the Land of Wind, and there is no sign of it turning back. It seems that it does not intend to land in the Land of Rivers."
Taiichi recounted in detail what he had seen about the movements in Kirigakure to Jiraiya, and at the end, he didn't forget to offer his own opinion.
Jiraiya rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought, before finally uttering, "Do you think Kirigakure will really join forces with Sunagakure?"
"Of course, we killed so many people from Kirigakure—"
Before he could finish speaking, Taiya's mouth froze, stumped by Jiraiya's question.
Indeed, all of this is just their speculation. Konoha killed so many people from Kirigakure, but the hatred between Kirigakure and Sunagakure is no less intense.
Maybe Kirigakure isn't actually aiming to join forces with Sunagakure.
Seeing that Taiichi was stumped by his own guess, Jiraiya laughed heartily.
"Alright, don't overthink it. No matter what, we'll be fine as long as we're on guard. You can continue monitoring over there too."
As long as we aren't ambushed, we're not afraid of a head-on confrontation.
Jiraiya spoke with great bravado, completely disregarding the possibility of the Sand Mist Alliance appearing.
Jiraiya wasn't worried, and Taiichi was even less worried. So what if it was an allied army? As long as it wasn't a trap set for him, the allied army would just be a more resilient target for him.
After reporting to Jiraiya, Taichi immediately returned to Tsunade's side and gave the same report again, also mentioning Jiraiya's conjecture.
Unlike the other side, where it was Jiraiya's opinion alone, Tsunade barely spoke up here. Her advisors made several deductions based on this conjecture.
The conclusion reached was exactly the same as Jiraiya's: do your best and remain steadfast no matter what external storms may throw your way.
In fact, Konoha had no intention of launching a cross-sea operation, firstly because they lacked manpower, and secondly because they were truly not good at naval warfare.
After finishing the report, Taiyi left the group using the Flying Thunder God Technique and reappeared in a hidden cave.
He had barely appeared when he plopped down on the ground, rubbing his temples with both hands, letting out a long sigh of relief, finally getting a chance to rest.
The events of the morning had taken a heavy toll on his mental energy; he had gritted his teeth and persevered until he finished his report. Now, all he wanted was to get a good night's sleep.
At this time, only sleep can better and faster make up for his lost energy.
A small isolation and warning barrier was set up, and soon the sound of soft snoring could be heard in the cave.
At noon, the Hidden Mist fleet officially entered the waters of the Land of Wind.
On the flagship's deck, the Third Mizukage and a group of Kirigakure Jonin stood at the bow, gazing into the distance, towards the land of the Land of Wind.
"Is Matsushita Taichi still monitoring from afar?"
The Third Mizukage's gaze remained unchanged, but the question he posed caused a chill to run down the spines of the surrounding Jonin. The name Matsushita Taichi was now widely known in Kirigakure—
Buddhism is a taboo subject; no one wants to mention it.
However, even if they didn't want to bring it up, someone had to answer the Mizukage's question. A Jonin in charge of reconnaissance stepped forward and spoke up.
"Yes, Lord Mizukage, he has never left; he is just three kilometers away in the sky."
Kirigakure does have capable individuals, and Taiichi's whereabouts have always been under Kirigakure's surveillance. However, they can only monitor him; they have no way to deal with Taiichi.
"Let it be. It's a good thing for Konoha to know that we are going to attack Sunagakure. It will prevent them from making any misjudgments and launching another attack on us while we are fighting Sunagakure."
"Then, Lord Mizukage, should we take the initiative to explain this to Konoha? Perhaps we can even reach an agreement with them to attack Sunagakure together." A minor leader blurted out without much thought.
Everyone looked at the leader who had spoken as if he were an idiot. Was he going to explain to Konoha at this moment to admit defeat?
So who should bear the responsibility for this failure, you or the Mizukage?
This is something that can only be kept tacitly understood at the moment; everyone just needs to know the truth. After all, Kirigakure still has some face to save.
"Lord Mizukage, we have now entered the waters of the Land of Wind. Where should we launch our attack next?"
This was a good question that hit the nail on the head. The Mizukage turned around and looked at the group of eager Jonin. The look of ambition in their eyes was exactly what he wanted to see.
"Let's go to Rinchuan City, the closest major city. We need to maximize our gains before Sunagakure discovers us."
The Mizukage surveyed the crowd, setting the tone for the battle: "In this war, the primary objective is to acquire spoils. Bring back everything that can be brought back to Kirigakure."
"yes!"
All the Hidden Mist members wore cruel smiles, the final cry of a wolf pack before its hunt.
As evening fell, with the adjustment of the bow, the Mist Shadow Fleet, which had been sailing south, finally changed direction and the entire fleet slowly approached the coast.
This change immediately attracted the attention of Taiichi, the shadow clone in the distance. After carefully identifying the location, the shadow clone threw the Flying Thunder God Kunai into the sea, where it turned into white smoke with a "bang" and disappeared from the spot.
Inside a cave in the Land of Fire.
As his memories returned, Taiichi suddenly opened his eyes and woke up from his dream.
He rubbed his head, which was no longer so sore, and glanced at his control panel.
【Spirit: 32 (33)】
Sure enough, this isn't something that can be recovered from with just a good night's sleep; it seems I'll need to rest and recuperate properly in the future.
Shaking his head, Taiyi began to savor the information in his memory.
"They're about to land in the Land of Wind, but this location doesn't seem like they're looking to form an alliance with Sunagakure. Could it be, as Jiraiya suspected, that Kirigakure is planning to take on Sunagakure?"
Taiyi revealed a strange smile, and his figure disappeared from the spot.
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