Chapter 276: Blue Spider Lily x The Senju of the Uchiha Clan
Yoriichi Tsugikuni gave the boy a strange look as his spiritual power trembled,
Through his [Transparent Heart], he perceived that the "father" in Roy's words was not the "father" present, at least not the Tanjuro before him. He shook his head, chuckled silently, and kept his mouth shut.
Even though this mysterious boy was like him, "born towards the sun," his understanding of "Kendo," "the sun," and "life" was completely different from his own.
Sometimes it made him, a person who had long passed away, unable to resist climbing up from hell just to take a few more glances, to see just how far this boy could go in the future and what kind of face he would wear...
A sighing cool breeze blew, tossing Roy's fiery red long hair, making it flutter and dance wildly.
The night deepened,
Returning home this time, it seemed there were endless words to say to his parents, endless warmth to share.
But gathering and parting are inevitable; it is the norm of life... Faintly noticing Tanjuro's exhausted expression, his coughing growing heavier, and him forcefully bracing himself to stay awake, Roy simply bid farewell to the two elders.
He stood up, bowed deeply and solemnly to Tanjuro and Kie, and turned to leave.
As his footsteps sounded... he suddenly heard Kie call out to his back with a trembling voice: "Eiichiro, will you come back again?"
Roy paused his steps, reached out to pinch a ray of moonlight as if grasping a thread of homesickness. He remained silent for a while, tilted his head, gave the woman a warm smile, and said: "Of course, this is my home too."
"And also my Cognitive World," the boy added silently in his heart, feeling melancholic: "It's as if I never came, and never left." Looking up again, seeing the bright moon climbing to its zenith, he opened his hand, letting the moonlight fly away.
He cast one last deep look at Tanjuro and Kie. With a thought, he deployed [Light Style], instantly merging into the moonlight, and sped deeper into the dense forest...
Whoosh~ The wind howled past his ears.
The night was heavy.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's voice echoed in his ears as Roy flew past.
He said: "They can't bear to let you go,"
"Just like I couldn't bear to let Uta and Ryota go."
Roy froze slightly, then understood. Ryota must be the child who was eaten by a demon before he even reached one year old. The boy, draped in moonlight, stood high in the sky, his fiery red long hair suspended and dancing wildly. He truly looked like he was hailed as a god that day, only the background had changed from the sun to the moon. His voice slightly lowered, he said: "I know."
"I've always known."
"It's just that I have no choice."
"Are the enemies very strong?" Yoriichi Tsugikuni was somewhat surprised: "Muzan is dead, there is no one left in the world who is your match... Eiichiro Kamado, why the rush? And why the worry?"
"Because there is always a higher sky." Roy transferred a layer of warm "Nen power" to Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who resided within his Kendo comprehension, maintaining his last bit of true spirit from being blown away by the astral wind. Squinting his eyes, he looked ahead. Deep within the profound darkness of the forest, a patch of eerie blue faintly swayed proudly, budding and ready to bloom. He accelerated his dive,
With another glance,
Amidst Yoriichi Tsugikuni's rippling emotions, he stepped out of the moonlight, appearing beside a very inconspicuous small dirt mound. The small dirt mound was covered with a layer of green weeds. Having endured the sun, rain, frost, and snow, it clearly had some years on it... But as Roy landed, Yoriichi Tsugikuni still recognized it at a glance: it was the grave of [Uta] and [Ryota].
He stretched his figure, borrowing the last bit of power of his true spirit, and abruptly drilled out from Roy's body, landing lightly beside the boy. He then silently looked at the grave, saying nothing, seeming... to sink into reminiscence... or perhaps relishing past beautiful memories. After a moment, he said calmly: "Could you help weed it?" "Uta liked flowers, not weeds,"
"She always said that even though flowers can't be eaten, at least they are pretty,"
"Weeds are completely useless, and always crowd the crops..."
Muttering incessantly... Yoriichi Tsugikuni tilted his head and looked over pleadingly. Roy nodded, reached out and summoned a wooden stick from near the grave, and gently swung it at the grave mound. [Wind Breathing] howled out, rolling countless tiny wind blades straight over the grave.
The weed clippings flew,
Instantly cleaned up neatly.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's eyes flickered, instantly recognizing the roots of [Wind Breathing], and he said gratefully: "Thank you."
The man, with fiery red long hair draped behind his head, gentle temperament, and restrained sharpness, reached out and pointed at a patch of deep blue flowers swaying in the wind before the grave, glowing with a faint eerie blue light. The buds were already open, on the verge of blooming at any moment. With a complex and indescribable emotion, he said: "These are the Blue Spider Lilies, the Blue Spider Lilies that Muzan Kibutsuji had been desperately searching for over a thousand years."
The day Muzan died, Yoriichi Tsugikuni learned everything through the man's revolving lantern.
For a moment, he couldn't describe how he felt about this patch of "eerie blue" before his eyes...
Too many people died because of "them," died because of Muzan Kibutsuji openly and secretly developing evil demons, frantically searching for them... Yet, unknown to them, they bloomed alone, beautiful alone in this unknown mountain forest. What a... colossal irony!
Another leisurely astral wind blew by, making Yoriichi Tsugikuni's spiritual power vibrate uneasily.
Following the man's gaze, Roy observed the patch of flowers before him. He raised his hand and transferred another layer of Nen power to Yoriichi Tsugikuni, helping him stabilize his figure.
As a result, Yoriichi stopped him with a raised hand: "I am already a dead man. Disappearing sooner means going down sooner to reunite with Uta and Ryota." Yoriichi Tsugikuni lowered his eyelids, the depths of his eyes densely packed with gentleness. He smiled bitterly and said: "I swore to kill Muzan and avenge them. But in the end... this wait made mother and son wait for me for hundreds of years. I am truly... ashamed..."
A few minutes remained until midnight, when the Blue Spider Lilies would fully bloom... A strange floral fragrance permeated the air... silently drilling into one's nostrils... Roy listened quietly without interrupting. Only at the moment he caught the floral scent, he heard a prompt sound,
The boy immediately looked at the panel without changing his expression...
[Prompt: ... Detected Plant Magical Beast... [Magical Beast Encyclopedia] has unfolded...]
[Magical Beast: Blue Spider Lily]
[Rank: S]
[A "World-Class" magical beast catalyzed by the "Will of the World" and "Power of the Sun" in the Demon Slayer World... Normally buried deep underground, absorbing the "Power of the World" and "Power of the Sun". Once collection is complete, it will seek a night of the full moon when Yin energy is most vigorous to bloom] [Flowering Period: One minute (Blooms only one midnight a year. The blooming duration can only be maintained for one minute, after which it will wither)] [Because during its blooming period, it will pour out all the "Power of the World" and "Power of the Sun" collected throughout the year... Recommendation: Store it!] S-Rank?!
The prompt sound ended,
[Magical Beast Encyclopedia] inclusion complete... A small eerie blue flower was attached to it, blooming proudly and aloofly... making Roy freeze. Unable to suppress his emotions, the Nen aura naturally released from the top of his head vibrated, catching Yoriichi Tsugikuni's attention.
After all, he was a natural-born marked, naturally transparent darling of Kendo... The man, with his fiery red long hair swaying in the wind, silently waited for the Blue Spider Lilies to bloom. He suddenly looked at Roy and asked: "Eiichiro, what happened?"
Roy struggled to pull his thoughts away from the many words like "S-Rank," "Power of the World," and "Power of the Sun." Looking deeply at the patch of Blue Spider Lilies before him, whose buds were opening further, faintly revealing the petals stretching out, he slowly shook his head...
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's gaze shifted slightly. Looking up again,
The boy crouched down, grasped a Blue Spider Lily, gently stroked it all the way from the stem to the bud, and said softly: "Teacher, do you think... is there really an 'other shore' in life?"
"If there is, what would it look like?"
Would it be like the Blue Spider Lily, blooming and withering, withering and blooming, absorbing and exhaling the "Power of the World" and "Power of the Sun" in an infinite cycle, never reaching... the end of the other shore... Or is it truly like when people die... a person's death is like a lamp going out, once and for all...
At this instant, Roy, incarnated as Eiichiro Kamado, plucking a flower and speaking,
Was deeply reflected in Yoriichi Tsugikuni's eyes, full of vicissitudes and age, making him... freeze!
Silence... Only the wind blowing the floral fragrance slowly touched one's senses.
After a long while, Yoriichi Tsugikuni finally recovered his senses. Rarely, he blinked mischievously at Roy, looking so playful that it didn't seem like him, but more like his dead son Ryota, who had started trying to crawl everywhere before he was even a year old...
"I don't know, but, I will know soon. It's just a pity... I won't be able to tell you anymore..."
Yes, Yoriichi Tsugikuni was going to die... going down to meet his wife and child. He would ultimately, definitely know the answer... but as he said, he wouldn't be able to tell himself.
Wait, Edo Tensei?! Roy suddenly thought of something, his mind clearing, and he smiled...
The boy let go of the Blue Spider Lily, stood up tall, nodded to Yoriichi Tsugikuni, and said: "Teacher, just rest assured and die. I naturally have a way to know the answer." Yoriichi Tsugikuni: "?!"
Aba aba, his body and mind instantly felt like they were crawled over by tens of thousands of fleas, an unbearable itch...
He opened his mouth, just wanting to ask what method you had. Unexpectedly... Roy interrupted him with a chop, waving his raised hand at him and said: "Teacher, the flowers are blooming. Goodbye!"
Yoriichi Tsugikuni: "..."
As his last bit of true spirit faded at this midnight, when the moon climbed to the highest point in the sky, and a patch of eerie blue light abruptly bloomed, his figure gradually faded... faded... and faded again...
Finally, he smiled helplessly, took one last deep look at Roy, and disappeared into the sky full of eerie blue light...
"Pop~" The true spirit extinguished like a shattered water mirror... In the deep, silent old forest, occasionally one or two birds pierced the night with a chirp, singing a lunar elegy for Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
Roy stood appropriately amidst a patch of Blue Spider Lilies, watching him disappear. He then lowered his hand, crouched down, and with his hands covered in Nen aura like butterflies flying through flowers, he seized the gap of the Blue Spider Lilies blooming, and began to frantically harvest the Blue Spider Lilies...
One... two... ten... a hundred... Afterimages appeared in front of every single Blue Spider Lily... Soon, one minute passed. Roy pulled his hands back, deployed the [Sumeru Mustard Seed], applied [Shu] to all the Blue Spider Lilies, and put them all inside, leaving only one to play with in his hand. He then straightened his back and looked around... The area in front of the grave was already bald...
"Very good,"
"Not a single one wasted."
The boy smiled faintly, withdrew his gaze with satisfaction,
And then shifted his gaze to the Blue Spider Lily in his hand. With a thought, he opened an aura node, separated a trace of Nen aura, transformed it into [Scorching True Meaning], forming a small flame containing the [Meaning of the Sun], and with a "poof~", ignited and devoured the Blue Spider Lily... Following that, a stream of pure "Power of the Sun," carrying reflections on the [World] across multiple dimensions such as [Space], [Time], and [Life], poured into the center of Roy's brows.
Panel prompts:
[Yang Release: +1000]
[Nen Ability Nature Transformation: Yang: Lv4 (49,451/100,000) -> Lv4 (50,451/100,000)] [Space-Time Ninjutsu Talent: +100]
[Space-Time Ninjutsu Talent: Lv3 (742/10,000) -> Lv3 (842/10,000) (Note: Minato Namikaze as reference)] [Minato Namikaze, Space-Time Ninjutsu Talent: Lv3 (5000/100,000)]
[Remaining Blue Spider Lilies: 1745]
Roy closed his eyes and savored it carefully, gradually falling into deep thought and comprehension, like a stone statue, entering a state of meditation, immersed in it...
Naruto World,
It was evening, the sunset glow filled the sky, dyeing half the sky a poignant red.
In the Hokage building located in the center of Konoha,
Inside that spacious Hokage office,
Amidst the permeating smoke... Hiruzen Sarutobi sat with his back to the window. Across the commercial district, the Hokage Monument could be seen at a glance. As usual, he sat behind his desk, smoking his pipe.
On the large desk in front of him, the Hokage hat was placed in one corner. Spread out in another corner... was a long scroll. The characters "Jin Uchiha" could be faintly seen on the scroll, followed by densely packed intelligence, and information brutally blacked out with a brush...
This showed... Hiruzen Sarutobi recently... was very worried.
Worried about the war, worried about the village, worried about his few disciples who were either too indifferent, too caring, or simply rotting away, spending all day either gambling in casinos or getting drunk in taverns. Of course... he was even more worried... about how to handle the problem of Jin Uchiha!
A Wood Release ninja emerged from the Uchiha clan?!
If he wasn't certain that Roy didn't participate in Orochimaru's First Hokage cell research project, he would even suspect... that his disciple's defection might have some connection to the Uchiha behind the scenes.
But, after investigating for the past few days, the reason for Orochimaru's defection had been found out clearly. This guy just disobeyed his orders, secretly conducted human experiments, and absconded for fear of being exposed... In other words,
Jin Uchiha, relying on his own talent, developed Wood Release!
In Konoha, this was unprecedented since the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju... Adding to that his identity as the Young Clan Head of the Uchiha, and those iconic Sharingan eyes... Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, having to pick up his brush and write the two large characters [Top Secret] on the scroll. He forcefully ordered Shizune to carry back Tsunade, who was dead drunk on Tanzaku Quarters... to properly ask her about [Wood Release] and [Yang Release], and incidentally consult her on the promotion plan for [Severed Limb Regeneration]. After all,
Since Mito Uzumaki passed away and Nawaki died in battle, she was the only "Senju descendant" left in the world by Hashirama Senju!
Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi had a Jonin from the Medical Corps look at it, and he also studied it deeply himself... This [Severed Limb Regeneration Technique] developed by Jin Uchiha and presented by Fugaku, in some aspects, had an extremely high similarity to Tsunade's research. Or rather,
It simply shared the same brilliant concept as... the [Creation Rebirth].
Coinciding with the height of the Third Shinobi World War,
If promoted and applied properly, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous boon for Konoha.
As Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned in deep thought...
The office door was pushed open from the outside...
"Burp~ Old man, you looking for me?"
☆☆☆
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