Silence spread through the treehouse, and even the wind outside seemed to soften.
Uchiha Retsu looked at Kikyo beside him, still immersed in quiet sorrow. In the end, he was the first to break the silence.
"Do you want to be revived? If you do, we can do it together. This technique can revive multiple people at once. It just consumes more sacrifices—nothing else is difficult."
"Sacrifices?"
Kikyo looked up sharply, a hint of vigilance flashing in her eyes.
"What kind of sacrifices?"
"Living beings will do."
Retsu said it lightly.
"Reversing life and death naturally requires stealing vitality. Don't worry, though—I've prepared in advance. There are plenty of low-level demons around here. Catching a few is more than enough."
Kikyo nodded softly.
As a priestess who had fought demons for years, she had never hesitated to take their lives. For the sake of protecting the Shikon Jewel, she had slain countless monsters.
"When do you plan to do it? What do I need to do?" she asked.
"I can do it anytime."
Retsu's tone shifted as he looked at her seriously.
"But you have a problem right now. Your soul power is too weak, and your strength hasn't recovered. You're relying entirely on resentment to keep going.
"Even if we revive you now, you'll probably fall unconscious. You need to restore a certain amount of soul power first."
"Soul…"
Kikyo's voice softened, tinged with melancholy.
"My soul has already been reincarnated. It's inside Kagome now. The only reason I'm still here is because a small fragment was dragged back by my resentment at death."
She paused, then showed a trace of determination.
"I'll collect more maiden souls as soon as possible and recover my strength."
"Collecting souls? That's way too inefficient."
Retsu frowned and rubbed his chin.
The next second, his Sharingan flared scarlet, locking onto Kikyo as he carefully examined her body.
She felt the gaze that seemed able to see through everything, yet she didn't avoid it. She simply sat there quietly, letting him observe.
The Sharingan wasn't as precise as the Byakugan when it came to meridians and chakra points, but its sensitivity to energy was exceptional.
In his vision, Kikyo's body was filled with soul energy condensed from wandering spirits.
Yet beneath the soft exterior, her body was essentially hollow.
There were no meridians, no chakra pathways, no core.
It was more like a clay doll—empty inside—animated purely by spiritual energy.
Strange. And miraculous.
"The person who made your body… I really want to grab her and ask how she did this," Retsu muttered in amazement.
"This craftsmanship is insane. Even more ridiculous than Shadow Clones."
Shadow Clones were chakra constructs, but under the Sharingan, they still had complete meridians and systems identical to the original.
Kikyo's clay body, however, functioned entirely on soul power alone.
It was far beyond his understanding.
Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Kikyo instinctively raised a hand to cover her chest.
"What exactly are you looking at?" she asked.
"I'm studying how your soul energy moves this body," Retsu replied, withdrawing his gaze.
"It's basically a miracle."
"And isn't your undying Edo Tensei body even stranger?" Kikyo shot back.
"That's because my body is maintained by Edo Tensei chakra—"
Retsu began explaining, then suddenly froze.
His eyes lit up.
He slapped his fist into his palm.
"I've got it! I think I know how to solve your problem!"
"Hmm?" Kikyo looked at him immediately, hope flickering in her eyes.
"I'll try sharing my chakra with you," Retsu said.
"Maybe it can replace those wandering souls and help restore your spirit."
"Chakra?" Kikyo looked confused.
"It's a kind of energy—like spiritual power for priestesses or demonic energy for youkai," he explained.
"As a ninja, that's what fuels me."
He understood this well.
Chakra was a fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy.
It carried both bodily vitality and soul-like essence.
It could create clones with independent consciousness.
It could even allow Minato's sealed soul to communicate through residual chakra.
If anything could supplement Kikyo's soul power, chakra was a perfect candidate.
"Let's try it," Retsu said, standing up.
Kikyo rose as well.
"What should I do?"
"First, let's see if my chakra works on you at all."
Retsu had originally planned to seal chakra directly into her body.
But after thinking it over, he decided to be cautious.
Urase-Tokae was already dead. If something went wrong with this body, no one could fix it.
"Give me your hand."
Kikyo didn't hesitate. She extended her hand.
Retsu took her palm.
It was cold—but unexpectedly soft.
It didn't feel like fired clay at all. It felt almost identical to real human skin.
It seemed Urase-Tokae had used extremely special methods to revive her.
Shaking off his thoughts, Retsu began guiding chakra from his body, slowly flowing it into her through his palm.
"Mm!"
The moment the chakra entered her body, Kikyo let out a soft gasp, her eyes widening.
This energy was completely different from the cold gloom of wandering souls.
It was warm.
Vibrant.
Full of life.
Like sunlight in winter, it instantly dispersed the chill and weakness that had accumulated inside her for so long.
Even the remaining fragment of her soul felt an unprecedented sense of comfort and expansion.
She stared at Retsu in shock.
It was hard to believe that such life-filled energy could come from a body of the dead.
Retsu couldn't feel what she felt, but her expression told him enough.
"How is it?" he asked eagerly. "Does it work?"
"Yes." Kikyo nodded at once, unable to hide her joy.
"My soul power is growing… and it feels warm. It must be strengthening my spirit."
Hearing her description, Retsu wasn't surprised.
His chakra contained both Yang Release vitality from Hashirama cells and Yin Release spiritual power from the Sharingan.
With that combination, this result was only natural.
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