An endless desert and a vast, boundless forest formed a stark, almost surreal boundary.
The corpses hanging within the forest made the scene even more grotesque. As wind and sand swept through the air, the dead bodies swayed back and forth, enough to terrify anyone with a weak heart into losing their wits.
Standing at the boundary between desert and forest, Uchiha Feiyu wore an expression that carried more than a hint of the infamous "Uchiha Mad Laugh" archetype. It took him a long while before he finally suppressed the urge to burst out laughing.
The Devouring Heaven Demonic Art—
a peerless demonic cultivation method from the Shrouding the Heavens world.
Like all demonic arts with the word devour in their name, it belonged to the extreme "consume everything" school of cultivation.
But compared to ordinary techniques that merely absorbed cultivation, or more vicious ones that devoured techniques, flesh, and even souls, this art stood on a far higher conceptual level. Its potential was incomparably greater.
The true essence of the Devouring Heaven Demonic Art was not absorbing power.
What it devoured was the fundamental origin of physiques.
By refining and fusing tens of thousands of different physiques, it forged a constitution unique to oneself—a Chaos Body.
Its core lay not in devouring, but in fusion.
By extracting strengths from countless physiques and compensating for their weaknesses, it created the ultimate body that combined every advantage.
The Demonic Path Inheritance Grimoire did not grant Feiyu the complete Devouring Heaven Demonic Art. Instead, it bestowed only several secret techniques derived from it—among them, the arts used to devour and fuse physical origins.
Even if he had received the complete scripture, Feiyu knew he probably couldn't cultivate it anyway.
The cultivation systems of Shrouding the Heavens relied on secret realm methods spread after the Desolate Heaven Emperor scattered the seeds of cultivation. Without that foundation, one would have to carve out a path alone—something Feiyu neither believed himself capable of nor reckless enough to attempt.
After all, even the Desolate Heaven Emperor only succeeded after reaching the pinnacle of the human path.
And beings at that level could casually shatter half a galaxy with a single strike.
If Feiyu truly possessed such power, he wouldn't need the Devouring Heaven Demonic Art at all.
So these secret techniques were, in fact, the best possible outcome—usable, practical, and perfectly suited to his current level.
Beyond physique-devouring techniques, the secret chapter also contained:
The Great Dao Bottle, capable of massively absorbing and refining heaven-and-earth energy and other forms of power, even dissolving enemy attacks and converting them into nourishment.
The Myriad Transformations Sacred Art, an absurdly powerful defensive technique that reduced miracles to mundanity.
The Salvation God Art, a coercive mind-conversion technique bordering on absolute brainwashing.
These were the demonic techniques the grimoire had given him.
As for legendary arts like A Single Thought Blooms, the Sovereign Rules the World or the Flying Immortal Art—he hadn't obtained those.
Without the secret-realm foundation, he doubted he could cultivate them even if he had.
Even so, with his current strength, mastering even the barest surface of these techniques was enough to skyrocket his combat power and lay an unshakable foundation.
"Tch… if I convert my current strength into the Shrouding the Heavens system, I'd probably barely qualify as an ordinary Dao Palace cultivator."
"As for Ōtsutsuki Kaguya… her displayed power of cleansing the planet's surface would probably correspond to a Saint-level existence over there."
"Though… this planet is nowhere near comparable to Beidou or Ziwei in size or durability. At best, Kaguya would count as an Immortal Platform second-layer powerhouse."
Feiyu knew these conversions were deeply flawed.
The chakra system—essentially a 'grow stronger by eating' framework—was fundamentally inferior to the relentlessly battle-driven cultivation systems of Shrouding the Heavens. A late-stage Dragon Transformation cultivator could probably pin Kaguya to the ground and grind her into dust.
Compared to the Ōtsutsuki, who relied on inherited power, those cultivation maniacs pursued strength with terrifying obsession.
"…But unfortunately, I can't cultivate that system."
"Tch! Coach, I don't want to be a ninja anymore—I want to be a Great Emperor!"
Of course, that was just wishful thinking.
Still, cultivating like the animal sages of the summoning lands wasn't impossible.
The Great Dao Bottle could absorb and purify natural energy, transforming it into harmless essence. In the ninja world, that "heaven-and-earth energy" was nothing other than natural energy.
In other words, Feiyu could obtain pure, non-corrosive natural energy without risk.
Not only could he freely enter Sage Mode, he could even remodel his body like the animal sages and gain lifespans spanning thousands of years.
"Tch… beasts that barely reach Quadrupole Realm live for millennia, while genuine Ōtsutsuki lifespans are practically immeasurable. The Great Emperors of Shrouding the Heavens would cry in the bathroom if they saw this."
After eliminating all the forces under the Wind Country Daimyō, Feiyu quietly returned to the capital and implanted an entirely new genjutsu into the daimyo's mind.
From that day on, the Wind Daimyō became nothing more than Sunagakure's mouthpiece—and its wallet.
No more restraints from the Wind Country.
The noble houses raised no objections. After all, with the daimyo's private forces completely wiped out, continuing to suppress Sunagakure's funding would've been suicidal.
Next came the problem of corpse disposal.
Tens of thousands of bodies were simply too many.
Rather than transporting them back to Sunagakure, Feiyu ordered the blood pool brought directly to the battlefield and conducted the purification on-site.
The Devouring Heaven techniques demanded high-grade physique origins and were far less "omnivorous" than the Soul-Devouring Blood-Refinement Art.
The blood pool swallowed the soldiers' corpses, but due to their poor aptitude, the amount of refined essence was pitiful.
Even with fifty thousand bodies, the yield was comparable to that of five thousand ordinary ninja.
Adding the two thousand wandering ninja and monks, the total essence obtained was unprecedented—but the boost wasn't as overwhelming as expected.
Still, seven thousand units of refined blood essence were enough to trigger another bloodline metamorphosis.
Feiyu awakened Eternal Mangekyō-level ocular power, repaired most of his incomplete Sage Body, and brought his physique infinitely close to that of Senju Hashirama.
With further refinement using Hashirama Cells, a complete Sage Body was inevitable.
As for the Rinnegan—
that wasn't something Eternal Mangekyō and Sage Body alone could produce.
It required the chakras of Asura and Indra.
Feiyu's bloodline had reached a bottleneck.
Unless he went on a full-scale slaughter of the Six Paths' bloodline clans and spent decades farming them like livestock, the Rinnegan remained out of reach.
"The Soul-Devouring Blood-Refinement Art is losing effectiveness… but thankfully, the Devouring Heaven Art transitions perfectly."
"At least the physique-refining techniques alone far surpass it."
Soul-Devouring Blood-Refinement could at best revert one to ancestral levels.
The Devouring Heaven Art fused countless physiques into something superior.
Feiyu could clearly sense the starlike brilliance of his bloodline within his body.
Even without devouring new physiques, simply cultivating these techniques subtly and continuously enhanced his foundation.
In theory, a century of cultivation could let him regress to a perfected Ōtsutsuki.
A few millennia more, and he might evolve into something even more terrifying—perhaps a so-called Ōtsutsuki God.
As for a Chaos Body…
this wasn't Shrouding the Heavens. Without original physique templates, such evolution was impossible.
"It's time to lie low and cultivate."
"Even if I only grasp the surface of these techniques, my strength will still leap forward."
Integrating Emperor-level techniques into the chakra system would take time—at least one or two years of careful refinement.
Morning sunlight bathed Sunagakure.
Once gray and desolate, the village was now surrounded by grass and trees. Butterflies danced, birds sang—it looked more like the southern riverlands than a desert.
Waking amidst pale arms and slender legs, Feiyu pushed the woman resting on his chest aside and stood to dress.
"Mm… Lord Feiyu…"
The woman stirred, followed by others.
They rose naturally, helping him dress before tending to themselves.
Nearly two years had passed since Feiyu arrived in Sunagakure.
In that time, he caused no further upheaval, focusing solely on cultivation.
He mastered Sage Mode via the Great Dao Bottle.
Through the Myriad Transformations Sacred Art, he learned to dismantle ninjutsu into pure chakra absorption—akin to the Preta Path.
Through the Salvation God Art, he achieved genjutsu approaching Kotoamatsukami.
Most importantly, using Devouring Heaven techniques alongside Sunagakure's collected bloodline corpses, he optimized his physique to its absolute limit.
Same bloodline—vastly different outcomes.
Just as Hashirama surpassed Naruto despite both possessing Sage Bodies.
Beyond cultivation, Feiyu indulged freely.
Pakura and Karura were utterly obedient furnaces.
Sunagakure gave him anything he desired.
Every young, beautiful kunoichi with jōnin potential became his furnace.
Ironically, this indulgence revitalized Sunagakure.
Of the thirty-plus newly promoted jōnin in two years, twenty-four were his furnaces.
The Fifth Kazekage's "secret art" for rapidly empowering kunoichi was no longer a secret.
Joining the Kazekage's ANBU became every kunoichi's dream.
Those six early ANBU recruits were now elite jōnin.
Feiyu had sought pleasure—
and in doing so, restored Sunagakure's strength.
They lacked nothing now—except top-tier jōnin and Kage-level elites.
Pakura herself was no longer bottom-tier among Kage.
After two years of dual cultivation, she stood solidly mid-upper Kage level—nearly worthy of the title Strongest Kazekage.
With Karura beside her, Sunagakure hadn't returned to its peak—but it had recovered most of its vitality.
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