Chapter 17 Part 1
"Alright — one more time," I murmured, channeling my spiritual force outward. The feeling of a lifting wind rolled across my body — wrapping me in incredible lightness.
And I opened my eyes.
Peculiar. That's the first word that comes to mind every time I use this technique. Lowering my head, I gazed at my own body, frozen motionless.
Peculiar. I can barely recognize myself from the outside: my gaze snags on all these chaotic distortions — piercing space, warping perception. But with some effort, I can still make out my own features in the wavering, blurry silhouette.
"It gets a tiny bit easier each time," I spoke — the space around me rippling slightly.
Hora and Horo were here too. The carps had transformed: their scales shimmered with vivid colors, their bodies wrapped in a mystical aura. The feathery fins bloomed — every movement leaving a trail of pale golden energy. Everything around them stirred, like they were really swimming through water, creating ripples on some invisible surface.
I reached out and touched one of those transparent distortions. It really feels like liquid rippling. Incredible.
"Our master is clever!"
"Our master is capable!"
The carps wove around me, filling the space with bright sounds of joy. So noisy.
"Thanks, guys." I stroked their scales, flattered. It's nice to be praised!
Right now, the only thing linking me to my body was this "channel" — twisting like thick campfire smoke. As long as it's there, I can wander around freely — no fear for my mortal shell. For longer journeys, though, the connection'll have to be cut — leaving the body unguarded. And that risks some rogue spirit trying to possess an "empty house." Thankfully, nothing that strong lives inside a shinobi village — and the small fry don't have the spiritual muscle to seize a vacant body. Plus Hora and Horo are always on watch. And for now? I'm not planning to go far enough to need to cut the link.
Floating near the ceiling, I glanced out the window with a sigh, toying with the twisting connection-thread in my fingers.
I'm not ready yet.
That first "outing" — I was absolutely deafened. The altered perception. The overwhelming flood of color — too bright and yet oppressively dull at the same time. All that extra "noise." Now I'm just getting used to Wandering, and it's slowly paying off: the colorful flickering's noticeably died down. I'm learning to filter out the meaningless and instinctively grab what matters. Little by little, it takes the load off my mind. See — I'm already starting to recognize myself inside myself. And that's an achievement, believe me! Sometimes I'd look at other people and see nothing but warped, fuzzy silhouettes stuffed with colorful "noise" I hadn't learned to read yet.
It's a seriously weird way to perceive things. Sound doesn't work normally here — it can have color. Even shape. Colors are way too saturated — sometimes completely wrong, completely whimsical. Violet shadows? Green shadows? Trees striped in purple? Like some lunatic painter ran across the world with every color in the box, used in the weirdest proportions. Touch is even harder to describe: my "body" — floating in space — is touching something and touching nothing, both at once. And smells? Nothing like anything at all.
It's really hard for the mind to handle. That's why my head starts splitting so fast — my eyes ache, all my other senses screaming. So I need to learn to read this revealed world properly. Build up spiritual endurance. Every time — a tiny bit easier. Only time can really help.
I tried to catch something from the "normal" world — got the usual meaningless cacophony. Typical. Although — for half a second, I thought I heard something that made sense. Encouraged, I tried to rise higher — or deeper?? The sensation was way too mixed up. Not the point. What matters: the further I went, the clearer the real-world sounds became. But the resistance shot up too — like the "ordinary" spiritual space was trying to push me back out. Kind of like trying to peer underwater while the water's shoving your head back up. Almost the exact same feeling.
"Uff — that was rough!" I wiped imaginary sweat from my forehead. The pressure was too strong to fight. But — now I've got a better idea which direction to go. And that's practically half the battle!
***
For a while, I just flew around the room — occasionally drifting through walls. Midday meant the neighboring apartments were empty. Outside, it was impossible to push past the jumble of colorful distortions I perceived as people. I glided down and wove among them — getting total incomprehension in return, predictably. I could kind of pick out my own blurry image from the others — mostly by internal color. The rest were all "the same face" to me. Only one exception: Naruko. Her "color" was distinct (everyone's is unique — I'm just bad at telling them apart), but the most obvious feature was that intricate construct at her solar plexus. Jagged lines branching across nearly her whole stomach. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal. So that's what it looks like from the spiritual side. And underneath it — perfectly visible — Naruko's "tenant." Hadn't gone anywhere. Regularly pumping out vivid malice at every opportunity.
What else did I see? Entities. Too minor to really count, but there were a lot of them. Spirits, half-formed manifestations, other beings that somehow survived inside a shinobi settlement. I even saw a yurei*! A yurei chasing one of those motley silhouettes — seething with helpless rage. Looked like it'd been a shinobi in life — couldn't tell which Village. Haa... honestly, the surprising part isn't that a vengeful spirit exists. It's that I only saw ONE. I kind of expected every shinobi to have a whole entourage of slain enemies trailing them. But no. Guess Shinigami-sama keeps busy — tirelessly gathering the souls of the dead. Well — thanks for the hard work. (*Yurei is most widely recognized as a Japanese "ghost" or "wandering spirit")
After flying around a bit more, I returned to my body. Opening my eyes was hard. I got to my feet — swayed — stumbled back a step. Incredible how fast I get unused to my body. Fifteen lousy minutes. The flesh presses in — feels clumsy, uncomfortable. But it passes quick.
I glanced at the clock, did some fast math, and nodded, satisfied. On schedule. Today the guys — thanks to Akashi's light touch — are spending their time helping out on some farm in Konoha. Poor, poor friends of mine. Lately they've looked kind of drained. Lost. All this time I've been off on my own — buried in training, barely leaving the house. Didn't notice right away, either. Just last night Naruko's giggling got... weird. Troubling. Eventually I found out the guys have been trying — for days — to do the impossible: peek under Akashi's mask. Completely forgetting that I've seen Hatake's face perfectly well and could've just told them. But genin don't do easy — they went for the most elaborate tricks. Predictable outcome.
So — figured cooking something would be good. Good food raises fighting spirit! Plus they're definitely worn out from a whole day of farm repairs — so I'll make extra rice balls. Fish and meat fillings. Reward for hard work. Exactly. And I absolutely, definitely don't feel any guilt about enjoying Naruko's stories of all their "acrobatics" trying to see their sensei's face!
Honestly — cooking's easy. Especially when you get creative and don't hesitate to use your talents. And a couple — maybe three — ghostly assistants. Purest water from water spirits. Rice meticulously cleansed with faint lightning. Filling ground to the finest paste. Freshest herbs from forest spirits... Man, I was proud of that work! The rice balls literally shone in the sunlight — mystical aura, almost intoxicating aromas! No time to waste (and fighting Temptation), I quickly packed everything into lunch boxes and sealed them for safety.
"Excellent!" I nodded, licking my fingers. Eh — Temptation won. Gotta train my spirit more...
Time? Plenty! Everything's ready — I can go!
***
I dashed through the Village in a wide arc. Rooftop pounding gave way to branch-creaking, leaf-rustling. I hit the ground and accelerated even harder — almost to my limit.
"Good — but still too slow!" The self-criticism flashed through my head. After all that training — I'm still slow. Slower than Sasuko. Slower than Naruko. Even slower than Sakurai! Disheartening. Though — some comfort: I'm comparing myself to future top-class shinobi.
Still. Hits. The. Ego.
"Uff!!" I stopped, breathing heavy. Acrid sweat stung my eyes. Hah — what's with the sun today... Oh. No. No. Mustn't think ill of Amaterasu-sama's embodiment. Yes — today she's merciful enough to show a little more of her brilliant beauty to this land. Precisely! "Uff... uff..."
"Alright. This is my current limit," I admitted to myself. This is my human limit.
And since I've hit it — time to step past it.
"Hora! Horo!" I called, decisive. "Essence Acceptance!"
"Hai-haaai! / Always ready!" The carps answered together.
Spinning in the air, they formed a weird (red-and-white) Yin-Yang symbol — then accelerated, becoming two clots of mystic light. They broke their circular spin and both clots slammed into my chest at full speed. My body twitched — pain flashing through.
Alien spiritual force flooded me — crashing into my own, mixing but never quite becoming one. I felt like I was sinking deep underwater — then shooting to the surface.
It felt like forever. Really — just a few moments.
I exhaled slowly and opened my eyes. Very unusual. Though — "unusual" pretty much describes my whole life at this point, hah.
It felt strange. Completely different. Like I'd gotten lighter — or the gravity had dropped. My senses had shifted — deeper somehow. My vision, too: sharper. And, more importantly — deeper. Like being in Soul Wandering, just... lighter. A "trimmed-down" version. If only because I was still inside my physical body. And strength? Strength flooded through me. I felt way more powerful. In every way!
I lunged forward — the rush stirred the leaves on the nearest treetops. This time, I was almost twice as fast. Green blur quickly gave way to the blue gleam of a wide lake. I didn't stop — just kept running, completely ignoring the water. My feet touched — didn't sink. I wasn't even trying to stay up. Right now — it was as natural as walking on land.
A long leap launched me high — then I plunged down. Hit the water and shot deeper. An invisible current caught my body and pulled me forward, obeying my every whim. It's so cozy in the water. More comfortable than air. The thickness doesn't block my sight at all — and oxygen? Completely forgot about it. Didn't need it. What was in the water was plenty. I swam — delighting in the glide. Played tag with shy little fish. Laughed at their goofy faces. Bet they were shocked by the lunatic who thought he was a fish!!!
Some part of me — untouched by the union — marveled at the changes. Even though this wasn't our first "joint" run. I'd noticed early on: merged with Hora and Horo, I get a little less serious. Kind of carefree. But the emotions were so vivid — I just couldn't hold in the joy.
Suddenly — I snapped back to reality. The time! I shot upward like an arrow! Burst from the water — flew a dozen meters — landed lightly on the shore. Not even a puff of dust. One broad sweep of my hand — all the liquid sloughed off in a spray, instantly drying my clothes and hair. Another sweep — and a big droplet rose from the lake, stretching in the air, hanging like the clearest mirror. I snatched a small comb from my pocket and quickly fixed my disheveled hair — then caught my reflection.
It was me. Lips curved in a welcoming, carefree smile. But one part was wrong: the eyes. Once brown — now deep azure. Glowing faintly. Like sea-blue under a clear sun. Completely inhuman. Sure — this world has all kinds of eyes. Plenty of colors. But mine? They stand out. That feeling of foreignness. A curious side effect.
"I think that's enough," I decided — and mentally severed the contact. Immediately, heaviness crashed down on me. I felt a strong drain on my spiritual force.
"Aye-aye-aye, I'm tired~" Hora complained, drifting lazily through the air.
"Too lazy to even move a fin~" Horo backed him up, weakly twitching the fin in question.
"Uff — that was better this time! I can feel it!" Despite the fatigue, I smiled, satisfied. "Thank you both!"
"No problem~"
"Anytime, master. It was fuuun to play~"
"Yup — fun game!"
"Rest, you two. We did good work today."
"Haaaaaai!" The carps chirped — and vanished.
"Latched onto me again? What gluttons — the training drain wasn't enough?!" I shook my head. Eh — let them. Extra spiritual endurance training won't hurt. Still — where does all that energy fit? They're almost like Naruko!
"Kami-sama — I'm surrounded by gluttons..." I muttered, brushing off my pant leg. The water mirror — abandoned — collapsed to the ground. Predictable result.
Man — what a detour. Still — this is right near where Naruko and the others are working.
Excellent.