The night was deep, the moonlight dim, and only the myriad stars continued to twinkle unceasingly.
Yukigetsu sat quietly on the balcony, hands forming seals, his mind tranquil. A faint blue glow gradually appeared, the dense light of chakra enveloping his body.
If anyone saw this, they would be astounded. Who said he couldn’t extract chakra?
Soon, Yukigetsu frowned. In his mental world, he seemed to see a glimmer of spiritual light appear behind his mind. Then, the freshly extracted chakra was drawn to it like a moth to a flame and disappeared.
Yukigetsu exhaled lightly, his eyelashes fluttering as he opened his eyes.
This situation had been happening ever since he could extract chakra. Initially, he panicked, thinking something was wrong with him, fearing he might never retain chakra. In such a warm yet cruel real world, losing the ability to manipulate chakra would mean losing the capital to navigate his future.
However, over time, he gradually realized that the chakra wasn’t disappearing. Instead, it was establishing a connection between his soul and an unknown place. As the years passed, more and more chakra vanished, and he could increasingly see a bridge of chakra in his mental world, spanning between his soul and a distant spiritual light.
Now, that chakra bridge was almost perfect. He estimated that refining chakra one more time tonight would fulfill the requirement. What would happen then?
He was eagerly anticipating it…
The faint blue glow continued to emanate as Yukigetsu calmly refined chakra, which was then continuously drawn to the spiritual light behind his mind. In the depths of the unknown darkness, a bridge of chakra flickered faintly.
Behind the balcony’s floor-to-ceiling window, Kakashi leaned against the wall, eyes sharp, expression serious. Though he wasn’t used to showing it, after six years together, he had long regarded this extraordinary boy as family.
At this crucial moment, he couldn’t help but stay hidden, keeping a close watch.
Boom!
At that moment, a burst of mysterious soul light exploded from Yukigetsu’s body.
Kakashi’s right eye narrowed rapidly, his expression serious.
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!”
He swiftly formed seals, his hands a blur, and the next moment, slammed his hands onto the ground. Four earth walls rose, followed by a fifth to form a ceiling, instantly covering the bright soul light and Yukigetsu’s figure.
…
Under the Hokage Rock, in the Hokage’s office.
The Third Hokage, his face full of wrinkles, was sitting by the window, puffing on his pipe. Facing the crystal ball showing the tightly sealed earth walls, he shook his head helplessly, “Kakashi is too cautious. Even I can’t see anything…”
Sighing, he stood up and called out, “Someone!”
Swish, swish.
In an instant, two masked figures appeared using the Body Flicker Technique.
The Third Hokage waved his hand, instructing, “Go deal with the Root ninja monitoring Yukigetsu.”
The figures hesitated, one looking up with uncertainty, “Lord Hokage, isn’t that… not quite appropriate?”
“It’s fine… The boy is worth it.”
Besides, Danzo has been getting more audacious over the years; it’s good to give him a warning.
The Third Hokage didn’t say this aloud, hiding it beneath his deepening wrinkles.
“Understood!”
The two ANBU responded and vanished, leaving the Third Hokage standing by the window, gazing deeply at the serene Konoha village, his eyes penetrating through layers of illusion, seemingly seeing the Root submerged in darkness.
His murky eyes reflected the flickering ‘fire’ character above the eaves, gently swaying. His aged voice murmured in the empty room:
“Will this child become Konoha’s future…”
…
Back to Yukigetsu, who was filled with curiosity.
After the burst of soul light, everything spun. The next moment, his mind was no longer at home but appeared on the chakra bridge, spanning the void, suppressing the darkness.
Swish! Swish! Swish!…
Countless spiritual lights shot past him. Initially, Yukigetsu didn’t notice, but upon closer inspection, he was startled.
These lights vaguely revealed human figures. These spiritual lights were clearly souls of the deceased. Could it be the souls of those who died in the world at this moment? Then, what lay ahead? Why were all the souls heading in that direction?
Yukigetsu calmed himself and followed the chakra bridge into the distance.
Buzz, buzz.
Soon, a vast river of souls appeared before him. Boundless spiritual lights filled his vision, flowing into the distance.
Yukigetsu stared in awe at the spectacular scene, also noticing that the surrounding souls, like homing pigeons, were being drawn into the soul river, carried towards the unknown depths.
While he was in a daze, a massive stream of information flowed into his mind. He groaned, clutching his head, the forced infusion of memories was painful.
Enduring the pain, Yukigetsu carefully deciphered the unfamiliar information…
Gradually, he understood what was happening.
This was the Spirit Release Kekkei Genkai. Unlike Dan Kato’s Spirit Transformation Technique, his Spirit Release seemed to communicate with the river of souls.
Yukigetsu frowned subconsciously. What use was this?
Then, as if prompted, his eyes widened, focusing on the center of the soul river. There he saw streams of information: Water Release, Fire Release, Wind Release, Lightning Release, Earth Release…
These streams were the cumulative knowledge of all known ninjutsu in history, categorized by type and extracted from memories by the soul river. This meant Yukigetsu could learn these ninjutsu techniques.
But these were just ordinary elemental releases that didn’t satisfy Yukigetsu. He continued to gaze deeper into the soul river, his eyes growing brighter:
…Ice Release, Dust Release, Wood Release, Lava Release, Storm Release… Sage Body… Space-Time Ninjutsu, Dojutsu, Genjutsu…
Further ahead, the view blurred. Yukigetsu withdrew his gaze, first focusing on the information stream about the Sage Body, lost in thought.
All along, he had suspected his body was like that of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, possessing the Sage Body. However, aside from automatic healing, his body lacked the attributes of the Sage Body’s Yang Release and vast chakra reserves. Could it be activated later?
Yukigetsu pondered for a while, unable to figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it and directed his mind towards the depths of the soul river. With such valuable resources available, he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.
As he slowly approached the soul river, just as he was about to touch it…
Swish!
In the next moment, a sense of danger flared. He kicked off swiftly, shooting backward. Just as he left the range of the soul river, a giant soul hand reached out, covering the sky, grabbing at him!
Boom!
Yukigetsu was startled. Just as he was about to be caught, the massive soul hand disintegrated into countless spiritual lights, scattering like waves in an endless ocean and disappearing instantly.
Calming himself, Yukigetsu couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Had he not been alert, he would have been dragged into the depths of the soul river. Seeing those drifting souls, obviously unconscious, the consequences if he had been pulled in were clear.
He frowned deeply. Faced with such a feast of ninjutsu, yet unable to partake, it was truly tantalizing.
Buzz.
As his frown deepened, new information surfaced in his mind:
…Gather the will of reincarnation, build the bridge of souls, unlock the divine talent, bear the heart of the world…
What does this mean?
Yukigetsu furrowed his brows, smiling bitterly. Someone was clearly guiding him to comprehend but not clearly explaining. What will of reincarnation, what bridge of souls? He couldn’t grasp it. Couldn’t they demonstrate it?
At that moment, as if someone had heard his thoughts, Yukigetsu felt a sudden blur. Countless scenes flashed before him, constantly changing, like traversing the river of history.
The scene paused until a figure in a green robe, with the character “Gamble” embroidered on the back, quietly stood before him.
The figure had golden hair, a picturesque face, and a gentle expression. She sat quietly by the window, gently caressing her belly, her smile radiating happiness…
Yukigetsu felt a strange surge of emotion from deep within. He knew this beautiful woman was Tsunade, the last of the Senju clan, the only female among the legendary Sannin…
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