Indra Awakens

Although Asura was not clever, he was not an idiot.

He had always gone down a dead end before, never considering that Indra's problem could be handled another way.

Now that Shamu had scolded him, he suddenly understood.

And he was a textbook bleeding-heart idealist. Shamu's scolding did not anger him.

Instead, his face filled with regret over his own choice.

"I was wrong, I was wrong. I was truly wrong."

Asura dropped to his knees on the sea's surface, overwhelmed by grief, tears already beginning to fall.

Dan Katō looked at Shamu with great curiosity. He had thought there would be a fight, but Shamu had actually talked Asura into backing down.

Shamu noticed Dan Katō's gaze, but felt no pride. Asura was simply that kind of person.

He was not bad as a friend. You never had to worry about him stabbing you in the back.

But that was all.

He possessed neither political wisdom nor a sense of the bigger picture.

He was easy to talk into things. Shamu only needed to invoke the greater good to pressure him, and persuading him was effortless.

"Thank you, thank you."

Asura wiped his face and began thanking Shamu.

"If it weren't for you, I would not have known how many more years I would have kept making mistakes."

Shamu calculated silently. It would only have been a few more years. If I didn't interfere, you two would reconcile in a few years anyway.

But he did not want Naruto to end up becoming a bleeding-heart idealist.

"Indra's consciousness is about to awaken. Since your wish has been fulfilled, leave Naruto's body sooner rather than later."

"The ninja world is nothing like it was in your time. Naruto cannot have the same personality as you."

Asura's expression darkened.

"Then... will Brother conquer the world by force in this life?"

Shamu gave a derisive laugh.

"Heh, you think too highly of him. He wants to conquer the world by force all by himself?"

Asura looked somewhat stunned.

"But Brother is very strong."

Shamu waved a hand, uninterested in explaining it all to Asura.

"None of that is your concern anymore."

"As long as you and Indra do not continue your conflict, I'll be thanking the heavens."

"As long as you are gone, Indra will reincarnate at most this one last time."

"Whether he can conquer the world by force or not, no one will die because of the two of you again."

"After all, only when both of you exist at the same time can this hatred continue endlessly."

Asura's lips moved, but in the end, it only became a long sigh.

"Ah..."

"You are right. I should not keep reincarnating and entangling myself with Brother."

"I should have given up reincarnation long ago. Giving it up would end Brother's hatred."

As he spoke, specks of light emerged all over Asura's body, and then he vanished from the place.

Outside, Naruto's body suddenly emitted a visible glow.

Then an illusory figure floated up from Naruto toward the sky, disappearing from sight.

Shamu opened his eyes at that moment as well.

Asura's disappearance was not the issue. But the instant Asura vanished from Naruto's body, Sasuke's Chakra suddenly began to boil.

"Master, I... what's happening to me?"

The boiling Chakra made Sasuke feel uncomfortable all over. His brain felt as though it had been thrown into a washing machine.

It came with intense dizziness and pain.

Dan Katō's voice sounded in Shamu's mind.

"Indra's soul should be forcefully awakening. I'll go check the situation first."

Shamu brought the medicine to Sasuke's lips.

"This is a normal reaction. Sleep for a while, and you'll be fine soon."

Enduring the dizziness, Sasuke obediently took a deep breath of the medicine.

He immediately fell unconscious.

Shamu saw Indra's Chakra boiling and knew something was wrong. He did not know whether Dan could handle it.

During the time it had taken to deal with Asura, Orochimaru had already gone out once.

Orochimaru happened to walk in just then, and Shamu gave him a look.

Orochimaru made a gesture indicating that everything was ready.

Shamu relaxed. Since he already had the talent, he could learn the Spirit Transformation Technique later. He could not let Dan fight alone this time.

He lightly tapped the system interface.

Spirit Transformation Technique X1 → Spirit Transformation Technique X0

Without forming any hand seals, where no one could see him,

Shamu's soul left his body. Following his earlier experience, he directly entered Sasuke's body.

He did not see Dan on the consciousness level.

Following Dan's example, Shamu tore open a passage in midair before entering the soul level.

The moment he entered Sasuke's soul level,

he saw a figure constantly twisting and changing shape.

It was likewise condensing into a consciousness form.

Indra's personality was extremely unruly. After countless reincarnations, his obsession had only grown deeper and deeper.

His consciousness did not awaken at all times, but before each death, he would awaken to carry out the next reincarnation.

Reincarnation meant injecting Chakra containing his soul into the body of someone with talent.

In this life, he had chosen Sasuke. And after Hagoromo Otsutsuki's earlier provocation, his consciousness had already been rapidly awakening.

Under these circumstances, he easily sensed that Asura was nearby. But just now, Asura's soul had disappeared.

It had not gone far away. It had vanished completely.

How could Indra accept that?

After being entangled for so many years, Asura had suddenly decided to stop playing.

Naturally, Indra could not accept it.

Although Indra had not yet fully condensed into human form, the Chakra around him was wildly chaotic.

Externally, it manifested as constant twisting and distortion.

Shamu found Dan Katō hovering above the sea, his face grave.

"Dan, how is the situation?"

Dan turned around, only to discover that Shamu was already in a tangible spirit-transformation form.

He was somewhat shocked. "How do you know the Spirit Transformation Technique!?"

Dan's shock was understandable. The Spirit Transformation Technique was so powerful that Konoha had made extensive attempts to master it long ago.

The Spirit Transformation Technique had always been recorded in Konoha's encyclopedia of ninjutsu.

Shamu had obtained it long ago as well, but throughout all these years, not only had Shamu failed to learn it, Konoha had failed to master it too.

He merely laughed it off.

"Just a little trick. It's my first time using it too."

"Let's not talk about that first. What is going on with Indra?"

Dan Katō could only swallow his questions for the moment and explain to Shamu.

"This mass of Chakra carrying Indra's soul was stimulated, and his consciousness is now awakening."

Then Dan Katō examined Shamu's soul.

"It was fortunate that you came over using the Spirit Transformation Technique. Indra's soul is very powerful. I might not be able to defeat him alone."

Shamu stared intently at Indra's ball of light.

"Can we kill him before he finishes condensing?"

Dan Katō shook his head.

"No. If we attack now and disperse him, it may affect Sasuke."

"Once he finishes condensing, we can kill him directly."

"It's your first time using the Spirit Transformation Technique, so you don't know how to attack."

"The simplest way is like this..."

A ball of light gathered in Dan's hand, then dispersed again.

"There are no other elements here, so ninjutsu cannot be used."

"You can only use the energy in your soul. Only what exists within your soul can be used here."

As Shamu was thinking, Indra on the other side had already finished condensing.

Unlike Asura's honest, simple appearance,

Indra's blood-red Sharingan, paired with blue-violet eyeshadow, made him look exceptionally arrogant and untamed.

The first thing he said after opening his eyes was:

"Why? Why can I no longer sense Asura's presence?"

Immediately afterward, he discovered Shamu and Dan Katō nearby.

He stared straight at Shamu. From Shamu, he sensed an aura identical to his own.

"Who are you?"

"I am Uchiha Shamu, the current head of the Uchiha clan."