"Kushina, in a moment I'm going to use the Spirit Transformation Technique. I need you to run an experiment for me with Mind's Eye of the Kagura."
"Okay."
After the sensing training, Gojo Yoru didn't take Uzumaki Kushina back to Konoha. Instead, he teleported them into a cave.
They weren't alone inside. A shinobi lay on the ground, unconscious.
Yoru formed hand seals and released his spatial perception at full power. After confirming there were no White Zetsu clones nearby, he asked Kushina, "Have you memorized my chakra signature?"
"Mm-hm!"
In all of Konoha, no one was more familiar with Yoru's chakra than she was. That was why the moment he returned, she could camp him at the Hokage Tower entrance.
"Good." Yoru pointed at the unconscious shinobi. "Now memorize his chakra signature. In a moment I'm going to possess his body. Watch his chakra and see whether anything changes."
"Okay."
Kushina immediately activated Mind's Eye of the Kagura and locked onto the man's chakra.
Once she opened her eyes and nodded, Yoru sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and formed a single Rabbit hand seal.
From Kushina's perspective, nothing visible happened.
But in a viewpoint she couldn't see, a spirit body—identical to Yoru down to the clothes—rose out from the crown of his head and floated in midair.
Yoru felt his perspective snap upward. He could see his own body sitting on the cave floor, the unconscious shinobi, and Kushina—whose face had suddenly gone deathly pale.
Not only that: he could see the chakra inside both Kushina and the unconscious man, and he could "smell" their chakra signatures directly.
Without needing hand seals at all, Yoru could sense energy fluctuations in every direction—at ten times his normal range.
That was one of the inherent traits of a super-S-rank Yin Release ultimate.
This was Yoru's first time truly using Spirit Transformation. After he'd sensed that his mental energy and physical energy could be perfectly separated a few days ago, he'd known the technique was already "complete."
He just hadn't dared cast it inside Konoha. He was worried there might be White Zetsu lurking—or Black Zetsu watching him—and that one of them could detect a spirit-body state. Spatial sensing was the priority, so he'd held it back.
But the moment he entered the spirit state and felt this sensory amplification, he had to admit it:
Spirit Transformation deserved its super-S-rank status.
Techniques like Edo Tensei or the Eight Gates—if you found the right genius—could be learned quickly. Even if they were strong, their training difficulty still sat in the S-rank zone.
Only Flying Thunder God and Spirit Transformation were true "techniques that choose their wielder."
Flying Thunder God aside, Spirit Transformation required not only sufficient mental energy and Yin chakra, but also a matching Yin talent—and years of cultivation just to barely step through the doorway.
To master it as quickly as Yoru had, you needed chakra control at the apex of the shinobi world. The requirements were as brutal as Flying Thunder God's.
If Yoru still only had "veteran chūnin" chakra reserves, even after his second evolution, he still wouldn't have been able to form a spirit body strong enough to leave the flesh.
Just like how Rock Lee could open the Fifth Gate at twelve, but only the Sixth at sixteen—Spirit Transformation had a bottleneck. Unless you were a once-in-an-era prodigy, you typically couldn't push past it until adulthood, because only a mature body and mind could withstand the backlash of breaking that limit.
That was why so many techniques got classified as forbidden. Train them casually, and you could die.
Yoru was about to enjoy the spirit-body state a little longer before attempting possession—
when Kushina's panicked voice snapped him back.
"Yoru—did it work?! Why did all the chakra in your body just disappear?!"
"Disappear?"
Yoru's brows lifted. He looked down at his own body.
Then his eyes flashed with shock.
"What is this?"
Only now did he realize: from his spirit-body viewpoint, his physical body had zero energy fluctuation.
It didn't feel like "Gojo Yoru's flesh" anymore.
It felt like… a corpse.
That wasn't normal.
Even Yin and Yang—despite being "hidden attributes"—were still chakra nature transformations. A genjutsu user doesn't turn all their chakra into Yin chakra; only the portion they're using.
Spirit Transformation should be the same.
More importantly, the technique must leave chakra inside the body to serve as an anchor and allow return—one of the reasons Kato Dan could be tracked and killed in canon.
If the body became indistinguishable from a corpse, Spirit Transformation would become borderline invincible—your body could even be sealed into a storage scroll.
Yet both Kushina and Yoru's spirit body couldn't sense any energy coming from him.
Yoru was absolutely sure he'd left chakra behind. And he hadn't used space-time chakra to cast Spirit Transformation.
He abandoned the possession experiment and returned to his body immediately.
The instant he opened his eyes, Kushina rushed in, worried. "Yoru, are you okay? Did it fail?"
"No. It succeeded perfectly." Yoru shook his head. "But when you said my chakra disappeared—what exactly did you mean?"
Kushina answered honestly. "I kept Mind's Eye of the Kagura active. Your chakra vanished in an instant. Not just chakra—your life signal too. It was like… you died."
She knew it was unlucky, but she said it anyway.
Yoru fell silent, thinking.
He didn't know Uzumaki Mito could barely see his space-time chakra too.
Kushina not being able to sense space-time chakra didn't surprise him—that was the high-dimensional masking.
But for even the last traces of chakra and bodily energy to vanish… that was strange.
Was his space-time chakra automatically masking him the moment his spirit left his body?
Only full phasing should be able to erase all presence like that.
Yoru looked at Kushina. "Let's do it again. When my chakra vanishes, touch my body. See if I've 'merged into space' the way phasing does."
"Okay."
Now that she knew it wasn't a failure, Kushina didn't panic.
Yoru formed seals and cast Spirit Transformation again. The moment Kushina sensed his chakra disappear, she reached out and touched him.
Her hand didn't pass through.
It landed solidly on his shoulder.
"Huh?" Kushina blinked, curious. "Your chakra and energy signature are gone, but your body still has warmth."
"If it didn't have warmth, that would mean I'm dead." Yoru opened his eyes, deadpan.
Kushina stared at him, bright-eyed. "Yoru, what is this? Is this just how Spirit Transformation works?"
"Don't interrupt me." Yoru waved her off. "Check that guy's condition—make sure he doesn't wake up."
He sank into thought again.
This was different from Dan's version. And with his second evolution sharpening even his thinking speed, a faint spark of insight surfaced.
This "difference" might be extremely important—or extremely exploitable.
He might have been underestimating Spirit Transformation.
For a space-time bloodline like his, the technique might not just be a path to spatial sensing. The ability to perfectly separate mental energy and physical energy might allow far more operations.
As that thought formed, the spark of insight grew—closing in.
Then, suddenly, Yoru remembered an old experiment he'd shoved into the back of his mind after countless failures:
Space-Time Release: Shadow Clone.
When he first succeeded in fusing normal chakra with space-time chakra, his first attempt wasn't Phantom Body Flicker—it was Shadow Clone.
The fused chakra could create a physical clone…
but the clone had no independent consciousness. Its body would warp and flicker like a glitching screen.
Even after his second evolution, even with chakra control at the pinnacle, the issue hadn't been solved.
Yoru used to think space-time power had a "uniqueness" property—only the main body could use it, clones couldn't share it, so they couldn't have independent minds.
But if it truly had a "uniqueness" property, then the fused chakra shouldn't have been able to create a stable physical body at all.
After all, even his main body could only externalize space-time power by coating techniques. He still couldn't just release pure space-time chakra freely—his "Stage Two" wasn't that far yet.
So if other externalized techniques had worked, why did "space-time shadow clone" fail?
Maybe it wasn't that space-time power was unique.
Maybe Yoru simply wasn't qualified yet.
The space-time shadow clone was missing a key piece—something his Stage Two still couldn't supply.
If he fully understood Spirit Transformation, he might be able to supply that missing piece.
If not now…
then Stage Three would.
In that moment, Yoru became even more convinced:
The third evolution would be a watershed on the path to godhood.
"Yin Seal—Release!"
He temporarily shelved the "space-time shadow clone" reboot and unsealed both Yin Seals, using full-power micro-adjustment to push his body to peak condition.
In this state, like opening the First Gate, his control over both chakra pools could reach 100%.
He took a deep breath and formed the Rabbit seal again.
This time, after converting his chakra into Yin chakra, he didn't immediately eject his spirit body—he waited.
Soon, under split-focus control, his space-time chakra separated from his normal chakra and flowed through his pathways into the brain—merging with the Yin chakra.
With that "foreign interference," his spirit body refused to exit properly, as if lost in darkness.
Until the micro-adjustment of the dual seals intervened.
Then his spirit body saw a sliver of white light.
It lunged toward it without hesitation.
The darkness split open—
and Yoru's perspective snapped up again into the cave, seeing the same three figures.
He immediately examined himself and smiled.
"Success."
Normally, Spirit Transformation produces a translucent white spirit body. It already has high-grade concealment; even Madara's reincarnated Rinnegan in canon couldn't truly see it—only vaguely sense "something" nearby.
At that time, Madara was still "super-Kage," not yet a higher-dimensional being.
If even Madara could faintly sense it, then Spirit Transformation likely wouldn't fool Six Paths-level senses at all.
Yoru was certain: if Madara revived and reclaimed his true Rinnegan, he'd be able to see Spirit Transformation's spirit body.
Nagato, once he mastered Six Paths techniques, might also be able to see it—after all, the Rinnegan's basic Human Path involves ripping out souls.
And Human Path would be the natural hard-counter to Spirit Transformation. Even Yoru would be wary.
But now?
He wasn't.
Because his spirit body had mutated.
Yoru's spirit form wasn't translucent white anymore.
It was translucent black.
His Spirit Transformation had become:
Space-Time Release: Spirit Transformation.
Space-time—the eighth attribute outside Yin-Yang and the Five Elements—was an all-purpose property. As long as your chakra control was up to standard, it could coat any technique.
Rasengan. Five-element ninjutsu. Yin and Yang techniques—everything.
Even though space-time power drained every second, as long as Yoru had space-time chakra remaining, his space-time spirit body was like phasing: absolutely invincible. Even soul-targeting techniques wouldn't be able to harm it.
Its already-powerful concealment jumped into a higher dimension—maybe only ultimate ocular powers could even perceive it.
The only problem: Spirit Transformation's assassination is a battle of mental energy and Yin chakra.
If it weren't, Yoru would become the most unsolvable assassin in the shinobi world.
The real question was whether space-time chakra could function inside a spiritual/mental domain.
If it could, then until his space-time chakra ran out, his spirit body inside an enemy's mind might still be able to use space-time techniques.
If that were possible, Yoru might even be able to help Kushina tame the Nine-Tails earlier.
More importantly, even if the soul-form Six Paths Sage was watching him, Yoru could temporarily ignore that "true shinobi god" who could travel between the living world and the Pure Land.
He might even be able to reach the Pure Land from the living world himself.
Those thoughts flashed by in rapid succession. Yoru's eyes filled with shock.
It was feasible—absolutely feasible—he just wasn't "qualified" at his current stage.
Just like how the Yin Seal, for Yoru, was essentially divine-tier Ōtsutsuki-level sorcery—maybe even beyond "divine technique"—
in this moment, Spirit Transformation became, in his eyes, his second divine technique.
"Hmm?"
After he stabilized his emotions, Yoru was about to check his physical body and see whether, under this space-time spirit state, he could detect energy fluctuations in it—
when he suddenly sensed something and snapped his focus to Kushina.
His eyes burst with joy.
In his perception, Kushina's internal energies were laid bare:
Uzumaki vitality and chakra… plus two unfamiliar chakra pools inside her.
One was the Nine-Tails' chakra—vast like an ocean.
The other was small but extremely tough, like the membrane around a Rasengan: a sealing imprint.
And on that imprint, he sensed a foreign chakra signature.
Even if he didn't yet have this level of sensing before, Yoru was certain:
That was Uzumaki Mito's chakra.
"Did spatial perception pick up a 'spatial-sense' trait too…?" Yoru murmured, but his gaze wasn't on Kushina's abdomen—it was on her wrist.
From his view, Kushina's wrist carried two chakra markings of different colors—blue and black.
The blue one was the normal-chakra Flying Thunder God marker: the ouroboros infinity symbol, like a bracelet.
The black one was hidden under her kimono sleeve: a Space-Time Release Flying Thunder God marker attached to her clothing.
In the next instant, Yoru's spirit body appeared beside her with zero warning.
The translucent black spirit briefly faded, then was swallowed by deeper black again—its overall darkness slightly diluted, but still clearly altered.
Staring at Kushina—who was still maintaining Mind's Eye of the Kagura and monitoring the unconscious shinobi—Yoru felt an urge so strong he almost couldn't stop himself.
If he had a physical body right now, he would've grabbed her face and kissed her, just to vent his excitement.
Because in spirit form, he could still use Flying Thunder God.
And that meant what he'd just gained was massive:
His survival ability had skyrocketed.
As long as he kept enough space-time chakra, his spirit could almost instantly return to his body.
When visiting Konan, he wouldn't need to risk sending his main body near her location anymore—raising the chance of being discovered by Black/White Zetsu—and he wouldn't need long-distance travel.
He could just chain-teleport and appear at Konan's side, then use space-time speed to possess her body.
With high-dimensional concealment, nobody would detect the possession.
If he weren't cautious, and if the experiment hadn't even been completed yet, he would've tested it immediately.
~~~
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