Time slipped by, and before he knew it, August was already ending.The second semester at the Ninja Academy was about to begin. Over the past few days, Gojo Yoru had finally figured out where the black space-time chakra came from—and what it could do, at least for now.
It was much like Sage Chakra, a special power born from combining ordinary chakra with natural energy.But Yoru's space-time chakra was different. It was formed from physical energy, spiritual energy, and a strange force of space-time itself.
Unlike Sage Chakra, which drew energy from the outside world into the body, Yoru's cells could secrete that special space-time power on their own.The problem was that only some of his cells could do it. And the amount they produced was limited, nothing like physical and spiritual energy, which could be extracted from all one hundred and thirty trillion cells in his body.
Cells did not change for no reason.At first, Gojo Yoru suspected the issue lay in his heart. The black heart that had flashed through his mind felt too ominous to ignore, as if some hidden secret were buried there.
But if it really had been a secret hidden in his body, why had it taken this long to appear? Why had it only "activated" once he turned six?Maybe the problem wasn't his heart at all. Maybe... it was the soul that had crossed into this world with him.
For now, neither possibility was something he could investigate.More importantly, Yoru had a premonition. That feeling of impending sudden death—the one that had nearly scared him out of his wits—might only have been the beginning. It might happen again, and again, in the future.
After several more days of testing, he confirmed that he currently had two ways to use space-time chakra.The first was intangibility. Strictly speaking, he did not need to externalize the black chakra at all. As long as he formed hand seals, circulated chakra, and guided the space-time chakra through his meridians, any part of his body infused with it could become intangible.
If he could make it spread through his entire body, then in theory, he could become completely intangible.The second use was offensive. It could be used to attack—but not to perform ninjutsu, at least not with his current level of control.
He had discovered that by accident, using the chakra blade his family had left behind in an attempt to draw the black chakra out through the weapon.And then...Armament Haki from One Piece had appeared in the Naruto world.
The chakra blade in Gojo Yoru's hand had turned into a black blade.Worse—or rather, better—it was absurdly sharp. Unless something possessed a rule-based power capable of resisting space-time itself, then before that blade, even the hardest material in the world would be split in two.
Yoru had tested it himself.He had merely dragged the tip lightly across the ground, and both the brick surface and the soil beneath it had opened into a perfectly smooth, ruler-straight cut.
Shuriken. Kunai. Iron ingots. Wooden dummies. Jewels.No matter how hard the object was supposed to be, before Yoru's black blade, it was as fragile as paper.
Every slash doubled his confidence.These two applications of space-time chakra were almost like a crude imitation of Double Kamui.
Of course, the limitations were just as obvious.To turn intangible, he still had to form hand seals first. Then the black chakra needed time to spread through his body, and during that process, he couldn't move carelessly.
To externalize the chakra, the difficulty was even greater.At present, he could only do it through a chakra blade. He still couldn't use space-time chakra directly to cast ninjutsu.
But Gojo Yoru had never lacked patience, and he had never lacked ideas.There was more than one way to solve those weaknesses. Once he overcame those restrictions, he would possess near-perfect offense and defense—at least until his supply of space-time chakra ran dry.
That goal lit a fire under him.He wanted to get stronger. No—he had to get stronger.
***
September 1st, Konoha Year 30.As usual, Gojo Yoru got up at six in the morning for his run.
Awakening a powerful ability had not made him give up physical training or the slow, stubborn work of building a foundation.Obito Uchiha was the best possible warning against that kind of thinking.
In the original story, Obito had inherited Madara Uchiha's techniques and his gunbai, possessed half a body made of Hashirama cells, enjoyed terrifying reserves of chakra and ocular power... and still, once Kamui's intangibility could no longer be relied on freely, he had only barely managed a draw against Kakashi Hatake.Gojo Yoru had no intention of becoming that kind of fighter.
He would not place all his hopes on space-time abilities alone.At least not until his space-time chakra grew to the point where he could spend it like water, intangibility and the black blade would remain his hidden trump cards—not the center of his entire combat style.
Yoru did not possess X-ray vision, nor had he learned any sensory techniques. He had no direct way of measuring how much chakra an ordinary genin actually had.But the original story gave him enough clues.
When Sasuke Uchiha used the Great Fireball Technique, even Kakashi had been surprised by the amount of chakra required.That meant something very simple: for an average genin, having enough chakra to cast a C-rank Five Elements Release technique was already considered impressive.
As for Gojo Yoru?He had already begun practicing C-rank elemental techniques during this vacation, and his reserves were more than enough to cast one cleanly. In other words, his chakra had long since surpassed that of a normal genin.
That was one of the few clear advantages he possessed.Maybe it was because a transmigrator's soul was stronger. Maybe it was because of the Gojo family's blood. Maybe it was because of the unknown thing sleeping somewhere inside him.
Whatever the reason, Gojo Yoru's spiritual energy was abnormally powerful.Combined with his family's excellent genes, his parents' careful upbringing before they died, and the resources he had deliberately invested into his body, his chakra reserves had left his peers far behind.
Even in his first year, his chakra was already stronger than that of an ordinary genin.And now, space-time chakra accounted for one third of that total. By volume alone, that portion might not be any less than the entire chakra pool of an average genin.
Even so, it was still far from enough.Because Yoru had made a troubling discovery. His cells could only extract that much space-time energy for now. After he used it up, he could refine more—but no matter how many times he repeated the process, the total amount never rose above that same invisible ceiling.
That discovery had shocked him more than the blade ever had.If he could recover more after spending it, but the maximum quantity stayed locked in place, then wasn't that just another bottleneck? A bottleneck he couldn't yet break through?
Before this, Gojo Yoru had only suspected that the sudden-death-like sensation might happen again.Now he was certain—absolutely certain.
When that terrifying "evolution" returned, the number of cells capable of secreting space-time energy would increase.And if one day all of his cells could produce it, then ordinary chakra would be completely replaced by space-time chakra. At that point, what he possessed would no longer be a strange anomaly. It would be something worthy of being called a bloodline limit.
Maybe by then, he would also finally understand the secret hidden inside his body.That was why Gojo Yoru gave that horrifying state a name.Evolution.
***
After finishing his morning exercise, he returned home and took a quick shower.Standing in front of the full-length mirror afterward, Gojo pulled up the zipper of his jacket to his chest and studied the child reflected there.
A white-haired little boy with cheeks still soft with baby fat looked back at him.Blue jacket. White shirt. Black knee-length shorts. Cute enough to make anyone's heart melt.
Gojo tilted his head and flashed a grin."Kawaii."
The next second, he turned away and his face went blank again.Hands in his pockets, the little tyrant of Class One stepped out of the house and headed for school.
The moment he entered the academy gates, the students who had seen his fight—or heard about his reputation—instinctively slowed and gave way.But Gojo Yoru had no intention of pretending not to notice them.
"You trash," he said coldly, his eyes sliding over the students who were sneaking glances at him. "What are you staring at?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Those pale blue eyes seemed to exhale cold air.The students shivered under his stare. Their apologies came out in trembling voices before they hurriedly lowered their heads or turned away, not daring to meet his gaze for even a moment longer.
Wherever the academy's resident bully went, nobody dared get close.