"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 205: The Secret Realm
"At the very least... well, that kind of research spirit is worth acknowledging."
What else could Yūshin say? In the end, the Sage of Six Paths' remains were neither lost nor destroyed, and even after a thousand years, they could still be put to... cough, excellent use. No matter how you looked at it, that had to count as a good thing.
Besides, for researchers, it was perfectly normal for research directions to veer off course. The little blue pill was originally developed to treat heart disease but ended up treating an entirely different ailment.
Well, it's all the same—everything proves useful in the end.
Looking through the Uzumaki Clan's secret records, Yūshin found their research trajectory was actually quite clear. As they'd explained, the original purpose was simply to hide the remains, but as research progressed, they developed the Reaper Death Seal.
Wait, now that he thought about it—didn't the "Shinigami Mask" used to undo the Reaper Death Seal have two horns? Had these people actually peeled off the Sage's face?
No way. Definitely not.
With a sharp snap, Yūshin pressed the scroll's ends together, then quickly rolled it up with deft finger movements... There was no need to continue reading. Knowing too much about history wasn't necessarily beneficial—it might appear disrespectful to the Sage of Six Paths.
"Lord Yūshin, is there any problem with what we've done...? You entrusted the Sage's remains to the Uzumaki Clan for safekeeping for some purpose, so why are you searching for them again now?" Uzumaki Mito asked cautiously. She wasn't certain whether her ancestors' actions had violated their forefather's intentions—after all, they'd transformed a task for the living into work for the dead, which seemed rather inappropriate.
Yūshin shook his head. The Sage of Six Paths' remains were extraordinarily special, and being able to utilize them effectively was actually quite good.
"It's nothing. As long as the Sage's remains haven't leaked out to be exploited by certain conspirators in the Shinobi World, there's no problem... My purpose extends no further than that. The Uzumaki Clan has completed this task exceptionally well."
Had the Uzumaki Clan committed any wrongdoing? Not really. Aside from the Sage of Six Paths' feelings suffering some damage, their development of the Reaper Death Seal hadn't harmed anyone else during the process.
"Is... is that so? That's wonderful... couldn't be better."
Yūshin's words allowed Uzumaki Mito to breathe a sigh of relief. She'd just been worried that Yūshin was seeking the Sage of Six Paths' remains to summon him back to the living world, just as he had with Hashirama and Tobirama.
It could only be said that after so much time had passed, through all the vicissitudes, Mito didn't understand the Sage of Six Paths well enough... Summoning him back to the living world? Though the Sage had died, he had never truly left the world of the living.
After receiving the evaluation that they had "completed the task exceptionally well," Uzumaki Mito's heart settled, finally giving her the mental space to consider other matters.
Speaking of conspiracies in the Shinobi World, Uzumaki Mito recalled the white creatures Yūshin had used when summoning Hashirama's soul. Those things made people instinctively feel they were up to no good, as if they'd been born already entangled with schemes and plots.
However, at that time Yūshin had burst forth from the coffin, personally proving his identity as the "Uzumaki Ancestor," and with his preparation to summon Hashirama's soul, amid all the emotional shock and impact, Mito hadn't had the mental capacity to worry about White Zetsu.
She hadn't had time to inquire then, and now didn't seem like an appropriate moment to circle back and ask Yūshin about such matters.
Uzumaki Mito could only temporarily keep this matter silently in her heart.
"Well, this issue can be considered concluded for now. In the future, regarding the Reaper Death Seal, you can use it with confidence... Actually, no, it's better to avoid using it if possible. Each use requires one person's death—it's not very cost-effective."
"What I mean is, if you're truly forced into a corner and must use this technique, there's no need for excessive psychological burden. The 'Shinigami' is just the 'Shinigami'—don't worry about that Sage's feelings."
Yūshin gave Uzumaki Mito a reassuring pill. Whether or not the Sage of Six Paths had noticed the Uzumaki Clan using his remains for human experimentation, even if he had noticed, he wouldn't interfere with reality over such a minor matter.
Generally speaking, the Sage maintained a relatively high level of awareness regarding his status as a "dead person"—he only concerned himself with events that could destroy the Shinobi World.
Of course, what Yūshin said was essentially meaningless. Using the Reaper Death Seal required a resolve to die—at that moment, who would care about the Sage of Six Paths' opinions?
Having solved the "mystery of the Sage of Six Paths' missing remains," Yūshin had finally settled one worry. If the Sage suddenly appeared before him asking "Where is my body?" Yūshin could answer with a clear conscience... Well, that was sufficient.
Subsequently, he returned that pile of secret scrolls to Uzumaki Mito, praised the Uzumaki Clan once more for fulfilling their thousand-year mission, then took his leave.
Uzumaki Mito stood there holding the scrolls in a daze. On one hand, she found it difficult to accept the fact that the "Shinigami" was formed from the Sage of Six Paths' remains—frankly, this revelation was quite impactful, considering the Uzumaki Clan's matrilineal bloodline originated from the Sage of Six Paths.
On the other hand, she somewhat admired her ancestors' imagination—to actually develop such a powerful sealing technique using the Sage's remains.
Just as Uzumaki Mito was lost in thought, little Tsunade emerged from her dazed state and approached Mito, tugging at her sleeve.
"Grandma..."
Uzumaki Mito snapped back to reality, only then remembering her granddaughter was still here... The ancestors' affairs weren't really important—she should be more concerned with the present and future of the Uzumaki and Senju.
"Tsunade, I haven't asked yet—what did you come to see me about?"
Uzumaki Mito cradled the scrolls in one arm and freed her other hand to pat Tsunade's head.
"I did have something originally, but that's not important now... Grandma, look."
As she spoke, Tsunade placed her right hand beneath her left, cupping them together. A tiny sapling grew visibly from her palms at an astonishing rate.
A main stem only as thick as a pinky finger, delicate branches, sparse leaves—none of it could conceal the vigorous life force radiating from within.
"This is... Wood Release?"
Uzumaki Mito wasn't usually someone prone to emotional outbursts, but her emotions had been fluctuating wildly these past few days. Various feelings layered upon each other, and when she saw her granddaughter capable of using Wood Release, she couldn't help but lose emotional control.
She instinctively reached out and grasped Tsunade's hands, completely ignoring the precious secret scrolls scattering carelessly across the floor. After confirming that Tsunade was indeed using Wood Release, she felt an impulse of overwhelming joy that brought tears to her eyes.
"Come with me, Tsunade..."
Then Uzumaki Mito hurriedly pulled Tsunade away from the courtyard and pushed through the door into the main house's living room.
"Hashira—"
However, after stepping into the room, her movements suddenly froze. The words she wanted to speak, the joy she wanted to share, came to an abrupt halt.
The room was empty.
Only dust danced chaotically in the sunlight streaming through the window.
Her granddaughter had inherited the power unique to Hashirama, and Uzumaki Mito couldn't wait to share this wonderful news with Hashirama. But only then did she remember—Hashirama was long gone.
Uzumaki Mito felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head. After her excitement and enthusiasm were extinguished, she quietly sighed and completely regained her composure.
"Little Tsunade, how did you manage this?"
Contrary to what Uzumaki Mito thought, the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai in Tsunade actually had nothing to do with Hashirama... It could be said that telling Hashirama about this would be nice, but not telling him would also be fine.
"Lord Yūshin taught me..."
To increase the credibility of her words, Tsunade decisively sold out her big sister... After all, no matter how big her sister was, she wasn't bigger than Grandma.
"Lord Yūshin previously taught Sister Aoi two Kekkei Genkai... I only have one."
Although everyone had received toys, some people had two while others had only one... Well, it seemed slightly unfair.
"Lord... Lord Yūshin... That's not wrong either. It's still a Kekkei Genkai, just one whose origins date back quite far."
Wood Release didn't trace back to Hashirama but to a thousand years ago. However, Mito still felt this was her family's Kekkei Genkai—no problem there... She still hadn't figured out that her branch of Uzumaki actually had no bloodline connection to Yūshin.
...
Tsunade had a new toy, and Yūshin had a new toy too. However, as an old-timer, Yūshin was more capable of restraint—he didn't immediately unwrap and start playing with his toy upon receiving it.
After dealing with all the various minor episodes of returning to the contemporary era, he finally had considerable time at his disposal.
At this moment, in the underground space of the Fireflies headquarters, at the Hatake-brand old popsicle storage facility.
Yūshin could arrive here without alerting anyone—after all, this was the Fireflies' home base, and he was the original Lord of the Fireflies.
Byakugan, Sharingan—Yūshin now possessed two of the three great dōjutsu.
However, compared to his treasuring of Shichimi's Mangekyō Sharingan, Yūshin didn't particularly care about this Byakugan. Only the Byakugan's additional spatial attributes prevented Yūshin from completely ignoring it.
After seizing Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki's chakra and abilities through the "plant tree and harvest fruit" method, Yūshin had also extracted numerous coordinates from this Byakugan capable of space-time ninjutsu.
Yūshin stood in the Fireflies headquarters' underground space, ignored the old popsicle keepsake across from him, and concentrated chakra toward his eyes.
Subsequently, the Byakugan manifested, and Yūshin's field of vision changed accordingly.
Next, the space before him underwent distortion.
In the next moment, Yūshin appeared in an alternate dimension.
This place was vast, desolate, with very dim lighting.
Yūshin crouched down and examined the perfectly flat "ground" beneath his feet, which seemed like a geometric plane. He found it appeared to be stone but wasn't stone, seemed metallic but wasn't metal... Well, since this was an alternate dimension, there was no point obsessing over material composition.
Yūshin stood up and gazed into the distance, finding it completely shrouded in darkness.
"Completely lacking in creativity—this feels like copying the Kamui dimension... Someone got lazy here."
Only the area where Yūshin stood had phosphorescent or firefly-like light sources. He felt it was still too dark, so after some consideration, he left this alternate dimension.
When he reappeared, he was carrying a long pole and a dozen unconscious White Zetsu.
Yūshin planted the pole upright in the "ground," tossed the White Zetsu near the pole, then began drawing formulas on the "ground" and around the pole and its top.
This formula connected to the White Zetsu's chakra circulation systems—or rather, it could absorb and convert White Zetsu chakra.
After completing this formula, Yūshin smiled with satisfaction, then lightly clapped his hands.
Immediately, White Zetsu chakra climbed up the pole following the formula, ultimately transforming into lightning attribute at the pole's top, finally illuminating the surrounding area like a light bulb.
This new energy plant battery—White Zetsu powering light bulbs, even voice-activated—ordinary people had never seen such a thing... Although White Zetsu could no longer provide Yūshin with upgrade experience, their hearts of dedication hadn't stopped beating.
"Nice place. If I used this for resting during travels, it would be much better than the Three-Rooms-and-a-Hall Technique, right?"
Thinking this way, Yūshin clapped his hands, and a wooden house rose from the ground... In a certain sense, Yūshin had now achieved the goal he'd set shortly after becoming a ninja: mastering those "utterly ordinary" ninjutsu.
Though he hadn't yet reached the level of "clap hands and get whatever you want," completely abandoning the crude habit of hand seals, at least he no longer needed hand seals most of the time.
"Not bad, not bad. If I add some pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, it would have some living atmosphere. However... the terrain has no elevation changes, no vegetation, soil, or small animals—that's not good."
But interior decoration couldn't be completed in a moment. For now, this would suffice—the remaining major projects could be handled slowly later.
Yūshin left the alternate dimension and returned to the old popsicle chamber.
At this time, he continued "sorting" and identifying the spatial coordinates stored in the Byakugan.
After picking and choosing, Yūshin discovered the most distant one.
"Should I take a look? Alright, let's try taking a look."
Yūshin sensed this coordinate was located deep in space. Considering Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki had the ability to "traverse the void," perhaps this coordinate was their place of origin.
Deep space—such words were fascinating. What the Ōtsutsuki homeland looked like was enough to arouse his curiosity.
If he could evolve further and give these eyes interdimensional capabilities, perhaps Yūshin would have a chance to return to his true homeland.
After mentally preparing himself, Yūshin decided to act immediately and attempted to open a spatial passage connecting to that coordinate.
"Holy crap, this far?"
In the next moment, Yūshin felt the chakra in his body nearly completely depleted, yet the spatial passage still wasn't fully opened.
Looking into the distance, a massive, dim yellow, lifeless planet floated in endless void, appearing on the other side of the passage.
If this wasn't a rocky planet, Yūshin would have thought he was seeing a giant Jupiter.
In the next moment, that void seemed to suddenly come alive. Endless consciousness, oceanic pressure, surged directly toward the spatial passage's location.
"What the hell is that thing?"
Cold, pure, irresistible malice rushed straight at Yūshin, making his hair stand on end. Fortunately, he was prepared and calmly and decisively closed the spatial passage instantly.
"Damn it, is that the Ōtsutsuki homeland?"
Yūshin felt like he'd merely reached out to gently caress ocean waves at the seaside, only to have the entire sea surge toward him in response.
"The art style is different, right? Or is it a different level of life? Why do I feel like even if there's no Azathoth over there, there's at least a Nyarlathotep?"
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