Absorbing the Death God

Although the Grim Death God are far inferior to the Moryo, it is still unknown what kind of Death God they are. Their total number of souls is many times greater than that of ninjas.

Unfortunately, Yichen was unable to absorb the Death God's Soul Power.

Yichen originally thought that Neji had Tenseigan and might be able to help him deal with the Death God.

After all, in Yichen's memory Tenseigan possessed some special abilities related to the soul.

I just didn't expect that Neji Tenseigan, which isn't fully awakened yet, would be helpless against Death God.

Yichen was somewhat disappointed.

But just then, Neji said somewhat uncertainly, "Teacher Yichen, I can't do it, but perhaps someone else can."

Yichen looked at Neji with a puzzled expression. He was the most skilled in soul techniques in Iwagakure, followed by Natsuki and Katsuya.

As for Natsuki and Katsuya, Yichen didn't hold out much hope, because the two of them also had Shinigami Mask and were studying them.

However, the two of them haven't made any progress.

Izumi Uchiha and Sokai could be considered strong in Yin Release, but they only improved their Yin Release level by relying on the special abilities of their Mangekyō Sharingan.

Neither of them were researchers, nor did they possess the corresponding Dōjutsu.

Therefore, Yichen didn't even consider these two people.

Apart from those five, no one else from Iwagakure has achieved anything particularly remarkable in this regard.

Even Neji's mastery of the soul wasn't actually that great; Yichen valued was the Tenseigan, which might have reached the level of Sage level.

Neji didn't let Yichen continue guessing; he said directly, "It's Kusaka- senpai."

"Fujii Kusaka?" Yichen was taken aback.

Fujii Kusaka is a disciple of Yichen's Team Seven and a teammate of Haku and Kamizuru Tsuruhime.

Haku is now Elite Jonin. He was in the Five Thousand Army led by Izumi Uchiha, where he participated in the ambush of the fleeing Cloud ninja and the attack on the Kumogakure.

He performed well and is now staying in the Land of Lightning, leading a team to hunt down the remaining Cloud ninja who are fleeing in all directions.

Kamizuru Tsuruhime is in the village because Yichen recently obtained another batch of the Aburame Clan insects during negotiations with Konoha.

So, Kamizuru Tsuruhime is busy raising new Little Bee.

With the help of her Little Bee, which has been baptized by Senjutsu Chakra, Kamizuru Tsuruhime is now Jonin.

Furthermore, as her combat experience increased, she became more and more skilled at controlling the Little Bee, her strength comparable to that of Elite Jonin.

Yichen believed that once this batch of Little Bee had digested the new insects, she should be able to reach the level of Elite Jonin.

Fujii Kusaka is currently Jonin, but not yet Elite Jonin.

However, because her flames can burn the soul, in terms of combat power, she should be considered Elite Jonin.

However, Iwagakure Fujii Kusaka did not participate in the great battle between Mist ninja and Cloud ninja.

Since becoming Jonin, Fujii Kusaka has returned to the Daimyo's side.

After all, she was Guardian Ninja that Yichen had trained for the daimyo.

She is also the only Guardian Ninja trained by Iwa ninja who has returned to the Daimyo's side.

Most of the other prospective Guardian Ninja are still Genin; they are still carrying out missions, gaining combat experience, and striving to advance in rank as soon as possible.

Yichen didn't think a Jonin could be of any help in dealing with a soul of the Death God level, so he never thought of Fujii Kusaka.

Neji said, "Yes, Kusaka- senpai, her flames can burn the soul."

"Once, also during this experiment, while she was conducting the experiment, I saw through the Giant Tenseigan that something seemed to remain in her burned soul."

"At the time, I didn't know what it was, but as my strength increased and my Tenseigan awakened, I began to have some guesses about it."

"I suspect it's an energy similar to Chakra."

"Senior Sister Kusaka can transform her soul into pure energy."

Yichen's eyes lit up; he understood.

Neji meant that perhaps the soul is composed of special energy, which of course contains the unique imprint of each person.

When Fujii Kusaka's flames burn the soul, they can burn away the unique marks that belong to each person, leaving behind some pure energy.

If one can absorb this energy, then one can naturally achieve the goal of strengthening the soul.

Yichen thought it over and found it increasingly reliable. He immediately stood up and said, "Neji, you go and rest outside for a while. I'll go and bring Kusaka."

Yichen was extremely anxious. Without waiting for Neji's reply, he casually sealed the Death God into the Shinigami Mask and rushed out of the room.

There was no Teleportation Array between Iwagakure and the capital, so Yichen flew there.

Soon, Yichen arrived at the Daimyo's Mansion.

However, upon arriving in the Daimyo's Mansion, Yichen couldn't simply grab Fujii Kusaka and run away.

Yichen needed to be patient and meet with Daming first to have a chat.

Daming was somewhat surprised and pleased by Yichen's arrival.

Daimyo's Mansion is very busy right now.

Before the construction of their territory on the moon is even complete, they're about to take over half of the Land of Lightning.

This has led to a shortage of manpower in the Daimyo's Mansion.

In addition, there were many things to do at the beginning of the two new territories, so the originally leisurely pace of life in the Daimyo's Mansion was accelerated.

Therefore, the daimyo was very satisfied with Yichen, the Tsuchikage who helped him expand his territory.

He now sees the hope of the Land of Earth dominating the entire Ninja World.

However, upon hearing of Yichen's arrival, the daimyo still had all his officials accompany him to meet Yichen.

Upon seeing Yichen, the Daimyo asked, "Has the Tsuchikage come with some business?"

Daming knew that Yichen didn't like beating around the bush, so he went Gate of Opening and asked.

Yichen nodded and said, "Your Excellency, I would like to borrow Fujii Kusaka to go back to the village and help out."

The daimyo was somewhat surprised. He glanced at Fujii Kusaka standing beside him and then asked, "Iwagakure is full of talent; they have twelve Kage Level."

"Kusaka is just a Jonin, what help can she possibly Tsuchikage?"

The daimyo is genuinely curious; when he interacts with other daimyo from various major countries, he constantly mentions the twelve Kage Level Iwagakure.

One word from him can dampen 30% of the opponent's momentum.

Yichen laughed and said, "It's good that your name is known. Today, the village has gained another Kage Level."

That's right, after the third fetal movement, Neji's strength steadily reached the Kage Level.

Moreover, with the help of the Giant Tenseigan, Neji's maximum combat power is far beyond what a newly promoted Kage Level like Natsuki, who has a clear strength imbalance, can match.

Of course, Neji has this strength entirely because of his Tenseigan; his Life level is being elevated, which is why he possesses Kage Level strength.

However, in terms of willpower, Neji is still Elite Jonin.

Upon hearing this, the Daimyo was delighted and said, "I heard that the twelfth is the younger sister adopted by the Tsuchikage. Who is this thirteenth?"

Yichen smiled and said, "He's one of my disciples, from the Hyuga Clan family of the Hyuga clan in Konoha, named Neji Hyuga."

"He was someone I stole from Konoha a long time ago."

The daimyo, unable to hide his amusement, said, "Very good, even better if it's stolen from Konoha."

"The Tsuchikage is truly amazing. Congratulations to the Tsuchikage on another disciple becoming Kage Level."

Yichen said, "Congratulations to the Daimyo as well. Iwagakure is also part of the Land of Earth."

Upon hearing this, the Daimyo was even more delighted. As if remembering something, he quickly said to a minister, "Quickly recall the messenger who went to Konoha and change the first sentence in the letter, 'twelve Kage Level,' to thirteen!"

Upon hearing this, the minister didn't think the daimyo was joking; he genuinely ran off to carry out the task with a look of excitement.

Yichen was somewhat speechless and said, "Kusaka's flames have some special effects, so I'd like to borrow her to help me out."

The daimyo laughed and said, "It's nothing. Kusaka was originally the Tsuchikage's disciple, so it's her honor to learn from Tsuchikage."

Then the daimyo had Yichen take Fujii Kusaka away.

Incidentally, the daimyo also gave Fujii Kusaka a task: to give some pointers to the prospective Guardian Ninja who were still studying in Iwagakure when she had time.

On the way back to the village, Fujii Kusaka was somewhat excited about sitting on the Porcelain Platform again.

She really missed her days in Iwagakure; the Daimyo's Daimyo's Mansion was too small.

There are fewer ninjas here than in Iwagakure, and they are not Iwagakure powerful, so she doesn't feel any pressure here.

In Iwagakure, Fujii Kusaka's strength was only average; she wasn't even considered outstanding among Yichen's many disciples.

However, in the Daimyo's Mansion, she was already the strongest among all the guards.

So although she has been practicing diligently recently, her progress has been minimal.

When Fujii Kusaka heard that the Iwa ninja had conquered Kumogakure, this feeling deepened.

Life in the Daimyo's Mansion was far less exciting than in Iwagakure.

She knew, however, that as Guardian Ninja, her sole mission was to protect the daimyo.

War is none of her concern, unless it affects the daimyo.

So, Fujii Kusaka was very excited to be able to go back to Iwagakure, as she had been cooped up for so long.

The daimyo had asked her to instruct other prospective Guardian Ninja in Iwagakure, so she could take the opportunity to stay Iwagakure a few more days.

Fujii Kusaka asked, "Teacher Yichen, how are Haku and Tsuruhime doing?"

Yichen said, "Bai is in the Land of Lightning, currently clearing out the Cloud ninja, but Tsuruhime is in the village, frantically raising her Little Bee."

Fujii Kusaka was somewhat disappointed to hear that Haku wasn't in the village, but she cheered up when she heard that Kamizuru Tsuruhime was there.

Yichen naturally noticed her expression and smiled, "At that time, you can take a team of reserve Guardian Ninja to the Land of Lightning to assist Haku in carrying out the mission."

"Really?" Fujii Kusaka asked excitedly.

"Of course!" Yichen said with a smile.

Only then did Fujii Kusaka remember that Yichen had asked her for something, so she asked, "Teacher Yichen, what do you need my flames for?"

Yichen said, "Decompose the soul!"

On the Porcelain Platform, Yichen explained his and Neji's thoughts in detail to Fujii Kusaka.

Fujii Kusaka was stunned. She had also practiced Yin Release in Katsuya's laboratory.

But her purpose in practicing Yin Release was to better control her flames.

Therefore, her Yin Release level was not high, and she did not notice any Soul Power dissipating when she was using flames to wear down her enemies.

Soon, the two returned to Iwagakure, Yichen led Fujii Kusaka into Katsuya's laboratory.

Neji wait idly in the room; he was currently gathered around Katsuya, Natsuki, and the others.

He is providing insights to those researching the Impure World Reincarnation.

Neji learned some special knowledge about souls through the Giant Reincarnation, which greatly helped Katsuya and the others.

Neji was essentially offering guidance to Katsuya and the others from a position of superiority.

Upon seeing Yichen arrive, Ning, who had finished speaking, stopped, giving Katsuya and the others a chance to catch their breath.

Yichen led Neji and Fujii Kusaka back to the previous room.

Yichen then took out the Shinigami Mask again and said to Fujii Kusaka, "This is the Shinigami Mask I told you about."

Neji again activated the Giant Tenseigan and extracted the Death God from the mask.

Looking at the Death God radiating a powerful aura, Fujii Kusaka swallowed hard; she felt a little flustered.

However, after glancing at Yichen and Neji, she immediately calmed down.

Yichen is a Kage Level expert, and even his junior brother Neji is Kage Level expert. With two Kage Level experts protecting him, what does he have to fear?

So, following Yichen's instructions, Fujii Kusaka began to burn the Death God with flames.

The moment her special flame touched Death God, Death God recoiled a great distance.

Although it wasn't very intelligent, its Hon were still intact, and the flames from Fujii Kusaka caused it intense pain.

Yichen was overjoyed upon seeing this; it was effective!

The fear is that due to the vast difference in strength between the two sides, Fujii Kusaka's flames will be ineffective against the Death God.

However, Death God's reaction shows that the flames still caused it significant damage.

That's enough!

Yichen and Neji exchanged a glance and attacked together, trapping the not-so-intelligent Death God.

Then, Fujii Kusaka's flames quickly engulfed the Death God's soul.

Despite being trapped by the seals and Dōjutsu of Yichen and Neji, the Death God is still struggling fiercely.

But its struggles are undoubtedly futile, and will only prolong its suffering.

As time went by, the sliver of Death God's body was indeed burned away by the flames and disappeared.

Meanwhile, Yichen's Mind's Mind's Eye and Neji's Tenseigan simultaneously saw what they had been waiting for.

Sure enough, after the Death God's soul was burned, some of his Soul Power separated out.

Yichen quickly stepped forward and used the prepared bottle to collect the wisp of power.

Unfortunately, the wisp of power in the bottle dissipated completely in no time.

Yichen frowned, thought for a moment, and then gathered another wisp of the newly separated Soul Power.

However, this time Yichen didn't put it in the bottle, but put it directly into his mouth.

After the Soul Power entered Yichen's mouth, Yichen quickly devoured this trace of power with his own soul.

Power is not much to the Death God, but Yichen still felt a slight increase in his Soul Power.

Yichen was delighted; it had indeed worked. So he gestured for Fujii Kusaka to continue.

Yichen also knew that this kind of absorption might have side effects.

However, Yichen had no other choice but to pursue the path of Five Elements Fusion.

To continue down this path, Yichen must strengthen his soul.

The three of them stayed in the laboratory for an hour. Yichen only absorbed the Death God's Soul Power a few times, and then stopped absorbing it.

Yichen transferred the Soul Power separated from Fujii Kusaka into her own body.

Yichen decided to first strengthen Fujii Kusaka's soul; once Fujii Kusaka's strength increased, her work efficiency would also improve.

However, Fujii Kusaka's soul itself was not powerful; she was full after absorbing only a wisp of it!

Yichen told her to rest and continue the experiment after she had fully digested this wisp of Soul Power.

For the next three days, Fujii Kusaka absorbed a wisp of Soul Power each day.

After absorbing all four strands, she finally succeeded in reaching the level of Elite Jonin.

Fujii Kusaka was still a little stunned that she had advanced so easily. Was becoming Elite Jonin really that simple?

Yichen was also somewhat surprised, but considering that the Death God was close to the level of Sage, he could understand.

Seeing how easily Fujii Kusaka advanced, Yichen wanted to test whether others could also absorb the Soul Power of the Death God.

Unfortunately, most people cannot absorb it, or rather, ninjas whose Yin Release hasn't reached the third stage cannot absorb it.

Only those at the third stage of Yin Release is a type of cultivation technique) like Yichen and Natsuki can absorb it.

Below the third stage, only Fujii Kusaka herself could absorb that Soul Power because it was purified from her own flames.

No one else, not even Neji with the Tenseigan, could absorb it.

However, Neji felt that he should be able to absorb it once his Tenseigan was fully upgraded.

However, by then, he no longer needed Fujii Kusaka's help to purify it; his Tenseigan should be able to purify itself on its own.

After Fujii Kusaka reached the Elite Jonin, her work efficiency indeed improved significantly.

Every day, she would purify a lot of the Death God's Soul Power for Yichen to absorb.

The Fujii Kusaka Death God held out for almost a month before finally being completely burned to ashes.

For the first ten days or so, Death God struggled violently and appeared to be in great pain.

However, for the next ten days or so, Death God remained motionless, presumably because even its remaining intelligence had been burned away.

The soul power generated after Death God is burned is far less than that of Death God himself.

After all, most of their power was burned.

After absorbing this Soul Power, Yichen felt that his Soul Power had nearly doubled.

However, at this moment, Yichen also felt somewhat full.

Yichen felt it was time to slow down, so he sent Fujii Kusaka and Kamizuru Tsuruhime to the Land of Lightning to catch up with Haku.

After Fujii Kusaka left, Neji was finally able to take a break.

While Yichen was absorbing the power of the Death God, Neji was watching over the two as their bodyguard, so Neji was also very tired.

After the two left, Yichen went to the Training Ground next to the Little White Ball Research Laboratory.

This is where Yichen specifically cultivates the Five Elements Fusion.

The Five Elements Fusion is very dangerous, so Yichen specially set up a Training Ground.

Yichen planned to take advantage of the surge in his Soul Power to practice the Five Elements Fusion.

Because of the surge in his Soul Power, Yichen needed something that would severely deplete his soul to train properly.

The Five Elements Fusion is just right.

Yichen's seven-level cultivation method has reached the sixth level.

Yichen had barely completed the fifth level, and couldn't even finish one-tenth of the sixth level.

Now that Yichen's soul has experienced Neji's third fetal movement, it has doubled in size again, and Yichen feels that he will definitely make progress this time.

Yichen first looked at the large amount of data obtained by the Little White Ball Research Laboratory.

He only began the experiment after he had sorted through this massive amount of data.

The first four floors went very smoothly.

Next was the fifth level, and perhaps because the surge in soul power was too great, I was somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Yichen's fifth level didn't progress very quickly; it took quite a while to complete.

Finally, there's the sixth level; we'd only completed one-tenth of it before.

I don't know how much I can accomplish this time.

Then you can see tiny branches extending out from the already dense five-layer frame.

Then, under Yichen's control, these young branches became entangled again according to the data recorded.

Gradually, the frame became denser.

Soon, Yichen had completed one-tenth of the task.

Yichen maintained steady breathing and felt he still had energy left.

So Yichen continued, controlling the fifth layer of the framework to branch out into smaller branches.

One-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths.

When Yichen completed three-tenths of the sixth level, he finally reached his limit.

Because of the trembling of his body, a thin twig went astray.

Chaos ensued immediately, and the entire tightly-knit framework began to collapse.

Fortunately, Yichen had encountered this situation many times in the past and was already used to it. He skillfully repelled the out-of-control Chakra.

Boom! An explosion rang out in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Yichen acted as if he hadn't seen anything, took a sip of water, and resumed his cultivation.

The process was the same as before, except that the second time, Yichen directly reached nearly four-tenths.

Yichen felt that he hadn't reached the limit of his current abilities. It was just that because he had absorbed too much Soul Power at once, his control had decreased somewhat.

So Yichen calmed his breathing and continued practicing.

A few days later, Yichen's progress on the sixth level reached about five-tenths.

This time, Yichen felt he had truly reached his limit. If he continued practicing, he could only rely on improving his Chakra control and proficiency.

Yichen then ended his practice.

Konoha.

While Yichen was focused on cultivating the Five Elements Fusion.

Orochimaru's Sakon Ukon, successfully infiltrated Konoha.

The fact that the four of them were able to infiltrate Konoha was not because they were particularly strong.

However, Konoha's current situation is special.

Since Yichen formulated the Strategic Direction of striking at Konoha's living forces, many Iwa ninja on missions abroad have been specifically targeting Konoha ninja.

Iwa ninja often employ a strategy of overwhelming numbers with fewer members, with several Iwa ninja squads frequently defeating a single Konoha squad.

Although Iwa ninja usually operate covertly, they can only kill one or a few Konoha ninja in a single operation.

However, the Iwa ninja's actions were too frequent. It seemed like many Iwa ninja had nothing better to do than patrol the borders of the Land of Fire.

They would attack any lone Konoha squad they spotted.

Therefore, after summarizing, the losses suffered by the Konoha ninja were still considerable.

The Konoha High-ranking officials reacted quickly. At first, they thought the Iwa ninja were about to launch a major attack, and Konoha urgently mobilized the village's ninja.

They even sent a distress signal to the Mist ninja.

But Kakashi quickly understood the Iwa ninja's intentions.

This is an open strategy by the Iwa ninja. Iwa ninja no intention of launching a decisive battle; they are simply relying on their numerical superiority to wage a war of attrition against Konoha.

The number of Konoha ninja is far less than that of Iwa ninja. Even if the two sides were to fight to a draw, Konoha would still be afraid.

Not to mention that the Iwa ninja, outnumbered the Iwa, suffered far fewer casualties than the Konoha.

Left with no other option, Kakashi dispatched a large number of ninjas to guard the border.

In addition, there are numerous missions within the Land of Fire that require Konoha ninja to undertake.

Therefore, Konoha currently very vulnerable.