---Ryouma's POV---
Under the moonlight, I got out of bed and put on my shoes, sensing the Flying Thunder God mark left behind in the Forest of Death in Konoha.
Whoosh!
The space around me began to ripple gently, and in an instant, the scenery around me shifted to a dark forest.
Activating the Rikugan, I scanned the entire forest, then threw a kunai to the right with a flick of my hand. The kunai whistled through the air, slicing open the wing of an owl and pinning it to the trunk of a tree.
"Hoo hoo hoo!"
I walked up to the seemingly ordinary owl. This would be the perfect opportunity to test my new abilities properly.
First, I activated Observation Haki. Immediately, I felt a wave of awareness wash over me that was completely different from the Rikugan. The new "sight" revealed the emotional and spiritual landscape around me. I could sense the owl's fear and confusion, the tiny heartbeats of insects in the surrounding trees, even the faint presence of sleeping animals dozens of meters away. It was like suddenly gaining a sixth sense for the intentions and feelings of all living things.
Next, I carefully activated the Breath of All Things. This sensation was the most profound yet, it was as if I could suddenly perceive the very essence of existence itself. Every object, every living creature, even the trees and rocks, seemed to have a fundamental "rhythm" or "breathing" that I could now detect. The owl's life force appeared as a flowing current of energy, while even the tree trunk behind it had its own slower, deeper rhythm of existence.
Finally, with both new abilities active alongside my Rikugan, the world transformed completely. Combined, these abilities gave me an almost supernatural understanding of the boundary between life and death.
"This combination is incredible," I muttered to myself.
The owl's life force appeared as a flowing stream of energy that I could perceive with perfect clarity. Unlike normal vision, I could see the critical points where this life energy concentrated and flowed, the essential "breath" that sustained its existence.
"Hoo?"
"So many critical points," I murmured.
Through the Breath of All Things, I could identify at least dozens of vital energy nodes throughout the owl's body, points where its life essence was most concentrated and vulnerable.
I pulled out a scroll from behind and pressed it against the owl's head. Black markings began spreading from the scroll, crawling over the owl's body. A few seconds later, the inscription was complete. I put the scroll away and formed a rapid sequence of hand signs.
Yomi no Tsurugi!
Dark, divine-like chakra twisted into smoky ribbons and was quickly absorbed by the black markings on the owl's body. Once the technique had fully activated, I pulled out another kunai and stabbed it directly through the owl's head, then yanked it back out. Blood gushed instantly.
Ordinarily, such a blow should have killed the owl instantly, but its cries continued to echo loudly.
"Hoo hoo hoo!"
Clearly, this owl couldn't be killed by conventional means. The Yomi no Tsurugi had indeed taken effect.
At this moment, I noticed a change in the owl's form within my enhanced perception. The dozens of critical life energy points had now reduced to less than five. The technique had somehow consolidated and protected most of its vital essence, making it nearly immortal through conventional means.
As for the exact number of remaining vulnerable points, it was hard to say, two of them kept fluctuating, shifting as the artificial immortality fought to maintain itself.
To perceive these critical points with the Breath of All Things, I had to understand the concept of death for the target. As the creator and practitioner of Yomi no Tsurugi, I naturally understood how the owl's modified life and death worked.
With a swift motion, my kunai traced one of the most active energy concentration points on the owl's body, targeting not its physical form, but the very essence of its life force as perceived through the Breath of All Things.
I felt as though something fundamental had been severed, not flesh or bone, but the very concept that bound the owl's soul to its artificially sustained existence.
The owl, which had continued to cry out even after being stabbed through the head, suddenly fell completely silent.
It was clear, it was dead, in every possible sense of the word.
Strangely, even though my kunai had moved through the owl's body, there wasn't a single visible wound where I had targeted the life essence. That was because what I had severed wasn't the owl's physical body, but the spiritual and chakra-based connection that bound its soul to the artificial immortality.
The Yomi no Tsurugi worked by forcibly binding the soul to the body using chakra manipulation, thus creating a form of "undying" existence. But by using the Breath of All Things to perceive and target the essential life force itself, combined with precise chakra control from the Rikugan, I could sever that binding directly.
I raised my gleaming Flying Thunder God kunai horizontally.
"So this is what happens when the Rikugan, Observation Haki, and Breath of All Things work together... Scary."
The combination was far more powerful than I had expected.
---
The next morning, I allowed myself the rare indulgence of sleeping in. The night before, I had spent hours experimenting with my enhanced perception abilities in the forest, which left my brain a bit overloaded from processing so much sensory information.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I got out of bed and stretched.
"Mm... As powerful as this combination is, one mustn't overindulge."
If only I'd had these enhanced abilities during my battle with Madara, I could've targeted the chakra bindings that sustained his reanimated form directly... or just kill his soul? Then there would've been no need to worry about the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique bringing him back.
Or I could've perceived and severed the spiritual connection between the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the tailed beast chakra, without that binding, reviving the Ten-Tails would've been impossible.
I came downstairs. As expected, the living room was completely empty, after all, it wasn't a day off.
I casually reheated the breakfast Rin had left for me and sighed. Life had been a bit too peaceful lately.
"Come to think of it, the vacation I applied for is almost over."
Since the war ended, Konoha had received a huge influx of mission requests. It was almost a miracle that a ninja of my level had his extended leave approved.
This just went to show how much Hiruzen and Minato were willing to indulge me.
"I'm heading out. Shukaku, watch the house."
---
I entered a hidden laboratory beneath Konoha after unlocking the lab's password-protected door.
"Yo. How's today's experiment going?"
Orochimaru was standing in front of a monitor, reviewing several sets of experimental data. Without turning around, he responded, "The experiment went quite well. It seems that Obito's cells have a natural affinity for White Zetsu cells. Such a strange trait."
"Oh? That's good to hear."
Lately, whenever I got bored, I would often come by to observe Orochimaru's experiments. Occasionally, we'd even discuss forbidden techniques together. Over time, we'd developed an unexpectedly decent working relationship.
After reviewing the data from the previous day, he pulled out a green syringe from a nearby cabinet and handed it to me.
"Happy birthday. This is a gift."
"Thanks… But what is it? Some kind of drug?" I asked curiously, examining the syringe.
"That's right. It's a special recovery agent, technically a byproduct of the White Zetsu cell experiments. It can rapidly heal any wound short of a severed limb and even restores chakra."
As expected of Orochimaru, he hadn't been working with White Zetsu cells for long, yet he had already developed such a potent formula. Whether it could be mass-produced was another matter. If it could, who would ever bother with military ration pills again?
But given that he was offering it as a personal gift to me, chances were it couldn't be mass-produced.
---
At dusk, as I returned home and opened the door, I seemed to sense something. The corners of my mouth lifted slightly as I spoke, "Really now, was it necessary to go all out like this?"
With that, I opened the door forcefully.
Bang! Bang!
Two party poppers exploded in the air, sending showers of colorful confetti flying in all directions.
"Happy Birthday!"
The courtyard was filled with my peers and friends: Rin, Kakashi, Obito, Shiori, Tsunade, Heiji, Shizune, Guy, Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko.
Luckily, the Senju household's courtyard was large enough, otherwise, they wouldn't have all fit.
Shiori crossed her arms and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Why are you just standing there? Hurry up and come over."
"I didn't prepare a big enough cake, you know."
I looked a bit embarrassed. I hadn't expected so many people to show up for my birthday, it felt more like a class reunion.
"No worries." Rin looked proud and clapped her hands. "Shizune and I took care of that."
The sound of wheels rolling came from inside the house. Shukaku and Isobu pushed out a small cart carrying a birthday cake.
Obito brought out a small stool from the house and placed it next to the cake, excitedly pointing at the fifteen candles on top. "All right! Let's get started, Ryouma!"
"Alright! Watch me blow them all out in one go!" I quickly joined the festive mood, stepped up onto the stool, and took a deep breath.
Asuma called out loudly, "Make a wish, Ryouma! Don't forget to make a wish!"
"Oh, right."
I swallowed back the breath I was about to exhale, clasped my hands together and made a wish. Then I took a deep breath again and blew out all the candles from left to right.
"Yay!"
As soon as Anko saw the candles go out, she immediately grabbed a knife and fork from Isobu's back and began slicing the cake.
"One slice for Rin, one for me, one for Kurenai, one for me…"
Obito's face twitched as he watched her divide the cake like that. "Aren't you afraid of turning into a fatso eating like this?"
"Stop talking nonsense. Sweets are divine," Anko replied nonchalantly.
The birthday party lasted late into the night before everyone finally went their separate ways. During the past few years of war, our generation hadn't had many chances to gather. This celebration felt like a way to reconnect.
Back inside, I sorted through the gifts everyone had brought. I noticed that the number of gifts didn't quite match the number of guests.
"Rin, what about these gifts?"
"Oh, the one you're holding is from Minato-sensei, and that one is from the Third Hokage. They felt that staying around might make us younger folks feel uncomfortable, so they left their gifts and went."
"I see."
I opened the gift from Minato. Inside the box was a pair of black wrist guards and a handwritten birthday card.
"Happy Birthday! From Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."
I strapped on the wrist guards and continued unwrapping the rest of the presents. Most were practical items, very much in the ninja style.
Now that I thought of it, Kushina had teased Rin and me last time for teaming up to give one gift together, yet here she was, doing the exact same thing with Minato.
---
A few days passed after the birthday party, and my requested leave was coming to an end.
"The Hokage has summoned you." A masked ANBU member delivered the order as I watered the flowers.
"All right, I got it."
Just as the ANBU was about to leave after receiving my response, I stopped him.
"Come on, Kakashi. You're not fooling anyone. I'm pretty sure you're the only silver-haired guy in all of ANBU."
"I wasn't even trying to hide it properly, was I?" Kakashi replied. "But this is part of being ANBU, maintaining your identity is essential."
Recently, he had voluntarily requested to join ANBU under Minato's command. He had little choice, since Obito awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, his strength had skyrocketed.
If he didn't work hard to catch up, he might not even be able to beat Obito in his regular three-tomoe Sharingan state.
Seeing his serious expression, I suddenly had an idea. "If Captain Minato specifically asked for me this time, then it's probably an unusual mission, right?"
"Probably? I don't really know why he asked for you either."
I suggested, "If it's a high-level mission, how about we go together?"
"That… But I still have ANBU duties, and—"
"Are you in or not?"
"I'm in!"
I chuckled, I knew he wouldn't refuse me.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to the Hokage's office together." As I spoke, I placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. I activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
With a subtle ripple in space-time, I directly teleported us into the Hokage's office.
This was only possible because Minato was now the Fourth Hokage, back when Hiruzen held the position, I would always teleport just outside the Hokage Building instead.
Minato greeted us naturally upon our arrival.
"Yo, Ryouma, Kakashi."
"Morning. Is there some kind of high-difficulty mission for me?"
"That's right," Minato replied straightforwardly.
He then took a scroll from the neatly organized desk and pushed it forward. I picked it up and started reading. After a quick glance, I already understood the situation.
It was that mission. But it seemed like it was happening a little later than expected, which meant there might be some changes involved.
After I finished reading the scroll, he added further explanation, "Technically, since Rōran is located within the Land of Wind, it should be Suna's responsibility to deal with it. However, as mentioned in the intelligence report, the elite team sent by Suna lost contact less than a day after infiltrating Rōran. It's highly likely they've already encountered something disastrous. As a result, the Fourth Kazekage asked the Wind Daimyō to delegate the mission to our village."
As I listened to his explanation, I recalled the story arc about Rōran from my previous life. But while listening, something suddenly struck me as odd.
"When did Suna select a Fourth Kazekage? Who succeeded the position, was it Chiyo?"
"It wasn't her. It's a jonin named Baki. According to intelligence, he's quite sharp and has decent combat ability."
His tone was polite, but I immediately understood, if even he could only describe the man as "decent," then this Kazekage clearly didn't measure up.
From my memories of my previous life, Baki was only particularly proficient in Wind Release techniques, and at best had the strength of an elite ninja.
No wonder Suna would use political connections to shift this mission onto Konoha. If even someone like Baki could become Kazekage, it showed how depleted their forces must be.
I figured that just losing that one elite team in Rōran was probably already enough to make the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage feel the pain. Still, this also showed that he had a clear-headed approach as a leader. After suffering the loss of a squad, he quickly let go of the pride associated with being one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, turned to a former enemy village for help, and even anticipated that Konoha might refuse, so he humbled himself in advance by getting the Wind Daimyō's endorsement.
"Cutting losses in time" was always easier said than done.
While I was still thinking, Minato's voice reached my ears.
"So, what do you say, can I entrust this mission to you?"
40+ advance chapters!
/Malphegor