In the blink of an eye, it was already late August.
The Ninja Academy's second term was about to begin.
Over the past few days, Gojo Yoru had already figured out how this black space–time chakra was produced—and what he could currently do with it.
Just like senjutsu chakra is a special energy formed by combining chakra with natural energy…
Yoru's space–time chakra was the product of physical energy, spiritual energy, and space–time power fused together.
Unlike senjutsu chakra, which requires drawing natural energy from the outside world into the body, Yoru's cells could actually secrete a special kind of space–time power on their own.
However, Yoru discovered that only some of his cells could secrete space–time power, and the output was limited—unlike physical and spiritual energy, which he could extract from all 130 trillion cells.
Cells don't change like this for no reason. Yoru's initial guess was that something was wrong with his heart.
That black heart projected into his mind might be hiding some kind of secret.
But if it really were a secret, logically it shouldn't have taken this long to show itself—much less "activate" precisely when he turned six.
So maybe it wasn't his heart at all…
Maybe the problem was his soul, the one that came to this world.
Either way, it wasn't something Yoru could investigate right now.
And he had a hunch: that "sudden-death omen" feeling might have only been the beginning—it would probably happen again, more than once.
After these days of testing, at Yoru's current level, space–time chakra had two uses.
The first was intangibility. In fact, he didn't need to manifest space–time chakra outside his body to do it.
As long as he formed hand seals and circulated chakra so that space–time chakra flowed through his meridians, any place the black chakra passed could become partially intangible. If he could flood it through his entire body, he could achieve full-body intangibility.
The second was attack—but he couldn't use it to cast ninjutsu, at least not yet.
He discovered space–time chakra could be used offensively when he tried drawing the black chakra out through the chakra blade his family had passed down.
And then…
The Pirate World's Armament Haki appeared in the Naruto world.
The chakra blade in Yoru's hand actually turned into a black blade.
And it was a black blade that could cut through anything. Unless an object contained some kind of "Rule Power" capable of resisting space–time itself, no matter how hard it was, once Yoru struck it, it would split in two.
Yoru tested it personally. With just the tip of the blade lightly grazing the ground, both the brick and the soil beneath it opened into a smooth, straight cut.
Shuriken, kunai, iron blocks, wooden training dummies, gemstones… no matter how tough something was, in front of Yoru's black blade, it was as fragile as paper.
With every swing, Yoru's confidence doubled.
These two uses of space–time chakra were basically a knockoff version of Kamui—both eyes' worth.
Sure, right now Yoru still needed hand seals to mobilize space–time chakra, and it took time for it to spread through his whole body—and during that process, he couldn't move.
Sure, drawing space–time chakra outside his body was extremely difficult; at the moment he could only do it through his chakra blade, and he still couldn't use it to cast ninjutsu.
But Yoru already had more than one way to solve those limitations.
As long as he removed those restrictions, then until his space–time chakra ran dry, he would be invincible on both offense and defense.
That goal filled Yoru with motivation to become stronger.
…
Konoha Year 30, September 1.
As usual, Yoru got up at six and went out for his morning run.
He didn't slack off on conditioning and fundamentals just because he'd awakened a powerful ability.
Canon Obito was the best cautionary tale.
Even after obtaining Madara's ninjutsu inheritance and the Gunbai fan, with half his body made of Hashirama cells, with terrifying chakra reserves and ocular power—when he couldn't use Kamui intangibility, he could still only fight Kakashi to a draw.
Yoru wouldn't become someone who relied solely on space–time abilities like that. At least until his space–time chakra skyrocketed to the point he could waste it freely, he would treat intangibility and the black blade as trump cards.
Yoru didn't have x-ray vision, and he hadn't mastered sensing techniques yet. He didn't know how much chakra a normal genin had.
But in canon, when Sasuke used Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, Kakashi was impressed by his chakra reserves—meaning that for an ordinary genin, having enough chakra to cast a C-rank elemental technique was already remarkable.
As for Yoru: he'd already started training C-rank elemental jutsu, and his chakra was absolutely enough to use a C-rank technique—easily.
That meant his chakra reserves already far exceeded those of an average genin.
It was one of the few advantages he had.
Maybe a transmigrator's soul was stronger. Maybe it was Gojo genetics. Maybe it was that "unknown" thing inside him.
Either way, Yoru's spiritual energy was abnormally powerful. Combined with money and a planned investment into his body, it made his chakra reserves far beyond his peers.
First year—and his chakra was already stronger than an ordinary genin's.
And space–time chakra made up one-third of his total. Its amount might not even be less than a normal genin's.
Even so, this space–time chakra still wasn't nearly enough.
Because Yoru discovered his cells could only extract this much space–time energy. He could use it up and extract more, but he couldn't break through the existing upper limit.
That discovery didn't disappoint him—it thrilled him.
Use it up and extract it again, but the amount is locked… isn't that an invisible bottleneck?
If, before this, Yoru still had doubts about whether that sudden-death-like sensation would happen again…
Now he was 100% certain: it would definitely come again.
When it did, more of the cells in his body would be able to extract space–time energy.
When all his cells could extract space–time energy, ordinary chakra would be completely replaced by space–time chakra. That ability would be a true "bloodline limit," and Yoru might finally understand the secret hidden inside him.
So Yoru gave that sudden-death-like sensation a name:
Evolution.
…
After finishing his morning training, Yoru went home and took a quick shower.
In front of the full-length mirror, he pulled his zipper down to his chest and examined the reflection: a white-haired child in a blue jacket and white shirt, black Bermuda shorts, cheeks still round with baby fat—young and adorable.
He tilted his head and grinned. "Kawaii."
But the moment he turned away, his face returned to its usual blank expression.
Hands in his pockets, he walked out the door and headed toward school.
As soon as he entered the school gates, students who had seen how he fought—or had heard his reputation—stopped and stepped aside.
Even so, Yoru didn't let them off.
"... what are you staring at?"
Meeting the eyes of those students who were sneaking glances at him, Yoru said coldly.
"S-sorry!"
Those icy, pale-blue eyes seemed to radiate bone-chilling cold. The students shuddered, apologized in trembling voices, then lowered their heads or turned away.
Where the school tyrant passed, no one dared to get close.