Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 263 The Power Struggle Among Backstage Bosses

After Xia Zuo thought of Odin, the king of the gods, his confused thoughts suddenly became clear.

He finally realized what mistake he had made.

Odin paid him to take care of his son, but that didn't guarantee Thor would be unharmed.

This battle itself was a farce!

Or rather, from the moment Thor defeated the weakened Hephaestus and brought the mask back to Asgard, Odin knew that the fate he had been trying so hard to avoid was already before him.

The destruction of Asgard and Ragnarok were inevitable.

But Odin's foolish son didn't understand anything. He was so engrossed in bravery, victory, and glory that he couldn't extricate himself from it. No matter what he said, it went in one ear and out the other, and he didn't take it to heart at all.

That won't do!

Thor is the only one capable of inheriting Odin's power, so he is destined to inherit Odin's throne as the god-king.

Odin had absolute confidence in himself, believing that the destruction of Asgard and the coming of Ragnarok would inevitably occur after his death.

Therefore, after the destruction of Asgard, the only person who could bear the responsibility of protecting the people of Asgard was Thor, who had succeeded Odin as the God-King.

Without a homeland, Asgard has no foundation and is naturally one of the countless wandering races in the universe, no longer having the confidence to be invincible.

The leaders of Asgard must possess both an iron fist and a flexible mind; they must have an accurate judgment of the situation; and they must do what is in the best interest of the people of Asgard without hesitation.

When doing things, one must be absolutely flexible; be firm when necessary and lenient when appropriate.

Making an accurate judgment is already extremely difficult, and making a firm decision requires Thor to give up everything, including his dignity and honor.

Thor, whose mind is now filled with nothing but glory, is absolutely incapable of shouldering such a heavy responsibility.

Moreover, his pride will inevitably kill him in the harsh future, and even kill everyone in Asgard.

That's why Odin angrily stripped Mjolnir of his power, sealed Thor's divine abilities, and threw him and his hammer into Midgard.

This is a trial, and the battle we are in now is the test of that trial.

Shazor, however, intervened with his legion, disrupting Odin's plans.

Although he toned down his all-out attack and didn't try to take on everything, putting the Destroyer at a disadvantage already rendered the test meaningless.

Seeing Thor scratching his head, anxious about not being able to join the battle instead of worrying about his companions' safety, Xia Zuo completely understood where the danger came from.

Damn it, if this keeps up, one of my fathers will have to personally intervene in the battle. Just how terrifying would the Destroyer be when it unleashes its full power? It's unimaginable.

Xia Zuo dared not hesitate any longer and manipulated the electromagnetic force to begin assisting the Destroyer in reverse.

The Destroyer's overall strength was actually quite high, but his weakness of slow decision-making was exploited, which is why he was suppressed by the combined efforts of everyone.

When Shazo turned around and helped the Destroyer, he simply made up for its weakness, which was enough to fundamentally reverse the situation of the battle and greatly increase the pressure on the goddess Sif and the Abomination.

The atmosphere on the battlefield changed instantly.

The Asgardians looked tense, their hatred growing increasingly ferocious, and Skye kept glancing anxiously at Shazor.

Thor, struggling to make his way to the battlefield through the blizzard, showed genuine fear on his face as he began to worry about the safety of his companions.

Shazor breathed a sigh of relief. He could feel the danger fading. Clearly, Odin, his father, had approved of Shazor's actions and abandoned his own plans.

In a dimension beyond Xia Zuo's reach, Odin, whose divine body was as large as a planet, clad in a full set of divine armor, and radiating a brilliant divine light, sighed and slowly withdrew his hand.

He spoke in a low voice, "Thank you very much for your tolerance, Your Holiness the Supreme Master."

The Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, appeared before Odin from nothing. She was still the size of an ordinary human, but in Odin's eyes, she was as magnificent as himself, and even slightly larger.

This is a divine dimension, and everything that can be presented is based on divinity.

The Ancient One's divine magic, capable of making Odin feel like he was on equal footing with her, was definitely no less than Odin's Odin Power.

The fact that the Ancient One could maintain the body of an ordinary human demonstrates the terrifying extent of her powerful control over her own strength.

Odin clicked his tongue in astonishment: "Tsk tsk, esteemed Sorcerer Supreme, such immense magical power... have you recently tricked several dimensional primals and drained them of all their magic?"

The Ancient One chuckled: "I did encounter a few dimensional demons who didn't recognize me, but my power was mainly obtained by tricking Dormammu."

Odin, his face filled with shock, exclaimed, "Dormammu?"

"Is He a stupid pig?"

"If I remember correctly, you have deceived Him at least three times, each time causing Him to lose more than half of His dark magic power, resulting in a severe blow to His vitality."

"Where did He get the courage to deal with you?"

The Ancient One smiled gently: "No, Dormammu isn't that stupid. He only corrupted my disciple Kaecilius, wanting to turn him into his puppet, and then have the puppet Kaecilius kill me."

"I lied to Dormammu so many times before, and He saw through almost all of my lies. The only thing He doesn't know is that the efficiency of converting dark magic into mage magic after it was introduced into Earth is not one-thousandth."

"I didn't want to make Him even angrier, so I secretly intercepted 99% of the dark magic He was transmitting to Casillas."

"In this way, Kaecilius demonstrated ten times my talent for dark magic, which allowed Dormammu to invest even more resources."

Odin: "—Poor Dormammu."

He glanced at the calm and composed Ancient One and murmured, "—the terrifying Sorcerer Supreme."

The Ancient One suddenly smiled: "Your Excellency Odin, although Shazor understood your meaning in time, avoiding the drain on your personal resources, your divinity has remained in the Earth plane, which must have been incredibly taxing, right?"

"Do you want to die?"

Upon uttering these words, the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, remained expressionless, but her aura suddenly shifted, and a chilling, dark, terrifying, and dangerous feeling enveloped the massive, planet-like Odin.

Odin understood the two meanings contained in the Ancient One's words:

The first speculation is that Odin prioritized testing his son's character over maintaining his own health, perhaps because he had lived long enough and wanted to abdicate.

The second meaning is a warning to Odin: although you are the ruler of the Nine Realms, you have been close to Earth in the divine dimension for so long. Don't you think you are taking the Ancient One too seriously and want to fight again?

Upon hearing the Ancient One's warning of war, Odin shook his head with a wry smile and voluntarily withdrew his divine power, indicating his lack of interest in war.

He couldn't help but sigh, realizing that he was getting old after all.

They actually retreated to avoid the outbreak of war after being threatened by a 500-year-old girl.

If it were 3000 years ago, Odin would definitely fight the Sorcerer Supreme to the bitter end, either using the Ancient One's blood to wash away the shame of being threatened, or sacrificing his own life to restore Asgard's prestige.

Of course, it's also important that the Ancient One issued the threat of war. This guardian of Earth is truly tough, and also truly cunning and treacherous.

Last time, I didn't back down, and the two of us had a fierce battle, but the fight was anything but enjoyable.

The Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, never directly confronts Odin; she's always going in circles, navigating mazes, and setting up puzzles, making the fight increasingly unpleasant.

After a ten-year war, Odin never got to see the Ancient One. All his strength had nowhere to go, and his fighting spirit was worn down.

Odin was finally disgusted and chose to back down, allowing Earth to be completely under the protection of the Ancient One.

The painful feeling of constantly battling against the air still makes Odin's teeth ache whenever he thinks about it.

Odin yielded, his divine power returned to Asgard, and his enormous size shrank until he was only the size of an ordinary person.

The Ancient One also breathed a sigh of relief, sealing the dark power back into her body and ending her fighting stance.

With a wave of her hand, she conjured up a platform, a coffee table, a futon, and a tea set, inviting Odin to have tea.

Odin, now back to human size, no longer wears armor; instead, he sports a suit and has snow-white hair and beard, making him look like a kind old man.

He sat down opposite the Ancient One with a smile and said with emotion, "I'm completely old now. No matter how well I maintain my health, I can only live for another two or three hundred years, no more than that."

"Instead of merely surviving for such a short time, most of which is spent sleeping, I think it's more worthwhile to make good use of the remaining years to raise my sons well."

The Ancient One gave Odin a deep look and smiled enigmatically.

The Sorcerer Supreme did not speak, but quietly poured a cup of tea and invited Odin, the King of Gods, to taste it.

In fact, both of them knew that the seemingly peaceful concession and resolution just now actually meant that the Sorcerer Supreme, who possessed the Eye of Agamotto, was not as honest as he seemed.

She must have used the power of the Time Stone to fight Odin in different parallel timelines.

More than once.

Odin believed that the Ancient One knew the secret that he became more powerful the closer he got to death.

In the instant before his death, Odin's power, boiling to its limit, will unleash its peak destructive force.

Although it can only deliver one blow, killing the Celestials is definitely not a problem, and killing the Sorcerer Supreme would be even easier.

The problem is that all timelines that involve killing the Sorcerer Supreme will be invalidated because they are rejected by the Sorcerer Supreme.

The Sorcerer Supreme, who possesses the Eye of Agamotto, is virtually immortal unless he chooses not to die.

Otherwise, why don't all those demons in the universe and even the multiverse retaliate after the Ancient One has stolen their magic through borrowing, deception, or robbery?

It's because too many demons actually sought revenge, and ended up getting their heads ripped off by the Ancient One. Some had their magic drained again, while others lost their very essence.

Countless demons have proven with their lives and even more magic that the Ancient One owes them a debt, and the best way to deal with it is to pretend she doesn't exist.

In short, the current situation is that neither Odin nor the Sorcerer Supreme can defeat the other, and they can only maintain peace.

Anyway, there aren't many years left to endure.

The bigwigs exchanged smiles, raised their cups to drink tea, and then their figures dissipated into the divine dimension.

But Shazo is still working hard, racking his brains for Thor's awakening.

It wasn't difficult for him to control the Destroyer and suppress the Asgardians; the challenge was finding the right balance so that Thor could understand responsibility and accountability, and gain Odin's approval.

This is the consequence of charging upfront.

At this moment, Skye, who knew Xia Zuo best, had already noticed the anomaly. After exchanging glances, she also joined in the reverse operation.

The battle has now escalated from seven against one to three against five, putting increasing pressure on the Asgardians. Even the Abominations are becoming increasingly wounded and considering retreating.

As the Destroyer gradually gained the upper hand, suppressing the enemy and making them unable to raise their heads, Loki, sitting on the throne of the gods in Asgard, was no longer anxious and became calm and composed.

Although there is still a delay in decision-making, the Destroyer is always able to handle occasional mistakes well, Loki's mindset is becoming more and more relaxed, and his operation is becoming more and more skillful.

Finally, the Asgardians, who were at a disadvantage, revealed a weakness. Sif, in order to save Fandral, was attacked by the Destroyer's Destruction Ray and collapsed on the spot, her fate unknown.

Fandral, Hogan, and Vostagg lost their composure and attacked the Destroyer frantically, only to be defeated one by one by the Destroyer and fall into a critical condition.

Seeing all his comrades-in-arms fall, he panicked and fled the battlefield on all fours.

Seeing the battle crumble and knowing the fate of his comrades unknown, Thor went mad.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he unknowingly broke through Odin's seal. His strength surged, and he ran wildly across the icy plains. Finally, at the last moment, he rushed to the battlefield and placed himself in front of his companions.

Then he was kicked away by the Destroyer.

Simply breaking through the seal on his body wasn't enough. Without awakening his divine power, Thor was merely strong and utterly powerless against the Destroyer.

The complete defeat of the Asgardians made Loki unable to contain his excitement any longer. Holding Phoenix, he sat on the throne of the gods and danced wildly.

He even used a magical connection to speak to his brother through the Destroyer's mouth: "Thor, you are no longer the God of Thunder."

Thor shook his head as he stood up, staggering towards the Destroyer: "Loki, you bastard, stop killing people! If you have any complaints, take them out on me!"

"Kill me, and you'll be the sole heir to Asgard, and you won't need to kill anyone anymore."

Loki pondered for a moment, then granted Thor's request through the Destroyer: "Very well, if you are willing to die, then I will grant your request. I will spare everyone else, including all the people of Midgard."

After Loki finished speaking, he manipulated the Destroyer to deactivate its mask, thus ceasing the use of the Destruction Light and demonstrating his sincerity.

Thor sighed inwardly, but his eyes remained resolute as he walked toward the Destroyer, ready to face his death.

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