The Hope of the Ninja World 2

Luck Cultivation System? Never heard of it!

The group had initially assumed Uchiha Naro was just spouting the same old nonsense about founding an organization or some "Child of Prophecy" trope, so they paid him little mind. Nagato even considered leaving, but the mention of a brand-new cultivation system caught everyone's attention simultaneously.

"The traditional ninja system relies on chakra," Naro began explaining to the group. "The volume of chakra, the precision of control, the elemental affinities... these all depend on talent and aptitude. Some are born with vast chakra, others with little; some are born able to awaken the Sharingan, while others never will in their entire lives. This system is inherently fair, yet also fundamentally unfair."

He paused for a moment.

"But the Luck Cultivation System does not require chakra. Its core lies in gathering and utilizing the 'Luck' of an entire nation to cultivate."

"Luck?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"A nation possesses land, people, resources, and culture. When these elements converge, they generate an intangible power: Luck," Naro said. "The more prosperous a nation, the stronger its Luck. This Luck can be bestowed upon the sovereign, enhancing their strength and fortune. As the sovereign grows stronger, the nation becomes more powerful, and the Luck flourishes—it is a positive cycle."

None of the three spoke. Although they understood the words, they could not grasp the concept, as this was the first time the term "Luck" had appeared in the ninja world. They understood the characters individually, but combined, they were at a loss.

Seeing the bewildered expressions on their faces, Uchiha Naro felt a headache coming on and could only continue to explain: "To put it simply, 'Luck' refers to the elements that constitute all things in the ninja world, while 'Fortune' refers to the laws of change governing them. When combined, the simplest and most intuitive explanation is a long-term, continuous trend that influences the destiny of a nation, a clan, or an individual."

"You mean you can change the destiny of a nation, a clan, or an individual through cultivation?" As the one among them who read and researched the most, Orochimaru was the first to grasp Naro's explanation. While not entirely accurate, he at least understood the gist of it.

"More or less. The Luck of a nation, a clan, and an individual are all interconnected; no single type of Luck is exclusive," Naro said, relieved that someone could finally keep up with his train of thought. "For example, regarding national Luck, the sovereign can bestow it upon anyone within the nation, enhancing their cultivation speed and combat power. The entire ruling group can benefit from this blessing."

"This... what does this have to do with chakra? We are all ninjas; it is impossible to abandon ninjutsu." Although Orochimaru followed the logic, he did not fully understand.

"Think of it like wind and fire," Naro shook his head. "Chakra is fire—it is personal. Those with talent are strong; those without are weak. Luck is the wind. When the Luck of a village, clan, or nation grows stronger, everyone within it grows stronger as well. Wind and fire are two different elements, but the wind fuels the fire."

"This system gives everyone a chance—even if your chakra talent is poor, as long as the nation you choose is powerful enough, you can receive a strong enough blessing of Luck to become a powerhouse who rivals any genius."

Tsunade frowned: "Doesn't that still depend on talent? The strength of a nation depends on the sovereign and the ruling group. If the sovereign is incompetent, the Luck is weak, and everyone is weak."

"That is why the core of the Luck Cultivation System is not the individual, but the collective. It forces people to unite and build the nation together. One person being strong is useless; only the strength of the entire nation matters."

Tsunade stared at Naro for a long time before finally speaking: "Even if this 'Luck' system of yours is real, what does it have to do with us?"

Orochimaru also nodded, his golden slit pupils filled with scrutiny: "It is indeed surprising that a brat of the Uchiha Clan has created a new cultivation system. But you didn't call us here just to give us a lecture, did you?"

Nagato remained silent, but his gaze conveyed the same question.

Naro set down his teacup and smiled. He knew that having representatives from three major factions listen to his "nonsense" for this long was already quite an achievement; now, it was time to provide some substance.

"Don't be impatient, the three of you. Before I answer that, let me show you a truth—a truth you have all been obsessing over."

He turned to look at Shisui, who was standing behind him.

"Shisui, no need to hide anymore."

Uchiha Shisui nodded slightly, and then, his body began to change. The eye sockets on his handsome face gradually caved in—as if something had gouged them out, leaving only two hollow, bloody pits. Across his face, neck, and hands, hideous scars emerged; some looked like blade wounds, others like burns, crisscrossing in a shocking display.

His clothes also began to change, the dark fabric turning into tattered, blood-stained rags, revealing the lacerated body beneath. Those wounds were still oozing blood, and the dark red liquid trickled down his body, hitting the floor with a faint "hissing" sound.

Most chilling was the aura he exuded—cold, evil, and resentful, like a malevolent ghost crawling from the depths of hell, carrying endless hatred and agony. That aura surged forward, making the very air feel viscous.

Shizune let out a cry, clutching her pig as she retreated several steps, her face turning deathly pale. Tsunade's pupils contracted sharply, and she instinctively took a half-step back. Although her hemophobia had improved significantly, seeing Shisui in this state was still difficult to handle.

Orochimaru's slit pupils narrowed to pinpricks, and the smile on his face vanished completely. He had seen many bizarre things, but this... it didn't look like ninjutsu or genjutsu; it looked like a genuine "ghost."

Nagato's Rinnegan glowed faintly as he stared at Shisui, seemingly deep in thought, while Konan, standing behind him, had already placed her hand on a kunai, paper flowers fluttering around her.

"This... this is..." Tsunade's voice was tight.

"This is Shisui's true form," Naro said, his voice calm, as if stating a mundane fact. "An evil spirit. After death, his resentment did not dissipate; instead, it continuously absorbed more, eventually turning him into a malevolent ghost. His eyes were gouged out, his body covered in fatal wounds—he died a miserable death."

Shisui stood behind Naro, motionless, his two hollow eye sockets facing the three of them. That evil aura continued to pour from him, so thick that everyone could see wisps of black mist rising from his body, causing everyone present to feel a wave of discomfort.

"He died long ago, heavily wounded after being ambushed and besieged by Shimura Danzō," Naro said. "It was I who used the Luck of the Uchiha Clan to keep his soul by my side. Otherwise, his soul would have long been sucked into the Pure Land and turned into someone else's puppet."

"An evil spirit? Luck? You can actually do such a thing?" Orochimaru's voice was raspy; he was now extremely interested in Uchiha Naro's method of cultivation!

"When Luck cultivation reaches a certain level, it can interfere with the netherworld." Naro stood up, walked over to Shisui, and patted him on the shoulder. Shisui's true spirit form slowly reverted to the appearance of a normal person; the hollow eye sockets returned to his handsome face, and the scars vanished.

Yet, that evil aura still lingered in the air, refusing to dissipate.

"The Canonization Technique," Naro said. "Through the blessing of Luck, the souls of the deceased can be kept in the human world in the form of 'Spirits.' While they cannot fully act like the living—for instance, they cannot eat—they are at least not bound by the Pure Land, nor can they be exploited by the person behind the scenes."

"The person behind the scenes?" Tsunade had completely shaken off her hemophobia. She was now extremely curious about Shisui's existence, and her mind, reverting to her Sannin-era sharpness, immediately latched onto the implication in Naro's words. "What do you mean?"

Naro nodded inwardly at Tsunade's question and continued to explain to the group, "Before I answer that, I want to ask Senior Orochimaru a question."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow: "What question?"

"You should have already developed the Impure World Reincarnation, right?"

Orochimaru's expression flickered slightly. The Impure World Reincarnation was a forbidden jutsu proposed by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. In theory, it could summon the souls of the dead from the Pure Land and bind them to living bodies, allowing the deceased to be resurrected. He had indeed researched this jutsu and had even successfully conducted experiments.

"How did you know?" Orochimaru didn't admit it, nor did he deny it, instead countering with a question of his own.

"A guess." Naro nodded; Orochimaru's counter-question had already revealed much. "You are interested in all forbidden jutsus; it is impossible that you wouldn't have researched a jutsu as significant as the Impure World Reincarnation. And judging by your reaction, you must have already succeeded, right?"

Orochimaru neither denied nor confirmed it, but his silence was the best answer.

"Then let me ask you another question. Those people you resurrected with the Impure World Reincarnation—do they have memories of the Pure Land? Do they know what they experienced there?"

Orochimaru was stunned. He had never paid attention to such trivial details. He began to recall the experiments he had conducted—the people he resurrected did indeed possess their memories, personalities, and combat abilities from when they were alive.

However... regarding memories after death, regarding everything about the Pure Land, he had never asked, and they had never mentioned it—everyone resurrected via the Impure World Reincarnation only had memories from before their death. They knew they had died and been resurrected, but what happened in between, no one ever said, as if that period of time was completely stagnant for the soul.

"No," Orochimaru said. "They seem to have no experience of the Pure Land; they don't remember anything about it."

Naro nodded and said, "That is the problem."

He turned to the three of them, his voice turning serious.

"In the process of researching the methods of destiny, I discovered something extraordinary—the cycle of reincarnation in the ninja world has gone wrong."

Tsunade frowned. Uchiha Naro had once again brought up a theory they knew little about, so she asked directly, "Reincarnation? What exactly do you mean by that?"

Looking at the five people before him, Naro sighed in front of everyone for the first time, lamenting the lopsided and restricted nature of knowledge in the ninja world.

"You should go back and pay more attention to the history of the ninja world to understand it. Ninjas did not exist in the ninja world from the very beginning. Before ninjas, the ninja world actually practiced the Yin-Yang Way. Even now, the ninja world retains some legacies and ruins of the Yin-Yang Way; even the Sage Art cultivation of the Three Great Sage Regions you know of originates from the Yin-Yang Way."

"In the theories of the Yin-Yang Way, after a person dies, the soul has two choices—those who practiced the Yin-Yang Way would have their souls go to the divine realm of the deity they worshipped to continue their cultivation, while ordinary people would go to the Netherworld, undergo certain procedures, and then be reincarnated to welcome a new life. This is the law of heaven and earth, existing since ancient times."

Naro paused, allowing everyone time to digest this buried history.

"But now, this law has been broken. The knowledge of the Netherworld has been buried, replaced by a place called the 'Pure Land.' After a soul enters the Pure Land, it does not reincarnate; it is forcibly kept there, slowly worn away over endless years. As for what the master of the Pure Land does with these souls, I do not know, nor do I wish to know."

As the group digested the significance of reincarnation, they immediately sensed something wrong the moment Uchiha Naro mentioned the Pure Land, and their expressions shifted.

"You think the Pure Land has a master?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, his voice low. Among those present, he was the one who had studied death the most, and he was also the one who most wanted to escape it.

"Yes." Naro nodded, confirming Orochimaru's question. "And that master's power is far beyond ours. He controls the souls of all the dead; the entire reincarnation of the ninja world is held in his hands alone."

"That's impossible..." Tsunade instinctively retorted. "Who could possibly control what happens after a person dies?"

"Tsunade-sensei, you must have seen the Second Hokage's Impure World Reincarnation." Naro looked at Tsunade, who was still clinging to a shred of hope, and used the most intuitive example to shatter it. "What is the essence of that technique? It is pulling a soul back from the Pure Land. If the Pure Land has no master, why is there a 'place' specifically for storing souls? If no one is in control, why can't those souls return on their own?"

Tsunade opened her mouth, wanting to continue her rebuttal, but Uchiha Naro raised a hand to stop her and continued with his examples: "Your grandmother was of the Uzumaki Clan; she must have known a forbidden technique of the Uzumaki Clan—the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Even if your grandmother never mentioned it to you, Kushina, the mother of Naruto, should have spoken to you about it. Just as recorded in this forbidden technique, not long ago, Uchiha Fugaku used this technique to summon the Death God and seal the hands and eyes of Shimura Danzō."

"So, Tsunade-sensei, have you ever heard of the Death God in the history of the ninja world? The history of the ninja world you study is compiled from the oral traditions of various clans; many things have been colored by the subjective thoughts of the narrators and have long since lost much of the truth. I recommend you go to the feudal lords of various countries and look at their collections; they rarely experience clan extermination or the severance of their heritage."

"Moreover, in the process of seeking the truth, I discovered other things." Seeing that Tsunade remained silent, Naro continued back to the previous topic.

"Right now, in the entire ninja world, only the souls of two people can reincarnate. One constantly reincarnates into the Uchiha clan, and the other constantly reincarnates into the Uzumaki or Senju clans. The recent reincarnations are..."