"Besides *Mind Reading*, this mask seems to have other functions as well," Seiki murmured softly while running his fingertips across one side of the mask, feeling its ancient texture.
He turned and walked toward a bandit, placing his right hand on the man's head. With a gentle pull, he drew the bandit's soul from his body like reeling in a fish on a line.
"This is part of the Shinigami's abilities." Seiki nodded slightly while looking at the captured soul—something currently beyond his Spirit Transformation Technique.
"In form, this ability closely resembles the Rinnegan Human Path's soul extraction, but it's more refined—pulling out the soul far more completely."
"Not only can it extract basic memories, but it can also serve as material for Soul Fusion."
"Now that I think about it, the Shinigami I summoned the second time seemed noticeably stronger than before. It must've absorbed the power from those sacrificed souls."
It wasn't devouring—it was absorbing, similar to a certain fox demon constantly forced to pay tribute.
Otherwise, Minato Namikaze's soul wouldn't have remained intact after being devoured for over a decade.
"Named 'Shinigami,' yet lacking even the ability to devour souls—and worse, letting so-called great men like myself and Orochimaru easily steal its hard-earned results! If this truly were the real death god, it'd be having an awfully rough career!"
Seiki analyzed calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, the backdoor for breaking the Dead Demon Consuming Seal was specifically left by the so-called 'Shinigami'—or rather, reserved especially for the Uzumaki clan!"
In Seiki's opinion, the Uzumaki physiology must've simply been too tempting. Even with powerful sealing techniques, it would remain difficult to dissuade enemies from coveting it.
Therefore, some powerful Uzumaki clansmen likely modeled themselves to develop the Dead Demon Consuming Seal technique.
They transformed themselves into death gods, issuing immediate [Shinigami] warning against any overwhelming enemy they encountered—and each use of this technique made the Shinigami stronger.
This backdoor function existed specifically to liberate the souls of those within their clan who had used the technique.
That's also why the method hadn't resorted to such harsh practices as soul consumption and fusion.
"Just stacking up souls to create the Shinigami was already enough to suppress Nine-Tails' resistance. So perhaps fusing souls to obtain higher-quality ones could become a new path toward strength… Maybe even crafting a Hollow Orb unique to this world using these souls as materials?"
But after giving it more thought, though, Seiki had no choice but to put that tempting idea aside—for now.
Ordinary souls were just too weak. Using them for fusion would be like building a skyscraper out of rotten concrete—one nudge and the whole thing comes tumbling down.
And powerful souls weren't exactly easy to come by. Quietly eliminating one or two might work, but systematically hunting strong warriors? Did he really think Hagoromo in Pure Land was blind?
The Six Paths Sage residing in Pure Land should be most sensitive to where these souls ended up.
Just consider how effortlessly he summoned the souls of past Hokage—clear evidence of his mastery over Pure Land.
Mess with his domain, and you'll likely earn yourself a direct [Six Paths — Chibaku Tensei] response.
"This is a real hassle. The gap between shinobi no sekai and the Otsutsuki clan is just too wide. Even if I stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world, I'd still be at least two or three tiers beneath the Sage of Six Paths. Not to mention the fact that right now, I'm nowhere near reaching the peak of shinjutsu mastery."
Seiki let out a helpless sigh. If he wanted to break through the shackles of life's hierarchical limitations, he would have to consider all possible avenues for becoming stronger.
Even if he kept Madara locked tightly in his coffin so there was no chance of him causing trouble, the approaching threat of the three-man Otsutsuki team arriving potentially in mere decades was still a danger he couldn't afford to ignore.
Seiki inwardly lamented — time was running out for him!
In this situation, there was no way he could easily abandon any line of thought.
"So first of all, I need someone to take the blame for me?"
When thinking about taking the blame, Seiki instinctively thought of the respected Elder Danzo.
But then he quickly shook his head. "This burden is too heavy; Elder Danzo won't be able to shoulder it!"
Muttering to himself, Seiki continued, "The soul collection task can't be done by me personally, and shouldn't even be carried out within this world. In that case, maybe Black Zetsu from a parallel dimension could be a good option... However, deceiving Black Zetsu won't be an easy feat."
Using information asymmetry was an option, but he didn't have enough data yet. A careless move could spook him instead.
After all, his understanding of Black Zetsu was based solely on memories from his previous life. To successfully manipulate Black Zetsu, he needed much deeper insight into its nature.
"Perhaps I can conduct numerous experiments within this world, and then use the intelligence gathered to gain credibility with the Black Zetsu from another dimension."
As this thought crossed his mind, a subtle smirk curled at the corner of Seiki's lips. "I think I've figured out how to play my next game with him."
...
The next day, early morning.
Stepping on dewdrops, Seiki returned to the Western Front camp.
There he received news about the ceasefire agreement between both sides.
Opinions within the camp varied regarding this development, with attitudes broadly falling into two camps.
The war-weary faction thought ending the war sooner rather than later was better. Iwagakure wasn't a soft target — pushing too hard might provoke them to retaliate fiercely.
The pro-war group couldn't accept it though. Most had lost friends or family in battle, and hatred kept them from stopping now.
Within merely a day or two, the camp had already witnessed double-digit disputes.
Therefore, as soon as Seiki arrived back at the camp, a large crowd gathered around him.
"Lord Seiki, please speak to Hokage-sama about this! How can we possibly give up at the final moment?"
"That's right! We've already persisted for three whole years!"
"Lord Seiki, don't listen to their nonsense. The suffering brought by war has already been enough!"
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Seiki also felt a headache coming along. There was just no easy way to sort this out.
After all, he wasn't Gaara — no single speech could magically erase everyone's hatred like that.
"Well, looks like I'll have to bite the bullet," Seiki thought helplessly. He maintained a serious and solemn expression on his face. "Everyone, please hear me out for just a moment."
Upon hearing Seiki speak, the surrounding noise immediately quietened down. Everyone turned their expectant gazes toward Seiki.
"It's true — this war is already won! And as commander on the field, I could easily receive flowers and applause."
"My interest lies in supporting the war… but I won't, because I don't want our next meeting to be at your funeral."
"Hatred cannot be undone, but the pain it spreads doesn't have to keep spreading. When friends and family die, you feel sorrow — but what if *you* were the one to die? Those who care about you would feel that same sorrow. That's how pain gets passed on."
Then Seiki switched gears completely, "Still, I'm not trying to talk you out of your hatred. There are plenty of ways to get payback against Iwagakure without resorting to methods that harm yourself and those around you."
"For example, after the war ends, you could organize people to take over Iwagakure's missions, leaving them with nothing to accept; or you could follow Jiraiya-sama's example and write books exposing Iwagakure's cruelty and brutality; or even work hard to earn money and establish a massive commercial guild to impose economic sanctions on Iwagakure."
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