Chapter 117: The Stars in the Sky Are All Enemies
"The Shinigami is a being that completely surpasses the ninja. I already told you that, Minato."
Simulated Binding Path. Boundary Sealing.
The instant the weapon struck, Kakashi in his true form stomped the ground. He did not speak, yet a warped ripple surged outward. The chaotic afterimages that had been layered through space instantly melted together, turning the battlefield into a thick, muddled blur.
The nature of space itself had been disturbed.
Even for Minato, a master of space time ninjutsu, it was impossible to reorganize his chakra quickly enough to undo Kakashi's interference in such a violently twisted environment. Space and time had always existed without needing special definitions. It was human cognition that shaped them into something ninjutsu could grasp. Once that mental structure was broken, the only way forward was to rebuild it through chakra, or through some other power.
And that was not something anyone could do in a heartbeat.
In an instant, their roles flipped.
Kakashi stared down at the Hokage who was now being suppressed, the legendary fastest ninja in the world. Minato still looked dazed, as if his mind had not caught up to what had just happened. Kakashi sighed, stepped closer through the sea sky realm, and patted Minato on the shoulder almost helplessly.
"Inside a physical body, Death can only release about one third of its true power. We draw power directly from thought and soul. When it passes through flesh, there is always loss, and it takes time. But the body is also armor, it blocks some damage we do not need to take."
"But a Shinigami only truly exists in this world after breaking free from the body. Kagami, Dan, my father, and me, what you see now is our real form."
"Physical death means nothing to us, Minato. It is only part of a transformation. So when you face enemies like this in the future, you cannot hesitate."
The high collared white trench coat fluttered in the still air. Kakashi looked calmly at Minato, the pressure of a Shinigami rolling off him in waves. That presence alone made Minato's breath hitch.
"Are you... already dead, Kakashi?"
"That depends on how you define life and death. If you mean having a physical body, I died about a month ago."
Kakashi's fingers slid across Minato's neck as he leaned in, voice low and piercing, as if it could reach straight into the soul.
"But if you mean the continuity of will, thought, determination, the drive to act, then I have always been alive. The body is only a cage. Worse, our bodies may not even be complete."
"What are you saying?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." Kakashi's eyes narrowed behind the mask. "Aizen does not want me to say much, but I think you deserve at least this."
A power completely unlike chakra surged in the air. Complex patterns unfolded in ways Minato could not understand, and the space before him lit up like a stage curtain being drawn aside.
Monitoring instruments. Detection arrays. Countless devices whose purpose Minato could not immediately grasp.
A corner of the battlefield was peeled open, and rows of lenses and machines stood there like countless eyes pressed to the glass of a terrarium. Nearby explosions made the detectors pulse and contract as if they were alive. The moment Minato's gaze landed on them, dozens of cameras snapped toward him in unison.
The cold, inorganic stare sent a chill through his spine.
This was not the grief of watching Aizen leave. It was something worse, a sickening irritation, like realizing the world had been watching you the entire time.
Kakashi never acted without reason. Coming here with Sakumo to test the chakra signal tower had been secondary. What he truly wanted was to probe Konoha itself, just like this hidden stage had been waiting to be revealed.
"You are even more naive than I thought, Minato." Kakashi pulled down his white mask, voice quiet. The numbers on his tongue flickered in and out through the light. What he said next was terrifying enough to crack a person's worldview.
It was that theory that made Kakashi abandon his body. It was that possibility that bound everyone in Las Noches together.
They were people willing to step into the dark, even if it meant never returning.
Now Kakashi intended to hand Minato fragments of the truth they had found.
"Changes in chakra nature create changes in bloodlines. That is how bloodline limits are born. People can strengthen their bloodline through training. You know that. Chakra is born from the one to one blend of physical and spiritual energy. You know that too."
"But here is the question. Why would pure energy and cultivation rewrite genes? Why can chakra signals be passed through heredity? When we cultivate chakra, are we evolving on our own, or are we simply returning to something that was planted in us long ago?"
"Or maybe we are nothing but aggregates of chakra. Maybe reproduction and self awareness are only illusions, a sub system created to conserve energy after the main system lost contact."
"Creation and regeneration, Yin Yang Release, reincarnation, resurrection. There are endless ways to bring something back. So tell me, are we just mechanical constructs wearing human faces?"
Minato's eyes grew more confused by the second. Kakashi stepped closer and looked down into those clear blue eyes now tinged faintly red.
"If there is a need, there can be infinite copies of me. If chakra traits match, then the person can be replaced. So what are we? True individuals, or out of control machines built by someone we cannot see?"
"The answer is simple. Walk your own path. Carve out a future that belongs only to us, even if it is in a void. If such beings exist, then face them. If you choose to strike, then never stop."
Kakashi's gaze sharpened.
"That is why you were not chosen, Minato. You do not have the courage to move forward. You are trapped in the beauty of Konoha, but you lack the resolve to tear off its veil."
"Can you face Kushina dying? Can you face the flood of the future? Can you face the possibility that you never truly lived at all? You cannot, because you never once doubted Aizen."
His voice softened slightly, though the weight only grew heavier.
"But I will still give you a little hope. Aizen thinks you are beyond saving. I do not. I think you can still see what lies beyond that scenery."
Kakashi shook his head, turning toward the pitch black distance. Minato stood there in silence, his exhaustion no longer only physical, but crushingly mental.
"I'm leaving, Father."
"Okay."
A pure white figure burst out of the black mist. The weary man leaned on his long sword and laughed toward the sky.
"I'm sorry, Kagami. I wanted to play with you a bit longer, but my son is getting impatient."
A massive star was falling from above. Sakumo smiled faintly, hand resting on the hilt of his blade.
In the next instant, the falling embers and the burning ground blurred like a mirage. The world washed into pure white.
The barrier that split the two sides silently opened left and right. The black chakra tide evaporated in mid air. The terrifying Bankai in the sky dissolved into nothingness and fire.
Kagami collapsed again, passed out like a dead dog. Sakumo shrugged, appeared behind Kakashi, and stood shoulder to shoulder with his son. He lifted a hand and drew a cross through the air.
A passage like a partition was forced open in a space that should have belonged only to Minato. Countless intersecting spaces flickered open and shut, exposing a pitch black cavity beyond. The illusory figures pinning Minato down shattered without a sound.
Their mission was complete. They had recorded every chakra trait of Konoha's high ranking members, and they had planted seeds of opportunity for the village that still remained.
"Remember this, Minato. The stars in the sky are all enemies."
Standing inside the shrinking black cavity, Kakashi smiled at Minato's numb, hollow stare.
"If you stay this naive, I will kill you. At least then I would feel at ease. And you would not have the chance to leak our plan. Goodbye."
"..."
"..."
"Hmm. You memorized your lines pretty well."
Aizen clicked off the screen. In the brightly lit room, he smiled as he flipped through the documents in his hands.
Under the quiet surveillance in the corner, Madara's lifeline continued to beat steadily. Yet every pulse felt like the countdown to something inevitable.
<><><><><>
[P@treon Christmas Discount: 20% OFF]
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]