NOVEL NEXT Chapter 78: The Divine Tree Is About to Transform!
"Is he… dead?"
The Great Toad Sage stared toward the center of the explosion, now completely shrouded in dust and smoke.
At this moment, even he couldn't see the outcome of that attack.
But as it turned out, the old saying held true—big clouds of smoke usually meant no damage.
"You really are an eyesore."
With a single swing of its massive arm, the Perfect Susanoo dispersed the smoke instantly.
Standing unscathed, the Susanoo revealed itself before the Great Toad Sage.
However, inside, Kaede's face had gone pale, and even the brilliance in his Sage Mode eyes had dimmed noticeably.
Just moments ago, he had poured every ounce of Mangekyō power and all the natural energy in his body into blocking that attack.
Even after training for over a month, his perfect-level Sage Mode was still no match for the Great Toad Sage's thousand-year accumulation.
But he had the Divine Tree.
At Kaede's command, the Divine Tree instantly sent energy across the distance.
Natural energy—full. Ocular power—restored.
In the blink of an eye, Kaede was back at his peak.
"Damn it!"
The Great Toad Sage's brows furrowed deeply.
Kaede could restore himself to full power instantly—he could not.
That earlier strike had cost him nearly half of his natural energy reserves.
Even with his millennium of accumulation, he couldn't sustain such consumption for long.
"I'll just have to fight head-on. I don't believe you can keep restoring yourself forever!"
With a powerful stomp, the Great Toad Sage charged straight at Kaede.
Kaede sneered. "So when you run out of ideas, you decide to just try to wear me down?"
The Susanoo stepped forward to meet him without hesitation.
Its sword swept toward the sage's waist, but a surge of stone erupted from beneath the sage's feet, forcing the blade's trajectory aside.
Seizing the opening, the Great Toad Sage slammed his palm into the Susanoo's chest, driving it back.
Kaede quickly steadied it.
"You've got quite the punch, frog."
Pressing his advantage, the sage moved in for a flurry of attacks—
"Enough!"
Kaede's shout cracked the air, and lightning instantly wrapped around the Susanoo's body.
Too close to avoid contact, the Great Toad Sage was jolted by the lightning, his body paralyzed in an instant.
Natural energy or not, his defenses couldn't block it.
"You can die now."
Without hesitation, the Susanoo's Totsuka Blade came cleaving down at the sage's head.
In a panic, the Great Toad Sage managed to retreat half a step—avoiding instant death, but the terror shook him to his core.
Blood sprayed as his organs began spilling from the gash in his torso.
The sage collapsed in agony, clutching the wound in a futile attempt to hold in his life.
The Susanoo advanced without mercy.
"So you really couldn't foresee your own death."
The Totsuka Blade rose high, its gleam reflected in the sage's terrified eyes.
"Spare me! I can tell you many secrets you could never imagine!"
Even after a thousand years, the fear of death was stronger than ever.
Kaede scoffed. "Secrets?"
"In the face of overwhelming power, no secret has any value."
"What about the Ōtsutsuki? Don't you want to know about them?" the sage cried in desperation.
The blade still fell.
"I'll deal with them eventually—and I know someone who understands them better than you."
Seeing Kaede unmoved, the sage made his choice.
"Then die with me!" he roared.
Opening his massive palm, he revealed a strange, rune-covered parchment.
He had been hiding a trump card all along.
Light burst from the parchment, and in an instant, the sage's wounds closed completely.
Using the paper's power before it faded, he rapidly shrank back to normal size and leapt away—straight toward the Susanoo's forehead where Kaede stood.
It all happened so quickly that even Kaede froze for an instant.
Before the blade could fall, the sage struck, then reversed the parchment's final power, unleashing a flash of light that engulfed the Susanoo entirely.
When the light faded—
The Susanoo was gone.
The Great Toad Sage burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Looks like I win after all!"
But then—
"As I thought, you had more than a few tricks."
A cold voice whispered over the sage's head.
Somehow, the Susanoo now stood behind him.
"Im… impossible…"
"Take that doubt with you to the grave."
The Totsuka Blade sliced cleanly down, splitting the sage in two.
His corpse fell still.
Kaede looked at it calmly. "You think I wouldn't guard against your last card?"
From the moment of that earlier explosion, he'd been wary.
Memories from the original story flashed through his mind—the parchment the sage had once given the Sage of Six Paths, capable of reviving his slain brother in an instant.
From then on, Kaede had been ready.
While the sage thought he was talking to him, he was only seeing an illusion.
The real Kaede had always been behind him, waiting for the kill.
With the sage's death, the Susanoo faded, and Kaede walked to the corpse.
"Summoning Technique!"
In the next instant, the Divine Tree appeared.
As with the White Snake Sage, its roots rapidly spread through the sage's body, draining every drop of natural energy.
Kaede didn't bother watching—he knew that once it was done with the sage, it would begin consuming all of Mount Myoboku's natural energy.
That would take days.
But Kaede had a feeling—once it finished, it might reach a critical point.
Not quite full maturity, but a transformation that would grant him an unexpected boost in power.
Standing on the ground, Kaede spread his Sage Mode perception across all of Mount Myoboku.
Soon, he found several locations of interest.
"Looks like I can get some answers."
Without hesitation, he moved.
He wanted to know many things—the nature of that parchment, the truth behind the sage's prophecies, and… the origins of the Three Great Sacred Lands.
Ryūchi Cave was ruled solely by the White Snake Sage, and wild snakes had no interest in recording history.
Shikkotsu Forest had only the slug—unlikely to yield satisfying answers.
But Mount Myoboku… its very structure spoke of a rich and orderly inheritance.
He was certain he'd find what he was looking for here.
And soon, he did.
(End of Chapter)
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