Rinjin floated in the air, a faint shimmer outlining his soul. Matatabi watched him, her eyes flickering with concern.
"Rinjin, you know you can't stay like this for long. Your soul will start to fade," she reminded him softly.
"I know, I know," Rinjin replied with a grin. "I'm just waiting for my body to come pick me up~"
Far away in Iwagakure, the monstrous Rinjin suddenly threw back his head and roared.
He could feel it!
That presence he loathed more than anything! The one he wanted to tear to pieces!
Without hesitation, the monster triggered the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished on the spot.
Back on the tree branch, Rinjin's soul leaned comfortably against Matatabi, his tone casual.
"Kitty, that monster inside me? It's actually pretty smart. When I was a kid, it tried every trick to devour my soul."
"So what did you do?" Matatabi asked, curiosity shining in her eyes.
"Uh… Honestly, back then there was nothing I could do. I just had to watch as it slowly ate away at me. Later, those Jashin cult maniacs tortured me non-stop. I was only seven or eight—how could I handle that? Of course, I ended up with all sorts of violent, twisted emotions."
"You went dark!" Matatabi muttered.
Rinjin just smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. But instead of letting it consume me, I fed all that madness and brutality right back to the monster. If it wanted my soul, well, the darkness was part of it too~"
At this, Matatabi shot him a mischievous side-eye, grinning wickedly.
"Rinjin, you're so bad! No wonder that thing always acts half-crazy—you polluted it!"
Before they could laugh, a chorus of birdsong rang out in the distance. Heavy footsteps, mixed with the sound of trees snapping, drew closer.
Rinjin's soul stood, gently patting Matatabi on the head. "Step back for now."
Obedient as ever, Matatabi leaped away in a flash.
Moments later, the titanic body of the monstrous Rinjin crashed through the trees, flames still spewing from his mouth.
The instant he spotted Rinjin's soul, the monster didn't hesitate—his massive fist swung straight at him.
Watching the fist barrel toward him, Rinjin pursed his lips, half amused.
Does this guy really think a punch will work on a soul?
Then again… he didn't have any soul-specific attacks either.
Lost in thought, he barely noticed as the fist, wind howling, closed in.
He simply took a step forward and melted into the monster's fist.
The giant's body froze.
After a long moment—and under Matatabi's eager gaze—the colossal form shrank, returning to normal human size.
Seeing this, Matatabi's mouth curled up in a satisfied, adorable smile.
Rinjin flexed his limbs, taking a moment to suppress the monster within. He scratched his head, muttering,
"Seems like the last time I went to the Land of Wind to ask for the Rebirth by Living Sacrifice Technique, this guy threw a fit too…"
"That's right~!" Matatabi piped up.
"I remember he sprouted a whole mess of tentacles that time! Scared me half to death, meow~"
Hearing this, Rinjin frowned, his gaze drifting to the scroll.
Rebirth by Living Sacrifice: a forbidden jutsu that uses one's own life as a medium to defy death.
The scroll itself was brief—just a description of a chakra conversion formula Rinjin had never seen before. But the underlying principles were detailed:
First, this jutsu wasn't just for the dead; it could be used on both the living and the dead.
Second, the technique worked by channeling all of the caster's chakra as a medium, transferring life force to the target.
Finally, if used on the dead, the caster's chakra and life force would continuously convert into the soul of the deceased, until resurrection was complete.
Finishing the scroll, Rinjin set it aside, ready to form the seals to revive Tsunade.
But just then, in the depths of his mind, the monster—usually silent—spoke up, slow yet resolute:
"Stop… stop! Sharing… life force… will make… your recovery… slower…
Original… life force… can't… be shared!"
Rinjin blinked in surprise, his mind racing.
"What do you mean? Slower recovery? You mean, if I get hurt, I'll heal slower?"
The monster's tentacles writhed, nodding furiously.
At that, Rinjin leapt up, eyes shining with excitement.
"Hell yes! My Eight Gates finally have hope! Damn it, after you devoured half of Black Zetsu, my regeneration got even crazier—I was about to lose my mind!"
"The Gate of Death! I can finally open it! No more three-minute youth trial card! Once I open the Gate of Death, genjutsu won't be my Achilles' heel anymore! And if I figure out how to combine Eight Gates with the Multi-Size Technique… I'll teach it to Guy! Then he'll never have to choose between kicking heads or chests again!
How about a 4300-foot dropkick, huh?!
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
In his office, Rinjin bounced around like a kid, more fired up than he'd been in ages.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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