Although there were some unexpected turns during the process of subduing the Shark Sage...

This shark really knew how to read the room.

Still, being able to win someone over without a fight was the ideal outcome.

To be honest, sharks urinate through their skin. Uchiha Kirin was genuinely worried that eating one might leave his mouth reeking of piss. At best, it might just upset his stomach; at worst, it could leave a psychological scar. If that happened and he couldn't bring himself to barbecue summoning beasts anymore, that'd be a real problem...

Besides, given his current strength, it was just absurd that he didn't even have a single subordinate. Running around doing everything himself, no matter how big or small the task—that was seriously beneath him.

...

The timely arrival of the shark clan was perfect.

They had decent status in the ocean and knew a lot. After being subdued, they could clearly save him a great deal of time and effort.

This—this was exactly why powerful people established their own factions!

Delegate the grunt work to subordinates. Sit back, relax, and get stronger. Only step in personally at critical moments...

With that in mind, Uchiha Kirin immediately painted the Shark Sage a glorious future.

He spoke of working together to continuously expand the local Dragon Vein, turning this place into something that could rival the Three Great Sacred Grounds.

Maybe even surpass them one day.

By then, the Shark Sage would be the second-in-command under Uchiha Kirin himself!

"You believe that?"

"I do!"

At first, Kirin thought this shark must have something wrong with his head—too easy to fool.

But after some more conversation, Uchiha Kirin realized that while the Shark Sage did have something wrong with his head, it wasn't just a matter of being empty-headed and gullible.

He was just way too prone to overthinking things.

The moment he saw Kirin's newly-sprouted dragon horn and white scales, he kept speculating about his connection to the White Snake Sage.

To be fair, there was a connection, but Kirin didn't answer directly. He just let the shark keep guessing.

Across both lifetimes, Kirin had never been flattered like this before.

His first taste of bootlicking actually came from a shark. The world truly was a strange place.

As the flattery flew thick and fast, the Shark Sage took Uchiha Kirin for a swim through the entire first half of the Dragon Spine.

This section of the Dragon Vein was a massive hollow mountain range submerged beneath the sea, with a crisscrossing network of tunnels filled with natural energy of the Water, Fire, and Earth types.

The deeper they went, the denser the natural energy became, and the more intense the Dragon Vein's environmental influence. It greatly enhanced physical strength.

At the very bottom, the gravity there could exceed dozens of times that of the surface!

And the water temperature at the base reached levels comparable to magma—over a thousand degrees—but it didn't boil. The intense gravity and water pressure kept it in check, turning the area into a life-forbidden zone.

Even the Shark Sage himself didn't dare approach it. He would only occasionally dive partway down to test his progress, then quickly retreat...

...

Besides the natural terrain, the Shark Sage also mentioned that the front half of the Dragon Spine held three treasures:

The first was obvious: the Dragon Vein's exposed outlet. Natural energy constantly surged from it, with just the right pressure and temperature.

Training there allowed one to infuse natural energy into every corner of the body.

The second was a massive cauldron. Its base sat atop a thermal spring connected directly to the high-temperature, high-gravity "forbidden zone" deep within the Dragon Vein.

Originally, the area was completely unusable.

But after arriving, the Shark Sage spent a fortune to trade with land-based summoning beast clans and acquired a huge chunk of chakra metal. He forged it into a pot-shaped seal to block the vent.

It was absolutely top-notch for cooking. Even seasoned natural energy practitioners would be instantly cooked through. Even the Shark Sage couldn't withstand it for long...

Only someone with a monstrously durable body like Uchiha Kirin could turn this place into a medicinal hot spring and enjoy its mysteries.

As for the third treasure, it was a hidden treasure cave located in a cooler section deep inside the Dragon Vein.

According to the Shark Sage, it housed all sorts of rare treasures from both the ninja world and the ocean.

Uchiha Kirin took a tour.

The so-called treasures from the ninja world were mostly useless trinkets and standard kunai. There was also a stack of Explosive Tags frozen in ice. Aside from a few decent-quality ninja swords, there wasn't much of value.

Clearly, this big shark didn't understand land-based items very well...

Fortunately, the sea-related items were much better.

There were piles of natural energy-infused pearls, heaps of seaweed with medicinal properties (like the ones used for making soup earlier), and even a decent amount of chakra metal ore.

There were also some seabed corals with hardness rivaling chakra metal—excellent forging materials.

According to the Shark Sage, the pearls were tributes from the local clam tribe. When ground into powder and applied to the skin, they helped quickly repair physical injuries and improve body flexibility.

The seaweed was a gift from the Eel Sage, who lived in the latter half of the Dragon Spine. The Shark Sage usually used it for soup.

The chakra metal had been acquired through trade with land-based summoning beast clans. The ultra-hard coral was native to his territory. Since he didn't know what it could be used for, he kept it around for bartering.

...

As Uchiha Kirin listened to the Shark Sage's explanations, he swam back and forth around the exposed Dragon Vein outlet.

He noticed a peculiar-looking stone.

It was the very one blocking the Dragon Vein outlet. Though it looked like an ordinary massive rock and could be shattered easily, it was inscribed with densely packed but blurry red markings.

What made it most unique was its ability to perfectly seal the Dragon Vein, preventing even the slightest leak of natural energy!

The Shark Sage claimed the rock was already there when he arrived. Other than its ability to plug the outlet, he didn't know anything special about it.

"Strange. I can't sense any special power from it... but maybe it's related to sealing techniques."

Uchiha Kirin set the boulder back in place and decided he'd ask the Ninja Cats later. As one of the best-informed groups among land-based summoning beasts, they also dealt in intel...

...

"Hey, old shark, why don't you go invite those other two guys to the feast?"

Uchiha Kirin smirked, instantly coming up with a plan to take over the entire Dragon Vein without lifting a finger.

"That... might not work. That old white ape won't come."

"He won't? Why? Can't he swim?"

The Shark Sage looked a little dejected as he explained.

The White Ape Sage was the strongest of the three. He occupied the middle section of the Dragon Vein, where natural energy was most abundant.

He was said to possess unique abilities akin to the divine arts of the sages from the Three Great Sacred Grounds!

He even regularly demanded offerings—treasures delivered by their clanspeople. But those who went never returned...

Once, the Shark Sage and the Eel Sage teamed up to confront the White Ape Sage about it. But the white ape's body was said to be indestructible like diamond. He easily fought both of them off, leaving them seriously injured.

Since then, they hadn't dared voice any objections, even as their clanspeople kept disappearing.

And they'd come to believe that the White Ape Sage would eventually rise to the same level as the Three Great Sacred Grounds' sages—and that sooner or later, they'd be driven out...

...

"Forget it. Just trick—uh, invite the Eel Sage instead."

Since that was the case, Uchiha Kirin decided to deal with the White Ape Sage later. For now, he'd focus on subduing the Eel Sage and see if he could scrounge up some good stuff from him first. No need to rush...

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