As Kei waved his hand to absorb the energy of Mōryō, he casually released the shrine maiden souls that were stripped away in the process. Multiple shrine maiden spirits, dressed in traditional miko attire from different eras, floated ethereally in midair.
They had long since merged with Mōryō and had never imagined that one day, they would be able to enter the Pure Land in their human forms.
Without exception, all the shrine maidens bowed deeply toward Kei in gratitude. Tiny golden lights rose from their bodies. The pull of the Pure Land drew them toward the cycle of reincarnation.
One shrine maiden, whose appearance bore a striking resemblance to Miroku, emerged before her.
Lifting her hand, she gathered a faint trace of spiritual power and gently wiped away the tears at the corner of Miroku's eyes.
"Miroku, don't be sad. Reincarnation is something to look forward to. The lives that pass will be reborn as new souls, once again stepping into the world. This is the miracle of life."
"Mother..." Miroku tried hard to smile, but the tears in her eyes refused to stop.
"Live well. Go and see the dazzling fireworks, the vast endless sea, and the beautiful scenery you've never witnessed before. I hope the rest of your life will be filled with brilliance..."
With a gentle smile on her lips, Miroku's mother slowly ascended into the sky. The other shrine maidens also spoke, offering their blessings to Miroku.
For them, witnessing the end of their sacred duty was already the greatest fortune. Through her tears, Miroku responded to each of them, reluctantly watching as all the spirits departed. The matter of Mōryō had finally been resolved.
When Miroku snapped out of her sorrow, she had already come to regard Kei as a divine being. She addressed him with nothing but reverence, calling him "Kami-sama" at every turn.
Finding it impossible to endure such fervent worship, Kei hurriedly excused himself, citing other pressing matters.
As for the issue of the Land of Demons seeking to merge into the Five Elements Shinobi Army, that was left for the Five Kage, along with Shikaku and his team of strategists, to deal with.
Though the newly established special talent training school was still in its infancy, making personnel replacements and institutional integrations difficult in the short term, the Land of Demons' lack of a daimyo gave it a unique advantage. It was an ideal place to serve as a training ground for future talent.
As long as Miroku was alive, the implementation of various policies and reforms would likely be far smoother than in other regions.
Leaving the Land of Demons, Kei retrieved Shibai's severed head from his domain.
Using the residual energy from the head as a guide, he scoured the entire ninja world in search of the rest of the body.
It took over a month of searching, passing through Yomi-no-Kuni and traversing nearly every corner of the ninja world, before he finally found Shibai's headless body deep beneath The Hole of Tonika Village.
The village was a sacred land in the eyes of many who still held onto ancient beliefs.
Legend had it that an ancient super weapon, Ama no Hoko, lay hidden there. It was said to possess the terrifying power to annihilate an entire nation with a single strike, whoever wielded it could control the entire world.
It wasn't until Kei arrived that he remembered this peculiar place.
In the original story, the underground springs of this village had the ability to accelerate cell division at an extreme rate, hastening cellular transformation. Although this rapid division greatly shortened the lifespan of the affected cells, such springs were invaluable to researchers like Orochimaru and Tobirama, who were obsessed with studying cells.
Before the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kabuto had used the springs here to accelerate his transformation into "Snake Sage Mode."
It was also in this village that Naruto had first barely managed to enter the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
After retrieving Shibai's body, Kei took the time to inspect the Ama no Hoko.
In essence, it was nothing more than an energy conversion tower.
Its primary function was to emit powerful attacks by stimulating and absorbing the energy within Shibai's body using fixed-frequency energy vibrations.
It was somewhat similar to the chakra cannons that Kumo would develop in the future, but in terms of energy concentration and control, it was even inferior to the flying fortresses used by the Sora ninjas.
Without the high-level energy contained in Shibai's body, the device was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.
With a casual gesture, Kei destroyed it. Without delay, he used Yomotsu Hirasaka to travel to the space left behind by the Sage of Six Paths in the Pure Land.
Using the Six Paths Yin-Yang Sage Art, he unlocked the many layers of seals deep within the Pure Land.
The stagnation of the Pure Land, which had lasted for over a thousand years, slowly began to dissipate. The energy of reincarnation, which could cleanse souls, erase all traces of individuality, and restore them to their purest form, started to spread throughout the Pure Land once more.
As for the powerful souls that lingered around the Six Paths' domain, he had no intention of awakening or disturbing them.
Whether it was the First and Second Hokage or the legendary warriors of the past, they no longer held any significance for him. Moreover, the individuals who founded the ninja villages and shaped their respective eras were all notoriously stubborn and difficult to control.
Trying to subjugate them would be more trouble than it was worth.
Why bother?
"Hmm?"
As his perception swept across the countless souls surrounding the Six Paths' domain, his attention was drawn to one particular figure—someone carrying a short sword.
With a wave of his hand, he used his spiritual power to pull the figure into the Six Paths' space.
Sakumo's dazed and muddled soul gradually regained clarity upon entering the space. Upon seeing Kei, he sighed with deep regret and spoke.
"Kei, I think you were only five or six years old when I died, right? So… are you in your twenties now? How did you die?"
"...I'm not dead yet. I just used a special method to take a trip to the Pure Land." Kei pursed his lips speechlessly. He gathered a bit of Yin-Yang chakra at his fingertips and flicked it into Sakumo's soul, transmitting the developments and changes of the past years.
After a moment of stunned silence, Sakumo scratched his head and laughed. "Hahaha~ You've really grown into someone remarkable!"
"Sakumo-senpai, do you want to be resurrected?"
"...I suppose so. Seeing how things are in the shinobi world now, I'm already satisfied. But could you pass on a few words to Kakashi for me?"
"Go ahead."
"His mother's passing hit me hard back then, so please tell him—when choosing a partner, he should make sure she has good childbearing hips. They should be… well, wide enough."
"Stop!" Kei immediately raised his hand to cut off Sakumo before he could continue.
This guy seriously wasn't considering how awkward this would be for the messenger! Was he really supposed to go up to Kakashi and say, "Your dad asked me to tell you to find a woman with wide hips"?
Closing his eyes, Kei activated [Multiversal Voyager], using his powerful spatial perception for a few seconds.
He then opened a portal, reached out, grabbed Kakashi by the back of his collar, and pulled the utterly confused young man inside.
He covered Kakashi with spiritual energy to prevent the corrosive effects of the Pure Land.
Seeing Obito's anxious face poking through the portal, already halfway in, Kei decided to just yank in both Obito and Rin as well.
After leaving the group to their reunion, Kei looked down at the solidified Six Paths chakra beneath his feet, resembling a still lake. After some thought, he infused this energy into the Pure Land.
Compared to the time when he had traveled to the past in search of Hikari, the average chakra levels of ninjas in the current world had declined significantly.
These pure Six Paths chakra fragments should help boost the talent of the next generation of ninjas!
As the group's conversation showed no signs of ending anytime soon, Kei retrieved Shibai's body from his storage space and placed his hand on it.
Activating [Star Devourer], he began absorbing the remaining energy from the corpse. A vast amount of pure chakra surged into his body, far superior to the chaotic energy extracted from Mōryō.
Having previously expanded his energy capacity threefold after fully absorbing Mōryō, he now found his limits growing even further as this immense spiritual energy flowed in.
After more than half an hour:
---
[Upgraded Star Devourer (Green) into Satellite Devourer (Blue)]
[Satellite Devourer (Blue):
Can absorb any energy to enhance one's own power and increase energy storage capacity. Any absorbed energy is converted into the user's current energy type. Energy absorption and conversion efficiency are greatly improved. Upon absorbing a total of one planetary unit of energy, the trait will upgrade.]
---
With his trait evolving, Kei immediately felt his energy reserves expand dramatically once more! Continuing to siphon energy from Shibai's body, he gradually filled the newly increased capacity.
By the time he was done, [Satellite Devourer] was only seven planetary units away from its next evolution.
Looking down at the mummified corpse of Shibai, with its dried-out skin and nearly vanished muscles, Kei hesitated for a moment before storing it away again. Most of its energy had already dissipated over the centuries, and draining any more now would likely reduce it to dust within minutes.
Orochimaru still had use for the body, so it was best not to be too greedy. Besides, he now possessed approximately 4.5 planetary units of energy.
According to the description of [Multiversal Voyager], and from his earlier experiments in the Source of the Ryūmyaku, he knew that just three planetary units were enough for a round trip across dimensions.
This trait is truly overpowered.
Feeling the bottomless depth of his spiritual energy, he clicked his tongue in amazement. At this point, his chakra reserves were so vast that he could practically steamroll anyone in the shinobi world.
With that settled, he made up his mind.
As soon as I return, I'm setting off with my team! Grinning, he turned to check on Sakumo and the others.
After half an hour of intense discussion—led by an incredibly emotional Obito, with Kakashi providing unwavering support as the perfect yes-man, and Rin offering gentle encouragement—Sakumo had finally made up his mind.
"Kei, can you revive me and my wife? I think the Hatake clan might need a new heir."
"...Damn." Kakashi's ever-sleepy eyes widened in shock. Obito and Rin also gawked at Sakumo, completely bewildered.
All they wanted was to convince Sakumo to come back to life, how did this suddenly turn into a 'make a second baby' mission?!