Souls had been studied and probed by countless scholars and elite shinobi since ancient times, all in an attempt to lift the mysterious veil shrouding them.
Though no one understood the composition of souls or how spiritual energy affected them, countless outstanding shinobi throughout history had entered the realm of souls in their own ways.
Likewise, Konoha's foremost expert in soul-based forbidden techniques had already died in the Second Shinobi World War.
That also meant no one could discover that an immense force of attraction, invisible to the naked eye, was contending with the legendary Pure Land for ownership of a soul.
After a brief stalemate, the nearly transparent chains were severed one after another. Within the world reflected in reality, the same underworld Pure Land poured forth the power of the world and dragged the naked girl into the Book of the Crimson Moon.
"Success? I actually did it..."
After a long silence, a strange, manic smile spread across Hua Yue's face. He threw back his head and laughed wildly, nearly dislocating his jaw.
"Uchiha brat, what the hell did you do? Why has my well-proportioned, plump body turned out like this, damn it?!"
"What did I do? I merely reversed the direction of the underworld people enter after death. That's all."
Within his inner world, Heart Lake was a brilliant, crystalline blue, its hazy radiance untouched by dust.
Coiled atop the center of the water, the Black Nine-Tails, whose fur had once been glossy and fluffy and whose body had been so plump it bordered on obese, was now so thin it was nearly skin and bones.
"Still, opening the underworld through the Book of the Crimson Moon seems to consume a truly ridiculous amount of chakra. You have nothing to do normally anyway, so think of it