[Ding.]
[Level Up!]
[Nature Sense LV10 (MAX)]
"..."
'Hm... If water and wind can become ice, then what about water, yin, and yang when combined?'
"..."
'If yin is spiritual and yang is the body, then water is...life?'
"..."
'Water of life? Water soul? Living water?'
"..."
'What if I try combining them?'
"..."
'Wait, how?'
"..."
Souji decided to combine them directly outside his body.
He put Water Release, Yin Release, and Yang Release into a chakra ball.
"..."
'Nothing happened?' Souji thought. 'In that case, I have to mix them and unite them into something new.'
Swirl Swish
The chakra ball in Souji's hand spun so fast that the three colors slowly faded until the ball became clear, like glass.
So, glass? Glass release?
"..."
Suddenly, he received a notification from his system.
[Ding.]
[Skill obtained.]
[God of Water.]
"..."
[Ding.]
[Because the skill was obtained outside the system, the system will give the user a choices.]
[Ding.]
[1. If the God of Water becomes a skill, the limits of its power will be removed. The level limit will remain at 10, but you can only use skill points to level it up.]
[2. If God of Water becomes a nature transformation, its level can be increased normally, but its power will not compare to God of Water as a skill.]
"..."
'Hm... If I want to become more overpowered quickly, then option number two is what I have to choose. But if I want to become extremely overpowered, then option number one is what I have to choose.' Souji thought.
"..."
'System, I choose number one.'
[Ding.]
[Choice has been made. Are you sure?]
[Yes/No]
"..."
'YES!'
[Ding.]
[Skill obtained.]
[God of Water LV1 (0/100)]
"..."
[Ding.]
[Extra skill obtained.]
[Life-Seeking Ball LV1 (1/100)]
"..."
Souji blinked.
'What the hell? Is this similar to the Truth-Seeking Ball?' he thought.
'Maybe its power is not the same as the Truth-Seeking Ball. Maybe it's a downgraded version because it's just a combination of three nature transformations.' Souji thought. 'You could say this is a Kekkei Tota. Huh?'
Or so Souji thought.
'Life-seeking ball.'
[+1]
Suddenly, a clear ball appeared in front of him.
'So this is the Life-Seeking Ball?'
"..."
'Wait, is this sucking life energy?'
Souji touched it, but didn't feel anything.
"..."
'Let's try leveling it up to MAX.'
"..."
[Ding.]
[Level up.]
[Ding.]
[Level up.]
[Life-Seeking Ball LV10 (MAX)]
"..."
Souji tried various things with his Life-Seeking Ball. With it, he could store chakra and make a shield, because it was very strong. He tried all his attacks, but none could destroy it. The Life-seeking ball could absorb jutsu, chakra, natural energy, and life energy.
It could also become a weapon and explode. Perhaps because its level was already maxed out, he could shape the Life-Seeking Ball into anything.
It could shrink, but enlarging it beyond its original size required chakra or combining it with other Life-seeking balls.
What amazed Souji was that, he combined 1,000 Life-Seeking Balls into one the size of a baseball. He could shrink it again, but that wasn't what amazed him. What amazed him was when he shaped the ball into a small snake that wrapped around his arm. When he stroked the snake's head gently, he could feel it, it was happy.
Yes, happy.
Don't ask how Souji knew the snake was happy, because it's difficult to explain. However, Souji began to realize his Life-seeking ball was truly alive. He examined it and found that it had a chakra core like living beings, and it could become a sage by combining its chakra core with natural energy.
"..."
"How about I call you Akebi?"
"Sss..." Akebi hissed.
"Oh? You can hiss now?" Souji stroked Akebi's head and said, "Good girl."
"Sss..." Akebi hissed happily.
"Yosh... I want to try Sage Mode now. Akebi, can you absorb the excess natural energy in my body if that happens?" Souji asked.
"Sss..." Akebi hissed.
"..."
"I'll take that as a yes."
Souji sat down and felt the natural energy around him. He then absorbed the energy into his body and tried to unite it with his chakra.
"..."
[Ding.]
[Extra skill obtained.]
[Sage Mode LV1 (1/100)]
"..."
'Just like that? I had even prepared myself, in case I suddenly turned to a stone.'
With Akebi around, he felt much calmer when he experienced an excess of natural energy because Akebi would immediately absorb it. Without Akebi, he would have to release the energy manually with his chakra control.
However, neither of those two possibilities happened.
'Well, isn't that better?' Souji nodded his head.
Again, he was ungrateful. 'Thank you, system.'
"..."
Souji intended to upgrade his sage mode.
"..."
"..."
———————————————————
That night, in Naruto's apartment.
"Eh! What's that snake?!" Naruto asked, having seen a small red snake coiled around Souji's neck.
"Oh, you mean Akebi?" Souji asked.
"Akebi?" Naruto approached Souji to take a closer look.
Akebi actually had no color. It was clear like a glass. But when Souji asked Akebi if she could change colors, Akebi revealed that she could change to any color.
Souji then let Akebi choose a color, and she chose red. That's why Akebi was red.
"Well... Akebi can be said to be your little sister." Souji said.
"Heh? Sister, huh... huh?! Sister?!" Naruto asked, his mind stuck.
'My little sister is a snake?' Naruto thought.
"Yes, because I consider Akebi my child." Souji said, stroking Akebi.
"Ss..." Akebi hissed happily.
"Ugh... Um... Nice to meet you, Akebi." Naruto greeted her. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and you can call me Naruto or Brother." Naruto said, then became embarrassed by what he said.
"Sss..." Akebi hissed.
"Um, Dad, what did Akebi say?" Naruto asked.
"If you want to know, then you have to try to understand Akebi first." Souji replied.
"How?"
Souji formed a life-seeking ball into a necklace.
He gave it to Naruto and said, "Wear this. With it, you can try to get to know Akebi."
Confused, Naruto obeyed Souji and wore it.
"Then?"
"Akebi, greet your Onii-chan." Souji said to Akebi.
"Sss..." Akebi hissed. Naruto also heard a sound coming from his necklace.
"Eh? I just heard a sound!" Naruto said.
Souji explained that the necklace was connected to Akebi, allowing him to talk to her from a long distance. How long? Souji didn't know yet, but he was certain that it worked within the village. Souji was sure that his communication was still functioning and that Akebi could know Naruto's position because the necklace had a kind of GPS Souji made, using a chakra spectrum interconnected with the chakra core of his life-seeking ball.
In addition, the necklace was equipped with Souji's Mystical Palm jutsu, which Naruto could use in an emergency. The Mystical Palm jutsu on Naruto's necklace had no time limit. Souji's Mystical Palm would run out if Naruto used it 1,000 times a day for ten years straight.
Why did he give Naruto that many jutsu? Souji was just a father who wanted to ensure his child's safety. He didn't know what he and his loved ones would face in the future, so he did what made him feel calm.
Besides storing Souji's healing jutsu, Naruto could also store chakra on the necklace. Souji thought there was no limit to it. He didn't know because he had tried filling his usual life-seeking ball with chakra, but he didn't feel it was full.
'What if I try it on the Tailed Beast?'
"..."
Naruto was in front of him now. When else could he try it?
'But is there a possibility that the Kyubi's chakra will come out?' Souji thought. 'If so, wouldn't the others feel the Kyubi's chakra?'
"Akebi, can you keep the Kyubi's chakra from coming out of Naruto's body? You can absorb it too." Souji said.
"Dad, what are you talking about with Akebi?" Naruto asked.
"Nothing." Souji continued, "Naruto, I want to try something, but I need your help. Can you help me?"
Naruto nodded. "Sure. Of course I can, ttebayo!"
Souji smiled and pointed his hand at Naruto. "Let's do a fist bump."
"Fist bump? Alright." Naruto said, doing a fist bump with Souji.
"Now, Naruto, close your eyes and let my chakra connect with you." Souji said. Naruto then closed his eyes.
"You can open your eyes now, Naruto." said Souji. Then, Naruto opened his eyes.
"..."
"This... Where am I? Dad?"
"We are now inside your stomach."
"Huh? EH!!!" Naruto was surprised by how big his stomach was. Then he thought, 'Why did I lose to Hinata if I have such a big stomach?'
'Wait... Is Hinata's stomach much bigger than mine?'
"..."
"Before you think any further, do you see what's there?" Souji said, pointing at a gate with a giant piece of paper attached to it.
"Eh? It's so big." Naruto asked, "What's behind that gate, Dad?"
"Oh, that? There's a small, cute, and adorable fox behind that gate." Souji said.
"Fo—..." Before Naruto could finish his sentence, they heard a very loud roar.
Roar!
"..."
"Dad, could that sound come from a small, cute, adorable fox?" Naruto asked uncertainly.
Roar!
"..."
"Of course it can."
Roar!
"..."
Souji looked toward the gate. "Could you be quiet for a moment? We're talking now."
"Shut up!" someone shouted from behind the gate.
Then, Kyubi appeared, his sharp eyes staring at Souji and Naruto.
"Dad! Look! There's a giant fox!" Naruto said in awe, he had never seen an animal this big before.
Souji nodded his head. "Right? Unfortunately, we can't see that small, cute, adorable fox."
Twitch
"Really? Could they have gone to school? I thought that fox was the father."
Twitch
Roar!
"..."
Naruto whispered to Souji, "Why does he always roar, Dad?"
Souji answered, "That's his greeting."
Twitch
"Stop talking nonsense! Damn it!" Kyubi said.
"Dad, I think he's angry at you." Naruto whispered.
Souji nodded, saying, "Maybe he's angry because he's lonely here."
Bang!
Kyubi reached them with his hand through the gaps in the gate, intending to crush the two brats, but unfortunately, his hand couldn't quite reach them.
"..."
"Look, Naruto. He wants to greet you." Souji said, touching Kyubi's furry paw.
"..."
Before Kyubi could retract his hand, Souji using his jutsu, "Life-Seeking Ball: Absorption Chains!"
A clear ball appeared from Kyubi's hand and changed its shape into clear chains, binding him.
Roar!
"What are you doing?" Kyubi asked angrily, trying to free himself. He also felt his chakra being absorbed by the chains binding him.
"Oh? It turns out it's strong enough to hold a tailed beast." Souji said, seeing that Kyubi couldn't free himself from the life-seeking ball.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, confused.
Souji explained to Naruto what the fox actually was. Naruto fell silent after hearing it.
"..."
Wanting to give Naruto time to process the information, Souji approached the still-bound Kyubi and looked at Akebi, who was absorbing chakra from Kyubi.
"What do you want with my chakra, brat?" Kyubi asked with anger in his voice.
"Oh? I just want to see how much chakra Akebi and my jutsu can store." Souji replied.
"Grrr... You're doing this just for a test?" Kyubi said angrily, upset that he was being used as an experiment by a human brat.
"Yes, I am. And Kyubi... you definitely have a lot of chakra. I can't miss that opportunity." Souji entered the gate and tried to find Kushina's chakra. Then, he realized that he didn't have sensory jutsu.
'I just remembered...' Souji thought, forgetting about it.
"..."
"Woah... For an incomplete Kyubi, you have a lot of chakra, huh?"
"Kid, what did you say?" The Great Kyubi asked, making sure he hadn't misheard.
'Me, the great Kyubi. How could my ears possibly mishear something? I'm just making sure.' Kyubi thought arrogantly and proudly.
"..."
"..."