Chapter 414: Here, Have a Golden Finger
The shinobi world's sealing techniques were unreasonable.
If judging purely by strength, Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura combined couldn't defeat Kaguya who had already achieved "Bloodline Encompassing." Naruto and Sasuke were even farther behind the Six Paths Sage.
But Hagoromo and Hamura could easily seal Kaguya.
Even Naruto and Sasuke, relying only on that portion of Yin-Yang power given by the Six Paths Sage, were actually able to seal Kaguya away.
This was somewhat unreasonable.
But what exists is reasonable.
If the two saviors' chakra merged together, plus the Yin-Yang power, could seal Kaguya, then it certainly could also seal Uchiha Yasushi.
So without finding the Six Paths Sage and his two sons' chakra that had remained traceless all along, Yasushi could never completely relax.
But this matter of chakra reincarnation was truly too ethereal and intangible. Even though Yasushi had now achieved "Bloodline Encompassing," before personally seeing these two people's reincarnated bodies' chakra, it was difficult to confirm their identities.
Therefore, how to find them was actually the most difficult matter.
Fortunately, Yasushi knew that between the Indra and Ashura brothers' chakra existed some kind of special connection that could mutually attract and mutually influence each other.
And he knew who all four of the known reincarnators were.
At first he'd wanted to revive both Naruto and Sasuke together, then extract their chakra, but unexpectedly discovered that back then he hadn't preserved Naruto's cellular tissue.
Because originally he hadn't planned to use Edo Tensei on Naruto for anything. Naruto himself had no utilization value either, so if he died, he died. He hadn't put effort into him.
On the contrary with Sasuke, Yasushi had considered he might be able to use Edo Tensei to bring him out and toy with Itachi, so from the very beginning when beheading him, he'd preserved partial tissue.
But later, between brother and village, Itachi decisively chose the village. The Sasuke card was completely wasted and wasn't taken out for use.
Now it came in handy.
Yasushi revived Sasuke but deliberately let him roam free and isolated him, using him as bait.
Just like Naruto in Konoha Village before, with one word from the ruler, he couldn't make a single friend.
Now switched to Sasuke, naturally it was the same.
In this situation, anyone who approached Sasuke would fall under the eyes of guards Yasushi dispatched.
Arato's personality was simply cut from the same mold as Hashirama and Naruto. Civilian birth yet with such exaggerated chakra amounts. Upon hearing this, Yasushi immediately knew this guy must definitely be Ashura's chakra reincarnation.
"Very good. You may withdraw."
Yasushi waved his hand, dismissing the guard commander. He himself flashed, appearing like teleportation atop the stone statue overlooking the entire city.
Everything beneath his feet, like a miniature sandbox.
The vertical mark between his brows split open. The "Rinne Sharingan" bloomed with radiance penetrating all things.
Where his vision reached was no longer simple scenery, but countless flowing chakra light points.
The entire Divine City, from architectural structure to each person's energy state, everything was captured in his view, every detail, like observing patterns on his palm.
Arato and company were no exception. Yasushi located them instantly.
He and Sasuke sat intimately shoulder to shoulder on a flight of stairs, chatting happily with laughter, occasionally letting out hearty laughs.
Yasushi glanced down and his brow immediately furrowed.
Because on the two people's bodies, there were no signs of Indra and Ashura's chakra manifesting.
Had they not awakened yet?
Was it because their strength was too weak?
If so, then he'd just force their growth.
Patience was not Yasushi's virtue, especially when things deviated from expectations.
He decided to actively intervene, applying "stimulation," just like a gardener impatient to wait for plants to grow naturally, directly using fertilizer to force growth.
As for the risks or pain this "forced growth" might bring, that wasn't within his considerations.
Yasushi extended his hand, casually pointing forward. A space passage the size of a fingertip appeared ahead, just large enough for Yasushi's finger to pass through.
"Hmm?"
Arato below, who'd been laughing foolishly, suddenly felt his heart stir, sensing something. He subconsciously restrained his smile and looked back behind him.
In his line of sight, a finger appeared soundlessly behind him, lightly touching his nape.
"Ah!"
In shock, Arato's entire body's chakra instinctively erupted. He rolled forward, drew out his kunai with his backhand, and held it horizontally before his chest.
However, the anticipated attack didn't occur. His nape only felt a slight coolness, as if touched by ice chips.
He stared fixedly at where the finger had appeared and disappeared. The spatial ripples there had completely settled, leaving no trace, as if everything just now was only an illusion.
But that throbbing from deep in his heart was incomparably real.
"What's wrong?"
"What happened?"
Completely inexperienced Sasuke hadn't noticed anything at all. Seeing Arato suddenly leap away assuming a defensive posture, he only then belatedly realized something.
"Someone was just attacking me!"
"If I saw correctly, it should be space-time ninjutsu."
The chakra on Arato's body began boiling, raising his alertness to maximum. His powerful sensory ability spread out from him like water ripples, carefully investigating every inch of space, every trace of abnormal energy flow.
"Attacking you?"
"How dare they?!"
"This is the Divine City. Without permission, anyone using ninjutsu to fight is prohibited."
Sasuke was also quite shocked. He hurriedly jumped over, establishing a defensive formation back-to-back with Arato.
The three tomoe in his crimson pupils spun rapidly. Dynamic vision and insight elevated to their limit, trying to find the enemy's traces from the most minute air movements, light refraction, and chakra remnants.
Zabuza in the distance also discovered the abnormality here and hurriedly leaped over.
"What happened?"
Arato explained again what he'd just seen. After listening, Zabuza couldn't help but furrow his brow, surprised in his heart.
What was going on with this Divine City?
Earlier Arato was first "guided" by someone using an "entering dreams" method. Now they'd simply directly used space-time ninjutsu to "harass" him.
Could this "tool" he'd picked up actually have some secret on his body?
The three searched on the spot in a circle but didn't discover anything. They could only give up.
Then Zabuza discovered that where Arato's nape had been touched, a diamond-shaped block pattern had appeared.
"What's this?"
Zabuza strangely rubbed it several times with his hand, but discovered this pattern seemed like a birthmark, already fused together with Arato's nape.
Sasuke beside them recognized this thing at a glance and couldn't help but cry out in shock.
"This is... the Karma Curse Mark!"
"Karma Curse Mark? What's that?"
"The 'Karma Curse Mark' is a product Lord Shin researched based on a seal on Lord Hiruko's body. In the entire Divine City, only Lord Shin and Lord Hiruko know how to use it. How could..."
Sasuke's words reached halfway before he suddenly shut his mouth, his face becoming ugly.
Zabuza nodded thoughtfully, saying:
"Which means the person who just attacked Arato was either Lord Shin or Lord Hiruko?"
"But why would he attack Arato?"
"This..." Sasuke hurriedly shook his head to explain. "This isn't an attack. It's more like a reward?"
"Reward?"
"That's right."
Sasuke looked at Arato with somewhat envious eyes, smiling:
"This thing can be considered a cultivation accelerator. It's somewhat similar to 'small tailed beast, pseudo-jinchuriki' technology."
"But 'pseudo-jinchuriki' can only provide an additional chakra source. Once the internal 'small tailed beast' chakra is used up, you're knocked back to original form."
"The 'Karma Curse Mark' fundamentally elevates the chosen one's progress speed, allowing the chosen one's strength to advance by leaps and bounds. Even if the 'Karma Seal' is later retrieved, these training results will still be preserved."
"This thing can be removed?" Zabuza hurriedly interjected to ask.
"That's right." Sasuke nodded to explain. "I heard the 'Karma Curse Mark's' creation is rather complex, and only Lord Shin and Lord Hiruko can make them."
"They're both busy people in the laboratory. Who knows how many experiments they have to do normally. They're too lazy to do this repetitive work."
"So the number of 'Karma Curse Marks' circulating in the Divine City is very limited. They're all applied for by sufficiently powerful ninja based on merit after cultivating to some bottleneck."
"Once they successfully break through, this 'Karma Seal' will be retrieved and transferred to another person."
"This 'Karma Curse Mark' is especially effective for Uchiha clan members. It can be said to be the most powerful guarantee for 'three-tomoe Sharingan Uchiha' to smoothly and steadily cross the Mangekyo chasm."
"But even so, among the Uchiha clan, those holding the 'Karma Seal' don't exceed three people."
"I see!" After hearing Sasuke's explanation, Zabuza finally breathed a sigh of relief, smiling. "Then looks like Arato benefited from Young Master Sasuke's favor this time!"
"Benefited from my favor? Impossible!"
Sasuke laughed coldly. His gaze became several degrees gloomier.
"Hehe, I have no status at all in the family. Even if there are benefits, they absolutely wouldn't fall to me."
"It should be that Arato-niisan's genius performance was reported up by the Divine Temple guards, gaining Lord Shin's or Lord Hiruko's attention. They want to take Arato-niisan as a disciple, so they bestowed this 'Karma Seal'!"
"This was obtained by Arato-niisan through ability. It's not my credit."
"Actually I train very quickly already. I feel like I don't need this thing at all!"
Arato laughed foolishly while touching the back of his head, looking embarrassed.
"How should this thing be transferred? I'll just transfer it to you to use, Sasuke."
Sasuke's heart warmed. The coldness on his face dissipated somewhat. A smile surfaced again.
"I also don't know how the 'Karma Seal' should be transferred. It seems to automatically move back and forth between different people's bodies, like it has automatic judgment ability."
"Just like those intelligent puppets on the street?"
"Right, feels about the same as that thing. When you don't meet the conditions, it will move from your body to another person's body through physical contact."
"I see!" Arato blinked his eyes, suddenly clapping both hands together, calling out in delight. "Then it's simple. From now on we'll train together. We'll test it every day. Maybe one day it'll run from my body to yours."
"Uh..." After hearing this, Sasuke was also greatly moved. "Good, then it's settled. From now on we'll train together every day."
Yasushi in midair heard their childish dialogue thoroughly but had not the slightest intention to correct their errors.
This "Karma Curse Mark" was developed based on Otsutsuki Isshiki's "Karma Seal." Though the details differed slightly, essentially it was the "Karma Seal," a means Yasushi and others developed for "immortality techniques."
Currently in the Divine Nation, there were actually four people who knew this technology. Besides Shin and Hiruko, there were also Yasushi and Orochimaru.
The reason "chosen ones" made great progress in strength after obtaining the "Karma Curse Mark" was purely because the unsealed curse mark transformed their bodies, making them approach the original body's direction.
All four original bodies were top-tier experts. Any "chosen one's" body approaching them even slightly would naturally advance a great step on the evolution path. Their strength couldn't help but increase.
And the reason the Uchiha clan's use of the "Karma Seal" had the best effect was purely because among these four people were three top-tier Uchiha, at minimum all Mangekyo level.
The Uchiha clan's bodies approaching them was the most efficient, most stable evolution means. On the contrary, those outside clan members' usage effects weren't as good.
Different original bodies had different standard requirements for "vessels," but they were generally quite high. The four couldn't possibly search everywhere for suitable "vessels" like Isshiki, and clone synthetic human technology hadn't reached standard yet temporarily.
So after the four researched together, they added simple judgment intelligence to this "Karma Curse Mark," allowing it to automatically seek bodies meeting "vessel" requirements and automatically migrate.
After the "Karma Curse Mark" parasitized on the "chosen one's" body, it began deep detection of the "vessel's" body. During the detection process, it would naturally release and absorb energy, transforming the "chosen one's" body, promoting evolution.
After a period of time, detection results came out. The "Karma Curse Mark" would judge whether this "vessel" met standards.
If it didn't meet standards, the "Karma Curse Mark" would begin migration procedures, abandoning the "chosen one," changing hosts, until finding the most perfect "vessel."
It was just that because currently most of the shinobi world's experts were on the Divine City side, this "Karma Curse Mark" had always circulated within the Divine City, not spreading outward.
If Sasuke thought that just by training together with Arato he could gain this "Karma Curse Mark's" recognition, that was purely wishful thinking.
Because this "Karma Curse Mark" was special, specifically prepared by Yasushi for Arato.
Those who could use this "Karma Curse Mark," besides Arato, were only Yasushi.
If Yasushi didn't retrieve it, even if Arato couldn't become a perfect "vessel," others shouldn't even think about taking it from Arato's body.
However, Yasushi wouldn't tell these two youths below these things.
He returned to sit in the Divine Temple, summoning the herald and instructing:
"Every year's guard exam is martial competition. It's truly too tedious and boring."
"Moreover, this also doesn't reflect examinees' comprehensive qualities."
"This session needs to change."
"This session will test actual combat!"
"Have the examiners select some rogue ninja roaming various places. Have the examinees pursue and capture them. Calculate final scores based on the rogue ninja's heads."
Watching the herald respectfully withdraw, Yasushi comfortably stretched and revealed an anticipatory smile on his face.
Even if it's "forcing seedling growth," you still need to "fertilize"!
What's better than life-and-death battles to nourish crop growth?
Blood and slaughter are the best fertilizer!
I hope the two saviors can grow faster. Don't make me wait too long!