Chapter 396: Yellow Springs
However, Kato Dan shook his head.
"No."
Kato Dan's tone was very certain. "Based on my perception of Chakra and the judgment of the residual aura, that Wood Release seemed more like the Sixth Hokage's Wood Release."
The giant Ninja Beasts on both banks of the Sanzu River gave Kato Dan a great sense of pressure; he still felt a lingering fear every time he recalled it.
"The Sixth Hokage?" Jiraiya's brow furrowed even tighter. "Are you saying that was Naruto's Wood Release?"
How could Naruto's Wood Release appear in the Pure Land?
Although Naruto had mastered Wood Release, he was clearly still alive in the living world, leading Hidden Leaf Village to battle in all directions. How could his power extend to the other side of the boundary between life and death and even restrain those Ninja Beasts that sounded so eerie?
Countless questions churned in Jiraiya's heart, but there was no time to delve deeper at this moment.
He would go back and ask Naruto; Kato Dan's intelligence definitely had to be shared with Naruto.
Kato Dan continued to recount his thrilling journey:
"After crossing the Sanzu River, I arrived at an even more eerie place."
"There was a great river there, and the water was a murky yellow.
But the strangest thing was that no matter which side you stood on, the river seemed to be flowing toward you."
Whether standing on the left, in the middle, or on the right, one could see the river flowing in their direction.
"Its flow completely defied common sense."
"While I was hesitating, the Six Paths Sage appeared."
Dan's voice took on a hint of solemnity.
"He told me that this is the 'Yellow Springs,' the final barrier separating life and death. Chakra cannot be used within the Yellow Springs, and only the deceased are allowed to cross it at the moment of death."
Edo Tensei is also considered a type of Summoning Jutsu, so the Souls brought back by it do not need to go through this process.
Those who die directly go straight to the Pure Land, bypassing this place as well.
"The living cannot pass, and the dead cannot return."
"The water of the Yellow Springs is very shallow, only reaching the calves.
But once you step into it, you feel an indescribable, immense pressure that seems to come from the very rules of the entire world!"
"It's not just simple gravity, but a power that strikes deep into the Soul, as if it wants to 'negate' your very existence!"
"I don't even know where I walked to." Dan gave a bitter smile. "Under that pressure, all sense of direction and time was completely lost. There was nothing around but endless yellow river water and mist."
"My consciousness grew more and more blurred, and my Soul began to become unstable, as if it would be assimilated and dissipated by the waters of the Yellow Springs at any moment..."
"Just when I was about to give up and my consciousness was about to sink completely, someone appeared. His voice was very young; he should be a youth."
"That youth wore a hood, so I couldn't see his face clearly, but I'm certain his eyes were the Rinnegan, just like the Six Paths Sage's."
"The Rinnegan!"
Jiraiya exclaimed in shock.
Aside from the Six Paths Sage, the only Rinnegan wielder he knew of was Nagato.
"That's right, it was the Rinnegan." Dan confirmed. "That youth with the Rinnegan suddenly appeared on the Yellow Springs. He seemed completely unaffected by the rules of the Yellow Springs, walking calmly on the surface of the water until he reached me."
"He didn't say much, just reached out and pointed at me."
"Then, I felt a warm and powerful energy envelop my Soul, temporarily isolating it from the erosion and pressure of the Yellow Springs."
"The next moment, my vision blurred, and by the time I came to my senses, I was already standing on the opposite bank of the Yellow Springs."
"And the Six Paths Sage..." Dan's voice became somewhat uncertain. "He seemed to want to stop me, but he was blocked by that mysterious youth."
"I didn't see clearly what happened between them, but at the final moment of being teleported away, I vaguely felt two unimaginable forces clashing, as if they could shake the entire space and its rules..."
A white-haired youth with the Rinnegan blocked the Six Paths Sage?
This information was even more shocking to Jiraiya than hearing that the Six Paths Sage controlled the Pure Land!
In the Ninja World... such an existence was actually hidden?
Possessing the Rinnegan, able to freely enter and exit a Forbidden Land of life and death like the Yellow Springs, and even able to contend with the Six Paths Sage...
Just who is this person?!
Jiraiya felt that the worldview he had built over years of travel was being bombarded today with one shock after another.
"And then?"
Jiraiya suppressed the stormy waves in his heart and pressed for more.
"A voice told me: if a living person steps into the Yellow Springs, their body will be corroded into dry bones in an instant; and for the Souls of the dead, the Yellow Springs will cause the Soul to gradually lose its way, forget itself, and eventually dissipate completely or be assimilated."
"I could feel that even while protected by that youth's power, my Soul was still being slowly eroded, and my memories and consciousness were beginning to blur."
"If it weren't for that youth appearing in time and sending me to the other side, I'm afraid I would never have been able to return."
A look of lingering fear appeared on Dan's face. "Although the power of the Yellow Springs was temporarily isolated, its erosion of the Soul seems to be persistent. Fortunately, the Priestess helped me eliminate the influence of the Yellow Springs; otherwise, even if I had made it out, I wouldn't have survived until now."
"Even if I had managed to cross the Yellow Springs by chance, my Soul would have become fragmented due to excessive consumption and erosion, and might have even dissipated completely on the way back to the living world."
A brief silence fell over the room.
Jiraiya digested this string of startling information.
The Six Paths Sage controls the Pure Land and "arranges" for the deceased to fight within it.
Naruto's Wood Release power appeared at the Sanzu River, restraining eerie Ninja Beasts.
A mysterious Rinnegan youth, able to freely enter and exit the Yellow Springs, even briefly confronting the Six Paths Sage and helping Dan escape from the Pure Land.
And that terrifying Yellow Springs that separates life and death, can corrode flesh, and cause Souls to lose their way...
Every piece of information was enough to overturn an ordinary person's perception, pointing toward the shocking truth hidden deep behind the Ninja World, involving the cycle of life and death and ancient secrets!
Jiraiya felt as if he had touched the tip of a giant, cold iceberg.
And what lay hidden beneath this iceberg might far exceed his imagination.
"Dan," Jiraiya took a deep breath, his expression incredibly serious, "besides these things, what else do you know? Why did the Six Paths Sage arrange for you all to fight? Who is that youth? Why did he help you?"
"And... why are you in such a hurry to return to Hidden Leaf Village? What important matter do you need to convey?"
Kato Dan looked at Jiraiya, a bitter smile appearing on his face.
"That's all. Other things are not something someone with my level of strength can come into contact with."
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