Chapter 4: Space-Time Power—A Cut Above Jonin
Space-Time power. Space-Time chakra. Space-Time nature transformation.
With just one glance, Yoru understood exactly what made the black chakra special.
As everyone knows, shinobi chakra possesses seven attributes: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Yin, and Yang—this world's elemental and spiritual forces.
Yin and Yang are hidden attributes that can only be inherited naturally, impossible to get through training alone unless powerful external forces modify the body.
Even the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, along with the original series' Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, couldn't develop Yin and Yang attributes through training.
Madara Uchiha only possessed all seven attributes because he'd transplanted Hashirama's cells. Otherwise, his limit would have matched Sasuke's—at most possessing six attributes: Yin and the five elements.
The fusion of two attribute nature transformations creates a bloodline limit—a Kekkei Genkai.
The fusion of three attribute nature transformations is called bloodline elimination—Kekkei Tota.
This represents the known ceiling of the shinobi world's understanding.
But Yoru knew better. The fusion of all seven attributes creates bloodline encompassing—Kekkei Mora.
That was the mark of pure-blooded Otsutsuki recognizing their own kind!
Without Kekkei Mora, without all seven attributes, an Otsutsuki was considered mixed-blood among mixed-bloods—no different from the inferior creatures they looked down upon.
Seven chakra attributes—this is common knowledge throughout the shinobi world.
Only a select few know that an eighth hidden special attribute exists.
This attribute transcends the other seven. Both its lower and upper limits are absurd. Some variations rival Kekkei Mora itself, or actually are a form of Kekkei Mora, or even surpass it entirely!
That power is Space-Time!
Space-Time abilities are actually quite common throughout the shinobi world.
Storage scrolls utilize Space-Time principles.
Summoning jutsu similarly employs Space-Time power.
However, these applications barely scratch the surface through contracts and seals, and cannot be applied directly to one's own body.
So when the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, developed the Flying Thunder God Technique and demonstrated the terrifying potential of Space-Time power to the entire shinobi world, the jutsu immediately became one of the strongest S-rank secrets in existence.
To this day, aside from Tobirama himself, not a single person in Konoha has mastered this S-rank technique.
Moreover, the Flying Thunder God remains merely a supplementary Space-Time ninjutsu.
Throughout a thousand years of Warring States history, the shinobi world has never seen an offensive Space-Time technique.
Because no one can truly master Space-Time power itself, much less transform their chakra nature into Space-Time chakra—not even the pure-blooded Otsutsuki across the cosmos!
Their Space-Time abilities, like Flying Thunder God and Kamui, merely consume chakra or Yin Release chakra to manipulate some aspects of Space-Time power.
Amenominaka, Yomotsu Hirasaka, Daikokuten... These Kekkei Mora and divine techniques are all supplementary Space-Time abilities.
In contrast, Kamui—which is neither Kekkei Mora nor a divine technique—represents a rare offensive Space-Time ability.
Even so, offensive Kamui has a wind-up time and requires massive amounts of ocular power. Its capabilities are fixed. It still doesn't involve transforming chakra into Space-Time nature transformation.
But now, the first being to possess Space-Time chakra itself... had been born!
No wonder Yoru felt this excited. The fact he wasn't laughing maniacally already demonstrated the maximum restraint of someone who'd lived two lives as a transmigrator.
During these six years, no one knew the immense pressure Yoru had endured.
If he'd been born during the main storyline's timeframe, the same age as Naruto and Sasuke, even without a bloodline limit or Cheat, Yoru would have accepted his fate and coasted through life.
With his knowledge of future events, he had every ability to avoid the major catastrophes—except perhaps Infinite Tsukuyomi, and even that wasn't truly a disaster. More like a pleasant dream.
But instead, Yoru had transmigrated into the same generation as Minato Namikaze.
The Second Shinobi World War could erupt at any moment. The original series revealed precious little information about this era. Yoru had absolutely no idea whether Minato's class would be deployed to the battlefield.
If they were sent to war, even in a logistics role, enemy shinobi could infiltrate at any time. Any ninja capable of such infiltration, or sent on such missions, would be at least tokubetsu jonin level.
Without protagonist's plot armor, encountering such enemies meant certain death.
The more a transmigrator knows, the more they have to worry about. Especially stuck in a time period with zero plot advantage, Yoru's pressure had multiplied daily.
Therefore, his strategy guides had prepared him to become stronger by any means necessary.
To survive, he'd even been willing to become an experiment subject, to become a patchwork monster like Kakuzu or Hiruko.
To lay groundwork for his plans, despite understanding the critical importance of connections and networks as an "adult," he'd deliberately trained an aloof, unapproachable "school tough guy" persona from day one. Every single day had been an act.
In truth, many nights Yoru had jolted awake from nightmares.
He'd dreamed his plans failed at the very start, that mind-reading revealed his identity as someone from another world, transforming him into an even more tragic experiment subject.
He'd dreamed of finally obtaining great power only to be crushed by forces from a higher dimension, all his efforts wasted.
These invisible shackles had constrained Yoru's every move.
But now, with the appearance of black Space-Time chakra, all those shackles had shattered!
His original ceiling—at best becoming a well-rounded jonin, or even if his strategy guide worked perfectly, a pseudo-Six Paths level combatant—had become incredibly blurred.
This was Space-Time's special nature.
Its lower limit was extremely accessible—ordinary shinobi could utilize Space-Time principles to create storage scrolls.
Its upper limit was extraordinarily high—even Kakashi Hatake, merely an elite jonin, could harm the Progenitor of Chakra herself because he wielded an offensive Space-Time technique.
Possessing Space-Time chakra, Yoru's current strength had likewise become impossible to define. His power level entirely depended on the quantity of black chakra and how he employed it.
If he could develop offensive applications, then despite being only a first-year academy student, he'd be like those elite jonin who mastered S-rank secrets—already possessing methods to threaten even Kage-level opponents.
Even a Ten-Tails jinchuriki with ninjutsu immunity would suffer damage if hit by his attacks.
If the black chakra couldn't be used offensively, then Yoru's combat ability remained unchanged—like those shinobi clans with secret techniques and bloodline limits, merely possessing a special ability.
Even in the latter case, Yoru was completely satisfied.
Because his feet had just phased through solid matter.
Intangibility—this was the bug-level ability that had made Obito Uchiha invincible throughout the entire Naruto series!
As long as Yoru could achieve full-body intangibility, no one in this era could kill him through any means except assassination—including the Asura of the Shinobi World who still lived and breathed!
Right now, at this very moment, he stood a cut above jonin!