205 - Soul in a Bottle, Sage in the Sky
"Such tenacity…" Kei turned and walked over to Isshiki's collapsed body. In less than a few seconds, most of the wounds caused by his blade had already healed, and the remaining injuries were visibly closing up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This level of regeneration undoubtedly surpassed even the power of Hashirama's Sage Body.
However, his severed neck and the head split in two showed no signs of recovery. Because as long as the conceptual-level strike's power hadn't fully dissipated, even the strongest regenerative abilities were useless.
"There's no way you could have dodged it." Seeing Isshiki's pupils still trembling slightly and the unwillingness in his eyes, Kei said.
Although this guy's combat experience and lethality far surpassed Kaguya's, in the battle just now, he probably hadn't even unleashed half of his true power.
Starting from the moment he was miniaturized by Sukunahikona and then had his neck severed… This guy completely panicked. Unable to comprehend the attack or why his neck wouldn't heal, he was caught off-guard by the follow-up strike and couldn't react at all.
With such a huge gap in raw power, and his mental state thrown into chaos, it's no wonder Isshiki got instantly taken out.
Kei waved his hand, enveloping Isshiki's split head and body in the realm of domain, intending to seal him away.
He could feel Isshiki's body and willpower resisting being pulled into [Infinite Armory Domain].
Clicking his tongue, Kei reversed his hand and pulled out a brush and a talisman inscribed with the large characters Ōtsutsuki from within his domain.
He then added more large characters to the talisman: "Isshiki."
Forming a seal with one hand, he held the talisman between his index and middle fingers.
Scarlet rune-like symbols spread out.
Isshiki's soul, still within his broken body, was being drawn out bit by bit by the activated technique. Kei could feel resistance from the soul, while the talisman, limited by its materials, clearly couldn't contain more spiritual power.
So he picked up a long blade beside him.
As spiritual energy surged within, he once again activated the conceptual-level decapitation slash!
After several more slashes, Isshiki's soul could no longer cling to his ruined body. After casting a venomous glare at Kei, it was forcibly absorbed into the sealing talisman.
He raised his hand, summoning a replica of the Amber Purifying Pot, which flew toward him in a streak of light.
[Infinite Armory Domain] could replicate any weapon or tool he had seen. Naturally, that included the Six Paths Ninja Tools.
He tossed the talisman with Isshiki's sealed soul into the Amber Purifying Bottle.
Like a Russian doll, he then sealed this replica bottle into his domain for safekeeping.
With a wave of his hand, he collected all the scattered pieces of Isshiki's body into the domain.
Just as Kei was preparing to deactivate [Infinite Armory Domain], a sudden system prompt sounded in his mind.
---
[Hidden boss prematurely killed.]
[Worldline collapse intensified.]
[Reconstruction time extended.]
[Obtained:
- 1 trait duplication
- 3 trait extraction
- 1 gifting opportunity
- 1 trait downgrading
- 1 trait reset
- 1 trait removal]
[Collapse of original worldline intensifies.]
[Reconstruction difficulty sharply increased before completion.]
[Estimated time until reconstruction: 1 year, 162 days, 18 hours, 31 minutes.]
---
Staring at the system prompt in his mind, Kei didn't know what expression to make.
It was supposed to be one harvest a year. It had only been just over two months, and now they were adding another six months?
But these rewards… Six months or the rewards?
Fine, fine. Worst case, I'll take the whole family on a vacation for a few years.
Kei's expression shifted several times before ultimately choosing to forgive the system. After all, if he fought so hard and got nothing, he'd probably end up bruising his own thighs from frustration.
A delay was better than nothing. But… He hadn't even dealt with the Sage of Six Paths and Kaguya yet.
Would the worldline reconstruction time get extended again after he figured out their situations and resolved those two threats?
He wiped his face with his hand. He sensed the two world portals recorded under the [Multiversal Voyager] log.
Taking a deep breath, he cleared all the frustration from his mind.
Two whole worlds. And one of them seemed to have a particularly high power level. No matter how reckless he was, surely he wouldn't mess up the worldlines of two entire worlds within just a year or two… right?
System, let's use one of the Trait Extraction now.
He glanced at his own fate and [Destiny Chronometer], whose hue was gradually shifting from deep purple to a faint crimson glow of fortune.
A good omen, time to draw!
---
[Obtained:
- Love Stronger Than Gold - Heavenly Lock (Purple)
- Sea King's Trident of Flirtation (White)
- Dog Speak Dog Language (White)]
[Love Stronger Than Gold - Heavenly Lock (Purple):
"What is love in this world? It makes the stars hide in sorrow, it binds lovers like butterflies emerging from cocoons, it drives gods to rebel against heaven to return home, it turns countless reincarnations into a single reunion."
By expending energy, you can designate two individuals whose strength does not exceed your own to be bound in a Heavenly Lock for up to two days. During this time, chances of romantic attraction, forming a relationship, emotional deepening, and mutual forgiveness are significantly increased.]
[Sea King's Trident of Flirtation (White):
The Sea King's life may be wild, but even he can't avoid detours during a pee break. Slight increase to flirtation phrases, success rate in wooing, and chance encounters. Significant increase in risks of kidney deficiency, lower back and knee pain, frequent urination, and urinary urgency. Guaranteed to dribble while peeing.]
[Dog Speak Dog Language (White):
Long-term living in nature, with animals as companions, allows you to communicate freely with canine species. Greatly increases affinity with canines. Decreases affinity with felines. Conversations often include "woof woof."]
---
Not bad traits?
Kei fell silent for a moment, choosing to ignore the two white traits, and reread the opening line of [Love Stronger Than Gold - Heavenly Lock] several times.
He had to admit… Yeah, he couldn't write something like that himself.
At first, he thought this trait might be related to the Fountain of Trevi in Rome, but to his surprise, it was actually a special effect-type trait. And yeah, Rome was of course not in the Naruto world.
Still, this was a purple special effect trait, and honestly, it seemed to be something he could really use right now. Even though it only lasted for two days at a time and merely increased probabilities, it could be reused, and even the toughest of men would eventually turn into soft, pliable lovers.
But then… Since he got this trait, could that be why his future self would be so eager to pair up Orochihime and Jiraiya?
---
[Kind Reminder: trait extraction by the System is completely random, unaffected by world causality or time-related interferences.]
---
…What's that supposed to mean?
Seeing the system prompt appear unexpectedly, he was momentarily stunned before realizing the system meant its operations were beyond the rules of the Naruto world.
Now, every draw and every trait advancement was unknown. And the unpredictable outcomes of every draw could give rise to countless, completely different futures.
So convoluted.
He shook his head, choosing not to think too much about it. He walked his own path, with his current abilities, he decided how his future would unfold.
Activate [Love Stronger Than Gold - Heavenly Lock].
A flood of information rushed into his mind. Thanks to the enhanced memory and comprehension from [Seeker of Origins], he quickly absorbed and mastered the new knowledge.
Kei waved his hand, deactivating [Infinite Armory Domain].
He turned to look at Tsunade, Hikari, and the others.
Then his gaze locked onto a figure sitting cross-legged in midair, surrounded by several Truth-Seeking Orbs at his feet, and his heart involuntarily skipped a beat.
Hagoromo had emerged from the Pure Land!
Moreover, before he visually spotted the man, his own sensing abilities hadn't even registered his presence.
His eyes quickly scanned Hagoromo's traits. He then stepped toward Tsunade and Hikari.
Even if Hagoromo was in soul form, this guy was definitely not in the same league as Isshiki.