Chapter 600: Sage Level
Nekomata remained silent throughout. Only long after Shisui and Itachi had killed themselves did she speak. "Clan Head Sōkai, we will return to our settlement now. Please accept my condolences!"
"Izumi-chan, my condolences to you as well!"
Sōkai nodded, watching her leave.
Nekomata never once looked directly at Fugaku Uchiha.
After Nekomata left, Fugaku said, "Sōkai, Izumi, the clan is in your hands. I was not a worthy leader, but I know you will do well."
Sōkai nodded and, together with Izumi, brought Fugaku and the two corpses back to the village.
After Katsumata released Fugaku's Edo Tensei, Sōkai and Izumi took the Reaper Death Masks to Ishiro.
Ishiro had rushed to the five-nature fusion training ground right after hitching a ride on Sōkai's quickening.
In just one attempt, he completed the seventh layer!
Looking at the incredibly complex chakra sphere in his hand, Ishiro was thrilled.
The sphere was just as he had imagined.
It was composed of countless tiny threads of five-nature chakra.
Because each thread was minuscule, the repulsive force at each intersection was also tiny.
Of course, there were countless intersections, and each had a small repulsion.
If these forces were added together, they would be terrifying, enough to cause an explosion.
But these forces acted in different directions and at different points. They didn't simply stack; many of them weakened or canceled each other out.
So the structure of the sphere was actually quite stable. Ishiro didn't need to spend much energy maintaining it.
Taking a deep breath, Ishiro knew he could finally proceed to the next step.
Fusing the five natures outside the body was the first and hardest step.
Next, Ishiro would begin fusing the five chakra natures inside his body.
He relaxed and began fusing the chakra within him, bit by bit.
When Sōkai and Izumi found him after dealing with Shisui and Itachi, Ishiro had only completed 1% of the fusion.
Sensing their arrival, Ishiro stopped.
Seeing this, Sōkai and Izumi hurried over.
Ishiro took the mask from Sōkai and glanced at the corpses. "Done?"
They nodded.
Ishiro looked at them. "Feel better?"
Sōkai and Izumi looked at each other, nodded, then shook their heads.
"It felt good at the time," Izumi said. "But thinking back, it was too easy on them."
"If you're not satisfied," Ishiro said, "then use Edo Tensei to bring them back!"
"Then control them. Make them slaughter Konoha ninja!"
Sōkai's eyes lit up. Great idea.
Izumi hesitated. "But... we promised Clan Head Fugaku."
"Fugaku's soul is right here in this mask," Ishiro said. "Just don't tell him!"
Sōkai tugged on Izumi's sleeve, looking hopeful.
Izumi thought about it and didn't resist. She tacitly agreed.
Ishiro returned the mask to them. "Go on. Return it to me when you've vented enough."
"Mm!" They nodded firmly, took the mask, and left to find Katsumata.
Ishiro closed his eyes and resumed the fusion.
His progress was slow. It took over ten days to finally fuse all the chakra in his body.
Now, Ishiro felt like a powder keg. His entire body was filled with the repulsive force of different elements.
He was certain that if any external force struck him now, the five-nature chakra inside him would explode.
One explosion would trigger the rest.
He would be instantly vaporized, along with everything around him.
Even with his near-Sage-level soul, he would be torn apart.
Ishiro had anticipated this. He took an object from his pouch.
It was spherical, emitting an eerie dark purple light. The Star from Hoshigakure!
This was the item the Sage of Six Paths said would help him complete the fusion.
Recalling the Sage's instructions, Ishiro began the third step.
He placed his hand on the Star.
The purple light began to spread into Ishiro's body.
The Star could alter a ninja's body. This change was random and unpredictable.
In terms from Ishiro's past life, it was genetic mutation.
That was why many Hoshi-nin suffered physical ailments from using the Star.
What Ishiro was doing was no different, except the Hoshi-nin didn't dare absorb the purple light directly like this.
They only used the energy emitted by the light for training.
If they absorbed the light directly, they would turn into monsters instantly.
But Ishiro was different. He dared because he was fundamentally different from the Hoshi-nin.
Under the Star's influence, Ishiro's cells began to change.
Although he couldn't see it, he guessed the changes were random. His cells, originally uniform, suddenly mutated into countless cells with new genes.
Most of these new cells were harmful, conflicting with his body.
But Ishiro's life level was already very high, and he was in Sage Mode. His body's self-repair function was strong.
These mutated cells were quickly eliminated by his body.
Then, under the Star's influence, new cells were produced.
In this cycle of mutation and elimination, some cells were preserved.
These cells survived because they had a very high compatibility with the five-nature chakra inside him.
As time passed, these cells multiplied.
In other words, while the Star caused random mutations, the five-nature chakra acted as a filter, selecting the mutations that were compatible.
Only cells that could better fuse with the chakra remained.
As these cells increased, Ishiro's compatibility with the five-nature chakra grew.
Then, under the influence of the fused chakra and the new cells, the mutations of the remaining original cells began to trend toward the new type.
After an unknown amount of time, Ishiro suddenly threw the Star far away.
His cells hadn't completely transformed yet, but the new cells had gained a foothold. They could now divide on their own and slowly replace the old ones.
After discarding the Star, Ishiro didn't stop. He continued to sense the slow changes in his body.
The feeling was wonderful. He could feel his body becoming stronger bit by bit.
This euphoria completely masked the intense pain of the transformation.
Or rather, Ishiro deliberately immersed himself in the pleasure of increasing power to ignore the pain.
In a daze, Ishiro once again experienced the sensation of wandering between life and death.
Sometimes he felt alive, wielding supernatural power, capable of destroying the world with a gesture.
Sometimes he felt dead, sinking forever into the Pure Land, without life or thought.
Sometimes he felt vibrant, like a gestating infant full of hope.
Sometimes he felt lifeless, like a dying man, or a dried-up corpse.
In this dreamlike state, Ishiro lost track of time.
Until he seemed to tire of wandering. He ended the cycle and threw himself into the side of life.
The next moment, Ishiro opened his eyes. Simultaneously, a terrifying aura exploded from him, spreading rapidly.
The ANBU guarding him were startled by the sudden outburst.
They emerged from the shadows, relieved to see it was their Tsuchikage.
In a nearby earth house, Neji also sensed the change. He left his quarters and rushed to Ishiro's side.
Neji had volunteered to be Ishiro's guard. Given his strength, he was the best choice, and no one objected.
Neji waited for a long time before Ishiro slowly retracted his aura.
By then, many people had gathered around Neji.
Ōnoki, Ikura, and all the high-level ninja and Kage-level combatants in the village had arrived.
Seeing Ishiro wake from his trance, Ōnoki stepped forward. "Ishiro, you're finally awake!"
"Do you know how long you've been training?"
Ishiro blinked. He recalled the process vividly; it shouldn't have been long.
Seeing his expression, Ōnoki sighed. "You've been sitting here for two full months."
"If your vitals weren't stable, we would have sent you to the hospital long ago."
Ishiro was stunned. "Two months? Impossible! Neji and the others only took half a day to reach Sage level."
Neji, Sōkai, and Izumi were there. They gave Ishiro a look that said, It's true.
This was because Ishiro's transformation was different.
Neji's trio mainly transformed their eyes. They were Sages, yes, but neither their souls nor bodies reached that level. Only their eyes did.
But Ishiro was different. His transformation involved both body and soul reaching the Sage level. His change was far more thorough.
Of course, his eyes remained normal; they didn't turn into Byakugan, Sharingan, Rinnegan, or Tenseigan.
Neji's change was focused on a pair of eyes. Ishiro's was his entire body.
Naturally, it took many times longer.
Ishiro stood up. "Fine, I accept reality. I'm going to take a bath. We'll meet in the Tsuchikage's office later!"
Everyone nodded.
Ishiro went home, washed up, ate something, and went to the office.
As he walked, he rubbed his stomach. He didn't feel hungry anymore.
Not eating didn't make him hungry; eating didn't make him feel anything.
His biggest sensation was boundless energy. He felt he would never be hungry, tired, or sleepy again.
Furthermore, the repulsive force within the five-nature chakra, which had been present at the seventh layer, had changed again.
The repulsion was gone.
This chakra was no different from the White Sphere.
This was true, perfect five-nature fusion.
Ishiro extended his left hand. A fireball appeared in his palm. This wasn't a normal Fire Release jutsu.
It was a jutsu formed from five-nature chakra, merely manifesting as fire.
Its power was greater than a normal jutsu, but still below Ishiro's expectations.
He thought he should spend time developing special Sage-level jutsu.
He placed his right hand on the fireball.
Sure enough, no effect. He was completely immune to jutsu formed from his own chakra.
A thought crossed his mind. His right hand suddenly generated a suction force. Instantly, the fireball in his left palm was absorbed and vanished.
"So the Rinnegan's absorption principle is this simple!"
"As long as one masters Sage-level chakra, normal five-nature chakra can be manipulated at will."
"Absorption is easy too."
Also, Ishiro hadn't used hand seals for the fireball.
His jutsu casting was completely at will. With a thought, the chakra moved, and the jutsu formed.
The convenience of a Sage-level soul was immense. Ishiro believed there were many more benefits waiting to be discovered.
A moment later, all the high command and Kage-level ninja in the village were gathered in the Tsuchikage's office.
Akino Atsumi and Chiga were also present.
Riori Uzumaki, being Kage-level, was also there.
She was the first to ask curiously, "Ishiro-sensei, are you a Sage now? Why don't you have horns?"
Neji, Sōkai, and Izumi all had horns. Ishiro, a fellow Sage, did not.
Others were curious too, including Neji's group, but they weren't as brash as Riori.
Ishiro touched his forehead. "Horns are a trait of Ōtsutsuki descendants awakening their ancestral bloodline."
"I trained under the Sage's guidance, but I don't have Ōtsutsuki blood."
"Riori, you have Ōtsutsuki blood. If you become a Sage, you should grow horns too."
Riori reached out and touched the small horn on Neji's head. "Is that so?"
Neji blushed, feeling embarrassed. But facing Riori, he was helpless; he couldn't use Sage-level power on her.
Everyone was in a good mood seeing Ishiro's advancement, so they let Riori mess around. Besides, watching the Sage Neji get flustered was entertaining.
Ishiro paused, then said, "Tell me about the major events of the last two months."
Megumi opened a notebook and began a detailed report.
In the end, Ishiro focused on two important events.
First: Sōkai and Izumi had used the reanimated Shisui and Itachi to attack Konoha ninja on missions.
Given the strength of those two Edo Tensei, Konoha survivors were nonexistent.
They moved fast and killed efficiently. In just two months, over a thousand Konoha ninja had died by their hands.
And they acted covertly. Konoha guessed it was Iwa, but didn't know who the attackers were.
Ishiro didn't dwell on this. He focused on the second event.
Neji, the protagonist of the second event, explained it himself. "Ishiro-sensei, half a month ago, the Giant Tenseigan reacted. It seemed to resonate with something."
"But when I fully activated it to scan, I found nothing."
He added, "This fluctuation was similar to the resonance Sōkai felt with the Giant Sharingan."
Ishiro blurted out, "Orochimaru! His Byakugan must have evolved."
"I just don't know what kind of eyes he awakened."
Megumi nodded. "That's our analysis too. And we have more evidence."
"A few days ago, a White Zetsu clone sent a message providing the exact location of Kiri's high command."
"This clone wasn't A-Tsuchi; it was clearly sent by Black Zetsu."
"We suspect this is related to Orochimaru's resonance with the Giant Tenseigan!"
Now, all of Iwa's high command knew the truth about Kaguya, the Sage brothers, and the reincarnations of Asura and Indra.
They also knew about Black Zetsu, Madara, Obito, White Zetsu, and the Gedo Mazo.
So Megumi easily connected the two events.
But why would Black Zetsu send this intel? What benefit did he get from Iwa destroying Kiri? Or rather, what benefit did Orochimaru get?
Ishiro said, "Have Chiga monitor Orochimaru 24/7 from now on!"
"I'm already on it," Chiga said. "He hasn't left the Snake Pit."
Ishiro thought. "Since he's provoking a conflict between us and Kiri, if he makes a move, he'll wait until we start fighting."
"In other words, the timing he's waiting for requires a war between us and Kiri!"
He continued, "Exactly. We'll do as he wishes. Attack Kiri. Let him think his goal is achieved, and wait for him to strike."
Ikura asked, "Ishiro, you mean... lure the snake out of its hole? With Orochimaru's shrewdness, will he fall for it?"
"If we tried to lure him, maybe not," Ishiro said. "But right now, he is luring us. If we pretend to take the bait, he should fall for it."
(End of Chapter)