Training Ground.
After cleaning up the remnants in the laboratory, Hikari quietly arrived near the training area of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Finding a quiet spot, he began to contemplate.
For Hikari, ordinary chakra nature transformation had already reached a very high level. As long as he wished, even fusing two natures to create a Kekkei Genkai would not be difficult.
However, in his view, a Kekkei Genkai born from just two nature transformations wouldn't give him much of a boost. On the contrary, it would slow down his comprehension of Yin-Yang Release, so he had shelved the idea.
At present, the Truth-Seeking Balls formed from Yin–Yang Release were one of his strongest techniques.
He was very familiar with the spiritual energy of Yin Release and the physical energy of Yang Release.
Now, he recalled the contents of the Spirit Transformation Technique.
This technique did not require many hand seals. It mainly relied on one's own spiritual power, combined with Yin Release, to create a state similar to a soul leaving the body. Through this, one could possess another person's body or directly affect them.
This was very similar to the immortal techniques he had read about in his previous life. However, unlike those methods, once the original body of the Spirit Transformation Technique was killed, it would directly affect the user's mind and cause death.
Reaching the heavens in a single step... Hikari had never harbored such unrealistic thoughts.
Right now, he wanted to use the Spirit Transformation Technique to promote his comprehension of Yin Release and break through the current bottleneck of his Yin–Yang Release.
Because the time the Akatsuki had left him was running out.
Previously, Hikari had estimated that it would take him about three years to reach the Six Paths level. But now, facing the threat of the Akatsuki, he could only push himself to shorten that time as much as possible.
Otherwise, once the Ten-Tails appeared and Uchiha Madara was revived, Hikari didn't believe his current strength would be enough to defeat Madara who possessed the Ten-Tails.
Even against the being known as Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Hikari felt that winning would be extremely difficult.
He was not the child of destiny. The process by which Naruto and Sasuke sealed Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had been somewhat absurdly smooth. Hikari did not believe he would be that lucky when facing her himself.
Therefore, the only way to deal with all of this was to become stronger. Nothing but becoming stronger.
Calming his mind, Hikari sat cross-legged and quietly felt the soul deep within his body.
According to the description of the Spirit Transformation Technique, the first requirement to practice this ninjutsu was extremely strong sensory abilities; Hikari already met that condition.
The second was to believe in the existence of the soul.
Belief was a terrifying power.
There were times when even gods could not shake a person's will.
The third was to use the method provided by the technique to let one's soul leave the body, then either control or perceive an enemy.
'The existence of the soul, huh...'
'Silent and boundless, without top or bottom...'
---
"What is Hikari-senpai doing?" Ino looked at Hikari curiously. She wanted to step forward, but did not quite dare. A woman's intuition told her that Hikari was most likely practicing at the moment.
"He seems to be meditating. We'd better not disturb him!" Ino sensed his condition and found that Hikari's entire body was in a relatively peaceful state.
It was obvious that he was training.
Shinobi training usually fell into two kinds: one was adjusting and refining chakra, and the other was meditation.
Judging by Hikari's state, it was very likely that he had entered a deep meditative state.
Shikamaru watched Hikari cautiously. Although he didn't know what secret technique Hikari was practicing, he knew the basic rule: don't disturb someone during training.
"Let's stand guard for now," Ino suggested.
When Hikari rested normally, he would lean against a tree or lie on the grass, finding an extremely comfortable spot.
But now, he was sitting cross-legged under the shade. If that wasn't training, then what was?
"Hey, what are you three doing?"
Naruto walked toward them, brimming with confidence. His training progress had been significant lately. Without the Nine-Tails' interference, Naruto felt his chakra control had improved a lot.
Forming a Rasengan with one hand was no longer just a dream.
Aside from the Rasengan, with Hinata's help, his taijutsu had also improved greatly.
"Don't come over. Hikari-senpai is training!" Shikamaru said warily.
As Naruto's childhood friend, Shikamaru knew him very well. This guy loved to mess around. Who knew if he would suddenly cause trouble?
"Pfft, it's just training. What's the big deal?" Naruto said carelessly.
Looking at Hikari sitting there without moving, he really wanted to go greet him and maybe draw a few marks on his face with a pen. Just thinking about it made him feel happy.
"If there's nothing else, why don't you go eat first? The three of us will keep watch here. It should be fine," Shikamaru suggested.
"Alright, you watch for now. We'll come back in a while and switch with you!" Naruto agreed readily.
Then he called out to Sasuke and Hinata, and the three of them headed toward Konoha.
Watching Naruto walk away, Shikamaru quietly let out a breath.
What he was worried about was not Naruto, but Sasuke.
Because in Sasuke's eyes, he had seen a trace of coldness.
Naruto was straightforward. Even if he wanted to cause trouble, he would at most draw a few doodles on Hikari's face. But Sasuke was different. That guy had been beaten badly by Hikari before. Who knew if he still held a grudge?
"I've never seen Hikari-senpai train before. I even thought he didn't need to train at all!" Ino looked at Hikari sitting there in a calm, detached state, her eyes full of curiosity.
"No matter what kind of genius someone is, they still have to train. Effort is the true path to growth." When he said this, Shikamaru thought of Maito Gai's student, Rock Lee.
That guy who relied entirely on hard work had shone brilliantly in the Chunin Exams and made many people remember his name.
"Shikamaru is right. I'll work very hard too," Chōji echoed.
To ensure Hikari's safety, he had not even taken out his favorite snacks. He simply watched the surroundings vigilantly.
"I really don't know why Hikari-senpai would choose to train here of all places. Doesn't he have any common sense about training?" Ino could not help complaining.
"Probably just a coincidence."
"With how cautious Hikari-senpai is, he wouldn't casually enter a training state like this. I think he started practicing some kind of genjutsu and accidentally sank too deep into it," Shikamaru stated his opinion.
Ino and Chōji both nodded in agreement.
In the distance, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata were walking back with smiles on their faces.
"You came back pretty fast," Shikamaru said casually when he saw that they were all familiar faces.
"Of course we came back fast! We're a team, after all. How could we just sit over there eating while you're guarding here?" Naruto said righteously. "You guys go eat first. Then we'll rotate like this and train one by one, so we won't waste Hikari-senpai's good intentions."
"That actually makes sense. This is the first time I've felt like Naruto can speak so reasonably," Ino sighed, then asked curiously, "Hinata, how many bowls of ramen did you eat today?"
"I... I ate three bowls," Hinata answered shyly.
"Only three? Are you sure you're full?" Ino looked at her suspiciously. "Don't tell me you deliberately ate less because of a certain someone?"
"Of course I'm full! Ino, your appetite is about the same as mine, right?"