"Huh? That was it?" Ishikawa suddenly opened his eyes, staring in confusion at his glowing hands.
In the reflection of the mirror, he saw that not only his hands, but his entire body emitted a faint white light, like something was about to burst out from within.
This phenomenon matched exactly what was described in the Sealed Book. It was the most crucial and difficult step of the Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Resonance.
Originally, Ishikawa had assumed that even as a transmigrator, he'd need to meditate deeply and experience some sort of soul-enlightenment journey, like the monks in the Buddhist temple. Yet all he did was follow the standard sequence of hand seals—and just like that, it worked?
This unexpected genius-level treatment caught him completely off guard.
'Then again... this does align with how ninjas work in this world. No matter how powerful they are, they just rush through things without ever really understanding nature or deeper truths.'
Suppressing the unease in his heart, Ishikawa immediately resumed making hand seals, this time with a solemn and focused expression. The previous seal had only initiated the soul resonance. Now came the real deal—the hand seal for the soul to leave the body.
"Spiritualization Jutsu!" Ishikawa shouted confidently after completing the sequence.
Instantly, as his chakra surged, the white glow surrounding his body turned into a soft blue radiance. A spirit form identical to himself emerged from behind him like a shadow...
The moment the spirit appeared, Ishikawa's consciousness transferred into it. A strange sense of weightlessness washed over him, light and euphoric, like drifting through a higher dimension.
Though he'd never experienced it before, he instinctively felt that he could now chase light itself!
Just as he was about to test his flight, the half-materialized spirit body suddenly shattered and was forcefully pulled back into the physical one.
"Damn it! Out of chakra at the critical moment!" Ishikawa's consciousness slammed back into his body, and he let out a weak complaint before his eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot.
Silence filled the room as time passed…
—
When the Time and Space room activated again, Nohara Rin appeared—only to find Ishikawa sprawled on the floor like a dead dog.
"He's overdrafted his chakra! What the heck was he doing?" Rin muttered, checking him quickly. Confirming there were no external wounds, she let out a sigh.
In this state, Ishikawa wouldn't wake up until at least tomorrow afternoon. That left Rin feeling a little awkward.
Then, an idea struck her, and she turned to look at the door handle.
"Crack…" With a familiar zap, Ishikawa suddenly twitched, then flopped onto the sofa, limbs stiff, mouth puffing out a faint trail of smoke.
"This is for your own good, Ishikawa-kun." Rin said with a sweet smile, walking toward the opposite door handle.
Before coming, she had pushed herself, training the Chakra Enhanced Strength Technique, and was nearly out of chakra. This was the perfect time to recharge and continue her practice.
"Crack..." Another zap echoed, and Rin's eyes rolled back as she collapsed onto the sofa she had bought.
Two minutes later, she groggily woke up and began reading through the scroll on the Chakra Enhanced Strength. Three minutes after that...
"Thank you, Miss Rin!" A fully recharged Ishikawa shouted, still unaware of what had just happened.
Thinking back on everything, he felt incredibly frustrated. He had cleared the hardest hurdle, only to be defeated by the most basic requirement—chakra.
What good is a Spirit Transformation Technique that can't even fully leave the body? What am I supposed to do, wait around for the enemy to run into me so I can possess them?
Ridiculous...
As expected, he really is just a minor character—he doesn't have the aura of a protagonist at all!!
"Ishikawa, what's wrong? Is there anything I can help with?" Seeing Ishikawa's gloomy expression, Nohara Rin asked with concern.
After verifying the intel last night and seeing Ishikawa's trust in her and his extraordinary Chakra Enhanced Strength jutsu, she had fully accepted him as her partner across time and space!
And since they were partners now, showing concern was only natural.
"Wait a second… Even if the enemy is a problem, our allies aren't!" Hearing Rin's concern, Ishikawa slapped his thigh as realization struck.
That's right! The Spirit Transformation Technique relied on an incredibly fast spirit body to possess the enemy in order to attack. But if he didn't use it offensively, then simply possessing someone—especially an ally—shouldn't be an issue.
Hadn't he thought this through before?!
"Miss Rin, I want to possess your body and take a look at the Third Great Ninja War era..."
Ishikawa acted immediately on the thought. He turned to Nohara Rin with burning eyes and made the bold request.
"Possess... me?" Rin's eyes widened as she stared at Ishikawa like he was out of his mind. Did he think he was some kind of ghost, talking about possession like that?!
"Watch closely. Don't be too surprised." Ishikawa didn't bother explaining. Instead, he began forming hand seals, showing her through action.
"Spiritualization Jutsu..." As he completed the hand seals, the familiar pale-blue spiritual glow appeared and began separating from his body. This time, however, only the upper half emerged.
In the instant before the spirit fully left, Ishikawa's spirit shot toward Nohara Rin, who was frozen in shock.
Almost the moment he made contact, his upper-body spirit phase whooshed into Rin's body.
At the same time, Ishikawa's physical body dropped to the floor, as if it had lost half its soul. But within Rin's spiritual world, Ishikawa's upper-body form materialized.
"Success! Even if it's just the upper half—I really invaded someone else's body using the Spiritualization Jutsu!" Looking down at his semi-ethereal, mist-supported form, Ishikawa was thrilled.
He could now see the outside world through Rin's perspective. Though he hadn't yet attempted to control her body, this was already proof that the technique had worked!
"Ishikawa?! Why are you in my body?!" Just as Ishikawa was feeling proud, Rin's startled voice rang out in the mindscape.
Almost simultaneously, her spiritual form appeared before him.
"A chakra-consciousness projection?" Ishikawa didn't answer right away. Instead, he floated closer, inspecting her curiously.
"Huh? Is that mist under you?" As Ishikawa examined her, Rin studied his spirit body with equal fascination. Seeing the pale-blue mist swirling beneath his torso, she couldn't help but reach out to touch it.
The instant her hand made contact, Ishikawa's spirit shattered into sparkling fragments and returned to his physical body.
'What the hell—again?! How fragile is my soul?!' Back in his body, Ishikawa groaned in exhaustion as a wave of sleepiness flooded his mind, knocking him out cold once more.
"So he ends up like this every time he practices that ninjutsu..." Rin quickly figured it out and, without hesitation, dragged Ishikawa to the door handle to recharge him again.
She was now very interested in this spirit-invading ninjutsu!