Konoha: The Foundation's revelation at the outset shocks the world.

These thoughts had barely crossed his mind when Kakuzu's expression suddenly changed drastically.

Because that flash of silver light did not attack his main body, but instead instantly flashed to the location of one of his heart clones. After the silver light flashed, the heart clone exploded and disintegrated into countless fragments in the lightning.

And immediately after.

That silver light reappeared next to his next heart clone.

"Damn it!"

"This guy……"

Kakuzu's face turned extremely ugly in an instant.

Instead of attacking his physical body, Lu Chen went straight for his heart. Could it be that his ninjutsu had already been seen through by the opponent?

But how is that possible?!

boom!boom!boom! !

Lu Chen didn't pause at all, his figure flashing continuously. Kakuzu's heart clones couldn't dodge his attacks at all, and they exploded one after another like watermelons.

"stop!!"

Seeing this, Kakuzu finally showed a hint of panic, but Lu Chen's actions did not stop at all. He swung his five fingers together and shattered Kakuzu's last heart.

Kakuzu's true form instantly froze on the spot.

He reached out towards Lu Chen, trying to do something, but felt his strength rapidly waning, and finally collapsed to the ground with a thud.

quietly.

Lu Chen appeared next to Kakuzu's main body, crouched down slightly, approached his head, and said, "I know your abilities very well."

"you……"

Kakuzu's vision began to dim.

boom!

Lu Chen straightened up again, stomped down, and crushed Kakuzu's head into countless black lines.

In the last moment before losing consciousness, Kakuzu felt a fear he hadn't experienced in a long time, a fear he had only felt many years ago when he fought Hashirama Senju.

That battle was nothing but a joke.

And it is still the same now.

He had almost no idea what Lu Chen's abilities were!

The entire battle was like child's play; the sneak attack failed, and Lu Chen easily killed him.

"You saw through my ninjutsu in an instant?"

"It's incredibly powerful..."

"So I shouldn't have made a move this time after all..."

With the last lingering thought, Kakuzu's consciousness vanished completely.

"Really..."

Looking at Kakuzu's completely shattered and lifeless corpse, Lu Chen shook his head. He then looked at his own body, where only a few scraps of cloth remained to protect his vital parts.

He crouched down next to Kakuzu and rummaged around for a while, and soon found a stack of banknotes on Kakuzu's body, quite a lot of them.

Whoosh!

Lu Chen dispersed his chakra, closed the Eight Gates, and arrived in front of the ramen shop owner whom he had previously sent out of his attack range.

"Sorry, you got caught up in this."

"This is compensation."

After handing the money he had taken from Kakuzu to the ramen shop owner, Lu Chen smiled faintly at him and said, "Well then, goodbye."

Whoosh!

The next instant, Lu Chen vanished.

Only the ramen shop owner remained, staring blankly at the spot where Lu Chen had disappeared, before gradually coming to his senses after a long while.

Realizing he had almost been caught in a fight between two ninjas, he swallowed hard and muttered, "So that young man was a ninja..."

……

After leaving the town, Lu Chen quickly headed towards the Land of Fire.

During his journey, while passing through a small town, he encountered Root ninjas under Danzo's command. After meeting him, the Root ninjas conveyed to him the latest situation and location of the Konoha camp.

Two days later.

Lu Chen returned to the Konoha camp.

The camp here is noticeably smaller than it was a few months ago, and there are hardly any young genin left. The total number of troops in the camp is less than three thousand.

It's not that most of them were sent out to fight, but rather that most of them returned to Konoha. The war has continued to this day, and the resources consumed by each village are enormous. The order of the ninja world is also in chaos, and we are now in a short period of recovery.

"You're back, Lu Chen."

Seeing Lu Chen walk in, Orochimaru smiled at him and said, "When the news of your defeat of Hanzo came back, I was shocked for a long time. I never imagined your strength had reached such a level..."

Lu Chen smiled slightly and said, "It's just because I've spent far more time cultivating than others."

Orochimaru's gaze swept over Lu Chen, revealing a hint of understanding. He could see that Lu Chen's physical development was far faster than the actual passage of time; Lu Chen now looked almost sixteen years old.

It can be roughly guessed that Lu Chen used a time-based bloodline limit to change the growth rate of his body. Doing so can indeed bring him great power in a very short time, but it will accelerate the aging of his body and reduce his lifespan.

"Speaking of which, your bounty in the underworld is said to have reached 30 million taels. You should be careful with that kind of value, as there are probably some troublesome ninjas eyeing you."

Orochimaru grinned and spread his hands, saying, "It is said that among the ninjas who collect various bounties in the underworld, there are ninjas who once fought against the First Hokage and survived."

"Um……"

Lu Chen sighed and said, "I ran into that guy."

Orochimaru was somewhat surprised and said, "That's quite unfortunate. It seems you're alright. Did you kill that ninja?"

"Ah."

Lu Chen nodded, walked to the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a sip.

Orochimaru said with a slight shock, "You killed Hanzo of the Salamander, and even the ninja who survived the First Hokage. Lu Chen, are you now as strong as the First Hokage?"

Reaching the level of the First Hokage at eleven years old... no, sixteen years old is absolutely unbelievable, but Lu Chen is, after all, a being with a time-based bloodline limit!

Lu Chen shook his head and said, "No, it's far from enough. The First Hokage ended the war single-handedly, ensuring that there was no war in the ninja world for decades."

He is indeed far from being as good as the First Hokage.

Even Madara Uchiha with the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan couldn't compare.

Now, if he were to unleash the full power of his Heavenly Flash, he could probably barely shave off a piece of the mountain peak. In contrast, Madara Uchiha, after activating his Complete Susanoo, could unleash such power with a casual strike.

The strongest attack, delivered with all your might, is equivalent to someone else's normal attack; such a difference is obviously enormous.

At this point, if he encountered Madara Uchiha or Hashirama Senju, he could only rely on his speed to escape. If he chose to fight, even if he didn't die, he would most likely be sealed away.

Chapter 245 The Lost Tower

After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen looked at Orochimaru and said, "By the way, Orochimaru-sensei, I've heard that Ryuchi Cave possesses special Sage Mode, which surpasses ninjutsu..."

"Celestial arts..."

Orochimaru tilted his head and pondered, "Are you interested in Sage Mode? But you need to go to Ryuchi Cave to train, and you need to gain the approval of the White Snake Sage. I can tell you the location of Ryuchi Cave, but I can't help you with whether you can gain his approval."

"Just tell me the location of Ryuchi Cave."

Lu Chen nodded slightly at Orochimaru.

After a moment's thought, Orochimaru spat out a scroll and handed it to Lu Chen, saying, "The scroll contains the location of Ryuchi Cave, as well as the special method for entering."

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sensei."

Lu Chen took the scroll, and with a crackling sound of lightning, he cleaned it. Then he sat down and said, "It seems the war situation has calmed down. Has the Third Hokage not yet decided on the Fourth Hokage?"

"It's hard to say what Sarutobi-sensei's attitude will be..."

Orochimaru chuckled and said, "Sarutobi-sensei probably still prefers Minato, but Danzo is on my side now... If you support me too, even if Sarutobi-sensei chooses Minato, it might not be finalized."

"Of course I'm on your side, teacher."

Lu Chen chuckled, opened the scroll, glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Ryuchi Cave is located on the side closer to the Land of Water. Starting from there, you have to cross most of the Land of Fire and pass through Konoha Village along the way.

Lu Chen was pondering whether he should first obtain the cultivation methods for the three great immortal techniques and begin developing the cultivation of the immortal body, or open the sixth gate of the Eight Gates Formation as soon as possible.

Due to his training in Lightning Release techniques, he could feel that the shackles of the sixth gate of the Eight Gates were not as strong as before, especially when using Lightning Release chakra to impact.

At this level, it would take about a few months of training to break through.

If he opens the sixth gate, his strength should truly reach the level of a Kage. Even if he still can't compare to Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, he won't be too far behind.

If he were to cultivate immortal arts, he could make up for his weakness in perception, so that he wouldn't have the same trouble as when he dealt with Hanzo the Salamander, unable to find his opponent's location.

After considering for a moment.