It had already been half a year since Sora wiped out his first bounty exchange post. In just two more months, Kushina would be giving birth.
During this time, Sora had eliminated a total of twenty-three bounty posts and killed more than three hundred people. Most of them were Chūnin, with the rest being Jōnin. There were hardly any Genin.
And that was just within the first three months. After that, no matter which exchange post he went to, they were all completely deserted.
Judging from the thin layer of dust left behind, it was clear that the bounty post members had completely evacuated.
He spent an entire month searching and didn't encounter a single one of them again.
Left with no other choice, he departed the Land of Fire and headed to the Land of Earth to gather intel.
At first, he still ran into a few ninja and samurai connected to the bounty posts, but they also soon disappeared without a trace.
During this time, Sora discovered many of the bounty post members possessed kekkei genkai. Their physical traits were exceptional.
Of course, after being killed by Sora, their bloodline traits were absorbed into his own.
To his great surprise, his Senju physique had awakened the Wood Style—just like the First Hokage's, not the diluted kind Yamato used.
He wandered around the Land of Earth for two more months but found nothing. Sora decided to return to Konoha.
Thanks to his efforts, Konoha was now filled with powerful ninja, but he still felt uneasy, so he figured it was best to return first.
"Hmm, it's on the way. I might as well pass through the Land of Rain. Who knows, I might run into Konan and Nagato."
After confirming that Kushina still had two months before delivery, Sora headed toward the Land of Rain.
A few years earlier, Hanzō the Salamander had been killed by Nagato, so the Land of Rain was now under Nagato's control.
Sora had a clear understanding of Nagato's strength and only planned to observe from afar.
His confidence came from his recent power increase. Though he hadn't picked up any gold or red cards in the past six months, the sheer number of cards he'd acquired pushed his strength significantly.
However, there was still one thing left for him to do.
[Host: Sora]
[Talent: Spatial Talent LV3]
[Taijutsu: Konoha Whirlwind LV8] (Max level omitted)
[Ninjutsu: Portable Space LV1, Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu LV8, Earth Style: Earth Wall LV7, Earth Dragon Bullet LV9, Chidori LV7, Water Style: Water Formation Wall LV7, Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet LV9, Body Flicker Technique LV9, Tailed Beast Bomb LV4, Earth Style: Earth Flow Rampart LV6, Lightning Style: Lightning Current LV8, Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole LV6, Earth Tremor Jutsu LV9, Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame LV6, Multi Shadow Clone Technique LV7, Fire Style: Basic Flame Technique LV4, Light-Weight Boulder Jutsu LV8...] (Max level omitted)
[Kenjutsu: Secret Technique – Draw Slash LV8, Secret Technique – Swallow Return LV5...]
[Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique, Healing Jutsu, Delicate Extraction Technique...]
[Sealing Jutsu: Omitted]
[Physique: Senju Physique, Uchiha Physique, Kaguya Physique, Hozuki Physique, Hyūga Physique...]
[Physical Strength: Jōnin!] (Even without chakra, can match Jōnin)
[Overall Combat Strength: Early Kage-level!]
Note: Upon reaching Kage-level, the system is eligible for an upgrade. After the upgrade, similar jutsu will be merged. Would you like to upgrade the system? [Yes/No]
This message had appeared after he reached Kage-level, and it had brought him joy for quite a while.
After picking up so many cards, Sora figured that even the Sage of Six Paths wouldn't know more jutsu than he did.
But most of them were useless techniques and bloodlines—too valuable to discard, but too impractical to use.
Every time he opened the system interface, the massive list of abilities made his eyes spin. Finally, he could be free of that hassle.
"Merge!"
With zero hesitation and a bit of excitement, Sora clicked the button.
"System upgrading..."
"Skill merging..."
"Physique merging..."
After a full thirty minutes, Sora, who had been flying in the sky, suddenly found himself losing control and falling.
Thankfully, he was only three meters from the ground, and with his Jōnin-level physique, he easily tanked the fall.
However, his body remained immobile. He lay there stiff as a board, completely unable to move anything except his eyes.
"Damn it! That didn't happen the last time I leveled up—no warning either!"
He cursed the system inwardly, but it gave no response. Knowing that cursing wouldn't help, he quickly tried to assess the situation.
He was already very close to the Land of Rain—barely a kilometer away, and he could already see the rain falling under Nagato's Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
Wild animals were no threat; his killing intent would scare them off. But if a Rain ninja showed up, that would be a different story.
Hanzō might've hesitated, but Nagato was crazy enough to strike first. If that happened, he was as good as dead.
As Sora frantically ran scenarios in his head, he didn't notice his hair beginning to change color.
His originally black hair was turning purple from the roots outward, stopping at the tips.
Next came changes to his body. His previous height of 124 cm (average for a seven-year-old) shot up to 140 cm in half an hour—the same height Kakashi had been six months ago.
His physique transformed too. Under his ragged shirt, his body had become perfectly toned—eight-pack abs and ideal proportions.
Even his adorable little face didn't escape transformation. Though the change was subtle, he'd gone from cute to handsome.
But not the effeminate kind of handsome—his new look radiated masculine charm, the kind that made people unable to look away.
Once the changes were complete, a strange energy began pouring into Sora's body, enhancing him at the cellular level.
If Jiraiya were present, he'd be too shocked to speak—this was clearly natural energy.
In a cultivation world, this would be equivalent to spiritual qi.
This transformation continued for two full days, yet Sora remained paralyzed.
At this point, aside from his close friends, no one would recognize him.
Unfortunately, Sora was still unaware of any of this. He was like a quadriplegic—unable to move even if someone dissected him.
Two days passed without incident, and Sora finally let his guard down.
But fate loves irony—just when you least want something to happen, it always does.
A figure flew overhead: a woman in a black cloak with red clouds, with two beautiful paper wings on her back.
The moment he saw her, Sora instinctively held his breath—even though he knew it wouldn't help.
And then the worst happened. The woman who had already flown past suddenly turned back—heading straight for him!
"No! Konan, don't come over here! Please don't come!"
He knew exactly who she was—the beauty queen of the Akatsuki, Konan.
Aside from Kaguya, she was the fiercest woman in all of Naruto. She once used six hundred million explosive tags—she made Sora look like a chump.
Most importantly, she was a proper Kage-level opponent. Sora, unable to move a muscle, would be completely at her mercy.
No matter how much he prayed, Konan landed right next to him.
"That serious look on her face is kinda... cute?"
"No no no! What am I thinking? I should be figuring out how to survive!"
Cursing his own thoughts, Sora kicked his brain into overdrive.
He thought he was making a variety of facial expressions, but due to the system upgrade, his face looked completely blank to Konan.
She stared at the kid lying on the ground. His clothes were torn from animal bites, his hair a mess from two days of wind and sun, his face filthy, and his frame scrawny.
Taking all that in, and seeing how close he was to the Land of Rain, Konan instantly came up with her own story for where he came from.