Chapter 5: Two Applications and Evolution
Time flew by, and the end of August arrived.
The ninja academy's second term would begin soon.
Over the past few days, Yoru had thoroughly figured out where the black Space-Time chakra came from and what he could currently do with it.
Just as Sage Mode chakra forms from combining regular chakra with natural energy, Yoru's Space-Time chakra resulted from the fusion of physical energy, spiritual energy, and Space-Time power.
Unlike Sage Mode, which draws natural energy from the external environment into the body, Yoru's cells themselves secreted the special Space-Time power.
However, Yoru discovered that only a portion of his cells could produce Space-Time power. The quantity was limited—unlike physical and spiritual energy, which could be extracted from all one hundred thirty trillion cells.
Cells don't undergo such changes without reason. Yoru's initial hypothesis pointed to something wrong with his heart.
That black heart projected in his mind might hide some secret.
But if a secret existed, logically it shouldn't have taken this long to manifest, appearing so specifically when he turned six years old to "activate."
Perhaps the issue wasn't with his heart at all, but rather... with the soul that had transmigrated to this world!
Whichever the case, neither mystery lay within Yoru's current ability to investigate.
Moreover, Yoru had a premonition that those symptoms resembling sudden cardiac death were merely the beginning. They would likely occur multiple times in the future.
Through several days of experimentation, given Yoru's current capabilities, Space-Time chakra had two applications.
First was intangibility. Actually, even without manifesting Space-Time chakra externally, Yoru's body could achieve intangibility.
As long as he formed hand seals to circulate his chakra and let Space-Time chakra flow through his meridians, any area containing black chakra could achieve partial intangibility. If it could flood his entire body, he could achieve complete intangibility.
Second was offensive capability, though he couldn't use it to perform ninjutsu—at least not yet.
He'd discovered Space-Time chakra's offensive potential when he attempted to channel the black chakra from his body using a chakra blade inherited from his family.
The result...
The Armament Haki from the One Piece world had manifested in the Naruto universe.
The chakra blade in Yoru's hand had transformed into a black blade!
Moreover, it was an indestructible black blade. Unless something contained rule-based power capable of rivaling Space-Time itself, any material Yoru cut would split cleanly in two, regardless of hardness.
Yoru had tested it personally. Simply dragging the blade's tip lightly across the ground—whether brick or the soil beneath—left a smooth, perfectly straight cut.
Shuriken, kunai, iron blocks, training dummies, gemstones... No matter how hard the material, before Yoru's black blade, everything was as fragile as paper.
With each cut, his confidence multiplied exponentially.
These two applications of Space-Time chakra essentially created a bootleg version of the dual Kamui abilities.
True, Yoru currently needed hand seals to activate Space-Time chakra. True, achieving full-body intangibility required time, during which he couldn't move.
True, channeling Space-Time chakra outside his body was extremely difficult, currently only possible through a chakra blade, making ninjutsu impossible.
But Yoru had more than one method to solve each of these limitations.
Once he overcame these restrictions, before his Space-Time chakra ran out, he would be an invincible existence—unmatched in both offense and defense!
This goal filled Yoru with motivation to grow stronger.
Konoha Year 30, September 1st.
As usual, Yoru woke at six o'clock for his morning run.
He refused to abandon physical training and foundational development just because he'd awakened powerful abilities.
The original series' Obito Uchiha served as the perfect cautionary example.
Despite receiving Madara Uchiha's ninjutsu inheritance and the Gunbai war fan, despite half his body being Hashirama cells granting him terrifying chakra reserves and ocular power, when unable to use Kamui's intangibility, Obito could only fight Kakashi Hatake to a draw.
Yoru wouldn't become so dependent on Space-Time abilities. At least until his Space-Time chakra reserves expanded to the point of casual expenditure, he would treat intangibility and the black blade as trump cards only.
Yoru lacked x-ray vision and hadn't yet mastered sensory techniques, so he didn't know the exact chakra capacity of an average genin.
However, when Sasuke Uchiha performed the Fireball Jutsu in the original series, his chakra reserves had amazed Kakashi Hatake. This suggested that ordinary genin possessing enough chakra to execute even one C-rank elemental technique was already quite remarkable.
Yoru had already begun training in C-rank elemental ninjutsu. His chakra reserves could easily execute a C-rank technique with energy to spare.
This meant his chakra capacity already far exceeded ordinary genin.
This represented one of Yoru's few natural advantages.
Perhaps transmigrator souls possessed greater strength. Perhaps it was the Gojo family genetics. Or perhaps the "unknown factor" within his body had influence. Whatever the reason, Yoru's spiritual energy was exceptionally powerful. Combined with his wealth and calculated investment in physical development, his chakra reserves vastly exceeded his peers.
As a first-year student, his chakra already surpassed ordinary genin.
Space-Time chakra comprised one-third of his total chakra. The quantity might not be less than an average genin's entire reserves.
Even so, this amount of Space-Time chakra was nowhere near sufficient.
Because Yoru discovered that his cells could only extract this specific quantity of Space-Time energy. He could refine more after using it up, but couldn't break through the current ceiling.
Rather than dismaying him, this discovery filled Yoru with joy.
A replenishable but hard-capped resource—wasn't this essentially an invisible bottleneck?
Before this, Yoru had wondered whether those symptoms resembling sudden death would ever return.
Now he was one hundred percent certain they would definitely occur again.
When they did, more of his cells would gain the ability to extract Space-Time energy.
When all his cells could extract Space-Time energy, normal chakra would be completely replaced by Space-Time chakra. The ability would become a true bloodline limit—a Kekkei Genkai. Perhaps then Yoru could finally understand the secret hidden within his body.
Therefore, Yoru designated those symptoms resembling sudden death with a new name: Evolution.
After finishing his morning training, Yoru returned home for a quick shower.
Standing before the full-length mirror, he pulled his zipper up to chest level and examined his reflection—a white-haired child with baby fat and an adorable, youthful face, wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt and black bermuda shorts. He tilted his head and grinned: "Kawaii!"
However, the moment he turned away from the mirror, Yoru's expression returned to its usual blank mask.
Hands stuffed in his pockets, he left his house and headed toward the academy.
Walking through the school gates, students who'd witnessed his fights or heard of his fearsome reputation immediately stopped and moved aside.
Even so, Yoru didn't let them off easy.
"Trash. What are you staring at?"
Making eye contact with students who dared glance his way, Yoru's voice cut like ice.
"S-sorry!"
Those ice-blue eyes seemed to radiate bone-chilling cold, making the students shudder as they stammered apologies before quickly lowering their heads or turning away.
Wherever the school's terror walked, no one dared approach.