Naruto: Unlocking Kaido Template

The moon was already high in the west when Zixu returned home. A few crows perched on the branches, unwilling to be alone. Their pale red eyes gleamed in the darkness as they watched passersby below. A gust of wind swept through, startling the crows into flight, their sharp cries echoing in the night.

"Change is harder than you think. They've grown used to being ruled by ninjas. Even if they complain, they won't put up real resistance. Instead, they numb themselves and convince themselves this life is good. Simply put, it's 'institutionalization.'"

Zixu thought of a movie he had seen before. These civilians weren't just afraid of change—they lacked the courage to face it. Making them understand that they had to fight for themselves, that they couldn't rely on ninjas forever, was as difficult as getting feudal survivors to accept a modern democratic society.

"This isn't something that can be accomplished overnight. Making weapons and tools is easy, but changing people's beliefs is the hardest part."

Unable to find a solution, exhaustion overtook Zixu. As soon as he lay down, he drifted into sleep.

And in his dream, he was once again alone at sea.

Towering waves rose into the sky, forming an enormous wall of water that blocked out the sun. The gray-black ocean stretched endlessly, mirroring the stormy sky above. It was truly a scene of dark clouds pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it.

The waves shifted and twisted, their shapes constantly changing. From within the water, massive serpents emerged. The smallest of them was as tall as a four-story building, their fangs dwarfing even a full-sized bus. Yet, compared to the towering water wall, even these monstrous snakes were like mere earthworms before an ancient tree.

And then, there was Zixu.

A lone figure in this hellish seascape.

For anyone else, this sight alone would have been enough to make them faint from sheer terror. The overwhelming scale of the creatures was like a waking nightmare—good news for anyone with trypophobia or megalophobia.

Even Zixu, within the dream, felt fear creeping up his spine. But he had not lost the ability to think.

Everyone experiences fear, but only the strong have the courage to act despite it.

At this moment, Zixu had no idea he was dreaming. His instincts took over as he prepared to fight the approaching monstrosities.

But he quickly realized something unsettling.

The only ability he could use was to silence the surrounding space.

Zixu immediately recognized this as the power of the Silence Fruit, a Devil Fruit that had once been mocked as one of the most useless abilities in existence.

Even so, he didn't give up.

Struggling against the giant serpents, he attempted to awaken his Conqueror's Haki. Unfortunately, his mastery of it was still in its infancy. Without strong opponents to push him forward, his control over it was weak. And as for the Silence Fruit—a power that had barely shown any offensive use in the original story—he had no clue how to develop it effectively.

For a brief moment, the situation seemed overwhelmingly bleak.

The black water wall loomed closer, compressing Zixu's already limited space. The serpents slithered through the waves, their massive bodies brushing against him, leaving deep, burning cuts on his skin. The saltwater seeped into his wounds, intensifying the pain.

But instead of breaking his will, the agony only stoked the fire within him. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"You wanna kill me? Then come on!"

Zixu no longer held back.

He shed his usual restraint, casting aside the cautious persona he had maintained for so long. For the first time in ages, his true self emerged—sharp and unyielding, like a blade finally drawn from its sheath.

In the dangerous world of ninjas, he had hidden his edge, fearing that a single misstep would expose his secrets. But after wearing the mask for so long, he had begun to forget which face was truly his.

Now, in this moment of desperation, he released everything.

His fighting spirit surged.

Zixu's movements became faster, his reactions sharper. Weaving between the colossal water serpents, he dodged their relentless assaults. Their massive bodies crashed into each other, sending towering waves into the air. The force of the collisions sent shockwaves rippling through the sea, making it harder for him to keep his footing.

And yet, he pushed forward.

Water splashed violently around him as he danced between the serpents, narrowly avoiding their deadly fangs. His breath came in ragged gasps, but his eyes burned with determination.

The scene was pure chaos—like something straight out of Anaconda, but with a shirtless, red-haired boy covered in wounds, running through a horde of massive pythons. His body was covered in cuts, his pants stained red with blood, but there was always a wild grin on his face.

More and more water snakes appeared, falling like rain from the sky. The giant wall of water was closing in faster and faster, and the surroundings felt like an endless purgatory. The faint light in the sky was swallowed up little by little, and the sea turned darker and darker.

The black seawater felt strangely sticky. Zixu's movements grew sluggish, his strength fading like a man lost in the desert, moments away from dehydration.

At death's door, he let out a primal roar, pouring every last bit of his strength into one final move. He launched himself toward the sliver of light that hadn't yet been blocked by the water wall, refusing to leave any regrets behind.

Deep down, he knew it was pointless. The Silence Fruit had no offensive capabilities. Its only power was to make everything silent. But he still pushed forward, if only to prove to himself that he wouldn't give up.

Then, something unexpected happened.

An invisible wave burst from Zixu's body. The water snakes lunging at him with gaping jaws suddenly froze, as if struck by an unseen force. A large, spherical space formed around him, and the snakes disintegrated into water droplets, turning into rain that scattered through the sky.

But that wasn't the strangest part.

The invisible impact seemed to trigger some kind of violent chain reaction. The energy Zixu had just released combined with the force around him, spreading throughout the entire space like a ripple.

Everything stopped.

The water snakes, mid-fall, were frozen in the air. The entire world went still, as if...

As if the world itself had fallen silent.

"Silence... So this is the true power of silence... It doesn't just mute sound—it can silence energy, motion, even space and time? The world is too noisy... so the world itself must become quiet... Is this the path to awakening the Silence Fruit?"

Zixu was shaken to his core.

A fruit he had always considered useless—fit only for espionage—was suddenly revealing an upper limit beyond anything he had imagined. It was no weaker than the most powerful Devil Fruits out there.

"There are no useless fruits. Every fruit has limitless potential—it all depends on the imagination of the one who wields it. Corazon died too young. If he had lived long enough to develop this power, he might have even surpassed Doflamingo."

Zixu reached out, wanting to examine the silent water snakes more closely.

Then, another strange phenomenon occurred.

The space around him cracked, like shattered glass. The entire world fragmented into irregular pieces, breaking apart.

Zixu snapped awake.

---

Gasp.

Zixu exhaled sharply, his chest heaving as he sucked in air greedily. After catching his breath, he wiped the sweat from his face and got up to wash himself off.

"A dream... But it felt so real. Could this be linked to my Haki awakening?"

He picked up a towel, drying his face while silently asking the system in his mind.

[This was a test of the demonic power within your spiritual world. The host may experience similar situations as your Haki awakens. This is a normal phenomenon.]

Zixu let out a breath of relief.

"As long as I'm not going to randomly drop dead in my sleep, it's fine. Hell, I wouldn't mind doing it a few more times. That was one hell of an experience."

After this, he felt strangely at ease—like something had been unblocked within him.

In Daoist terms, it was as if his heart had achieved enlightenment.

His aura had shifted. If before, he resembled a dormant serpent, now he felt more like a newborn dragon, its tiny horns just beginning to form. A faint, domineering presence clung to him.

Testing his Devil Fruit's power, Zixu formed a few hand seals and summoned a shadow clone. Then, he transferred the restless Silence Fruit energy into it.

The moment the Devil Fruit's power entered the clone, its personality subtly shifted. It felt like watching an oppressed daughter-in-law finally return home to her parents' house to vent her grievances. Zixu could almost hear the Silence Fruit itself complaining about its suffering.

"Alright, alright, enough whining. Get up and move. I'm counting on you to master this damn ability so I don't have to deal with it myself."

Zixu patted his sulking clone.

He had noticed something interesting—whenever he transferred the Silence Fruit's power to a clone, the clone's personality seemed to change, almost as if it had merged with the will of the Devil Fruit itself.

The clone still obeyed him, but its mannerisms gave off the illusion that it was the Silence Fruit.

"Fine." The clone lazily responded but still activated its ability.

An invisible barrier expanded, enveloping the entire room.

Instantly, every sound vanished.

The rustling leaves outside, the howling wind, the distant wails of a stray cat in heat—gone. Even Zixu's own breathing fell into eerie silence. The entire space felt muted, as if reality itself had been turned off.

Zixu's mouth twitched.

He tried speaking, but no sound came out. After several exaggerated gestures proved useless, he finally resorted to punching his clone in frustration.

The ability was dispelled, and sound returned.

"You need to train harder. You're nowhere near that level yet. The power of the Silence Fruit goes far beyond this. Now you see I wasn't lying to you."

"So that means you have been lying to me before?" the clone retorted.

"That's not the point."

Zixu rolled his eyes. "The point is, you need to push yourself harder. Before, we didn't know the Silence Fruit had this kind of upper limit. Now that we do, you've got no excuse not to master it."

He spoke like an experienced teacher lecturing a student.

Honestly, he was starting to feel less like a ninja and more like a Pokémon trainer—except instead of training creatures, he was training his own clone.

Or rather, he was training the Devil Fruit power within his clone.

And strangely enough, the Devil Fruit seemed to retain the memory of its interactions with him.

No matter how his clones were before, the moment they were infused with the Silence Fruit's power, their personalities all ended up the same way.

"Maybe I should start thinking about what kind of Pokémon I want to train next. Being a ninja is way harder than being a trainer."

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