The strength of Ryoma's Wood Release bindings tightened, as if they were about to crush Nara Shikaku's waist. At that moment, however, Shikaku's body suddenly softened. Like a marshmallow melting through a gap, he slipped out from the Wood Release restraints and reappeared several meters away.
When he emerged again, his appearance had completely changed. His skin tone, clothing, and even his facial structure shifted instantly. In the blink of an eye, he had become a white-faced figure with green hair, wearing a black robe.
With such distinctive features, Ryoma immediately recognized the man's identity—White Zetsu.
According to the established lore, White Zetsu's impersonation ability is one of the most powerful disguise techniques in the shinobi world.
Unlike ordinary Transformation Techniques (Henge no Jutsu), White Zetsu can absorb another person's chakra and perfectly replicate it. Once transformed, even someone extremely familiar with the target—or a sensory-type ninja—would have great difficulty detecting the difference.
Earlier, Ryoma had nearly mistaken the impostor for the real Nara Shikaku. After all, both the appearance and chakra signature were identical. However, during their brief conversation, something felt off.
The real Shikaku would never panic while explaining himself.
As Ryoma suspected, under the perception of his senjutsu-enhanced senses, he detected a strange aura mixed with unmistakable malice.
"Very sharp, Ryoma."
White Zetsu grinned.
"But don't think you can catch me so easily!"
As he spoke, half of White Zetsu's body suddenly sank into the ground.
Mayfly Technique (Kagerō no Jutsu).
With this ability, White Zetsu can merge his body with the earth, plants, and terrain, allowing him to travel through them at extremely high speed.
Just as his head was about to disappear underground, Ryoma raised his hand.
"Universal Pull."
An invisible force erupted from Ryoma's palm.
It was as if a miniature black hole had formed, generating a terrifying gravitational pull. White Zetsu, who had already begun merging with the ground, was violently dragged back out.
Under Ryoma's precise control of both attraction and repulsion, White Zetsu's body was compressed into a small white sphere no larger than a palm.
On the surface of the sphere, White Zetsu's distorted face occasionally emerged, teeth clenched as he struggled desperately.
However, under the combined control of Universal Pull and Shinra Tensei, there was no possibility of escape.
Watching the violent struggle, Ryoma increased the pressure slightly.
White Zetsu immediately let out another miserable scream.
"Don't rush," Ryoma said calmly.
"I still have plenty of questions to ask."
After the interrogation, Ryoma learned that Uchiha Madara had already been revived.
But so what if Madara had returned?
Times had changed.
Ryoma had already decided that Madara would be left for Sasuke and Naruto to deal with—a suitable trial for the two of them.
The ambitious Uchiha likely never imagined that, in Ryoma's mind, he was nothing more than a convenient stepping stone.
On another matter.
"An unknown force…"
After hearing Nara Shikaku's report, Ryoma immediately thought of Akatsuki. With Black Zetsu's intelligence-gathering abilities, helping Kazuma escape the Land of Fire's pursuit would not be difficult.
And anyone with a little awareness would realize that on the current continent, there was only one organization capable of secretly supporting Kazuma without revealing its identity.
Akatsuki.
However, Ryoma had no time to deal with such minor issues.
He still needed to investigate the original world connected to the Stone of Gelel and Mōryō. In addition, his research into Hidan's Jashin Curse Technique was ongoing.
Compared to those matters, these small disturbances were insignificant.
Ryoma turned to Nara Shikaku.
"Have Kakashi and Obito handle it."
After giving a few instructions, Ryoma opened a space-time portal using Yomotsu Hirasaka and returned to the ruins surrounding the Gelel vein.
Inside the cave containing the space-time summoning array, Ryoma took out the Stone of Gelel.
Over the past few days, he had gradually mastered how to use it and had thoroughly studied the summoning array. Even without royal lineage, he could now activate the ancient mechanism.
Strange incantations flowed from his mouth.
As he formed a series of hand seals, Gelel energy condensed into glowing runic symbols and flowed into the array engraved on the ground.
With a soft whoosh, a spatial passage opened before him.
"It worked."
A hint of excitement flashed across Ryoma's face.
Without hesitation, he stepped into the portal.
The moment he entered, the passage behind him closed, and an invisible force pulled his body forward.
A few seconds later, his vision expanded into a vast, open landscape.
What appeared before him was a barren world.
The air was breathable, and the gravity felt roughly the same as Earth's.
The sky was tinted reddish-brown. The land was nothing but desolate wasteland. Mountains stood in the distance, but there was no vegetation anywhere. The ground was riddled with cracks like enormous spiderwebs.
From within some of those cracks, purple flames occasionally burst outward, and the intense heat distorted the air several meters around them.
"This must be the original world connected to the Stone of Gelel."
Activating a perception technique he had learned from a shrine maiden, Ryoma expanded his senses across a hundred kilometers.
Moments later, he detected signs of life somewhere in the distance.
"Over there."
Ryoma vanished in a flash, leaving behind a streak of white air currents.
More than ten seconds later, a vast cluster of ruins appeared before him.
"This ruin is roughly the size of a city," Ryoma muttered. "I should be able to learn something about this world here…"
Just then, the scene near the ruins came fully into view.
At the edge of the ruins stood a nest built from piled blood-red stones.
Inside the nest were hundreds of grotesque creatures—huge, misshapen monsters radiating vicious hostility.
The life signals Ryoma had sensed earlier came from them.
Even before getting too close, an overwhelming stench filled the air.
Apparently, these creatures had no concept of hygiene.
From high in the sky, Ryoma observed the scene below.
The nests looked like enormous piles of garbage, stacked chaotically together. Hundreds of bizarre creatures occupied them, apparently claiming this section of the ruins as their territory.
Snap.
The moment Ryoma landed on the ground, the creatures began making strange clicking noises.
Although he couldn't understand their language, the monsters surrounding him were rapidly gathering from all directions.
Judging by their hostility, they clearly weren't here to welcome him.
"Roar!"
Seeing the monsters' bloodthirsty and excited expressions, Ryoma's gaze turned cold.
Behind him, a blue Susanoo condensed instantly. The towering warrior raised its sword and slashed forward with overwhelming force, as if intending to split the space before it in two.
A moment later, countless miserable wails echoed through the ruins.
Under that single strike, large numbers of monsters exploded into clouds of blood mist.
More than ten minutes later, after exploring the surrounding area with Shadow Clones, Ryoma determined that only the mountain ahead remained unexplored.
Embedded in the cliff face was a massive granite gate. The surface was covered with worn patterns, their details almost erased by the passage of time.
Placing his hand on the stone door, Ryoma felt a faint and mysterious fluctuation of energy spreading beneath the surface, as if the gate were reacting to his presence.
Boom…
The stone gate slowly opened.
Beyond it appeared a palace—ancient, simple, yet grand.
"A palace built inside a mountain…"
However, the scene inside told a different story.
The palace walls bore clear traces of battle. The ground was scorched and stained with dark, dried blood. Remains of human bodies and scattered weapons lay everywhere.
Everything here indicated that this place had once been a battlefield.
Ryoma began exploring the palace.
Most of the rooms contained nothing special. After searching for a while, he eventually arrived at what appeared to be the master bedroom.
Inside the room, a palm-sized crystal sat quietly within a small box.
Ryoma examined it with several different methods, but he couldn't determine its purpose. However, since the former owner of the ruins had deliberately hidden it here, it was unlikely to be worthless.
When Ryoma activated his Rinnegan to inspect it more carefully, a sudden surge of information flooded directly into his mind.
"This is… a spirit crystal."
A rare look of shock appeared in Ryoma's eyes.
A spirit crystal is a special medium capable of storing memories within a crystal and transmitting them directly into another person's mind.
The crystal itself wasn't what surprised him. During his research with Shion, he had already studied similar techniques for creating such crystals—though he had never had the opportunity to experiment with them.
What truly shocked him was the identity of the crystal's owner.
This spirit crystal belonged to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
From the information pouring into his mind, Ryoma learned that the original master of this palace—and perhaps even this entire world—was none other than Kaguya herself.
The memories stored in the crystal were fragments left behind by her.
However, Kaguya's memories were enormous in scale. The amount of information accumulated over thousands of years far exceeded what an ordinary human mind could process.
Ryoma quickly realized that this crystal was something like Kaguya's personal notes.
She had sealed portions of her knowledge, experiences, and memories inside it.
"I should find a place to digest Kaguya's memories first."
After making his decision, Ryoma placed a Flying Thunder God Technique mark at this location.
Then his figure vanished in an instant as he teleported outside the ruins.
(End of Chapter)
🦊 Pa-treon-com/LordMerlin
😊 Thank you for your support!