Chapter 63
Xuanming quietly muttered to himself about the Sage of Six Paths in his heart.
He clearly guards the Pure Land, yet he doesn't stop Edo Tensei from summoning souls from the Pure Land.
Whatever—never mind him. First focus on Yuta's condition. Don't overdo it.
On the other side, Yuta—already influenced by Xuanming's chakra—
saw his originally chaotic and disordered body begin to stabilize. The massive cloud-mist stopped its unconscious expansion.
It began frantically contracting and condensing around the central chakra mass, forming Yuta's current body.
A weather mass interwoven from cloud-mist, lightning, rain, snow…
The various intertwined weather phenomena finally stabilized.
The miniaturized weather cloud-mist, composed purely of natural energy, gradually took on Yuta's vague body outline.
At this moment, Yuta truly deserved to be called a member of the "Weather Clan."
He had become a genuine Child of Weather.
Xuanming quietly observed his own creation.
Using natural energy as support and Nine-Tails chakra to sustain Yuta's soul vitality.
He had merely guided Yuta in this direction and given him a push.
The true reason it succeeded was still Yuta's innate talent.
During the transformation into weather sage mode, at the critical node where accidents easily occur, Xuanming shielded him from the greatest danger—losing his sense of self.
Soon, the cloud-mist-formed Yuta began to move.
In the area that should have been his face, two miniature vortexes formed by small air currents slowly emerged, resembling a pair of dazed eyes.
"I… am… who?"
A fragmented stream of consciousness transmitted from the cloud-mist mass, carrying the bewilderment and confusion of something newly born.
Xuanming calmly watched it and spoke softly: "Do you still recognize who you are?"
"I am… Yu… ta?"
The two miniature vortexes in the cloud-mist form spun faster, as though struggling to think.
A moment later, a much clearer stream of consciousness rang out.
"Yes… I am Yuta! Big Fox… I, I didn't disappear yo!"
Yuta's consciousness was filled with the joy and disbelief of surviving a calamity.
He tried moving his body and discovered he had become a freely changing mass of weather.
Xuanming watched him and explained: "Your soul has completely fused with natural energy. With my chakra as support, your sense of self was preserved."
"In every sense, you have gained a true new life."
"Completely different from Edo Tensei—you are now a new being."
In this world that contains natural energy, there has never been a lack of all kinds of strange and bizarre creatures.
"New life…"
Yuta's cloud-mist body drifted in front of Xuanming and curiously circled him once.
He had lost the human sense of touch for physical objects, but gained senses far surpassing those of a human, and could still influence others through weather changes.
"Can I go out and see? Naruto… and everyone…"
Xuanming nodded. With a thought,
in the outside world, Naruto's cross-legged body gave a slight shudder.
The almost imperceptible weather-form Yuta drifted out from Naruto's body.
The sun had already begun sinking below the horizon; visibility along the riverbank was starting to fade.
But it didn't affect the current Yuta.
Yuta hovered above his sleeping companions on the ground.
He extended a hand made of cloud-mist and gently touched Naruto's face. The moment his fingers made contact, they dissipated and reconverged.
A gentle breeze passed over, bringing Yuta perception of the others.
In mid-air, he freely transformed into spiraling wind, flowing clouds, moist rain…
"So wonderful yo! I'm really so free now!"
Looking down at his friends who had fallen asleep after losing their memories.
"This… is good too."
Having become aware of Xuanming's existence, Yuta's sage-mode perception quickly connected with him.
His consciousness carried happiness and ease.
"They've temporarily forgotten me, so they won't feel sad about my leaving now."
"But if I appear now, it'll still cause trouble, right?"
"After some time, I'll get to know them again in my current form."
"When the time is right, I'll return their memories."
He drifted back to Naruto's side, where Xuanming stood.
After expending a certain amount of power, Yuta's body also began to feel "tired."
"Big Fox, I feel a little tired… my new body still needs time to adjust yo."
"Then stay by my side for now. Naruto still needs your talent—he has to learn to control natural energy."
Xuanming made a suggestion.
Hearing that he could help Naruto, Yuta naturally wouldn't refuse.
His cloud-mist body transformed into long fluttering ribbons, wrapping around Xuanming's form and temporarily linking the two together.
Xuanming returned to the seal space, allowing Yuta to begin a restorative sleep.
…
Shff! Shff! Shff!
Four figures wearing animal masks appeared silently on the riverbank, surrounding the unconscious children.
The Anbu's gazes swept across the messy ground.
Their eyes finally fixed on the corpse of a boy and the scattered dust around it.
"This… isn't that the child from before?"
The hawk-masked Anbu stepped forward, crouched down, and examined carefully. His expression grew grave.
"This corpse… and this pile of ash are very strange. It looks like the product of some technique."
"How are the children?"
The lead hawk-masked Anbu first reached to check Naruto's neck—everything normal.
The other Anbu also examined the other children's conditions.
"Captain, their vital signs are all stable. They're just asleep… but we can't wake them."
A dog-masked Anbu had just tried nudging the sleeping Shikamaru, Kiba, and the others.
The hawk-masked Anbu immediately gave orders: "Take the children back to the village and hand them over to the medical team for examination. The Hokage-sama instructed us to ensure their safety."
"Yes!"
The Anbu each picked up a child with one hand. Even Akamaru was tucked back into Kiba's clothes.
Their figures flickered and quickly vanished from the riverbank.
The hawk-masked Anbu took out a sealing scroll and carefully collected and sealed the child's corpse along with the surrounding dust.
Only then did he pick up Uzumaki Naruto alone and swiftly catch up with the team.
Seven people and one dog were thus brought back to Konoha Hospital for examination.
…
Konoha Hospital, autopsy room.
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned tightly, staring at the boy's corpse lying on the operating table.
A cold boy's corpse, along with a container of preserved dust.
"Edo Tensei…"
He uttered these four words in a hoarse, heavy voice.
"No mistake."
After listening to the full account of the Anbu tailing Naruto and the others, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke: "The forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage—summoning a deceased soul back from the Pure Land, attaching it to a living sacrifice, and reconstructing the body with dust… He actually began researching this technique that defies human ethics!"
The air in the autopsy room seemed to freeze.
Orochimaru.
His most talented—and most disappointing—disciple.
Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes, a trace of pain and regret appearing on his face.
Back then, when he discovered the inhumane human experiments, he had ultimately softened his heart.
That bond of master and disciple had caused him to miss the best opportunity to completely eliminate the threat.
He hadn't expected that after defecting, not only did Orochimaru not restrain himself, but he even mastered the forbidden technique left by the Second Hokage.
And he had thrown the experimental subject right at Konoha's doorstep!
"What exactly does he want to do…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured to himself. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had regained the sharpness of a Hokage.
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