Sea of Souls

Aburame Tetsumaru's body was pierced by Dan Katō's soul. In that instant, he fell into absolute silence. He could hear nothing, but before his eyes were countless light orbs—familiar light orbs.

Right before him, over a hundred light orbs dimmed, many of them even shattering and sinking directly downward.

Was this the sea of soul light? The sea of light he had seen before crossing over?

Before Aburame Tetsumaru could figure out what had happened, a powerful pulling force seized him.

Then his hearing returned, and he realized he was facing the ground, his entire body wracked with pain. Someone was pressing down on him too, leaving him completely unable to move.

"Chase him down and kill him!" Lady Tsunade was giving orders. Oh, the Jinchuriki hadn't died and had escaped?

"Save the wounded! Get everyone out!"

"Someone go to the camp and call the Genin over! We need more hands here!"

"Who still has bandages? Who has first-aid kits?"

Gradually, all kinds of voices grew increasingly muffled, while his vision was slowly covered by a red curtain. Blood soaked through his hair and dripped from his forehead onto the ground. Before long, Aburame Tetsumaru lost consciousness again.

The great war had been launched jointly by Iwagakure and Amegakure. The transcendent Ibuse first crushed Konoha and Land of Iron's allied forces in the Land of Grass, then defeated the ninja army led by the Hokage's disciples at the Land of Fire's border.

At the same time, Iwagakure dispatched nearly a thousand ninja, including the Jinchuriki Rōshi and Jonin Kitsuchi, the Tsuchikage's son. Joining Amegakure's remaining forces, they had planned a surprise attack on Konoha's camp at the Land of Rain border, but Jonin Dan Katō discovered them and forced them to launch their attack early.

Hanzo then advanced westward and worked with Ōnoki to defeat three Sunagakure forces in succession, including Chiyo's Puppet Master unit. Together with Kitsuchi, he destroyed five Sunagakure camps in the Land of Rain and drove every Sunagakure Ninja out of the country.

Finally, he led his army into another confrontation with the Konoha Ninja Army. Winning nine out of ten battles, he forced Konoha to abandon every outpost and camp along the border, retreating all the way into the heartland of the Land of Fire before it could regain its footing.

The first climax of the Second Shinobi World War came to an end. The Land of Fire, Land of Rain, Land of Wind, and Land of Iron all suffered grievous losses and had no choice but to lick their wounds and rebuild their strength.

Hanzo, leader of Amegakure, ranged across three thousand li, killed countless people, and raised his reputation to unprecedented heights.

How high was that?

He defeated the Hokage's disciples from Konoha, spared them afterward, and even bestowed upon them the title of the "Konoha Sannin."

At first, everyone regarded that title as a humiliation—the kind that would get you punched if the three people involved heard it.

But as Hanzo's achievements grew ever more outrageous and his fame spread wider and wider, people began calling him the "Demigod."

With Hanzo's rise to fame, the "Konoha Sannin" became an acknowledged title. At the very least, if you called him "Orochimaru, one of the Sannin" to his face, he would no longer hit you. At worst, he would glare at you.

Huh? I'm back again. Don't tell me I died?

In his light-orb state, Aburame Tetsumaru felt a little panicked. Did Dan Katō's soul knock my soul away?

Why? Why me? Because I'm a transmigrator, and my soul and body aren't fully integrated?

Steady. Don't panic. Take a deep breath...

I don't even have lungs. What the hell am I supposed to breathe with?

Anyway, don't panic. Let me see what I can do.

Aburame Tetsumaru racked his memory, trying to figure out what he could do in this light-orb state. He did not know how long passed before he sensed that pulling force. This time, he was certain—it was dragging him downward.

Then he woke up.

Utterly bewildered, Aburame Tetsumaru listened as the nurse explained his condition. His skull was cracked, and he had seven fractures across his legs, right hand, and ribs. Other than that, he was fine.

Fine my ass. There was something seriously wrong with my soul, but I couldn't say it.

When the medical ninja asked whether he had any other problems, Aburame Tetsumaru could only shake his head. How could he dare say it?

If he told them, either no one would believe him and he would be treated as a lunatic, or someone would believe him and he would be treated as an experiment.

Like his transmigration, the Sea of Souls was a secret he could only bury deep in his heart. He could only rely on himself to explore it all.

A few days later, Captain Ueno came to bid farewell to his only subordinate. Aburame Tetsumaru's injuries had stabilized but could not be fully healed, so he would return to Konoha with over a hundred other severely wounded soldiers and temporarily leave the war.

Captain Ueno complained regretfully that his squad would have to be rebuilt again. Once Tetsumaru recovered in the village, he would definitely be promoted to Chunin. The two new recruits who had been healed had not survived either, dying in the Jinchuriki's final outburst.

Aburame Tetsumaru was so envious he practically drooled. Captain Ueno was truly a top-tier lucky star. In such a massive battle, several Jonin had gone down, yet one Chunin had only had a lock of hair burned off. It was absurd.

Getting promoted to Chunin seemed to have far too many downsides. He would no longer have the god of luck watching over him.

After a grueling fifteen-day journey, Aburame Tetsumaru returned to Konoha.

Within the Sea of Souls, Aburame Tetsumaru could not form hand seals in his light-orb state, but constructing Chakra Runes was much more convenient. The runes drove the technique's operation.

Ninja Art: Clone Technique

Light-orb Aburame Tetsumaru split off a second light orb. Unfortunately, it was a fake light orb with only visual effects, and it dissipated shortly afterward.

Aburame Tetsumaru savored the experience of the Clone Technique for a while, then turned his gaze "upward." In the utter darkness far beyond the sea of light, countless pinpricks of radiance flickered like a brilliant night sky.

After watching the starry sky above the sea of light for a while, Aburame Tetsumaru sank his consciousness and actively fell downward. Then he woke up in reality.

Half a month after returning to Konoha, Aburame Tetsumaru's body had basically recovered.

They said it took a hundred days to recover from broken bones and torn tendons, but ninja certainly did not need that long. For the Uzumaki and Senju, "minor injuries" like fractures took only three to five days.

The Aburame Clan's Kikaichū could help stabilize bones, transport nutrients, and even secrete hormones into wounds to stimulate bone growth. That was why Aburame Tetsumaru recovered in just thirty days.

Despite his recovery, his mother still forbade him from training. While Aburame Kazekazu and Aburame Tetsumaru, father and son, had been dispatched to the Land of Water and Land of Rain front lines respectively, Aburame Aiko had remained in the village.

Konoha had an unwritten rule against sending every member of a ninja family to the front. First, it prevented tragedies as extreme as an entire family line being wiped out. Second, it retained a reserve fighting force for emergencies.

When Aburame Tetsumaru returned to the village severely injured, Aburame Aiko happened to take leave to care for her son.

Bored to the point his bones itched, Aburame Tetsumaru rose up in rebellion. After fighting on the battlefield for over half a year, the harsh life had instead greatly accelerated his growth. He was 171 centimeters tall and weighed 62 kilograms—far too developed for a boy about to turn eleven.

But Aburame Aiko, who was only 150 centimeters tall, unleashed her ultimate technique. She splashed Tetsumaru's face with tears, and he was defeated instantly.

Every day, Aburame Tetsumaru could only sleep in, take walks, and read books.

Walking through Konoha's streets, he could clearly feel the changes.

After the war began, Konoha rapidly prospered. Vast military expenditures poured in from the capital, then turned into enormous quantities of food, materials, weapons, bladed tools, medicinal herbs, cloth, paper, and every other kind of supply useful for war.

At the same time, the large number of high-level missions issued during the war generated enormous mission rewards. Aside from sustaining the ninja at the front, large sums of money were sent back to Konoha, leaving ninja families flush with cash.

Thus, merchants from the Land of Fire and neighboring countries were drawn over, bringing all kinds of goods to sell for huge profits. The merchants made fistfuls of money, while their hiring gave ordinary residents considerable income. Those residents began spending as well, further stimulating Konoha's economy.

Whenever he was truly bored out of his mind, Aburame Tetsumaru would visit the insect fields and help harvest Ant Sugar and Insect Wax. The only work he could do was buy ingredients and cook.

Cooking was Aburame Tetsumaru's main household duty. Ever since Tetsumaru began manning the stove at six years old, the mistress of the Aburame Family had not cooked in many years.

Her cooking had declined from edible but unpalatable to not necessarily cooked through, but definitely awful.

While her son and husband had gone to war one after another, Aburame Aiko had been driven to despair by her own cooking. She could only eat at the hospital cafeteria, order takeout, or dine out.

So after Tetsumaru regained his health, the first activity he was permitted to do was not walking—it was cooking.

After dinner, he walked with his mother, chatted with relatives, and finally washed up and went to bed.

Only after getting into bed did Aburame Tetsumaru begin another round of busy work.

Ever since Dan Katō's soul had knocked him into the Sea of Souls, Aburame Tetsumaru had gained the ability to enter and leave it at will. Thus, he entered every night to explore that strange new world.

Entering the Sea of Souls felt like floating upward, while leaving it and returning to his body came with a powerful downward pull. So Aburame Tetsumaru called them logging in and logging out.

After dozens of explorations, he had learned some things about the Sea of Souls:

The Sea of Souls had upper and lower regions. Above was starlight; below was black mist.

Light orbs frequently shattered, dimmed, and fell into the black mist below, perhaps representing death. Correspondingly, small light orbs constantly rose from the black mist below and gradually grew larger, probably representing new life.

The light orbs in the Sea of Souls varied in size, had slightly different colors, and occupied different heights.

Most Soul Light Orbs occupied two levels with a height difference between them. Since Tetsumaru himself was on the higher of those two levels, he guessed that the distinction was caused by Chakra.

At even higher positions were several hundred large light orbs. By comparing them with his clone light orb, Tetsumaru found that even the smallest among them were ten times larger than himself.

Higher still, at heights his clone light orb could not reach at all, were over a dozen gigantic light orbs.

These gigantic light orbs were divided into four groups, their characteristics distinct enough for Aburame Tetsumaru to make guesses based on his memories.

The largest and highest was a dim dark-gold light orb, probably the sealed Princess Kaguya.

The second-largest, a white light orb, existed alone. It was most likely the Katsuyu Sage.

The third-largest yellow light orb was accompanied by five gigantic light orbs—two large and three small. They were likely the Toad Sage's family.

Finally, the blue-green light orb was accompanied by six gigantic light orbs, three large and three small. They should be the Ryūchi Cave lineage.

But there were still several light orbs Aburame Tetsumaru could not identify at all.

Most baffling of all, enormous spherical outlines could vaguely be seen within the black mist beneath the Sea of Souls, and there was more than one. Perhaps the Sage of Six Paths and his brother were among them.

Most importantly, Chakra could be mobilized in the Sea of Souls.

Aburame Tetsumaru could spray Chakra and use it to turn freely, but no matter how hard he sprayed, he could not move his position even the slightest bit.

Aburame Tetsumaru could also construct ninjutsu through runes, but only the Transformation Technique and Clone Technique had practical effects. The Transformation Technique could change his own color, while the Clone Technique could replicate a transparent light orb and then blow it away with Chakra.

He repeatedly used the Clone Technique, then blew the copied light orbs outward with Chakra, trying to gain more information by colliding with other light orbs.

Unfortunately, the clone light orbs were too fragile. They fell apart before flying far, and even when they were occasionally destroyed by collisions, they had no effect on their targets and gave him no feedback whatsoever.

This tantalizing yet unattainable situation made Aburame Tetsumaru's curiosity explode.

He desperately wanted the advanced version of the Clone Technique, the B-rank ninjutsu Shadow Clone Technique. Shadow Clones were not only sturdier, but their memories returned after they shattered. That was simply too precious.

Under the ten o'clock morning sun, Aburame Tetsumaru lazily got up and slowly headed out. He first bought ingredients for lunch and dinner, along with a large quantity of Insect Feed.

After returning home and preparing lunch, he ate his own portion first, then packed another into a bento and carried it to the hospital for his mother.

After being teased by the hospital aunties and young women, Aburame Tetsumaru was helpless to defend himself and his counterattacks were ineffective. He could only deliver the lunch bento in a fluster and flee as quickly as possible.

Launching a counterattack in such matters required hardware support. Though he had grown tall and sturdy, he was only eleven, and still had a long way to go before truly maturing.

After leaving the hospital, Aburame Tetsumaru planned to make major purchases that afternoon. Raising insects consumed far more than just Insect Feed. Charcoal, metals, chemical agents, and glassware were all major consumables.

Several of Aburame Tetsumaru's insects had an especially great demand for metal, such as Locusts, Self-Destruct Beetles, and Armored Beetles. Their shells were made of metal, so he needed to buy a great deal of it.

"Purchase limits?!"

"Yes. The Hokage issued wartime restrictions, and all ninja not stationed at the front must obey them. Sir, you are a Genin in the village. Each month, you may only purchase five Kunai or five kilograms of metal materials."

Aburame Tetsumaru was dumbfounded. His plan had been to buy 100 kilograms of iron, 20 kilograms of copper, and another five kilograms combined of lead, tin, zinc, and other metals. And that was only ten days' worth of consumption.

Ever since Sarutobi Sasuke led his entire clan into Konoha, the Sarutobi Clan had monopolized the Land of Fire's iron mining business. After Sarutobi Hiruzen became Hokage, the Sarutobi Clan further monopolized all metal materials. Konoha had many shops selling ninja tools, but metal materials could only be purchased through the Sarutobi Clan.

Therefore, the Hokage's purchase limits on metal materials would be enforced very efficiently. The enforcers were all members of his own clan.

There had to be smuggling channels and the like, but the Land of Fire generally exported metal materials and imported ninja tools and weapons. The black-market supply could not possibly meet his needs, while the markup was likely limitless.

Damn it, the Sarutobi Clan was trying to squeeze me dry. I just wonder whether Sandaime was involved. Hmph, even if he wasn't, it was still his fault.

He would first follow the official process and apply for special purchasing privileges. After deliberating for a long time, Aburame Tetsumaru decided not to risk buying through black-market channels for now.

Aburame Tetsumaru wrote an application letter detailing his combat methods, his immense need for metal materials, and the necessity of that need, applying for an exemption from the purchase limit.

Only after finishing did he realize it was far too detailed, totaling more than eighteen thousand words. Tetsumaru thought it over and decided Sandaime probably did not have the time to read it all. No matter how well written it was, it would just be wasted words, so he painstakingly cut it down to under a thousand words.

After writing the petition, Aburame Tetsumaru discovered that as a Genin, he had no right to submit a letter to the Hokage.

Only Jonin in Konoha could express their opinions to the Hokage, and even they had to follow the process and undergo review by civilian ninja. Only individuals personally granted special privileges by the Hokage could bypass the process, such as that red-haired girl currently in the village.

The elder Aburame Shihui, whom he was fairly close to, had retired long ago, and his right to submit letters to the Hokage had been revoked.

The Aburame Clan's Jonin did not possess special privileges either. Even if they submitted Tetsumaru's letter for him, it could only be sent to the Hokage Building, where it would undergo layer after layer of screening before it might reach the Hokage.

Not only would the process take dozens of days, but it was even more likely that some civilian ninja would decide the matter was unimportant and toss it into the trash, never to be heard from again.

Even if it luckily reached the Hokage's office, it would still depend on whether the Hokage thought Aburame Tetsumaru's combat strength was worthwhile and whether he was willing to make an exception for him.

No matter how slim the odds were, Aburame Tetsumaru still asked an Aburame Jonin to submit the letter on his behalf, then sought other methods. For example, his comrades recuperating in the village—not every ninja needed so much metal, so he could pay to buy the unused portion of their quotas.

After spending many days gathering his comrades' unused purchase quotas, he bought 107 kilograms of various metals, then Aburame Tetsumaru gave up.

It was too troublesome. Quotas could not be transferred, so he had to ask each household one by one and buy bit by bit. Was he supposed to do this every month?

A few days later, more purchase restrictions were issued. Chemical agents, medical drugs, Explosive Tags, Military Ration Pills, medicinal herbs, and even cloth were all restricted. Valuable items such as glassware were not restricted, but no one was selling them on the market anymore.

Aburame Tetsumaru was completely out of options. His combat strength depended on a large number of Summoning Insects, and raising them consumed immense quantities of metal.

Take the Locusts, which suffered the greatest losses. Each hard, sharp locust head shell contained forty grams of iron. In the battle against the Jinchuriki, he had lost as many as 540 Locusts at once—that was over twenty kilograms of iron.

From one perspective, Aburame Tetsumaru was similar to the future Emperor TenTen. His combat strength depended on throwing money around.

Now, even having money was not enough to buy metal.

Three days later, Aburame Tetsumaru used up the last of his stock. With no way out, he finally remembered the three great skills passed down by the Black-hearted Red Star Rabbit: growing vegetables, imitation, and self-reliance.

Aburame Tetsumaru found Aburame Tetsumaru's Insect Compendium again. By now, the total number of recorded insect species had exceeded twenty thousand.

Influenced by Chakra and Kikaichū, the insects of Aburame Forest had an unbelievably high mutation rate. Coupled with an even higher elimination rate, this caused their generations to update at an exaggerated pace.

Before graduating from ninja school, Aburame Tetsumaru had discovered that of the more than six hundred insect species initially recorded in the Insect Compendium, over fifty no longer existed.

To preserve genetic seeds, Aburame Tetsumaru kept insects in his small house, one large glass tank for each species, maintaining their minimum breeding numbers.

If Aburame Tetsumaru discovered the value of a species, he would put great effort into breeding it and expanding its population.

Or if a species proved it had abundant survival ability and would not be eliminated, Aburame Tetsumaru would release it into the wild to free up breeding space.

After flipping through the Insect Compendium, Aburame Tetsumaru selected several insect species and began experimenting.