The room was silent, lit only by the light of the lamp. Li Shang sat in the center, his gaze fixed on the scroll containing the names of those who qualified for the final stage of the Chūnin Exams.
"Dosu Kinuta, last member of the Sound Village team."
He recited the name disinterestedly, his cool tone contrasting with the slight smile that formed on his lips. 'One month until the next stage.'
He folded the parchment and set it aside.
"Well, it doesn't matter," he muttered, crossing his legs. "The only opponents who could really give me trouble would be Gaara... and Sasuke, wearing the mark."
The smile widened, not from arrogance.
"And to think that boys could be my opponents... hehehe."
The laughter echoed low, almost a whisper in the empty room. "I'm very weak."
Li Shang picked up a ration pill between his fingers and stared at it for a moment, before putting it into his mouth and swallowing without hesitation.
As the bitterness in his throat dissipated, he formed a hand seal and focused his chakra on the mark on his neck. Veins bulged discreetly beneath his skin, and black spots began to spread across his body, slithering like snakes of living ink.
The air around trembled.
A dense and aggressive aura took over the environment, making the air heavy, almost palpable.
Li Shang opened his eyes—now a faint reddish hue—and murmured:
"With this… I don't need to worry about absorbing energy from the demonic beast inside Naruto."
The low sound of energy vibrating through his meridians mingled with his measured breathing. The seal pulsed in sync with his heart, pumping power in rhythmic waves.
'The energy of this seal is absurd... it's like controlling a river of lava with your bare hands.'
His body reacted violently to the flow, muscles tensing, skin burning. But he endured—it wasn't the first time he'd challenged his limits.
'She is unstable, yes... but she serves as a refined woman.'
He made a seal again, and the crimson glow enveloped his entire body. The sound of air being consumed filled the room. An invisible pressure began to suck the impurities, the corrupted and scattered energy, from the seal, molding them into something new.
"Heart of the Celestial Devourer."
Black and red lines began to form beneath him, circling like a spiritual diagram. The chakra from the seal flowed toward the center of Li Shang's chest, being purified and absorbed.
Within his body, the Byakugan captured the inner dance of energy. Every meridian expanded, every cell vibrated, and the seal, once wild, now seemed to yield to his will.
'Excellent...'
Li Shang opened his eyes just as the first ray of sunlight streaked across the sky, painting the room with a golden glow. The air was still cool, and the morning silence was broken only by the sound of his calm, measured breathing. A faint smile formed on his lips.
'Getting this mark was the best gift I could have gotten.'
The thought echoed contentedly as he sat, still in the lotus position. The black marks of the cursed seal on his neck had faded, but the residual heat of the dense energy still pulsed through his veins. The effect of cultivating with the mark was comparable to the energy he had absorbed from the demon fox sealed within Naruto.
But there was one crucial difference—the stamp was limited.
He needed to let it build up energy throughout the day, absorbing the surrounding chakra and his own internal flow. That's why he still relied on pills. However, for now, he was satisfied.
Rising, she donned the black cloak with gray edges and silver details in subtle spirals that resembled runes. She ran her hand through her long hair, tying it into a high ponytail, and walked to the window. The village was beginning to wake.
'The demonic beasts... nine of them, divided among the villages.'
He clearly remembered the text he had read earlier, in an ancient book in the Konoha library—an incomplete compendium on the balance of power between great nations.
'In the future, I will need to refine these beasts.'
The thought would have been considered blasphemy in that world, but to him, it was pure logic. The amount of energy required to reach the highest realms of cultivation was growing exponentially. The natural energy of the environment alone would not be enough—and the demonic beasts, living sources of pure, instinctive chakra, would be the perfect fuel.
'Capturing and refining each of them… the path to the heavenly realms may be closer than I imagine.'
He let out a soft sigh and turned back to the table. He sipped a light, sweet-tasting tea and ate some simple cookies. The human body, however perfected, still had its basic needs.
Soon after, he returned to the room and sat down again.
'I will remain in isolated cultivation for the next month.' The decision was made.
The Eight Gates Technique was fascinating to him, but his training was not complicated. Essentially, it was a rudimentary version of body cultivation. Extreme physical training served to strengthen muscles and bones to the human limit, while chakra control over the eight main meridians pushed the body to nearly impossible limits.
'It's like forcing open the body's energy channels… but their method is rudimentary.'
By reaching the fifth level of Body Refining, Li Shang had already far surpassed the capabilities of any ordinary ninja. His body was strong enough to shatter stone with a single blow and fast enough to keep up with trained eyes. But what set him apart from the rest was his control.
'They control the chakra in the eight main gates... but the human body has one hundred and eight meridians.'
He smirked, closing his eyes. His chakra began to circulate, not in eight routes, but in over a hundred. It was a complex flow, a perfect symphony of energy and flesh. Each meridian pulsed, expanding and contracting as if breathing.
"Cultivation is refining the energy of the world and tempering the body with it. Every cell must learn to withstand the pressure of the universe."
The seal on his neck glowed, releasing small waves of dark energy. Li Shang inhaled deeply, absorbing the remaining energy and converting it into pure power. With each cycle, his body grew stronger, his senses sharper, and his mind sharper.
'In time, this body will be able to withstand the opening of a few gates... without collapsing.'
Outside, the wind blew lightly, rustling the curtains. Inside the room, the silence turned into something dense, almost sacred—the sound of a cultivator transforming into the body of a ninja.
[Author's Note:This story was originally written in Portuguese, so there may be some translation errors. If you notice any, please let me know so I can fix them. Thank you for reading!]