Chapter 4: Space-Time Power, One Tier Above Jōnin
Space-Time Power, Space-Time Chakra, Space-Time Nature Transformation...
With just one glance, Yoru understood the special properties of the black chakra.
It was widely known that ninja chakra possessed seven attributes: wind, fire, water, earth, lightning, along with yin and yang—representing this world's fundamental forces of yin-yang and the five elements.
Yin and yang were innate hidden attributes that couldn't be acquired through training, unless one's body was fundamentally transformed by powerful external forces.
Even the God of Shinobi Hashirama Senju, or the original Naruto and Sasuke, couldn't develop yin-yang attributes through training.
Madara only possessed yin-yang and the five elements because he had transplanted Hashirama's cells. Otherwise, his limit would have been like Sasuke's—possessing only yin and the five elements at most.
The fusion of two chakra natures created a Kekkei Genkai.
The fusion of three chakra natures was known as Kekkei Tōta.
This was the limit of the shinobi world's understanding.
But Yoru knew that the fusion of all seven attributes formed Kekkei Mōra.
That was what the pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki considered one of their own!
Without Kekkei Mōra, an Ōtsutsuki lacking all attributes was nothing but the most diluted hybrid, no different from those inferior beings.
The common knowledge in the shinobi world was that there were only seven chakra attributes.
Only a handful knew there existed an eighth hidden special attribute.
This power transcended the seven basic attributes, with both its lower and upper limits being extraordinarily absurd. Some were even comparable to Kekkei Mōra, or were essentially a form of Kekkei Mōra themselves—some even surpassing Kekkei Mōra in power!
This was Space-Time Power!
Space-time abilities were actually quite common in the shinobi world.
Storage scrolls operated on space-time principles.
Summoning Jutsu similarly involved space-time power.
However, these only scratched the surface through contracts and seals, and couldn't be applied to one's own body.
Therefore, when the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju developed the Flying Raijin Jutsu, showing the entire shinobi world the terror of space-time power, this technique immediately became one of the strongest S-rank secret arts.
To this day, aside from its creator Tobirama Senju, no one else in the Leaf Village had mastered this S-rank secret art.
Moreover, the Flying Raijin Jutsu was still just an auxiliary space-time ninjutsu.
Throughout the thousand-year history of the Warring States period, no offensive space-time ninjutsu had ever appeared in the shinobi world.
Because no one could truly master space-time power, let alone transform their chakra nature into space-time chakra. Not even the universe's pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki could achieve this!
Their space-time abilities, like the Flying Raijin Jutsu and Kamui, merely consumed chakra or Yin Release Chakra to mobilize some space-time power.
Amenominaka, Yomotsu Hirasaka, Daikokuten... these Kekkei Mōra and divine techniques were all auxiliary space-time abilities.
In contrast, Kamui—which wasn't Kekkei Mōra or a divine technique—was a rare offensive space-time ability.
Even so, offensive Kamui had casting delays and required consuming massive amounts of ocular power, with fixed capabilities. It still didn't involve transforming chakra into space-time nature transformation.
And now, the first existence possessing space-time chakra... had been born!
No wonder Yoru was so excited. The fact that he didn't burst into maniacal laughter already demonstrated the greatest composure of someone who had lived two lives and crossed worlds.
No one knew how much pressure Yoru had endured over these six years.
Had he been born during the timeline when the main story began, being the same age as Naruto and Sasuke, even without a Kekkei Genkai or any cheat-like advantages, Yoru would have chosen to accept his fate and coast through life indifferently.
With his knowledge of the plot, he could easily avoid all major calamities except the Infinite Tsukuyomi—and even that could hardly be called a calamity, being more like a beautiful dream.
But unexpectedly, Yoru had traveled to the era where he was the same age as Minato.
The Second Shinobi World War could erupt at any moment, and the original work provided scant intelligence. Yoru had no idea whether Minato's cohort of students would be dispatched to the battlefield.
If they were sent—even just for logistical support—there was always the risk of enemy ninja infiltrating their ranks. Those capable enough to carry out such missions would be Special Jōnin at the very least.
Without the protagonist's plot armor, encountering them would mean certain death.
The more a time traveler knew, the more they had to worry about—especially when stranded in an era with zero plot advantages. The pressure on Yoru's mind grew heavier with each passing day.
Thus, in his game strategy, he had already resolved to grow stronger by any means necessary.
To survive, he was even willing to become a test subject, a patchwork monstrosity like Kakuzu or Hiruko.
To lay the groundwork for his plans, he—a 'grown adult' aware of the importance of connections and networks—crafted an aloof, unapproachable persona from the moment he entered the academy, playing the part of the school bully and acting every single day.
In truth, many nights, Yoru would jolt awake from nightmares.
He dreamed his plans failed right at the start—his mind read, his identity as an otherworlder exposed, and himself turned into an even more wretched lab subject.
He dreamed that after finally gaining immense power, he was crushed by a higher-dimensional force, rendering all his efforts void.
These were the invisible shackles binding Yoru.
But now, with the emergence of the black Space-Time Chakra, all those shackles shattered!
What was once a ceiling of becoming an all-round Jōnin—or at best, a pseudo-Six Paths level even with a perfectly executed game strategy—had now become profoundly ambiguous.
Such was the uniqueness of Space-Time.
Its lower limits were humble: even ordinary shinobi could harness Space-Time Power to create storage scrolls.
Its upper limits were staggering: Kakashi Hatake, merely an Elite Jōnin, could wound the Progenitor of Chakra thanks to his mastery of an offensive Space-Time ninjutsu.
With Space-Time Chakra now in his grasp, Yoru's strength had also become ambiguous—its potency entirely dependent on the capacity and application of the black chakra.
If he could develop offensive techniques, even as a first-year apprentice ninja, he would already possess means to threaten a Kage, much like those Elite Jōnin who wielded S-rank ultimate arts.
Even a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki with ninjutsu immunity would have their defenses breached if struck by his attacks.
If the black chakra couldn't be used offensively, then Yoru's strength would remain unchanged—akin to shinobi clans with secret techniques or Kekkei Genkai, merely possessing a special ability.
Even if it were the latter, Yoru would already be satisfied.
Because just moments ago, his feet had phased through reality.
Intangibility—this was the very BUG-level ability that made Obito invincible throughout the entire Naruto series!
As long as Yoru could achieve complete etherealization, no one in this era would be able to eliminate him by means other than assassination—including that still-living Asura of the Shinobi World!
At this moment, he stood above all shinobi!