Chapter 558: The Second Quickening
Ishiro looked at the little, proud tsundere-like Matatabi and blinked, speechless for a moment.
But, Ishiro's intelligence was online. He didn't stupidly ask what it was doing.
Instead, he said to the small Bijuu, "Matatabi, thank you for giving me this chance to be tested by you. Don't worry, when you get to Iwagakure, you will see a different shinobi world. There, you will see the world of mutual understanding that the Sage of Six Paths wished for."
Little Matatabi blinked, then huffed, turning its elegant back to Ishiro in a show of arrogance.
Although it didn't speak, Ishiro could feel that his humble posture had eased its embarrassment. Its proud demeanor seemed much more natural now.
Ishiro was happy but kept his face straight. He said to his team, "The Two-Tails is coming to our village for an 'inspection.' This is a top-secret matter. It is not to be spoken of to anyone."
Shinya-kun and the others, trying their best to hold back their laughter, replied with serious faces, "Yes, sir."
Hearing this, little Matatabi's body relaxed even more. Good, secrecy. This way, the other Tailed Beasts won't find out about this embarrassing (face-losing) situation. Especially not Shukaku the One-Tail. If that loud-mouthed gossip found out, he'd spread it to all the Bijuu.
Ishiro caught this from the corner of his eye and chuckled inwardly. He waved his hand, his tone light. "Let's go back to the village."
However, this time, Ishiro didn't have Akino-chan use the Flying Thunder God. This needed to be kept secret, and he couldn't expose her ability in front of the Two-Tails. Not yet, at least.
Ishiro used his Porcelain Release to fly the four people and four cats back to the village at high speed.
Upon their return, Ishiro took little Matatabi to see Little Saiken, Little Chōmei, Little Son Gokū, and Kokuō.
Little Son Gokū hadn't wanted to come out and be embarrassed, but since his main body was in the Land of Snow with Rōshi, he had to show up.
Ishiro didn't interfere with the five Bijuu's reunion. He left little Matatabi with them, confident in Little Saiken's ability to "convert" the newcomer. He was sure the miracle they'd worked on Son Gokū could be repeated.
Time passed, and half a year went by.
During this time, Ishiro had been continuously attempting the five-nature fusion.
In his plan, the process was like building a complex model. The first step was simple: tangling five lines of chakra into a basic framework. He completed this easily.
The second step was to extend numerous branches from those five lines to form a new, more complex framework. The difficulty increased dozens of times over. But Ishiro's chakra control was top-tier. After a bit of fumbling, he got the hang of it and completed it in a few days.
There had been one accident. The repulsion between the five natures was severe. A mistake in the weaving process caused a chain reaction, and the entire structure collapsed and exploded.
Fortunately, he was experimenting outside his body with a minimal amount of chakra. He had narrowly managed to push the blast away with Shinra Tensei.
This miniature "Five-Element Great Combo-Bullet Jutsu" only landed him in the hospital for a day.
After that, he was much more cautious.
The third layer took him nearly a month.
The fourth layer took him a full four months.
The time required was growing exponentially. By his calculations, if the trend continued, completing the seventh layer would take around ten years.
By then, Naruto-kun would already be fighting in the war. How much time did he really have left?
More importantly, after reaching the fourth layer and attempting the fifth, Ishiro discovered that his chakra control was becoming insufficient.
His chakra control was the strongest in the shinobi world, barring any thousand-year-old monsters. He hadn't expected to struggle even at the fifth layer.
This was a huge blow. According to his predictions, he needed to complete at least seven layers to even attempt the final fusion. If he was already failing at five...
And he had no guarantee that seven layers would even be enough. Even if it was, his body would still need time to adapt to the new chakra.
At this rate, the plan was impossible.
He thought of the "Star" the Sage of Six Paths had mentioned. He had looked at it, but he couldn't figure out how to use it. Iwa's research on it had also stalled.
For a moment, Ishiro felt lost.
But his bad mood didn't last. He quickly began to "hypnotize" himself.
I've come this far from nothing. How can I give up now? It's just a lack of chakra control! I'll just train harder! I am the Child of Prophecy, the disciple of both Sages!
Just as he was gearing up to try again, a piece of good news landed right in his lap.
Ishiro looked at the energetic Neji-kun standing before him, his voice filled with surprise, "Neji-kun, can you confirm when the second quickening will be?"
That's right. Neji-kun was about to undergo his second "quickening" (fetal movement).
This meant Ishiro could "hitch another ride."
It was a pillow for a sleepy man! The fifth layer would depend on this!
Neji-kun replied, "Lord Tsuchikage, I can't be sure of the exact time, but it will definitely be within the next few days."
Ishiro thought for a moment. "Does the second quickening need to happen near the giant Tenseigan?"
Neji-kun paused. "It probably does... I'm not sure. But even though I'm in the shinobi world, my connection to the Tenseigan is still active. That connection is what's causing this."
Ishiro nodded. "To be safe, let's go to the Moon."
Neji-kun agreed.
Ishiro summoned the Head of his Assistant Team, Uchiha Izumi-san, gave her a few instructions, and then took Neji-kun to the Moon.
They used the teleportation array to go from Iwa to the Land of Snow passage.
Ishiro stepped out and greeted Ōnoki and Rōshi, who were standing guard. After a brief update, he and Neji-kun entered the passage.
The passage interior was now completely different, with signposts guiding the way for the immigrant parties. Ishiro nodded in satisfaction. This passage was not just new territory; it was Iwa's ultimate retreat path. And the Tenseigan was a treasure that could birth a transcendent Kage-level shinobi.
After arriving on the Moon, Ishiro and Neji-kun flew over the various settlements. The Land of Snow immigrants were already established, farming and trading. The other nations were still in the building phase.
They flew to the artificial sun and entered the Tenseigan's chamber.
Seeing Neji-kun wasn't showing signs yet, Ishiro said, "Neji-kun, your strength is already at the Jonin level. Let's spar."
Neji-kun lit up, immediately taking his self-created Byakugan stance.
Ishiro nodded. "You attack first."
Ishiro wasn't a close-combat specialist, and he didn't want to be embarrassed by a Hyūga genius.
But the difference in their levels was too great. Ishiro's speed and strength were far beyond Neji-kun's, and he easily controlled the pace of the fight.
After a while, Ishiro frowned.
Neji-kun's "new" techniques... they were just Gentle Fist in disguise. His mind was trapped by it.
After thoroughly dissecting Neji-kun's moves, Ishiro found an opening and kicked him away.
"Neji-kun, your development is all wrong," Ishiro said, as Neji-kun got back up. "These are just variations of the Gentle Fist. They're useless in a real fight. To develop a new Byakugan art, you must completely abandon your ingrained Gentle Fist concepts."
Neji-kun was stunned. "Then... what should I do?"
"We fight again," Ishiro said. "No Gentle Fist. No 'secret arts.' Fight me like a normal ninja. Stop thinking of yourself as a Hyūga."
Neji-kun didn't understand, but he obeyed.
He kept defaulting to the Gentle Fist. And every time he did, Ishiro would blast him with a one-handed or seal-less ninjutsu, forcing him to adapt.
Neji-kun truly was a genius. After half a day, he slowly began to change his style.
But it wasn't just his habits; his entire mindset was based on the Gentle Fist. He measured distance in terms of "Eight Trigrams" range, and defenses in terms of "Rotation" time.
A ninja's combat philosophy must evolve.
Ishiro himself had gone from analyzing C-rank jutsu, to A-rank jutsu, to Kekkai Genkai... and now... to wondering if the Sage of Six Paths would get angry if he hit someone.
A true powerhouse had to adapt.
(Ishiro briefly mused that Naruto-kun's Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu was the only exception, a true "super S-rank" jutsu that no dōjutsu could see through.)
He refocused on Neji-kun. "Is this all you have, Neji-kun? You still can't break free? Do you plan to use the Gentle Fist against Kage? Against flying ninja? Against a Tailed Beast? How can you talk of 'changing the Hyūga clan' when you're like this?"
Ishiro's attacks became harsher, his words sharper.
Neji-kun's expression grew grim, and his mistakes became fewer.
They fought, intermittently, for two days. Neji-kun was beaten to his wits' end. He never once touched Ishiro's clothes, but he was struck every few minutes.
Near the end, Ishiro was using all five elements, his varied attacks giving Neji-kun no room to breathe.
Neji-kun's clothes were in tatters (he'd gone through dozens of outfits from Toneri's old castle).
"Hah... hah..." Neji-kun, panting, was knocked down by a water jutsu. He staggered to his feet, kunai in hand, ready to go again.
Ishiro nodded internally. Good. He's finally learned to use a weapon.
He held up his hand. "Rest. Eat something. It's been two days. Your second quickening should be close."
Hearing this, Neji-kun's legs gave out. He collapsed, and the moment his eyes closed, he was snoring.
Ishiro paused, then covered him with a blanket and sat down to meditate.
He was tired, too. In the last few exchanges, Neji-kun, under extreme pressure, had unconsciously started to use the Tenseigan's dōjutsu: Imperial Wheel.
If Neji-kun weren't so clumsy with it, and if Ishiro weren't so familiar with gravity jutsu, it would have been hard to win so easily.
The next day, after a night's rest, Neji-kun's second quickening began.
Just like last time, Ishiro used the Spirit Infiltration Jutsu to enter his body.
He once again experienced the metamorphosis, and his own soul was "purified" along with Neji-kun's.
This time, Ishiro was prepared. While his soul was being "cleansed," he actively practiced his Yin Release, pondering the problems he had from Hamura's lesson.
In that hazy, dream-like state, many of his questions suddenly became clear.
When the quickening ended, his Yin Release had taken another significant leap.
Ishiro's soul returned to his body.
He could feel his soul's new strength. A few more "rides" like this, and he felt his Yin Release could reach the "extreme" of the third stage—the level of Mōryō and the Reaper.
Leeching is truly the best!
The descendants of the Sages are just so good to me!
My Mind's Eye was upgraded by leeching off the Uchiha. Now my Yin Release is being upgraded by leeching off the Hyūga!
This means... I really have to get Sōkai-kun and Izumi-san to have a 'quickening' too!
A moment later, Neji-kun also woke up from the trance.
When he opened his eyes, Ishiro visibly startled. He blurted out, "Tenseigan?"
(End of Chapter)
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