# Chapter 40: Lv.20
Entering the cave, the phantom of Tendo Pain was already waiting inside.
"You're late."
Although Tendo was merely a phantom formed by the Astral Projection Technique, those Rinnegan eyes were still captivating.
"The Jinchuriki was unexpectedly strong."
Deidara's chest still ached faintly; he had been traveling nonstop without time to recuperate.
Rumble, rumble. The massive stone outside the cave fell, plunging the interior into darkness.
"Let's begin."
Tendo formed hand seals and gestured for Su Xiao to place Gaara on the ground.
As Tendo slammed his palm against the earth, an ominous ripple spread outward.
Boom!
Dust surged as a colossal statue slowly rose from underground—this was the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path summoned by Tendo.
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had nine eyes. It appeared to be made of stone, but that wasn't the case. The statue was composed of high-density chakra, chakra so concentrated it had solidified into a physical form.
Two enormous hands extended from the front of the statue, shackles hanging from their wrists.
"Good. Assemble."
Several phantoms appeared on the fingertips of the Demonic Statue—the phantoms of Kisame, Itachi, and others. The Akatsuki members had been waiting for some time.
Counting Su Xiao, Tendo, and the others, there were seven phantoms and three people inside the cave.
Everyone stepped onto the fingertips of the Demonic Statue, filling exactly ten positions.
Without any visible action from Tendo, the shackles in front of the statue's mouth unlocked.
"From now on, this will last for three days. Everyone, be careful with your real bodies. Zetsu, have your real body arrive nearby as soon as possible to monitor the surroundings. Use that technique with the widest range."
"Understood."
After Tendo gave the order, Zetsu's phantom closed its eyes, looking completely obedient.
Black Zetsu was deeply hidden. Although he had the most 'seniority,' he never showed any abnormality.
Once everyone was in position, emerald light appeared on the fingers beneath the ten people. Different characters emerged within the light. The character beneath Su Xiao was 'Sky.'
"Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragon Nine Seals!"
Tendo shouted in a low voice as nine streams of chakra shot from the Demonic Statue's mouth. These chakra streams took the form of dragons, coiling around Gaara below.
Gaara's mouth opened wide as the Tailed Beast's unique chakra surged from his five senses.
Su Xiao watched with a racing heart—not because of how terrifying the scene was, but because he had absorbed a lot of Shukaku's chakra...
As it turned out, Tailed Beasts had strong regenerative abilities. Even though Su Xiao had nearly drained Shukaku half to death, the One-Tail had still recovered a considerable amount of chakra.
Moreover, this wasn't just extracting chakra—it was extracting the very essence of Shukaku from within Gaara.
"Hmm?"
Tendo seemed to sense something unusual.
"The One-Tail is... emaciated?"
Through his Rinnegan, Tendo saw Shukaku's true form. He had probably never seen the One-Tail before, but its wilted appearance made him suspicious.
"Emaciated?"
Deidara clearly had no idea what was going on.
"Not sure."
Sasori hadn't directly participated in capturing the One-Tail.
"Maybe I was too rough earlier?"
Su Xiao naturally had to bluff his way through. He had been in close contact with the Jinchuriki during the fight.
"Bai Ye, you captured the One-Tail Jinchuriki?"
"That's right."
"What happened at the time? Be specific."
Su Xiao described the situation, though naturally, it was an 'edited version.'
"That's how it was. A pale red chakra suddenly appeared, and there were faint shouts."
"What kind of shouts?"
"Couldn't make them out clearly. I only heard something about sealing. Not sure what exactly."
After hearing Su Xiao's explanation, Tendo nodded.
Although Nagato, who controlled Tendo, knew how to seal Tailed Beasts, the various ninja villages had many different methods. There had long been rumors that the One-Tail Jinchuriki was unstable. As for Su Xiao absorbing Tailed Beast chakra, Nagato didn't dwell on it and wouldn't care about such a detail.
"Forget it. The One-Tail can recover inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. As long as it's captured, that's enough. Maybe the Sand Village strengthened the One-Tail's seal."
Su Xiao had helped the Akatsuki capture the One-Tail. If Tendo kept pressing the issue, it would be unreasonable.
The mission was just the Jinchuriki. Who said absorbing Tailed Beast chakra wasn't allowed? Besides, other Akatsuki members also absorbed Tailed Beast chakra—Kisame, for example.
For now, the Akatsuki's goal was to seal the One-Tail inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. For each Tailed Beast sealed, one of the statue's eyes would open. The statue had nine eyes in total.
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was the shell of the Ten-Tails. Once all nine Tailed Beasts were gathered, the Ten-Tails would revive. More precisely, the Nine-Tails had been separated from the Ten-Tails.
And the true identity of the Ten-Tails was the Divine Tree, the origin of all chakra.
If Su Xiao could devour the Ten-Tails, his Azure Steel Shadow's level would skyrocket. Though tempting, it was just a fantasy.
The sealing of the One-Tail had begun and would take three days.
Su Xiao was essentially just a spectator. The ring on his finger was the 'real body'; he just had to stand there.
Su Xiao yawned and looked around. It was clear that everyone else was also bored, but no one could move.
Hidan, across from him, was making faces, unable to stay still for a moment. Deidara had his neck tilted, looking like he might fall off the statue's finger at any moment.
Kakuzu, Sasori, Itachi, Zetsu, Tendo, and the others sat like meditating monks, eyes closed and motionless.
Kisame looked helpless. Standing around like this was unbearably boring.
"Hey, hey, hey. This is way too boring."
The lively Hidan couldn't hold back any longer and spoke first.
"Shut up."
Tendo glanced at Hidan, who reluctantly fell silent.
The most carefree person present was none other than Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang looked at Itachi for a while, then at Hidan, who looked like he was about to 'suffocate.'
After wandering around for a bit, Bubu Wang started observing Gaara. With Su Xiao around, the other Akatsuki members didn't say anything.
An hour later, Bubu Wang got bored too and started exchanging glances with Hidan on the giant finger, as if trying to communicate.
When Hidan noticed Bubu Wang's gaze, he seemed to discover a new continent. He had finally found a way to pass the time. No one knew how these two goofballs communicated, but before long, they were getting along, making faces and having a great time. Kisame, observing this, struggled to hold back his laughter.
Su Xiao didn't bother with Bubu Wang amusing Hidan—yes, Bubu Wang was indeed amusing Hidan.
Opening his skill list, Su Xiao checked his Azure Steel Shadow, which had reached Lv.20. Its attributes had changed dramatically.
[Azure Steel Shadow (Active Skill)]
Activation Condition: After activating (Azure Steel Shadow), the Hunter consumes 50 Mana Points per minute. Automatically deactivates when Mana Points fall below 1%.
Skill Effect: After activating (Azure Steel Shadow), each melee attack burns 100 Mana Points from the enemy and deals True Damage equal to the burned Mana Points + 8% of the enemy's lost Mana Points (i.e., 100 True Damage + 5% of the enemy's lost Mana Points as True Damage). The enemy will suffer intense pain from the Mana burn.
Lv.20 Additional Ability:
Controller: Can highly materialize Azure Steel Shadow energy into three forms.
Form 1: Demon Hunting (This is the basic form of Azure Steel Shadow, burning enemy Mana Points and dealing True Damage.)
Form 2: Proud Song (This is the defensive form, capable of generating Energy Shields of any shape to defend against enemy attacks. Shield strength is related to Mana Points consumed, with a single-use Mana Point consumption cap of 300 points.)
Form 3: Azure Shadow King (Not Awakened)
PS: (The last chapter wouldn't display after being sent for a long time. Frustrating.)