Sensing the "Chakra Fruit" nearing maturity within the flower bud atop the God Tree, Shinji's gaze flickered slightly.
With this new fruit right in front of him, how to handle it became the immediate problem Shinji needed to solve.
Should he consume it himself, as he did before, or give it to someone else—like Karin or Hikari—allowing one of them to cross the threshold of the Six Paths Level and charge toward the higher realm of Kekkei Mora?
A moment later, Shinji slowly withdrew his gaze from the bud.
The decision on how to handle this fruit ultimately revolved around the key issue of confronting the Hegemons.
If consuming it himself yielded better results, then he should continue to do so. But if creating another Kekkei Mora was more advantageous for the situation, then he should use this fruit to manufacture one!
Shinji weighed the options silently, finding it hard to choose for a moment.
Based on his experience fighting Hegemons so far, individual strength was undoubtedly paramount. The closer one's power was to a Hegemon's, the greater the threat one posed to them.
Conversely, recruiting or creating a large army had a high probability of becoming a burden and a vulnerability when facing a Hegemon. For example, in the previous battle for the Sixth Ring World, the Storm Sorcerer Supreme, having lost the protection of his Magic Tower, couldn't even protect himself in front of the Reproduction Hegemon.
If a Sorcerer Supreme was helpless, others fared even worse. Merely seeing a Hegemon or hearing its voice could cause instant corruption, mutation, and degeneration into a monster.
However, the current situation was slightly different.
Shinji wasn't sure if consuming a second Chakra Fruit would provide a significant boost in strength like the first one did.
If the improvement was limited, then choosing between boosting himself or creating a helper at the Kekkei Mora level became a difficult dilemma.
Indeed, although Karin and Hikari hadn't reached the Six Paths Level yet, Shinji knew the power of a Chakra Fruit. As long as either of them consumed it, their ascension to Kekkei Mora was practically guaranteed!
And a Kekkei Mora was different from an ordinary helper. As long as they were within a spatial barrier, a Kekkei Mora could stand against a Hegemon.
Of course, Karin and Hikari weren't Lantern Bearers. Their ability to resist Hegemon corruption was far inferior to Shinji's. So even if they became Kekkei Mora, their combat power against a Hegemon would still be significantly weaker than his!
After pondering for a long time, Shinji made his decision.
"If I don't swallow the second Chakra Fruit, I'll never know how big the boost is. So this attempt is unavoidable! Besides, I have very few ways to increase my strength at this stage. If I give up this fruit, my power growth will stagnate for a long time!"
Shinji had to maintain a continuous increase in strength; only then could he have confidence when facing Hegemons. The Hegemons were also constantly growing stronger; with every world they devoured, their power was enhanced in all aspects. Shinji could not allow himself to stand still!
Having made up his mind, Shinji gathered his wandering thoughts and focused entirely on guarding the God Tree, waiting for the final gestation of the Chakra Fruit.
Three days later.
The swelling flower bud seemed unable to contain the fruit any longer. Just as the morning sun shone upon the earth, it burst open violently!
Whoosh.
A beam of brilliance erupted from the top of the God Tree, spilling out in all directions.
In that instant, whether it was Toneri on the moon, Karin and Hikari training on the Flying Fortress, or the Daemon siblings in the Research Institute, everyone felt the aura of the Chakra Fruit.
However, the aura vanished in an instant because Shinji had already plucked it and stored it away.
Since the fruit was successfully harvested, Shinji casually absorbed the God Tree back into his body, then activated the power of his Lamp to open a spatial rift and disappeared from the spot.
The reason he left in such a hurry was to check the situation in World No. 1 and see if there was still a chance to plant another tree and snatch more food from the tiger's mouth.
When he arrived in World No. 1, the situation was already dire. The Hegemon's power had completely invaded the spatial barrier, leaving the entire world riddled with holes and devastated.
Shinji had a thought: "Since it's already like this..."
The current World No. 1 was just like T33 previously—it had at most one or two weeks before being devoured. Rather than watching it get swallowed whole, he might as well snatch one last wave of planetary energy.
Thus, Shinji planted the God Tree there once again.
To compete with the Hegemon for energy, Shinji didn't hold back this time. He pushed the God Tree to absorb planetary energy as much as possible.
Rumble...
Instantly, the earth emitted a series of deep roars. But these roars sounded exceptionally profound, like the earth itself was wailing.
The sky grew even darker.
Undoubtedly, the already fragile World No. 1 couldn't withstand Shinji's full-force extraction and began to collapse.
In the collapsing world, the efficiency of the God Tree's extraction skyrocketed. The energy from the planet's core, usually hard to reach, was now easily absorbed in massive quantities.
By this time, the Hegemon's power began pouring into World No. 1 without obstruction. As the power flooded in, the Hegemon instantly detected Shinji, the competitor, and flew into a rage.
Rumble...
Thunder and lightning tore through the sky!
"Tch!"
Standing atop the God Tree, Shinji spat disdainfully.
These Hegemons... the moment they encounter someone snatching their food, they fly into a rage!
Disdain aside, Shinji knew that without the obstruction of a spatial barrier, he was no match for a Hegemon and could very well be insta-killed. So without waiting for the Hegemon to attack, he retracted the God Tree, activated his Lamp, opened a spatial rift, and vanished.
The Hegemon, having missed its target, vented its fury on World No. 1. In the blink of an eye, the entire world was crushed to dust!
Leaving World No. 1, Shinji didn't return to the Shinobi World. Instead, he proceeded to World No. 2.
"That was close..."
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He had been a bit greedy just now. If he had been a step later, he might have been blocked by the Hegemon in World No. 1. However, precisely because of that last bit of greed, his God Tree had absorbed a considerable amount of planetary energy.