Two Uses, Evolution

Time flew, and it was already the end of August.

The second semester at the Ninja Academy was about to begin.

Over the past few days, Gojo Yoru had figured out where the black Space-Time Chakra came from and what he could currently do with it.

Just as Sage Chakra is a special energy formed by combining chakra with Nature Energy, Gojo Yoru's Space-Time Chakra was the product of merging Physical Energy, Mental Energy, and Space-Time Power.

Unlike Sage Chakra, which draws external Nature Energy into the body, Gojo Yoru's cells could secrete a special Space-Time Power on their own.

However, Gojo Yoru discovered that only a portion of his cells could secrete this Space-Time Power, and the amount was limited—unlike Physical Energy and Mental Energy, which could be extracted from all one hundred and thirty trillion cells.

Cells don't undergo such changes for no reason. Gojo Yoru's preliminary guess was that there was something wrong with his heart.

The black heart projected in his mind might be hiding some secret.

But if there was a secret, logically, it shouldn't have taken this long to manifest, only to "activate" right when he turned six.

Perhaps it wasn't his heart that was the problem, but rather... the soul that had come to this world!

Either way, neither was something Gojo Yoru could investigate at his current level.

Moreover, Gojo Yoru had a feeling that the premonition of sudden death he'd experienced might just be the beginning, and it would happen again many times.

Through experiments over the past few days, with his current strength, Gojo Yoru had found two uses for Space-Time Chakra.

The first was Phasing. He didn't even need to manifest Space-Time Chakra outside his body; his body could phase on its own.

As long as he formed hand seals to circulate chakra and let Space-Time Chakra flow through his meridians, areas touched by the black chakra could phase locally. If he could spread it throughout his entire body, he could achieve full-body Phasing.

The second was offense, but he couldn't use it to perform ninjutsu—at least, not yet.

He discovered that Space-Time Chakra could be used for attack when he tried to draw the black chakra out of his body using a family heirloom Chakra Blade.

And then...

Armament Haki from the world of One Piece appeared in the Naruto World.

The Chakra Blade in Gojo Yoru's hand had turned into a Black Blade!

And it was an indestructible Black Blade. Unless an object contained a Power of Rules capable of countering Space-Time, no matter how hard, anything struck by Gojo Yoru would be split in two.

Gojo Yoru had tested it himself. Just lightly dragging the blade tip across the ground left a smooth, straight cut through both the bricks and the soil beneath.

Shuriken, kunai, iron blocks, Wood Golems, gemstones... no matter how hard the material, it was as fragile as paper before Gojo Yoru's Black Blade.

With every swing, Gojo Yoru's confidence doubled.

These two uses of Space-Time Chakra were practically a bootleg version of the Dojutsu Kamui.

Although Gojo Yoru currently needed hand seals to mobilize Space-Time Chakra, and it took time to spread it throughout his body—during which he couldn't move—

And although drawing Space-Time Chakra out of his body was extremely difficult, and he could only do it with the Chakra Blade for now, unable to use it for ninjutsu—

Still, Gojo Yoru had more than one way to solve each of these limitations.

Once he overcame these restrictions, he would be invincible in both offense and defense until his Space-Time Chakra ran out!

This goal filled Gojo Yoru with motivation to grow stronger.

September 1st, Konoha Year 30.

As usual, Gojo Yoru got up at six and went out for his morning run.

He didn't abandon physical training or building a solid foundation just because he had awakened a powerful ability.

Uchiha Obito from the Original Work was the best cautionary tale.

Despite inheriting Uchiha Madara's ninjutsu teachings and the Flame Fan, having half his body made of Hashirama Cells, and possessing terrifying amounts of chakra and Dojutsu Power, he could only fight to a draw with Hatake Kakashi when he couldn't use Kamui's Phasing.

Gojo Yoru wouldn't rely solely on Space-Time abilities like that. At least until his Space-Time Chakra swelled to the point he could waste it freely, he would only treat Phasing and the Black Blade as trump cards.

Gojo Yoru didn't have X-ray vision, nor had he mastered a Sensing Technique, so he didn't know the chakra capacity of an average genin.

But in the Original Work, when Uchiha Sasuke performed the Great Fireball Technique, his chakra amount impressed Hatake Kakashi, suggesting that an ordinary genin having enough chakra to execute a C-rank Five Element Ninjutsu was already remarkable.

As for Gojo Yoru, he had already begun training in C-rank Five Element Ninjutsu, and his chakra was more than sufficient to pull off a C-rank technique—effortlessly, at that.

This meant his chakra reserves far exceeded those of an average genin.

This was one of Gojo Yoru's few advantages.

Perhaps because a transmigrator's soul was stronger, or due to the Gojo Family's genes, or even the influence of the "unknown" within him, Gojo Yoru's Mental Energy was exceptionally powerful. Combined with his wealth and planned investment in his body, his chakra reserves far surpassed those of his peers.

By the first grade, his chakra was already greater than that of an average genin.

And Space-Time Chakra made up a third of his total chakra, with an amount that might not be less than an ordinary genin's entire reserve.

Even so, that amount of Space-Time Chakra was far from enough.

Because Gojo Yoru discovered that his cells could only extract this fixed amount of Space-Time Energy. He could draw it again after using it up, but he couldn't break through the current upper limit.

This discovery didn't alarm Gojo Yoru—it delighted him.

Being able to draw it again after use, yet having the amount locked in place—wasn't that just an invisible bottleneck?

If before, Gojo Yoru had doubted whether that sudden death-like sensation would ever come again...

Now, Gojo Yoru was one hundred percent certain that feeling would definitely return.

By then, the cells in his body capable of extracting Space-Time energy would become even more numerous.

When all his cells could extract Space-Time energy, ordinary chakra would be completely replaced by Space-Time Chakra. This ability was a "Kekkei Genkai," and Gojo Yoru might even be able to uncover the secrets hidden within his body.

Thus, Gojo Yoru named that sudden death-like sensation—Evolution!

After finishing his morning training, Gojo Yoru went home and took a quick shower.

In front of the full-body mirror, Gojo Yoru pulled the zipper of his top down to his chest, studying the reflection: a white-haired child in a blue jacket and white shirt, paired with black Bermuda shorts, his face full of baby fat, looking cute and innocent. He tilted his head and grinned. "Kawaii!"

But the moment he turned away, Gojo Yoru's face returned to its usual expressionless mask.

With his hands in his pockets, he walked out the front door and headed toward school.

As he entered the school gate, the students who had seen Gojo Yoru fight or heard of his fearsome reputation stopped in their tracks and moved aside.

Even so, Gojo Yoru didn't let them off.

"Stray Dogs, what are you looking at?"

Locking eyes with those sneaking glances at him, Gojo Yoru said coldly.

"S-Sorry!"

Those ice-blue eyes seemed to radiate a bone-chilling coldness, making the students shudder. They stammered out apologies, then lowered their heads or turned away.

Where the school bully passed, no one dared to come close.