The Great Buddha Hall.
The abbot slowly knelt before the Buddha statue and bowed piously.
Then, he stood up, walked to the table, reached out to brush away the fine dust on the surface, and slowly opened that simple and ancient red sandalwood box.
He took out a yellowed sutra from the box, ran his fingertips over the cover, and then handed it to Yagami Light with both hands.
"This is the secret technique of this temple, which has been passed down for over a thousand years. You can only read it here and must return it to the temple when you are finished."
"You're quite open-minded. I thought you would resist to the death," Yagami Light teased as he took the secret technique.
The abbot pressed his palms together: "Amitabha! Nothing is more important than human life."
"Moreover, the core of the secret technique requires a Buddha Heart. If it leads the benefactor to take refuge in our Buddha, it would be a deed of boundless merit."
Yagami Light looked at the old monk in surprise; he was quite transparent and not at all pedantic.
Yagami Light didn't care about his thoughts. He flipped through the secret technique, immersing himself in it completely.
After a long time, he finally looked up and let out a heavy breath. "Coming here was definitely the right choice."
He had already seen the move 'Raigo: Thousand-Hand Strike'; it was a pure application of energy.
This secret manual, however, detailed the cultivation method for 'Talent of the Immortal Clan'. Although its power was much lower than the pure Sage Mode, it was at least suitable for humans to cultivate.
Furthermore, some of the small tricks inside benefited him greatly. If his Main Body obtained them, his application of Natural Energy would advance even further.
Of course, Yagami Light also discovered a problem within it; this manual was undoubtedly suited for the Buddhist path.
When a person studies Buddhist scriptures to cultivate the secret technique, the energy produced will unconsciously influence the practitioner.
It causes them to be subtly steeped in the ideals of the Buddhist school, their temperament being assimilated by Buddha-nature, gradually giving rise to a Buddha Heart until they eventually take refuge in Buddha completely.
But even so, it was worth it this time.
Returning the secret technique to the old man, he said, "Thank you, Abbot."
The abbot glanced at Yagami Light in surprise. He hadn't expected it to be so quick; he thought the youth would cultivate for days and nights!
Yagami Light ignored the old man. He sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, his spiritual power fully unleashed as he investigated the Buddha statue before him.
Seeing him just sitting there, the abbot left him alone and departed with his cane. This person didn't seem like an evildoer.
After a long while, Yagami Light suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a look of shock.
"Buddha actually exists!"
He had discovered something extraordinary inside the Buddha statue.
If it were before, he wouldn't have noticed, but since he had accelerated the fusion of the Evil God's energy and shards, he could even begin to vaguely perceive Faith.
This feeling was still somewhat illusory, like a cloud of invisible mist, like the moon in the water or a flower in the mirror—visible but unreachable.
He had this sensation while probing the Buddha statue, and he also discovered that the dense Faith seemed to wrap around a sliver of divinity. It was ambiguous; clearly extinguished, yet emitting a faint pulse within the chaos.
He had only ever seen that sliver of divinity in the Evil God, and the impression remained deep to this day.
However, it seemed that this Buddha must have suffered a very severe injury, and this Faith was merely maintaining that sliver of divinity from being extinguished.
In its current state, it was lucky to maintain the status quo; to recover, it would need a sufficient amount of Faith.
As far as he knew, there weren't many Buddhist believers left in the Ninja World, and the largest concentration was here at the Fire Temple.
Under these conditions, it might not recover even in a thousand years.
In the original story, Kakuzu and Hidan go on a killing spree. I wonder if they killed all the monks. If no one is left, then this god won't survive either.
I wonder if it was Kaguya and the others who did it, but the possibility is high—the Ōtsutsuki want to absorb the life energy of the Ninja World, and the native powers of the Ninja World would inevitably resist.
After all, if all living beings vanished, these so-called gods would also disappear.
Suddenly, Yagami Light smiled happily. Opportunities to come this close to the essence of a deity were rare.
He then sat on the prayer mat, concentrating all his attention on analyzing this sliver of divinity.
Night fell, and the shadows of leaves outside the window swayed. Inside the hall, only the oil lamp before the Buddha statue flickered gently.
Yagami Light opened his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, showing a look of disappointment. "As expected, it's not that simple!"
Even though it was just a sliver of divinity, the level of a god was far too high.
He was only able to observe this sliver of divinity because he had fused the Evil God's energy and shards, along with the Faith from the Evil God Cult.
To analyze it, he would need to reach a much higher level himself.
He then shook his head. It was impossible to reach the heavens in a single step, but he hadn't come away empty-handed. At least through his observation, he knew that the formation of a god was related to Faith, which meant his direction was correct. This was a great encouragement to him.
He felt more confident about whether he could become the next Evil God. When the time comes, he would charge into the alternate dimension and seize that wretched throne from the Evil God.
He would be the Evil God of the new world.
"This kind of thing should be left to the Main Body. He should be crossing the threshold of the Super Kage Level soon. I'll let him try then to see if there are any gains."
In truth, when he first saw that sliver of divinity, Yagami Light had felt an impulse to take it for himself, but he quickly suppressed that thought.
Even if he killed all the monks in the Fire Temple, he couldn't move this sliver of divinity at all.
Setting aside the insurmountable gap in life levels, the questions of how to strengthen divinity and how to gather Faith from the entire Ninja World were unsolvable problems.
In comparison, the path of the Evil God was much simpler—as long as one continuously collected negative emotions, Faith was just a byproduct.
Afterward, Yagami Light stood up and stretched. After sitting for over ten hours, his entire body was stiff.
Walking out of the hall doors, Yagami Light saw that Chiriku was actually standing there.
Seeing Yagami Light emerge, Chiriku pressed his palms together and said, "Thank you for showing mercy, benefactor."
Yagami Light smiled and said, "I told you, I came for a trade, not to make enemies. Thanks to you all, I've gained a lot this time."
"It is good that the benefactor has gained something."
Looking at Chiriku's indifferent expression, Yagami Light knew he hadn't taken the previous events to heart. As expected of someone who practiced Buddhism, his state of mind was indeed extraordinary.
"After all, I owe you a favor. Let me tell you something: in two years, Kage-level experts will come looking for you, targeting your bounty. Given the situation of your Fire Temple, you won't be able to stop them. You'd better think of a way!"
Yagami Light revealed a bit of the future plot without any psychological burden.
When Chiriku heard his words, he was stunned. How could the other party know what would happen in two years?
"May I be so bold as to ask? How does the benefactor know this?"
"I told you, I am a god—the Evil God! The all-knowing Evil God!"
Then Yagami Light showed an ambiguous smile. "I came here this time to see an old friend—your Buddha—though it seems his situation is quite grim."
With that, Yagami Light walked toward the main gate.
Chiriku was dazed for a moment, not expecting the other party to say such a thing, and then he looked at the Buddha statue in the hall.
He felt that the originally compassionate and solemn Buddha statue now seemed to be shrouded in an invisible mist; clearly right before his eyes, yet impossible to see through.
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100 POWER STONE = BONUS CHAPTER
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