Absolute Poison Valley

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Under the bright moon, several figures darted swiftly through the forest. The woods were deathly silent, save for the rustle of clothing brushing past the trees.

Along the way, Enkō learned the full story from Takuya.

The people of Medicine Hidden Village generally went out to gather medicinal herbs for refining medicine. The rarer the herb, the better the medicine it could produce.

An ancient book in Medicine Hidden Village recorded a place called Absolute Poison Valley, not far from the village. At the center of the valley floor grew a strange fruit containing an incredibly dense life force. Used as a medicinal ingredient, it could produce a miraculous drug capable of extending one's lifespan!

Of course, the fruit was not easy to pick. Not only was the entire valley floor permeated by a mysterious force that prevented outsiders from harvesting it, but a powerful monster also guarded the fruit.

But there was never any shortage of people eager to court death. The more dangerous a place was, the more people wanted to go there. Tian Lao had been one of them in his youth, though he had been lucky enough to return alive.

A week ago, Tian Lao's son, Tian Yuan, had refused to believe it. He led a group of like-minded young villagers on an expedition to harvest the strange fruit. Before they even saw what it looked like, however, the group met with disaster. Everyone had been corrupted by the mysterious force at the valley floor and suddenly became violent and irritable. In the critical moment, Takuya had endured the frenzy in his heart and risked his life to flee Absolute Poison Valley. That was how he ended up returning to the village for reinforcements.

Enkō had not chosen to help out of simple kindness, either. Since he could not persuade Tian Lao, he might as well leave behind a favor and establish a good relationship with Medicine Hidden Village. He could also purchase large quantities of medicine from them in the future.

Thus, Enkō followed Takuya at full speed for roughly two hours. By then, it was already deep into the night. Enkō and the others were fine, but the people of Medicine Hidden Village were not skilled fighters. Takuya had also rushed back for help without resting, and they were now drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. Even so, they kept swallowing pills to replenish their Chakra and gritted their teeth as they pressed onward.

Another half hour passed before Fukuizumi Takuya finally stopped. He pointed ahead and whispered, "Enkō, Absolute Poison Valley is just up ahead. Everyone, be careful!"

Enkō raised his head and looked into the distance. At the end of his sight stood two towering mountains, utterly barren. A fissure lay between them, like a natural narrow passage leading deep into the gorge.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Soon, the group arrived at the entrance to the gorge. A chilling gust wafted over them from within, carrying an exceptionally eerie feeling.

Takuya's expression was grave, and a deep wariness hid in his eyes. He said in a low voice, "Everyone, be careful. The air inside the valley makes people lose their reason and become violent, and none of the medicine we've tried can cure it."

"Hm? Why does that symptom sound so familiar?" Enkō glanced at the Taketori Clan behind him, then activated his Sharingan.

The Sharingan could see the color of Chakra. In the world of Naruto, Chakra was the source of power, so anything capable of disrupting a person's mind ultimately had to rely on Chakra. Yet when Enkō looked at the air above the gorge, he could not help frowning.

"What is that?"

Normally, Chakra was blue, while the Chakra of Tailed Beasts was red. Yet when Enkō looked toward the gorge, grayish-white Chakra filled the sky over the entire valley!

Chikuma asked from behind him in confusion, "Boss, what's going on? Aren't we going in?"

"Something's off." After thinking for a moment, Enkō said gravely, "All of you stay here. I'll go in alone and take a look first."

"How can we do that?" Takuya said anxiously. "I have to go in and save my companions too."

"Yeah, Boss, you're not taking me along again!"

Enkō said coldly, "Give it a rest. Even I can't see through what's happening in there. If you go in, you'll most likely lose your minds like your companions did. You'll only distract me. If I run into trouble alone, I can still retreat."

Takuya shouted, "No! I can't just abandon my companions!"

"Chikuma, keep an eye on him. Don't let him enter. If I'm not out in twenty minutes, leave this place first."

"Fine." Chikuma was still very obedient when it came to Enkō's orders. He immediately had two clan members restrain Takuya and waited where they were.

Ignoring Takuya's shouts behind him, Enkō flashed forward and entered the gorge.

The gorge was dark as night, and the air held a faint chill. Enkō sped forward, while a peculiar Chakra seeped slowly into his body through his skin.

As the Chakra entered him, Enkō could clearly feel the foreign Chakra gradually merging with his own. At first, there was too little of it, so his own Chakra quickly dispersed it. But as more and more entered his body, the balance between them began to shift. An indescribable frenzy rose from the depths of his heart!

"Not good!" Enkō mobilized the Chakra in his body and forcibly suppressed the foreign Chakra while accelerating. Before long, he spotted several figures lying ahead.

Enkō hurried over to inspect them and found that their clothing clearly marked them as people from Medicine Hidden Village. None of them were dead; they had all fallen unconscious. Apparently, they had attacked each other after going berserk, but their combat ability was so poor that even while berserk, they had merely flailed at one another. Rather than killing anyone, they had exhausted themselves and collapsed.

After confirming the situation, Enkō was just about to grab two of them and take them out when the grayish-white Chakra he had been suppressing suddenly erupted. In an instant, it merged in massive amounts with his own Chakra. Enkō's eyes immediately became bloodshot, and the urge to tear everything apart began battering his mind like madness!

Clang—

In the next instant, the Sharingan in his eyes automatically transformed into the Mangekyo Sharingan. Enormous Chakra even began surging around his body, showing faint signs of activating Susanoo!

"Damn it!" Enkō's entire body trembled. He immediately pulled out the medicinal wine Tian Lao had given him, opened it, and took a swig. The moment it entered his mouth, the two rampaging streams of Chakra in his body actually began to calm. His muddled mind also cleared considerably, as though he had been doused with cold water.

"Whew." Enkō gasped heavily, but a storm was raging in his heart. What exactly is this Chakra? It can merge with my own Chakra, but the fusion is incredibly unstable. Once the balance is disrupted, it triggers violent, irritable emotions.

"Wait... fusion... balance..."

Something suddenly flashed through Enkō's mind. It felt as though he had heard those words somewhere while reading the original story in his previous life.

"I remember now!"

In the next instant, realization dawned on Enkō. He looked at the omnipresent gray Chakra in the air. If he remembered correctly, this Chakra was very likely...

Sage Chakra!