In a dark closed cell, a young man with orange hair sat in a corner.
There was nothing there but him, restrained by a huge iron ball tied to his leg, he stood quietly in the corner farthest from the thick metal door.
The young man tentatively raised his head, feeling the constant confusion in his mind. Two sets of memories intersected as his brow grew deeper and deeper.
He held his head for a while before finally managing to adjust to the memories he'd received.
-Transmigrated as... Jugo? - His voice sounded very different from what he was used to, but at the same time incredibly familiar, as if he had heard it his whole life.
Looking at his pale white hands, he felt it seemed too surreal.
He had merged memories of a life on earth with those of Jugo, but he was certain it wasn't Jugo.
It was intuitive, but he didn't bother to think too much about it, instead, he frowned as he felt the power of his body.
The natural chakra constantly ravaging his body, he could feel his mind on the verge of collapse at every moment. If it weren't for Jugo's memories, he would probably have gone mad by now, but even now he felt the difficulty, after all, not even Jugo could handle it.
Taking a deep breath, he began to wonder if it was good or bad luck to end up in Jugo's body. He had no family left in his last world and he worked like a convict. He probably even died of exhaustion, but Jugo's body didn't seem like an improvement.
The growing urge to let this energy run wild and destroy everything around him... his lips pursed in thought.
He had to learn to control this power, sage mode, perhaps?
But would it help? Orochimaru knew about sage mode, but never let Jugo learn. Did he think Jugo couldn't learn this? or didn't want to help him?
Jugo briefly considered running away. This place, however, is unlikely to stop him, the cage around him serves as a mental focus to keep him from going mad.
But could he cope outside? His madness would be problematic and, besides, his body is strong and his chakra is abundant, but Jugo has never tried to become stronger, his ninja knowledge is extremely limited.
So, if he goes mad, he'll likely be targeted by the major villages and end up becoming a guinea pig in one of them.
Breathing heavily, he wished there was a cheat like in those fanfics, at least he wouldn't be so confused about his future.
But the moment he thought this, he felt something tugging at him.
Deep down, he felt his body begin to tremble fiercely. It was an extremely evil energy, more evil than his killing intent, more evil than anything Jugo had ever felt before.
The next moment, he was somewhere else. Everything around him was pitch-black and borderless. The only movement was the darkness distorting in on itself, as if space were colliding with each other.
In front of him, two... things formed from the darkness. One was a black goat's head with a horizontal pupil, horns, and sharp teeth. Lava flowed like drool from its mouth, exuding a tremendous malice that seemed endless. On the other side, a pitch-black arm bound by chains. Black eyes gaped all over the arm, with purulent black liquid leaking from it. The feeling it gave him was no less malicious, but it seemed restrained, very different from the goat's head exuding infinite malice.
Jugo could feel it, he had to choose one of them, it was instinctive. As soon as he laid eyes on them both, he felt information rushing through his mind.
The goat's head was the path to the Abyss, the chained arm was the path of the Chained. Jugo knew these two paths well, they were both from LOTM, one of the best novels he had ever read in his previous world.
This meant, then, that the world of infinite darkness around him was the Tenebrous World, the shared Sefirah of these two paths.
Taking a deep breath, Jugo felt excited for a moment. He'd asked for a cheat, hoping for something to help him control himself, instead, he'd been given a fucking path to godhood!
But he quickly came to his senses. He could sense he wouldn't last much longer. In fact, he could feel himself burning, and his rationality was fading. He sobered and looked at the two paths, his eyes focusing on the path of the Chained.
It's not that the path to the Abyss was bad, far from it. If it were normal, he would choose it without hesitation, but the problem is that his current situation suits the path of the Chained better.
The path of the Abyss focuses on releasing all desires and malice, while the path of the chained focuses on chaining those desires and malice.
If he chooses the path of the abyss, it's like adding gasoline to a fire, he'll likely go mad.
Thus, the path of the Chained, while much more dangerous in the early sequences, especially in the lunatic and werewolf phases, is at least better than following the path of "debauchery."
Sighing, as he felt himself being corroded by the darkness around him, he made his choice.
The next moment, he grabbed the arm. It transformed into a black liquid and quickly seeped into his hand. The madness he felt before could no longer be contained. His eyes widened as he felt the infinite malice wash over him, only to feel the chains of the arm wrapping around him.
Jugo slowly calmed down as he felt the growing restraint. Finally, when he opened his eyes again, he discovered he was back in that cell, but this time it was different.
The previous madness was much more bearable. If before it had been like a bell next to his ear, now it was like a background hum, much more bearable.
Jugo took a deep breath as it dawned on him, he had become a sequence 9, a prisoner.
"The mind is the prisoner of the body and the body is the prisoner of the world."
This refers to the madness that is restrained and the desire that is oppressed.
Jugo breathed a heavy sigh of relief. At the same time, he could feel the potion quickly digesting within him, surprising him, but not too much.
LotM potions are basically pieces of personality that need to be synchronized to be digested.
Normally, acting like a prisoner probably means being literally imprisoned, but who is Jugo?
His personality has long been shaped by restraint, he's the perfect fucking prisoner.
So, even if he's not Jugo, his experiences are still with him, and he's still a prisoner and trying to contain his impulses.
Thus, he discovered that not only was he digesting this potion quickly, but at an accelerated pace.
The more the potion digested, the more mentally comfortable Jugo felt.
This was truly the right choice for him.
What he gained from this sequence was also very straightforward.
First, his body strengthened. Jugo's body wasn't weak to begin with, but he felt even stronger now; his physique had probably increased by 50%.
This is already quite a lot, considering that Jugo's physique is his most powerful trait.
The second was the binding effect. He felt his mind was restrained, his madness still lingering, but on the outside, he seemed completely normal. In other words, he wouldn't go mad again, even though inside he still harbored the desire to do so.
Finally, he acquired knowledge, not just how to commit crimes, but also how to escape from prisons and obscure means of combat, like using a spoon to kill someone or something.
Now, even without brute strength, he had no doubt he could escape.
The abilities of a Prisoner are indeed quite common for Beyonders, but it didn't matter much, Jugo's power was enough.
If he were just an ordinary man, this enhancement would have put him at most at the level of a Genin, but with Jugo's own strength, already at least a Jonin, he was still a Jonin, still just the average type.
Comparatively speaking, even Sakura fresh out of the academy can handle a common adult thug, being at the level of a Genin as a combat oriented sequence 9 is quite common.
There was no way around it, Jugo didn't know how to fight beyond charging forward and using his instincts, and he didn't even know any jutsu.
So, in terms of physique and chakra, he might be better than Kakashi, but in terms of combat? He'd lose 100 times out of 100.
With his Prisoner skills, his combat abilities had improved significantly, but not to the point of fighting like someone like Kakashi, at most, he might get beaten less.
Jugo put this aside for a while. At his current speed, he would probably finish digesting it in two or three days. It was an absurdly fast speed, but it pleased Jugo deeply.
His biggest fear now was advancing the sequences, he'd also received information about that in the Tenebrous World.
Basically? He still had to act, he had to complete the ritual, but the potion itself? It was ready, he could take it at any time, as long as he completed the acting and prepared the ritual from sequence 5 onwards.
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--x--
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Hey, new fanfic! To summarize, I've spent the last few days creating the first month of it. Initially, there will be 10 advanced chapters on Patreon. I plan to finish posting them tomorrow after translating them from my original language, which is still a pain. (No, it's not MTL, read the auxiliary chapter.)
I'll continue posting every day until the twentieth chapter. After that, just like with The Legendary Mechanic fanfic, the number of chapters for the webnovel will decrease.
Currently:
+3 chapters of Jugo - Father of Devils on P_treon.
+13 chapters of The Legendary Mechanic - Triple Six on P_treon.
P_treon: March_Rain