Chapter 274: Fate is Within Me
Kaito Shirogane sat atop the mountain cliff. His entire body showed muscles of a bluish-black hue. Large patches of necrotic cells were regenerating and healing. He chewed a few times before swallowing the cooked Tailed Beast meat.
His cell activity became increasingly enhanced.
Crack!
Another bolt of lightning struck his body.
But this time, the pain in his body had begun to lessen. Instead, a certain consciousness started to enter his body.
[You have used the special item: Legacy of the Hakkesshu: Wild Lightning]
[Checking Qualification...]
[Qualification Approved]
Kaito Shirogane estimated that this lightning strike test was entirely to check whether the Reincarnator possessed sufficient physical fortitude and tolerance to electricity.
An overly fragile body probably couldn't withstand the legacy of the Orochi clan at all.
Kaito Shirogane's vision suddenly went black. When he opened his eyes again, he had already appeared in his own consciousness space.
[You have started the Special Trial: Wild Lightning]
[Attention, Reincarnator Ex051. The special spiritual body, Wild Lightning of the Hakkesshu, has entered your body. This trial cannot be terminated. Upon failure, you will suffer consequences including but not limited to soul loss, schizophrenia, dual souls in one body, possession, death, etc.]
In the consciousness world, a flash of lightning appeared. A figure whose original appearance was completely indiscernible, twisting and shaking constantly like a serpent, appeared out of thin air.
It wasn't the beautiful woman with bangs covering her eyes from Kaito Shirogane's memory. This was the true, continuously inherited soul of the Hakkesshu.
[Trial Content: Survive the attacks of the Hakkesshu: Wild Lightning until its soul energy is exhausted.]
[Trial Reward: Inheritance Title: Wild Lightning]
Kaito Shirogane rose leisurely from the Throne of the Heart and then landed on the ground.
Countless wraiths sensed that the [Throne of the Heart] was vacant again, and howling began once more within the Yellow Springs.
"Tch, can't you give us a moment of peace?"
Gojo Satoru lay in a corner, too lazy to move. He merely lifted a corner of his blindfold and saw the special soul that seemed entirely composed of lightning yet twisted like a serpent.
He had to sigh. His host's ability to stir up trouble was indeed outstanding, always managing to provoke strange and weird guys.
And every single one... had rather extraordinary strength.
In another corner, the Shinigami's spirit body was huge. It rose from the Yellow Springs. The dead silence of the Yellow Springs water actually made It quite comfortable, but sensing the appearance of Kaito Shirogane's spirit body, It still floated upwards.
Uchiha Madara was soaking in the Yellow Springs with his hands spread out, as if relaxing in a hot spring. Scattered around him were numerous fragments of spirit bodies. These fragments would gradually dissipate and dissolve over time, regenerating into wraiths.
He had already realized that in this space, there was no concept of [Death]. This was a huge dueling ground, merely for these wraiths to continuously evolve through combat.
Moreover, according to the silver-haired man wearing the blindfold, this place was actually a prison. It was the Prison of the Heart used by the owner of the [Throne of the Heart] to imprison and acquire everyone's power.
At this moment, Uchiha Madara, with his long hair loose, looked indifferently and scrutinizingly at the owner of the so-called [Throne of the Heart] in the sky.
A trace of disdain tugged at the corner of his mouth. Throne of the Heart? Host? He didn't care about any of it. As long as his eyes saw an opportunity, he would take everything back.
He had long been dissatisfied with fighting these mediocre wraiths. In this space, apart from the man wearing the blindfold, no soul was worthy of his attention.
But now, the appearance of Kaito Shirogane's soul, far surpassing all spirit bodies in solidity, did make Uchiha Madara see something different.
Lying in the Yellow Springs, clear Sharingan appeared in his eyes.
"So-called King of the Heart, dance before these eyes of mine..."
...
Kaito Shirogane landed in the Yellow Springs. The myriad deathly auras flowed along the water, washing over his ankles.
As if he didn't see the arrogant and playful smiles on Uchiha Madara and Gojo Satoru's faces, he waved his left hand slightly at the constantly twisting Wild Lightning in the air.
"Come, powerful heroic spirit of the Orochi clan. Let me witness just how powerful the dark side of the Earth's Will is..."
Crack!
A bolt of lightning lit up. The figure twisting in the air a moment ago appeared behind Kaito Shirogane like a flash of electricity the next moment.
Precisely because it was a spirit body completely without physical shackles, it could fully unleash the power of the element to the extreme.
Intense lightning suddenly condensed in front of that spirit body.
[Dark Lightning Fist]!
Intense lightning condensed into a sphere less than a meter in diameter and exploded violently in an instant.
Kaito Shirogane leaned back. His entire spirit body bent backward like a flexible snake. From the waist down, he remained in place, but his upper body had already folded to the ground.
The intense lightning exploded but didn't directly harm Kaito Shirogane's spirit body.
Wild Lightning's spirit body didn't pause at all. The Lightning Fist missed, so it stepped forward, directly touching Kaito Shirogane's body, and the thunder exploded.
Zzt!
Kaito Shirogane was pierced by intense lightning, and terrible pain struck.
This was the world of the soul. Taijutsu like Iron Body and supernatural traits like Scales of the Flame Dragon couldn't take effect. Moreover, lightning itself dealt extra damage to spirit bodies.
This strike made Kaito Shirogane's soul body tremble slightly, but he raised his right hand swiftly. Kaito Shirogane's tolerance for pain far exceeded that of ordinary people. Furthermore, he fell into that state of feeling pleasure from pain once again.
Pfft!
A sound of breaking air rang out. Kaito Shirogane's right hand thrust out like a demonic spear with a movement completely uncoordinated with his body.
Wild Lightning's soul body instantly flashed backward again as a bolt of electricity.
This time, not only Kaito Shirogane, but even Uchiha Madara and Gojo Satoru realized that this newcomer was indeed troublesome.
As a wielder of the power of lightning, which restrained spirit bodies the most, its soul nature itself had become something akin to lightning.
The spirit body seemed to blow a breath at Kaito Shirogane.
The next moment, a bolt of lightning exploded out of thin air in front of Kaito Shirogane's chest. The dissipating electricity conveniently shattered the newly built wraith tower.
Accompanying the pain of Kaito Shirogane's spirit body almost being torn apart, he captured a feeling.
It was the restless power of lightning within the opponent's spirit body. It was one of the ultimate destructive powers used by the Earth's Will to punish humanity—the power of Thunder!
Kaito Shirogane now also realized why this trial was to survive Wild Lightning's attacks until its energy ended. This special spirit body was almost untouchable.
It was like an Enel with much richer combat experience, moving at the speed of lightning at any time. And the way to obtain the inheritance, as well as the way to control the power of [Wild Lightning], was most directly... to feel it with his own soul!
"Ha, interesting."
Kaito Shirogane suddenly stopped pursuing. He stood in place and spread his hands.
"Come, Wild Lightning. Let me feel the power with which the Orochi clan wants to destroy humanity!"
He acted crazily, dodging no more.
This scene made the smile on the corner of Gojo Satoru's mouth even wider. That madness deep in the soul was the biggest reason he acknowledged Kaito Shirogane. It was the self-awareness of a fellow anomaly, the undeniable essence of madness.
And Uchiha Madara, at this moment, also had his Sharingan rotating slightly. He slowly rose from the Yellow Springs. He admitted that this so-called King of the Heart wasn't a pure mediocrity; the other party possessed a spirit he was familiar with.
The next moment, Wild Lightning seemed to feel Kaito Shirogane's will. Within the twisting figure, an arm rose, pointing remotely at the sky.
Zzz~
Although it was a spiritual space, an extremely intense sense of oppression suddenly appeared. That heavy feeling, as if the entire sky was pressing down on you, made the uncontrollable spirit bodies become heavy.
The finger was clearly pointing at the sky, but whether it was Kaito Shirogane, Gojo Satoru, or Uchiha Madara, they all had a distinct feeling.
The moment that finger fell, it would be an incomparably terrifying move.
Since successfully using [Curse Blood Origin] to purify his bloodline into a perfect individual, this was the first time Kaito Shirogane felt the intent of death so clearly. Excluding the time when Roland occupied his body to fight against the Black King, he had almost never felt that he could be killed at other times.
But right here and now, in this battle of souls, as that [Fate's Arrow of Lightning] was about to fall from afar, he indeed felt a wisp of death intent creeping up from the Yellow Springs, wrapping around his entire body.
Is this my death intent?
Ha.
Gojo Satoru had completely removed his blindfold at this time, his Six Eyes looking at Kaito Shirogane's soul body.
"Tch, taking this move, even if you don't die, you won't be able to sit securely on that seat anymore, host~"
Uchiha Madara, on the other hand, watched the guy who, despite the entire space seeming locked onto by that condensed and unreleased powerful will, still spread his arms and welcomed the attack with a heroic posture. A smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth, then turned into fighting intent. He walked out of the Yellow Springs, the turbid yellow water dripping continuously from his soul.
"With such spirit, if you can take this hit without dying, I will acknowledge that you are worthy of fighting me."
He walked over step by step, his momentum rising constantly. The three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes had already changed appearance. Seeing that posture, Gojo Satoru also put away his frivolous and casual state.
Kaito Shirogane took in everyone's posture, along with the thirty-three thousand wraiths howling madly behind him, and the Shinigami emerging from the Yellow Springs seemingly wanting to harvest him.
He also revealed an insufferably arrogant and fanatical smile on his face.
"Every single one of you, who do you think you are..."
"I am the master of this world!"
At this moment, Wild Lightning, with its twisted arm raised high, suddenly dropped it.
The consciousness space went black instantly. Then, a bolt of lightning that seemed to split the entire consciousness space lit up.
"Behold the Will of Heaven, the Final Judgment!"
Wild Lightning made a sound for the first time, dull like thunder, solemn like fate.
[Fate's Arrow of Lightning]
Crack!
The lightning descending from the sky fell suddenly. The wraith tower, already hundreds of meters high, was the first to vaporize. The moment this strike landed, the aftershock of the lightning shattered these howling wraiths.
Then, in a world that seemed frozen, that bolt of lightning suddenly fell towards... that twisting spirit body itself.
BOOM!
An earth-shattering boom resounded. Ripples of bluish-white aftershocks spread continuously in the consciousness space, enveloping the entire area. The heavenly might of lightning intersected with the dead silence of the Yellow Springs, and white mist drowned everything.
"Hahaha... hahahaha..."
Amidst the mad laughter, both Gojo Satoru and Uchiha Madara changed their expressions slightly. Then, both showed smiles of keen interest, their expressions also becoming fanatical.
That tall figure revealed himself in the white mist. He covered his forehead, laughing uncontrollably.
"Fate is within me."
(End of Chapter)
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