He could more or less guess what Yuki Seisui was trying to do, but he still felt utterly baffled by his actions.
Not long after, Yuki Seisui returned, carrying two bamboo poles about ten meters long on his shoulders.
"Panda Ming actually wouldn't let me take bamboo," Yuki Seisui complained to Uchiha Haru. "Such a huge bamboo forest, and it wouldn't even let me take two poles!"
Uchiha Haru froze for a moment. "Did you offend it?"
Ever since forming a contract with the panda clan, she had noticed that these pandas were all like hooligans—obedient and compliant in front of Yuki Seisui, but completely different around her.
Each of them strutted about with bamboo branches clenched in their mouths, looking like underworld bosses in black-and-white suits.
Especially Panda Ming. She had only summoned Panda Kuma a few times, and it had already taken a dislike to her.
The more Uchiha Haru thought about it, the angrier she became.
"How could I possibly offend Panda Ming?" Yuki Seisui shook his head in denial. "Panda Ming and I are sworn brothers—kindred spirits, brothers of different races!"
"Then why wouldn't it let you take bamboo?" Uchiha Haru asked in confusion. "If I remember correctly, you destroyed quite a lot of bamboo during your training before, didn't you?"
"It said hanging corpses on bamboo is inauspicious," Yuki Seisui replied angrily.
"Isn't bamboo what they eat anyway?"
"Isn't it just hanging corpses on the bamboo they eat?"
"What's inauspicious about that?!"
Listening to Yuki Seisui's words, a comparison suddenly formed in Jiraiya's mind.
Shima-sennin painstakingly prepares a feast of insects for me… and then I go and stuff them into corpses…
At that thought, Jiraiya immediately stopped himself from thinking any further.
If he really did something like that, Shima-sennin would beat him to death.
He had no doubt whatsoever about that.
After all, that would be asking for a beating.
"What a bold fellow," muttered Jiraiya, who had transformed into a small blue toad.
But somehow, this fit perfectly with the Yuki Seisui he imagined.
If he weren't bold, he wouldn't be capable of accomplishing such earth-shaking feats.
"As expected of you, Seisui."
Yuki Seisui calmly glanced in Jiraiya's direction, then exchanged a look with Uchiha Haru. Neither of them exposed him.
If Yuki Seisui had known from the very beginning that Jiraiya was tailing them, then Uchiha Haru had discovered it halfway through.
One of them possessed the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, while the other had the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Uchiha Haru's Mangekyo Sharingan granted her unparalleled dynamic vision. Even at night, her surroundings were as clear as day, with no impact on her sight at all.
Combined with Yuki Seisui's earlier reminder, she was constantly alert to her surroundings.
Jiraiya hadn't been tailing them for long before she noticed him. It was only because Yuki Seisui subtly shook his head at her that she didn't attack immediately.
Yuki Seisui's reason for stopping her was simple.
He only wanted to scare Jiraiya, not seriously injure him.
Yuki Seisui hung the two corpses from the bamboo poles, shouldering them in opposite directions. A white glow surged around his body—the brilliant white light of senjutsu shining dazzlingly against the night.
At that moment, black-and-white spiral eye-shadow appeared beneath his eyes. At the same time, the pale blue, water-attribute chakra unique to Flow Mode layered itself over the senjutsu's white radiance.
Yuki Seisui's golden pupils narrowed into fox-like eyes as a violent red wave of Nine-Tails chakra overlaid the pale blue Flow Mode chakra.
Simultaneously, green steam erupted around him—the sign that the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates had been opened.
The green steam of the Eight Gates, the white light of the panda clan's Overlord Body Senjutsu, the pale blue water-attribute chakra of Flow Mode, and the violent red Nine-Tails chakra—four colors layered atop one another.
For an ordinary person, obtaining even one of these powers would be enough to become a jonin, or even a Kage-level powerhouse.
Yet Yuki Seisui possessed all four.
Under the stunned gazes of Uchiha Haru and Jiraiya, layers of chakra enveloped Yuki Seisui, transforming into flowing streams of light that circled his body.
As the four different streams of light rotated, they began to fuse into one.
At the same time, Yuki Seisui erupted with an overwhelmingly powerful aura that blasted away the surrounding dust. The blue toad Jiraiya had transformed into squinted his eyes as his vision was obscured.
But Yuki Seisui's transformation continued.
When the three chakras and the green steam fused to produce the first trace of gold, his body was instantly clad in a complete suit of golden chakra armor.
His face was also covered by this golden chakra, making his features indistinct.
The rampant aura vanished, fully restrained and drawn inward.
Seeing this, Jiraiya couldn't help swallowing hard. A veteran of countless battles, he knew that sometimes raw, overwhelming pressure wasn't truly frightening.
What was frightening was this—clearly becoming far stronger, yet appearing completely unthreatening.
Aura restrained was far more terrifying than aura unleashed.
Yuki Seisui naturally didn't know what Jiraiya was thinking.
This was the Nine-Tails Golden Body Mode.
During his last duel with Might Duy in the arena, the Nine-Tails Golden Body he activated had been incomplete. But now—
A flash of excitement passed through Yuki Seisui's eyes.
His fox-like pupils reverted once more, the golden irises splitting into three segments, each containing a small dot.
The Mangekyo Sharingan—activate!
The flaw in the previous Nine-Tails Golden Body lay right here. Back then, the Mangekyo hadn't been revealed, and it wouldn't have been appropriate to activate it in front of Might Duy.
But now, things are different.
The fact that he possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan was already common knowledge.
Using it at this moment carried no pressure at all.
"Come!"
"My Susanoo skeleton!"
The excitement in Yuki Seisui's eyes intensified. Golden light flickered as chakra overflowed from his body, condensing into black chakra.
Yet as that black chakra passed through the golden chakra armor formed by the Nine-Tails Golden Body, it turned gold instead, solidifying into a golden Susanoo skeleton around him.
This was the first form of Susanoo—a skeletal frame encircling the body, with a single arm, roughly human-sized, extending from behind.
Though similar in size to a normal arm, a Susanoo arm was formed of chakra and could extend far beyond ordinary limits.
In addition, Yuki Seisui could manipulate a portion of the Nine-Tails chakra to form fox claws, achieving an effect similar to the Susanoo arm.
In other words, he effectively gained an extra pair of hands.
Under the Nine-Tails Golden Body Mode, Yuki Seisui seemed wrapped in gentle, nourishing chakra. Even the pain caused by opening the first five Gates of the Eight Gates Technique vanished completely.
The last time he activated the Nine-Tails Golden Body, his strength, endurance, and recovery ability had increased by dozens of times.
This time, with a perfect Nine-Tails Golden Body, the enhancement far surpassed the previous one.
The first five Gates of the Eight Gates, Susanoo, Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Sage Mode, and Water Release Flow Mode—
The stacking of these various states gave birth to a new god of the ninja world.
Feeling the unparalleled power surging within him, Yuki Seisui clenched his fist.
With a thought, the Susanoo armor surrounding his body merged into the chakra cloak. Against the pure golden chakra armor, black markings representing the Susanoo skeleton appeared.
They were as densely scattered as stars.
On the golden chakra covering his face, three whisker-like black markings appeared on each side.
His originally golden pupils, as the Susanoo skeleton fused in, turned into the red of the Sharingan, once again assuming a fox-like shape.
"I am the second God of the Ninja World—now the only one in existence!"
"You're…" Uchiha Haru stared at the transformed Yuki Seisui, unsure what to say.
Aside from Might Duy, no one knew about Yuki Seisui's Nine-Tails Golden Body Mode.
Even Uchiha Haru was seeing it for the first time.
Not far behind them, Jiraiya hid in place. Hearing Uchiha Haru's question, he pricked up his ears as well.
Her question was also his own.
"This is my strongest state," Yuki Seisui said. It was as though he had entered a god's-eye perspective—his eyes looked at Uchiha Haru, while his perception was fixed firmly on the blue toad that was Jiraiya.
He had no real need to hide anything from Jiraiya, so he explained directly, "This is the fusion of the first five Gates of the Eight Gates Technique, Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Water Release Flow Mode, Mangekyo Susanoo, and Sage Mode."
"I call it—the Nine-Tails Golden Body Mode."
At this point, Yuki Seisui had already withdrawn the fox claws and the Susanoo arm, ready to condense them again when needed.
Watching the golden chakra cloak ripple around Yuki Seisui without any wind, Uchiha Haru's eyes filled with an indescribable emotion.
Behind them, Jiraiya had fallen into deep self-doubt.
For him to enter Sage Mode, he needed a long time to gather natural energy—at the very least, five full minutes.
Yet Yuki Seisui could activate it at will.
Not only that—he had even fused Sage Mode with several other modes to create something even stronger.
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Completed version available on Patreon P@treon(.)com/Veltoria