Chapter 643: The Thirty Million Ryo Head

If one cannot open the Eighth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates by the age of forty, then one will likely never be able to open it, because the body has already begun to head toward aging.

Not everyone can open to the Eighth Gate.

Even the Seventh or Sixth Gate is enough to trap the vast majority of ninjas.

But the Lei Dun Body Tempering secret technique allowed Lu Chen to see the dawn of opening the Eighth Gate, because the cultivation of this ninjutsu could make it easier for him to open the subsequent gates!

Perhaps cultivating this secret technique would require a large amount of his time, taking a year or even many years to reach a sufficient level, and in the short term, it might actually slow down his progress in opening the Eighth Gate of the Lei Dun!

Opening to the Eighth Gate.

For him, it meant invincibility.

In the state of time acceleration, opening to the Eighth Gate—let alone Uchiha Madara, even Kaguya Otsutsuki would likely not be able to withstand a single blow from him!

In the time that followed, Lu Chen began a long period of cultivation.

Because his body was more adapted to Lei Dun chakra, and his chakra volume had gradually reached the Kage level, the upgraded version of Chidori, Raikiri, was also mastered by Lu Chen relatively easily during this process.

Compared to Chidori, Raikiri no longer had the screeching sound of a thousand birds; the lightning-attribute chakra was more condensed and concentrated, and the piercing power was also greater.

650 Furthermore.

Cultivating the Lei Dun Body Tempering secret technique also allowed Lu Chen's body itself to obtain further improvements in speed and strength.

Combining all of this, it made him feel that even without relying on the Kusanagi Sword to use the 'Heavenly Flash' technique, he could break through the Third Raikage's defense!

"My current strength should already be considered Beyond-Kage level."

Lu Chen murmured in his heart, but then shook his head slightly, saying: "No, if compared to Nagato... it should still be lacking..."

Facing the Six Paths of Pain, with his current strength, he had enough confidence to fight one against six and kill the opponent, but facing Nagato's true body, he would still fall into trouble.

Nagato's true body was too strong.

In the original work, Kabuto, who was unfamiliar with Nagato's power, controlled Nagato's body recklessly and still suppressed Naruto and Killer Bee, who could already enter the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode; if not for Uchiha Itachi saving the situation, both of them would likely have been finished on the spot.

If it were Nagato himself, who was more familiar with his own power, fighting, then even if Uchiha Itachi, Naruto, and Killer Bee joined forces, they might not be able to win.

Whether he could resist Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in was one thing.

With the Preta Path that absorbs chakra, the Human Path that can directly strip away the soul upon contact, and the ocular techniques of the Rinnegan itself, it would likely be able to clearly capture his movements.

Thinking carefully, Lu Chen felt that facing Nagato at this time would still be very tricky; if he were too aggressive, he might be killed by the opponent's Human Path ability.

That was an ability targeting the soul!

"Need further cultivation."

After Lu Chen murmured, he dissipated the Raikiri in his palm and continued to practice.

Time flew by.

Several months passed in a flash.

During these months, the Ninja World gradually returned to calm.

Although the war had not truly ended, the current state of the major ninja villages was like a husky on a leash that had suddenly been let go; the atmosphere, which had previously seemed to be arguing incessantly and ready to fight to the death at any moment, suddenly became solidified.

The cause of all this was naturally because Lu Chen's feat of slaying Hanzo of the Salamander was too shocking, making the major ninja villages have a deep dread of Lu Chen, not daring to act rashly again.

The Mist ninjas retreated to the Land of Water.

The Cloud ninjas also huddled in the Land of Lightning.

The Rock ninjas also retreated to the border of the Land of Earth to observe the movements of the Ninja World.

And during this time when the Ninja World became calm, Lu Chen cultivated the Lei Dun Body Tempering secret technique from the initial entry level to a level that was almost not weak in one go.

This so-called 'not weak' meant that without using time acceleration, without using the Eight Inner Gates and other abilities, relying solely on the Lei Dun Chakra Mode, he had strength approaching the Kage level.

Of course.

This also had to do with the fact that Lu Chen's current chakra volume had fully reached the Kage-level standard.

After cultivating to this level, the progress of further improvement became much slower; in fact, this Lei Dun secret technique did not have specific stages, it was just accumulating and stacking bit by bit.

The Third Raikage likely cultivated this ninjutsu from childhood, practicing for decades as if it were one day, accumulating physical strength and this secret technique to a terrifying level.

In fact.

The upper limit of this secret technique, in Lu Chen's view, might be even higher than the Eight Inner Gates; if one could cultivate for thousands or tens of thousands of years, it was impossible to imagine to what extent the body could be tempered.

Of course, these were just assumptions; without the Six Paths power, one simply couldn't live that long, and the further one cultivated, the more massive and intense the required chakra volume had to be.

Lu Chen's slow cultivation progress also had to do with his chakra volume not keeping up with the progress.

A chakra volume that barely reached the Kage level could only be cultivated to this extent.

"It's time to go back."

Lu Chen twisted his neck and stood up from the rock.

Although he had been cultivating during this time, he usually went to the nearest small town to eat and drink, where he occasionally came into contact with ninjas, so he had always been aware of the situation in the Ninja World and knew that the situation in Konoha had completely stabilized.

"Go eat something first..." ===== CHAPTER 645 =====