Chapter 353: Uchiha Akira's Time Domain
Deep within the Imperial Heaven Space, the air hummed with latent energy. Uchiha Akira stood silently, his dark eyes tracking the movements of his three disciples as they pushed their physical and spiritual limits on the training ground below.
As their collective strength finally shattered the threshold of a brand new realm, the cold, mechanical voice of the system chimed in his mind.
[Ding! Detecting that the host's three disciples, Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara, and Hyuga Hinata, have all preliminarily reached the Kage level in strength!]
[Initiating reward settlement...]
[Congratulations to the host, you have received Special Reward One: Six Paths: Imperial Heaven Space Promotion!]
[Unlocking new rule: Resonance of Living Beings!]
[Resonance of Living Beings: Any living being that willingly enters the Imperial Heaven Space and resides there long-term will have their life energy continuously nourish, strengthen, and expand the dimension!]
[Note: In addition to suppressing enemies, residents within the space will now provide you with a passive strength bonus!]
Akira's eyes instantly lit up. A sharp, predatory satisfaction curled the corners of his mouth.
This reward could not have arrived at a better time. The Imperial Heaven Space was the absolute foundation of his power. Previously, he could only force the dimension to evolve by suppressing powerful individuals within its borders. Now, even ordinary residents could feed him their ambient energy.
This meant that as long as he continuously expanded the population of the Imperial Heaven Space, his personal strength would receive a continuous, unending surge of growth.
This was no longer just a pocket dimension. It was evolving into a true Kingdom of God.
Before he could fully process the implications, the system's voice rang out once more.
[Congratulations to the host, you have received Special Reward Two: Exclusive Dojutsu Promotion!]
[The right eye Dojutsu, 'Kamui: Chronal Regression,' has successfully been promoted to—'Kamui Six Paths: Chronal Heavenly Domain'!]
[Kamui Six Paths: Chronal Heavenly Domain:]
[Ability One - Time Reversal: Retains the original ability. Forcefully reverts the state of everything within a designated range (including the user) to several seconds prior.]
[Ability Two - Time Stop: Upon activation, centered on the host, a time-stop domain with a radius of ten kilometers is created, lasting for ten seconds! Within the domain, all things cease, and only the host can move freely!]
[Warning: Activating 'Time Stop' will instantaneously consume fifty percent of the host's total Chakra!]
Akira's heart leaped against his ribs.
Time Stop.
A ten-kilometer radius. Ten full seconds of absolute temporal dominion.
The price was the instantaneous vaporization of half his Chakra reserves. For any other shinobi, this would be a suicidal gamble. But for Akira? Possessing the perfect Sage Body, his Chakra recovery speed already defied all common sense.
He could easily afford this price.
Akira shifted his gaze back toward the training ground. The brutal sparring match between Naruto and Gaara had just concluded. Both youths were sprawled flat on the cracked earth, their chests heaving violently as they gasped for air, sweat dripping from their chins.
A thought flashed through Akira's mind.
His right eye flared, the crimson iris spinning into a complex, terrifying geometric pattern.
"Kamui Six Paths: Chronal Heavenly Domain!"
Buzz—!
A formless, intangible ripple exploded outward. There was no blinding flash of light, no deafening roar of chakra—just an absolute, crushing stillness that instantly swallowed a ten-kilometer radius.
Down on the training ground, Naruto froze mid-breath. A bead of sweat hung suspended in the air inches from his cheek. The dust kicked up by their battle hung motionless, frozen like a three-dimensional painting.
Akira's figure silently vanished from his vantage point, reappearing directly in front of Naruto.
He extended a finger and lightly poked the Uzumaki boy's frozen, astonished cheek.
It was soft and warm to the touch. Yet, there was absolutely no reaction. Naruto's eyes didn't even twitch.
'Is this... Time Stop?'
Akira felt the massive void in his coils where half his Chakra had just been instantly drained, yet his blood burned with sheer excitement.
It was too powerful.
Ten seconds. To the outside world, it was an eternity of absolute stillness. But to Uchiha Akira, it was ten seconds of absolute, uncontested dominance over life and death.
The ten seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
When the invisible domain collapsed, time slammed back into motion. The world instantly recovered its color, sound, and kinetic force. The suspended bead of sweat finally hit the dirt.
Naruto felt his vision blur. His mind went entirely blank for a fraction of a second.
"Huu... huu..."
He continued panting heavily, blinking rapidly as he stared blankly at his own hands.
"Strange..." Naruto muttered, scratching his blonde hair in bewilderment. "Just now... was I trying to wipe my sweat?"
That momentary sense of dissociation felt like waking up from an extremely brief, formless dream. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall a single detail.
"Hey, Naruto, what's wrong? Why are you spacing out?" Gaara's calm voice drifted over from a few paces away.
"Ah? Nothing... nothing at all." Naruto shook his head violently, tossing the strange sensation to the back of his mind. He grinned, slamming his fists together. "Rest time is over! Let's go again!"
"Alright!"
The two battle-hungry youths clashed once more, the sound of their fists echoing across the training ground.
High above, Akira watched them, his perfect Sage Body already operating at a frantic pace. Vast quantities of ambient life energy were rapidly being devoured and converted into pure Chakra, flooding his depleted coils.
In just those few short moments, nearly ten percent of the massive Chakra expenditure had already been replenished.
The corner of Akira's mouth curled up into a faint, dangerous smirk. His figure silently vanished, returning to the Hokage Office.
Meanwhile.
Somewhere in the Ninja World, hidden deep within a dark, damp underground base.
Water dripped slowly from the cavernous ceiling, echoing in the oppressive gloom. Orochimaru stood before a cold stone slab, his serpentine eyes flashing with a fanatic, feverish light.
Lying flat on the stone platform was a "corpse."
This was one of the powerful individuals he had recently resurrected, using a White Zetsu clone as a living sacrifice for the Edo Tensei.
Munashi Jinpachi. One of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
"Hehehehe..."
Orochimaru let out a hoarse, grating laugh, extending his unnaturally long tongue to lick his pale lips.
"The materials Obito-kun sent are truly excellent."
His hands blurred through a rapid sequence of hand signs. He pulled out a specialized kunai wrapped in a talisman inscribed with dense, complex jutsu formulas, and ruthlessly drove it into the back of Munashi Jinpachi's head.
Instantly, Jinpachi's hollow, dead eyes ignited with a cold, icy glare.
He abruptly sat up from the stone platform. His movements were fluid and natural, completely lacking the stiff, puppet-like rigidity usually associated with an Edo Tensei vessel. Even the paper-like ash and dust that constantly flaked off reanimated bodies was drastically reduced.
"Orochimaru-sama."
Jinpachi lowered his head. His voice was hoarse and grating, but his tone carried absolute, unquestioning obedience.
Orochimaru nodded in deep satisfaction.
Through his recent period of frantic, obsessive research, Orochimaru's mastery over the Edo Tensei had evolved to an unmatched height. Now, he could perfectly suppress and control the personality of any powerful individual he resurrected, turning them into flawless killing machines.
But that was not his greatest breakthrough.
"Get up. Let me see your power," Orochimaru commanded, his voice dripping with anticipation.
Jinpachi stood up silently. He raised one hand, and the strangely shaped Exploding Blade: Shibuki resting on a nearby weapon rack violently trembled before flying straight into his grasp.
BOOM!
A terrifying surge of Chakra erupted from Jinpachi's body, whipping the stagnant air of the cavern into a frenzy. The sheer density of his chakra far surpassed anything he had ever possessed while he was alive.
The fanaticism in Orochimaru's golden eyes burned even brighter.
"It's too perfect! Truly, too perfect!" Orochimaru hissed, his voice trembling with dark glee. "My new jutsu formula isn't just about strengthening control!"
He paced around the reanimated swordsman, admiring his handiwork. "As long as their original strength does not exceed that of the First Hokage, anyone resurrected through my perfected Edo Tensei will receive at least a ten to thirty percent increase in base strength compared to their living state!"
Orochimaru looked past the stone walls of his laboratory, his mind conjuring a glorious, blood-soaked vision. He saw a future where an invincible, immortal army composed of countless enhanced legendary shinobi marched under his absolute command, flattening the entire Ninja World into dust.
"Uchiha Akira..."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed into venomous slits. "I eagerly await the expression on your face when you see this 'gift' I have prepared for you."
"Hahahahaha..."
His chilling, maniacal laughter echoed throughout the damp underground base, lingering in the darkness for a long time.
A few days later.
In the Land of Wind, amidst a desolate, endless stretch of desert.
Howling gales whipped coarse yellow sand across the dunes, obscuring the horizon. An Anbu operative knelt on one knee in the shifting sands. Driven deep into the earth directly in front of him was a uniquely forged, three-pronged blade.
The Anbu operative reached out, channeling a pulse of chakra into the metal to activate Uchiha Akira's Amenominaka Kunai.
Far away, inside the Hokage Office.
Akira was calmly flipping through the latest intelligence reports, mentally mapping out the village's next phase of development.
Suddenly, a ripple in his perception caught his attention. A spatial marker he had personally forged and entrusted to a covert Anbu squad had just been activated.
He instantly read the coordinates: Land of Wind. Roran Ruins.
"They finally found it..."
Akira set the intelligence report down, a faint smile gracing his lips.
In the original timeline, the Roran Ruins hid the Dragon Vein—a massive, subterranean source of natural energy capable of warping space and time itself. That sheer volume of ancient, untamed chakra would serve as the perfect nourishment to forcefully expand the Imperial Heaven Space.
The next second, his vision shifted.
Outside the Roran Ruins, where the yellow sand filled the sky in a blinding storm, the fabric of space violently warped.
Uchiha Akira's tall figure silently stepped out of the void, his dark cloak snapping wildly in the desert wind.
The Anbu operative kneeling in the sand trembled slightly at the sudden, overwhelming pressure of his arrival, immediately lowering his head in absolute reverence.
"Hokage-sama."
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