"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 219: The Observer
While Yūshin was conducting his "alien gravity gradient training method," Kumogakure was in complete chaos.
After all, Tailed Beasts wouldn't easily surrender their "freedom time."
Once Matatabi and Gyūki crossed the northern border of the Land of Fields, they immediately parted ways—Matatabi continued northward into the vast northern sea between the Land of Lightning and Land of Earth, while Gyūki turned eastward toward the Land of Hot Water, entering the eastern sea... With no sanctuary on land, they were forced to take refuge in the ocean.
When even terrestrial Tailed Beasts were compelled to flee to sea, it demonstrated just how harsh their survival conditions had become in the current Shinobi World.
However, even venturing deep into the ocean wouldn't spare them from Kumogakure's pursuit—their actions would merely delay their eventual recapture. Tailed Beasts weren't just weapons of the great nations; they were also "symbols" of national power.
How could a great shinobi village call itself great without controlling a Tailed Beast? Wouldn't that make it inferior even to Takigakure?
Given Kumogakure's martial culture, they would undoubtedly invest massive human and material resources in hunting down the Tailed Beasts.
The Kumogakure ninja defensive line, originally positioned to prevent the jinchūriki from returning to the Land of Lightning, now split in two, each group pursuing a different Tailed Beast.
Meanwhile, a Kumogakure reconnaissance squad arrived at the battlefield where the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers had fought Konoha.
There, they discovered two towering yet withered giant trees and an enormous wooden humanoid statue.
"What exactly happened here? If the jinchūriki died, shouldn't the Tailed Beasts have perished as well?"
"Why would the enemy employ such tactics—releasing the Tailed Beasts first, then killing the jinchūriki? Doesn't that mean they had to face two Tailed Beasts directly...?"
"It's completely illogical. Could someone actually be friends with the Tailed Beasts? Or perhaps the Tailed Beasts specifically obey his commands?"
"I'd rather believe the Tailed Beasts were controlled by genjutsu."
"Unfortunately, the battle concluded much faster than anticipated. Someone eliminated our forward reconnaissance team, and before the second wave could react, the fighting had already ended."
The reconnaissance ninja exchanged theories and speculation. After a while, they noticed their captain had fallen into deep contemplation.
"Captain, any discoveries?"
The captain stared intently at Yūshin's wooden statue. After a considerable pause, he finally spoke:
"Doesn't this wooden figure seem familiar? If I recall correctly, thirty years ago Konoha's First Hokage and Madara Uchiha engaged in a great battle that concluded with the First Hokage's victory and Madara's death."
"The outcome isn't crucial—what matters is that I remember a similar wooden statue being left at that battlefield..."
Though he seemed to be merely recounting history, his words carried an undercurrent of unease.
"Captain, you're joking, right? You're not suggesting the First Hokage has been resurrected?"
Frankly, this wasn't amusing at all—it was more like a horror story.
"Konoha being capable of eliminating our rogue jinchūriki does demonstrate considerable strength, but at most, this places them on equal footing with us... The Second or Third Hokage candidate could easily handle the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers; otherwise, why would those two have fled?"
Kumogakure posed the challenge, Konoha provided the solution. Now that Konoha had solved it admirably, that was simply that. How could the discussion possibly veer toward the First's resurrection?
Yet the wooden statue here defied explanation.
Disregarding his subordinates' objections, the captain issued direct orders:
"Notify the Raikage—Konoha very likely possesses a Wood Release user. This requires special attention..."
"We're infiltrating the Land of Fire to investigate the site from thirty years ago... What was it called again?"
"Valley of the End, Captain," a subordinate replied.
"Right, we're examining the Valley of the End's condition."
No sooner said than done. After transmitting the message, the captain led his subordinates into Land of Fire territory... Great nations had their disadvantages too—given the Land of Fire's vast expanse, Konoha could hardly detect such small infiltration units.
Two days later, this Kumogakure team reached the Valley of the End and observed the wooden statue left by the First Hokage.
Time is a merciless blade—by now, that statue had transformed into a massive tree-burl-like growth, its shape barely recognizable.
After circling it several times, the captain appeared relieved.
"The traces in the Land of Fields definitely weren't left by the First Hokage."
The First's statue was rotund; the one in the Land of Fields was skeletal.
"Captain, how can you determine this?"
"You wouldn't understand."
The captain shook his head without elaborating. He couldn't very well explain that the two statues reflected completely different aesthetic sensibilities... Truth be told, he was something of an artistic ninja.
One subordinate, feeling their journey had been pointless, complained:
"Captain, was it necessary to take this so seriously? Even if the First Hokage were resurrected, would the Second or Third candidate fear some antiquated ninja?"
Well, that question could be directed to their Second Raikage.
The captain merely glanced sideways at his boastful subordinate, too lazy to engage in debate.
What was this supposed to mean—that if the First Hokage returned, he'd merely be some honorary "Supreme Hokage"?
Time is indeed a butcher's knife, changing not only environments but ninja perspectives... Barely a decade after the First Hokage's death, he was already being dismissed as insignificant.
Undoubtedly, it wouldn't be long before the Third Hokage claimed the title of "strongest Hokage."
"Not a wasted trip—truly not wasted."
The captain simply repeated this phrase.
...
Super-gravity dimension.
"What a wretched environment. My body feels lead-filled—every step causes total discomfort."
Yūshin struggled to move his body. He felt he'd adapted somewhat to the environment, but after several steps, he realized this sensation was merely an illusion.
No wonder he found this place so unbearable—in fact, even Kaguya herself, who controlled the Heavenly Realm, struggled to adapt to this super-gravity environment.
Of course, this didn't mean Kaguya was weak, or that Yūshin surpassed her simply by walking a few steps here... Kaguya was somewhat like Lord Frieza—tremendously powerful, but this strength was "innate."
It was difficult to imagine someone with Kaguya's power maintaining daily training routines. Ultimately, Kaguya wasn't a martial artist.
Yūshin attempted using the Light-Weight Boulder Technique, which slightly improved his physical sensation... but only slightly.
For the following period, Yūshin spent half his time practicing Sage Arts and half conducting gravity training... The alien training method proved ineffective for the youngsters, but he felt it genuinely tempered his body.
Well, the God Tree was technically a cosmic invasive species, so as a God Tree-Man, Yūshin could indeed be considered half-alien.
However, Hagūgen Aoi and Jiraiya weren't entirely without progress. After months of repeated attempts, they could now endure fifteen minutes in the super-gravity space... Regardless of their condition afterward, at least they survived.
Thus Yūshin declared their training complete and expelled them, no longer providing convenient Space-Time Portals... They'd freeloaded his chakra for so long—enough was enough. It couldn't continue indefinitely.
Konoha's thirty-second year—this extraordinary year spanning a millennium between its beginning and end—was finally concluding... At year's start, Yūshin possessed average talent and strength; by year's end, he was already approaching "Six Paths level."
If anything else noteworthy occurred that year, it was the birth of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's generation.
Fortunately, Yūshin didn't pay attention to such matters. Otherwise, remembering this, he'd surely inscribe a crucial principle into the Ninja Academy's regulations: elementary students are forbidden from dating—violators face immediate expulsion.
After the new year arrived, Yūshin could finally enter Sage Mode. Given his current talent level, mastery came instantly—there were hardly any intermediate stages.
He could consider writing a book for Jiraiya—something like "Sage Mode: Mastery Upon Entry."
Regarding efficient utilization of the alien training method, Yūshin suddenly grasped the key insight.
One day, while struggling to adapt to the super-gravity space environment, he recalled a profound maxim... Only storms can fell great trees.
Ahem, actually, not that one—rather: "No matter how powerful the gravity, it cannot bend a great tree."
Thus, within this super-gravity space, the God Tree-Man attempted reverting himself into a small God Tree, adapting to the gravitational environment in tree form.
On the first attempt, after growing to over twenty meters in height, he could grow no further.
So the God Tree ceased growing, and the God Tree-Man "naturally fell like ripened fruit."
After recovery, Yūshin resumed tree cultivation. Through this repetitive cycle, Yūshin unexpectedly discovered his chakra quality could still improve... As he increasingly adapted to the environment, his body grew more robust, and his chakra quality rose correspondingly.
Thus, during Konoha's fourth decade, Yūshin became reclusive due to his passion for "tree cultivation," virtually disappearing from Konoha entirely.
From Konoha's founding, Yūshin had ceased undertaking spectacular missions. His activity frequency declined another order of magnitude during the Second Hokage period, and by now, he'd essentially vanished completely.
For ordinary ninja, the founding leader of the Fireflies organization and the crucial ninja who established Konoha's institutional foundation had probably truly died... At his advanced age, death was indeed appropriate.
No wonder the Third Hokage faced widespread criticism—when a ninja of this caliber died, he neither issued obituaries nor held funerals. This was simply inexcusable.
Of course, the Third Hokage had heard such gossip, but his heart was bitter... If he held a funeral for Yūshin, who knows who would actually be lying in the coffin.
Old but not dead makes one a thief—why couldn't some ninja understand such a simple principle?
However, Yūshin's temporal perception had diverged significantly from ordinary people's.
By now, a towering tree hundreds of meters tall grew within the super-gravity space. After further growth, it could be mistaken for a world tree.
Yet in the next moment, the tree seemed to undergo "demolition," rapidly "collapsing" toward its center point. Within dozens of seconds, the great tree vanished, leaving only a small figure suspended in midair.
Not only could Yūshin adapt to the local gravity—he could even achieve flight here.
After countless temperings, his chakra had entered a realm of utter ordinariness and pristine simplicity. At this point, even without disguise, ordinary ninja couldn't detect anything special about him.
Yūshin casually waved his hand, finally departing this space and returning to his alternate dimension.
Freed from super-gravity constraints, Yūshin didn't feel lighter—rather, he felt the entire world had become lighter... Well, theoretically speaking, this description was more precise.
"Sigh, through chakra's renewed evolution, all my abilities have achieved perfect integration—except for one point: the seven elements truly cannot be fused."
"Forget it, no more obsessing. 'Proving the Way through Force' simply doesn't work. Better return to the traditional 'Severing the Three Corpses' path. Being human rather than donkey, one ultimately cannot be too stubborn."
Yūshin muttered to himself—those unaware might think he'd taken up cultivation.
Sensing he could no longer improve, Yūshin stopped fretting. Since he'd become the strongest version of himself, he could now execute his long-predetermined advancement plan—the so-called "Ōtsutsuki Hunting Plan."
Yūshin entered the unattended wooden hut. Ignoring the floor's accumulated dust, he sat cross-legged directly on the ground.
After adjusting his condition, he opened his eyelids, revealing a pair of dark red, gem-like Mangekyō Sharingan.
Unexpectedly, though Yūshin had opened his eyes, his gaze seemed unfocused on the present world, as if observing somewhere extremely distant.
He was indeed viewing a very distant place—a place called "the future."
Of course, unlike ordinary understanding of watching the future like a film, Yūshin perceived more abstract phenomena.
It could be described thus: future timelines resembled the night sky, while future people's destinies were like stellar rivers.
Like the Milky Way's countless points of light, each tiny gleam represented a future individual... When Shichimi summoned "future hope," why did it seem like drawing blind boxes?
Because it truly was drawing blind boxes.
Its brain capacity was limited—it likely just selected wherever something appeared bright.
Yūshin observed the future and saw several exceptionally brilliant stars...
"Calculating the timeline, the brightest should be Kaguya... I still can't provoke Kaguya, so I must start with softer targets."
"Oh, this brightness should represent an Ōtsutsuki. Ōtsutsuki chakra is truly distinctive."
"Hmm, this one's bright but cannot be summoned twice. He should be Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki—Kinshiki has already become my fertilizer, so secondary summoning is impossible... Alas, this is the drawback of single timelines. If parallel spacetimes existed, repeatedly eating, sleeping, and defeating Kinshiki could make me supreme."
"Therefore, I must seek the dimmest star among the Ōtsutsuki..."
Yūshin naturally wouldn't immediately pull his target into the present world. First, he needed to confirm the target.
He wanted to pierce through illusion and truly observe future scenes. Honestly, such identification was far more difficult than direct summoning.
However, without clear identification, Yūshin couldn't risk direct summoning—that would be too dangerous.
So he closed his right eye, concentrating all attention on his left. As massive amounts of chakra flooded his eye socket, his left eye's ocular power was stimulated to its limit before exploding forth.
His vision pierced endless time and space, revealing a face belonging to a cocky young man—one particularly deserving of a beating...
"Whew, it really is you—Urashiki Ōtsutsuki."
Seeing through the future naturally required payment. Shichimi's left eye exhausted all its ocular power and temporarily went blind... This didn't matter—under Yin-Yang Release nourishment, it would recover after some time.
The important thing was that Yūshin had confirmed his next target.
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