This was a pitch-black, illusory space.
Nothing existed here except a fragment of jade, emitting a faint glow. Beneath it floated a cluster of pale-blue energy—
His chakra.
At this moment, the jade fragment's light swept across the chakra mass, separating out faint points of light. These points gathered together, forming four hazy silhouettes—
—and were then instantly erased by the jade fragment's glow.
"The Sage of Six Paths… Ōtsutsuki Kaguya… Ōtsutsuki Isshiki?"
Tamura Hao's heart sank.
Three of the silhouettes were recognizable, even in their indistinct forms. The most obvious markers were the horns.
The Sage of Six Paths.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
As for the third—
That one was the most blurred and indistinct, but it also possessed horns, and it had been separated last. It was clearly another member of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
"Spiritual imprints… something like that?"
With this realization, Tamura Hao understood what he was seeing.
Chakra in the ninja world originated from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. From her came the Sage of Six Paths, who then spread chakra throughout the world.
That chakra naturally carried imprints of its originators.
It wasn't strange at all.
After all, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Sage of Six Paths had been able to manifest through Madara Uchiha, and even appear directly within the spiritual worlds of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
As for Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's imprint—
That, too, made sense under Boruto-era lore.
According to that setting, a Ten-Tails must consume an Ōtsutsuki sacrifice in order to evolve into a Divine Tree and bear a Chakra Fruit.
Originally, Kaguya was meant to be the sacrifice.
Instead, she betrayed Isshiki, leaving him gravely injured—only half his body remaining.
The missing half was likely used as the sacrifice.
The quality of a Chakra Fruit depended on two things:
The strength of the sacrificed Ōtsutsuki
The vitality of the planet itself
The greater both were, the more powerful the resulting chakra.
That explained why Kaguya's Divine Tree—and her own power—had been so overwhelming, capable of manifesting multiple Kekkei Mōra.
As for the fourth silhouette—
It was likely an even higher-ranked Ōtsutsuki.
Possibly the very source of chakra itself.
"If Isshiki exists… then this world follows the Boruto version?"
Tamura Hao's expression grew serious.
This meant that Isshiki Ōtsutsuki—and the organization he created, Kara—likely existed in this world as well.
The Naruto timeline had always been riddled with contradictions, especially regarding chronology.
Boruto-era retcons only made things worse.
But now, it was clear—
This world leaned closer to Boruto canon.
Which meant things were far more complicated than he'd originally assumed.
Steadying himself, Tamura Hao turned his attention to the jade fragment.
"Is this… my cheat?"
He'd been searching for one all along.
After all, transmigrating into this world as an ordinary person made no sense. Something had to be responsible.
Yet for ten years, there had been nothing.
No special talent.
No abnormal growth.
No awakening.
At best, following standard progression, he would have topped out as a chūnin—an Iruka-level ninja.
And yet—
This jade fragment existed inside his mind.
Clearly abnormal.
Was this what had carried him across worlds?
If so, it was anything but ordinary.
Slowly, he extended his consciousness toward it.
The moment he made contact, a brief stream of information flowed into his mind.
"Alter fate. Seize fragments of destiny."
"Consume destiny power to temporarily increase comprehension."
"An auxiliary-type cheat…?"
Tamura Hao fell silent.
"Doesn't feel as good as the one next door's Deep Blue…"
Still, it was a comprehension-based cheat—and that was extremely valuable.
Many techniques in the ninja world required not raw power, but insight.
Take Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.
Forty-four hand seals.
Even at one seal every quarter-second, that was eleven seconds—far too slow in real combat.
But seals could be reduced.
Sarutobi Sasuke's teacher, Tobirama Senju, only needed three.
That level of simplification required terrifying talent.
Or take one-handed seals, mastered by Itachi Uchiha.
Or original technique creation—like Chidori, developed by Kakashi Hatake.
All of it demanded comprehension.
Of course, chakra quantity was still his biggest bottleneck—but perhaps his teacher could help with that.
All things considered—
This cheat was excellent.
"Altering fate… so this is about the plot?"
Thinking back to how the jade fragment had awakened, Tamura Hao understood.
It had started after he handed over the billion ryō and the weapons to the Third Raikage.
After that, the sensation had continued intermittently.
That must have been him harvesting destiny power.
The Third Raikage's decisions had changed.
And changes to someone of that stature would ripple outward—possibly even altering the course of the Second Great Ninja War.
No wonder the yield was so high.
"So destiny equals the original storyline…"
"Looks like I'll need to interfere with the plot as much as possible."
"Especially Konoha. Everything important happens there."
"But for now, I'm too weak."
"I'll need to grow quietly in Kumogakure… then find opportunities to stir things up in Konoha and farm destiny power."
With his plan set, Tamura Hao examined the surrounding black space.
"Is this a spiritual world… like the one Naruto and Sasuke used to meet the Sage of Six Paths?"
Turning his attention to the purified chakra, he realized something important.
The jade fragment had actively removed foreign imprints from his chakra.
But doing so consumed destiny power.
Which meant—
This purified chakra must be special.
Returning his consciousness to the real world, he attempted to refine chakra.
Nothing happened.
"So even the chakra seed embedded in my bloodline was removed?"
Without that inherited seed, chakra couldn't be produced.
But when he willed the purified chakra from his mind into his body—
It worked.
And the difference was immediate.
"My control is much stronger!"
Four chakra threads extended from his fingers, dancing in the air.
Previously, he could only control two, extending them barely a meter.
Now, he controlled four, stretching them over two meters—
And it still wasn't the limit.
Chakra threads were an extremely advanced control technique, far beyond tree-walking or water-walking.
He'd spent five years just to master two.
And now, it had doubled in an instant.
The improvement brought by chakra purification was undeniable.