Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Phoenix Model.
Arin tossed the melon-shaped fruit in his hand, deep in thought.
"The Phoenix Fruit... Marco's ability."
Marco, the doctor of the Whitebeard Pirates from the One Piece world.
He was debating whether or not to eat it.
Its regenerative abilities were absurdly powerful, but it lacked overwhelming destructive power.
It excelled at healing.
And that phoenix form...
Honestly, it looked a little ugly.
Rubbing his chin, Arin muttered,
"Still, it suits me pretty well."
"I don't need a Devil Fruit for offensive power. My own abilities are already strong enough."
"What I lack is sustained recovery."
"If I combine this with Essence and keep spending resources like a pay-to-win warrior, my endurance will become ridiculous."
Then again, he rarely got injured in the first place.
His Transformation Technique handled most situations.
Only Kage-level opponents could truly wound him.
In the end, he bit into the fruit.
A Mythical Zoan was a Mythical Zoan.
Aside from the special case of the Nika Fruit, most of them were roughly comparable in value.
The moment he took a bite—
"Ugh!"
Arin nearly gagged.
"Did they really have to recreate the taste this accurately?"
It was like eating rotten food.
Not just rotten.
There was a disgusting fishy aftertaste mixed in.
Blue flames ignited across his body.
Arin raised both hands.
Black-blue flames burned in his left palm.
Pale blue flames burned in his right.
A pair of flaming wings unfolded behind him.
This time, however, three different colors intertwined together.
His stamina surged upward.
At the same time, his chakra reserves began multiplying.
A long moment passed.
Then—
Blue, black, and golden flames erupted across his entire body.
His form transformed into a massive azure phoenix.
Spreading its wings, it released a clear cry.
Kyaaaang!
The surrounding landscape instantly turned to ash beneath the blue flames.
Yet from the scorched earth, countless tender green sprouts emerged.
Destruction.
And rebirth.
Arin shot into the sky.
Soon he spotted two battlefields where fierce fighting was underway.
Without hesitation, he dove toward one of them.
Uchiha Fugaku was fighting a desperate battle.
The Mist shinobi vastly outnumbered them.
They were throwing themselves against Konoha's defenses again and again.
Behind them lay the Land of Fire.
Failure wasn't an option.
At this rate, Fugaku doubted they could even hold out half a month.
Then suddenly—
Someone pointed toward the sky.
"What is that?!"
Fugaku looked up.
His pupils contracted.
"That's..."
"A phoenix!"
A mythical creature from ancient legends.
Its existence supposedly predated even the era of the Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya.
"It's coming this way!"
BOOM!
The phoenix crashed directly into the battlefield.
Blue flames exploded outward.
The phoenix transformed back into Arin.
With a single step, he vanished.
A black streak flashed through the Mist ranks.
Blood sprayed.
Bodies flew apart.
Everything touched by the flames was reduced to ash.
"It's Lord Arin!"
Someone shouted excitedly.
Cheers erupted among the Konoha forces.
Fugaku's gaze sharpened.
Watching Arin slaughter his way through the enemy ranks, he realized something terrifying.
Not a single Mist shinobi could survive even one exchange.
Anyone who came into contact with him was instantly cut apart.
"So strong..."
Fugaku couldn't help but mutter.
This was the first time he had witnessed Arin fight seriously.
One man.
And the entire battlefield changed instantly.
Seeing the situation collapse, the Mist shinobi immediately began retreating.
Arin stood where he was.
He didn't bother chasing them.
Instead, he transformed back into the blue phoenix and flew toward the second battlefield.
At the third front line, the Mist forces had already begun withdrawing.
News of the collapse of the other two battlefields had reached them.
Unfortunately—
They were too late.
The two armies had already separated into distinct formations.
A phoenix cloaked in azure flames descended from the sky.
Midair, it transformed into Arin once more.
He raised a hand.
Countless blue flaming arrows materialized behind him.
They shot toward the retreating Mist shinobi.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions echoed across the battlefield.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
An enormous wall of water rose before the Mist forces.
The barrier blocked countless flaming arrows.
Arin raised both hands.
A gigantic fireball formed between them.
Then he hurled it forward.
BOOM!
The resulting explosion shook the battlefield.
The flames consumed the water wall.
Even so, many Mist shinobi managed to escape.
Arin sighed.
"Seriously."
"Who invented Water Formation Wall?"
Fire Release was naturally weak against Water Release.
Against a reinforced defensive technique like that, there wasn't much even he could do.
The Mist shinobi quickly escaped.
Still—
The harvest from this battle was extraordinary.
His total experience had exceeded ten million.
Experience Pool: 12,587,585
A new all-time record.
Kirigakure chose to retreat.
Inside headquarters, Arin sat in the commander's chair.
"Lord Arin."
Every Uchiha present looked at him with blazing admiration.
A single person had reversed the entire war effort.
How could they not worship him?
Back then, why had the Uchiha abandoned Madara?
Because he lost to Hashirama.
Many Uchiha respected Hashirama because of that victory.
If the two had ended in a draw, would the Uchiha have abandoned Madara?
Absolutely not.
"Lord Arin..."
Uchiha Jin spoke cautiously.
"Have you reached the level of the First Hokage?"
Arin lounged lazily with his legs resting on the table.
"Not quite."
His Fire Release wasn't inferior to Hashirama's Wood Release.
His regeneration was now arguably even stronger.
Hashirama had Sage Mode.
Arin had Bankai.
The only area where he still lagged behind was chakra reserves.
Hashirama's Sage Body wasn't merely about regeneration.
His chakra pool was monstrous.
Only the Nine-Tails could truly compare.
So yes.
There was still a small gap.
Arin's current chakra reserves were probably around the level of Shukaku.
Possibly even less than Madara's.
But now that he possessed over ten million experience points, both of his top-tier elemental paths were maxed.
At this point, he wasn't significantly weaker than Hashirama anymore.
And now—
He was finally stepping fully into the realm of the Super Kage.
"Lord Arin."
Fugaku suddenly spoke.
"Do you want to become Hokage?"
Arin rubbed his chin before shaking his head.
"I have absolutely no interest in being Hokage."
"If you're looking to invest in someone, I'd recommend Minato Namikaze or Nawaki."
"Those two are genuinely interested in the position."
Though exactly how Hiruzen planned to suppress their achievements remained a mystery.
From Hiruzen's perspective, Arin and Nawaki were the two most troublesome candidates.
And the two least likely to obey him.
Nawaki already had support from nearly half the village.
If he became Hokage, did anyone really think Hiruzen would dare pull tricks behind the scenes?
Tsunade would be the first to object.
As for Arin becoming Hokage—
He'd sooner twist Hiruzen's head off.
The candidate Hiruzen truly wanted was still the harmless little sun of Konoha.
Minato Namikaze.
Fugaku's expression darkened.
If Arin became Hokage, the Uchiha would never continue to be suppressed.
Arin agreed with that logic.
After all—
He only wanted a few eyes.
He definitely wasn't planning to wipe out the Uchiha.
That was a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, he had no intention of becoming Hokage.
And after the war ended, the things he intended to do would make it impossible for him to hold that position anyway.
A cold smile slowly appeared on Arin's face.
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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