Chapter 156 (Patreon)

The people stationed on Giant Turtle Island had already received the Raikage’s orders. Before long, Motoi, who oversaw the island, began evacuating everyone.

He had not been told exactly what was happening, but the urgency in the Raikage’s command made one thing painfully clear—this time, Kumogakure might be facing a disaster capable of destroying everything.

As the evacuation continued, Yujiro made his way toward Giant Turtle Island without delay.

The island was enormous. What appeared to be solid land was actually the broad back of a colossal turtle, and it contained two extraordinary places.

The first was Yujiro’s reason for coming to Kumogakure—the Falls of Truth.

Anyone who meditated before the waterfall would find the darkness hidden within their heart given form before them.

The second was the temple beyond the waterfall, a place where a jinchūriki could train to subdue the power of their Tailed Beast.

Naturally, the latter held little value for Yujiro.

Just as he was about to set foot on the island, Tsunade and Konan hurriedly caught up to him.

“Stop.”

Yujiro spoke calmly.

Tsunade and Konan immediately froze in place, their bodies refusing to move another step.

“Yujiro, let us stay with you!” Tsunade cried anxiously.

“Master, please don’t leave me behind!” Konan pleaded, desperation filling her voice.

Yujiro clicked his tongue.

What awaited him was no game. If the two of them remained at his side, the slightest accident could cost them their lives.

Even so, he could feel the sincerity behind their words.

“Don’t worry. Stay nearby and wait for me to come back.”

Yujiro gave them a faint smile before turning toward Kurama, who stood behind them.

“Kurama, I’m leaving their safety to you until I return.”

“No problem, Yujiro!”

Kurama leaped onto Tsunade’s shoulder and proudly thumped his tiny chest with one paw.

“Good.”

Yujiro smiled casually. Then, with the black blade in hand, he turned and entered Giant Turtle Island alone.

Meanwhile, the people of Kumogakure were evacuating into the underground shelters in an orderly procession.

The Raikage and the others arrived near Giant Turtle Island soon afterward. The moment they sensed what was happening inside Yujiro, every expression among them changed.

An unimaginably violent power was surging within his body, as though it had reached the absolute limit of what the world could endure.

If that power erupted here, Kumogakure would likely be wiped from the map.

The village’s survival was no responsibility of Yujiro’s. Even so, he had deliberately chosen Giant Turtle Island as the place to confront this danger, keeping it away from the village.

That kind of restraint was something none of them could match.

After entering the island, Yujiro surveyed the vast landscape before bringing his hands together in a seal.

“Barrier Ninjutsu: Four Red Yang Formation!”

In an instant, four towering crimson walls rose around Giant Turtle Island, sealing the entire island within an enormous barrier.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Four Red Yang Formation required four powerful shinobi working together to cast it.

Yujiro, however, needed no one else.

Once the barrier was complete, he released a long breath. Then he rose into the air and flew directly toward the center of the island.

Yujiro had mastered flight when he gained the ability to control gravity. By now, moving through the sky came as naturally to him as walking.

Ten seconds later, he reached the heart of Giant Turtle Island.

It did not take him long to find the Falls of Truth.

Rumble—!

A tremendous waterfall thundered down before him.

A small stone platform stood at its base. All one had to do was sit upon it, close their eyes, and sink into meditation. The darkness within their heart would then appear before them.

As though it understood what was about to happen, the darkness inside Yujiro began to revolt wildly.

In the next instant, streams of crystallized black energy burst from his body.

Once more, a terrifying pressure descended upon the entirety of Kumogakure, smothering the village beneath its oppressive weight.

Yujiro drew a deep breath and slowly walked onto the platform before the waterfall.

He bent his knees, sat down, and closed his eyes.

Then he focused his mind.

“Heh…”

“Hehehe…”

Rumble—!

A figure suddenly emerged from within the Falls of Truth.

It looked exactly like Yujiro. It wore the same clothes, and an identical black blade rested across its shoulder.

Yujiro, still seated at the center of the platform, slowly opened his eyes.

The dark Yujiro saw him awaken and immediately twisted its face into a vicious grin. It threw back its head and began to laugh.

Then it opened its mouth to speak.

Before it could finish even its first word, Yujiro casually swept one hand through the air.

The dark figure instantly dissolved into mist.

It had not possessed the slightest ability to resist him.

Yujiro rose to his feet and sighed.

So it was exactly as he had suspected.

The Falls of Truth was unquestionably one of the shinobi world’s most mysterious places. However, the darkness it manifested could only reproduce power that belonged within this world’s system.

In the end, the dark self it created was merely an illusion.

The Limiter within Yujiro had already transcended the boundaries of the entire shinobi world. Even the Falls of Truth could not reproduce it.

The black energy surrounding him grew denser still.

An endless, suffocating pressure began to churn across the island.

Outside the barrier, Tsunade and the others stared anxiously at Giant Turtle Island.

With the Four Red Yang Formation surrounding it, there was no way for any of them to enter. All they could do was remain nearby and wait.

“Just what kind of power is this…?”

The Raikage stood among them, staring at the island sealed behind the crimson barrier.

The presence spilling from within was so oppressive that it seemed to represent the absolute pinnacle of power. Beneath it, he could not summon even the will to resist.

How laughable.

He had once naively believed that Kumogakure might turn the situation around through Konoha’s Chūnin Exams.

Now, looking back, he and the others seemed like nothing more than clowns.

“Is this… the power of a god?”

At last, the Raikage lowered his head.

Nearby, Killer B and the others watched Giant Turtle Island with equally grave expressions.

“B, you should convince your brother to let go of any thoughts of opposing Yujiro,” Gyūki said from within Killer B’s mindscape. “He has already surpassed us. In fact, he may have even reached the level of…”

The Sage of Six Paths.

Gyūki could think of no one else in the world who might stand on equal footing with Yujiro.

Perhaps only the legendary Sage of Six Paths could compare to him now.

“There’s no need to convince him anymore.”

Killer B glanced at the Raikage beside him and forced a strained smile.

The look on his elder brother’s face had already told him everything.

The Raikage had abandoned any thought of making an enemy of Yujiro.

And why would he not? Who would willingly provoke an opponent this terrifying?

As the Raikage reflected upon his earlier hostility toward Yujiro, cold sweat spread across his entire body. Only now did he fully understand just how merciful Yujiro had been toward them.

If the Raikage himself possessed such overwhelming power, he would have conquered the other Great Shinobi Villages without the slightest hesitation.

Yujiro had strength enough to do so, yet he had never acted on it.

That was the bearing of someone who stood at the very top.

The realization left the Raikage shaken to his core.

……