Spirit Transformation Technique

Kato Osamu thought he had completely accepted this magical world, but he did not expect an even more astonishing scene to appear before his eyes.

It was dusk in Konoha, and the sky was growing faintly dark.

Near the forest, the entire small courtyard was filled with the faint chirping of insects. This was the Kato Clan's training ground, a place that used to be bustling, but now only had Kato Osamu and the man in front of him.

The man in front of him was missing a leg.

However, his gaze was not on the middle-aged man.

A slight breeze fluttered the wind chimes under the eaves, and the crisp sound seemed to awaken Kato Osamu.

His gaze lingered on the slightly glowing, nearly transparent phantom before him.

Out-of-body experience?

He concentrated and earnestly watched this magical scene, his eyes gradually brightening.

"So this is the clan's secret technique, the Spirit Transformation Technique..."

It seemed that mentioning the name Spirit Transformation Technique always brought a few more measures of melancholy to the man before him, his uncle—Kato Yuan.

Without saying any more, the semi-transparent phantom simply floated up slowly.

The middle-aged man fell silent, and his originally sharp eyes seemed to lose their focus along with the Spirit Transformation Technique.

Perhaps the weather had turned a bit chilly, and the evening wind in the Konoha forest carried a few fallen leaves, passing right through the nearly transparent phantom and scattering them across the ground.

Kato Osamu followed the direction where Kato Yuan's spiritual body was gazing.

That was the mountain peak in the distance—carved with the stone statues of the village's successive Hokage, the spiritual symbol of the entire Konoha.

Uncle Kato Yuan always gazed at that mountain peak in this manner, remaining silent.

Ever since his last younger brother, Dan Katō—the Kato Clan's only remaining viable Jonin—passed away a few years ago, he had become increasingly silent.

"Osamu..., train hard..."

Behind Kato Yuan was a wheelchair. He withdrew his spiritual body, slowly bent his legs, and sat down in the wheelchair, his whole person appearing somewhat thin and frail as he shrank back into the wheelchair.

"Osamu..."

Kato Yuan turned the wheelchair around, facing away from Kato Osamu. He seemed not to know how to speak, only quietly watching and gazing at the empty little bamboo building.

Beneath the doorway eaves, a smiling teru teru bozu was fluttering in the gentle breeze.

Kato Osamu acknowledged softly, walking over to stand behind Kato Yuan to push him back; Kato Osamu's health had never been very good.

However, Kato Yuan pressed down on his hand.

Kato Yuan's hand was very rough, bearing thick calluses, yet it made Kato Osamu feel a special warmth.

"Osamu, you are only five years old..."

His voice carried an inexplicable trembling tone that made Kato Osamu feel something was amiss; he disliked this trembling tone that seemed to carry a hint of sorrow.

"Uncle Yuan..."

"Osamu, live well..., survive..."

Kato Yuan's voice was very heavy, and Kato Osamu silently acknowledged it.

There was now almost no one left in the Kato Clan. Aside from him and Kato Yuan, only his cousin Shizune, who was kept by Lady Tsunade's side, possessed ninja talent.

Princess Tsunade of Konoha had once been the lover of his uncle Dan Katō, but now Dan Katō was dead, and keeping cousin Shizune by her side was already the utmost benevolence.

Beyond that, there were only a few ordinary commoner clansmen in name, while the rest of the ninjas had almost entirely sacrificed themselves on Konoha's battlefields.

Perhaps in the future, other children with ninja talent would emerge from commoner families, but for now, Kato Yuan as the clan head was already a mere title in name only.

The sky gradually grew gloomy, and specks of dim starlight began to slowly dot the starry sky.

"Osamu, you must live well..." The journey back to the room was only a very short distance, yet Kato Yuan kept repeating this phrase.

"Uncle Yuan, don't worry..., I will definitely work hard to survive."

Since I have come to such a magical world. Kato Osamu silently murmured the second half of his sentence in his heart.

Perhaps due to the magic of the Spirit Transformation Technique, or perhaps Kato Yuan's heavy tone made him sense an inexplicable crisis, Kato Osamu spent the next few days devouring the learning of his clan's secret technique without sleep or food.

Although the training to extract chakra had been completed half a year ago, he had not expected that the difficulty of the Spirit Transformation Technique would be vastly different, like heaven and earth, compared to chakra extraction training.

For most people of the Kato Clan, the hardest hurdle of the Spirit Transformation Technique was the 'Spirit Awakening'—a process with no specific operational method, different for everyone, and relying solely on talent to perceive one's own soul.

It sounded like nothing more than an Arabian Nights tale, but to Kato Osamu, it was simple in the extreme. Having already died once, it was hard for anyone to understand the nature of a soul better than he did. Acting almost on instinct, it did not take him much time to complete the first, yet most important, step of cultivation.

"Osamu, you are a genius... A genius in every sense of the word..."

Kato Yuan's gaze was filled with admiration and affection, yet it could not conceal the deep pain within. Watching Kato Osamu, whose figure slowly faded into a phantom and then gradually returned to his body, he seemed to grow even more silent.

He had already explained every detail of the Spirit Transformation Technique meticulously to Kato Osamu. The accumulated experience of the Kato Clan's ancestors over countless years made Kato Osamu thoroughly familiar with every single detail of the technique. As long as Kato Osamu completed the most difficult first step, the Kato Clan's Spirit Transformation Technique would surely reappear in the Shinobi World—provided that Kato Osamu could survive.

The small bamboo building was lit by only a few small lamps, casting a somewhat dim light. Kato Osamu gradually calmed down from the joy of a successful 'Spirit Awakening', seated himself opposite Kato Yuan, and looked up at the still-silent Kato Yuan.

Under the dim lamplight, he could barely make out Kato Yuan's expression in detail, and he always felt that Kato Yuan had seemed somewhat not quite right these past few days.

Perhaps it was due to possessing the consciousness of an adult, or perhaps the fusion and superposition of two souls, that made certain perceptions of Kato Osamu appear sharper than ordinary people.

Kato Osamu did not know whether this was a unique perception he had brought into this world, or some special ability he did not know about that inherently existed in this magical world.

He could vaguely sense some special emotional fluctuations, such as the complexity of Kato Yuan's current emotions.

His mind and soul seemed to churn constantly, like a volcano erupting with scorching magma enveloped by endless ice descending from the sky, a wildness containing violent and hot blood extinguishing unwillingly in the gloomy cold.

The man sitting opposite him, who was only in his forties yet as aged as a man of sixty or seventy, was simply looking at him with a gaze of entanglement and bewilderment, and even a bit of lingering reluctance and pity.

It was hard to imagine that an iron-blooded man who had fought hard on the battlefield for a lifetime would have such rich emotions. His will, tempered in blood and fire like steel, seemed to be continuously tortured by a certain decision, perhaps a passive one.

"Osamu, sometimes we must learn to endure. A shinobi is one who can endure—enduring biting pain, enduring the torture of fate, enduring the loneliness of the soul, and ultimately realizing what one wants to become a true shinobi."

"Although you have been very smart since childhood, you haven't suffered much. Sometimes your thoughts are very peculiar, but sometimes they are also quite naive. Wherever you go in the future, remember to watch your words and actions, think more and speak less about everything, and no matter what you do, putting survival first is paramount."

Kato Yuan paused, as if he hadn't spoken this much in a long time, and as if he had a thousand words to pour out completely at this moment.

His expression was unfathomable. He looked at Kato Osamu, who was sitting upright and listening to him earnestly, seeming to feel that this was a bit too serious, and smiled softly, though such a rugged face smiling made him look even more weathered.

Seeming to think of something, he fell silent again for a long time.

"Osamu, perhaps you don't understand some principles yet, but you must keep these words well in your heart. There will come a day when you understand."

"Yes, Uncle Yuan..."

Kato Osamu knew that something unusual must have happened, most likely concerning him, his future, and his life.

In the profession of a shinobi, no matter what you do, there is always a threat to your life; the only difference lies in whether it is high or low.

The small bamboo building was slightly dim, and the flickering candlelight reflected on Kato Yuan's face, making him look even more aged.

"Those born in the Warring States period have witnessed the chaotic battles of the shinobi clans, as well as the peerlessness of First Hokage Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha."

"Only then can one truly understand that whether it is Konoha or the Land of Fire, or even other major nations and shinobi villages, essentially there is no difference at all. No matter what kind of rhetoric they use, whether it is the 'Will of Fire' or the 'Will of Sand', it is merely a means to rally people's hearts."

"The village is just a product of shinobi clans huddling together for warmth, and nothing more than a tool to maintain rule. You must think about your own will for yourself."

"The 'Will of Fire' is someone else's will. Before you understand your own will, do not easily believe anyone else's will."

"Especially do not throw away your own life for the sake of someone else's will."

Kato Yuan's voice was very low, yet also very powerful, his pair of eyes brimming with pain and confusion.

Kato Osamu looked somewhat surprised at the man before him who had fought for Konoha his entire life.

He knew Kato Yuan had his best interests at heart, which was why he poured his heart out to tell him these "rebellious" words, yet there was always a sense of incongruity present.

It seemed these words shouldn't come from the mouth of a man who had come down from the battlefield, but looking at Kato Yuan's withered, tree-like face, he also felt it was a matter of course.

Only those who had truly experienced the trials of life and death would truly begin to ponder the meaning of life.

Yet inexplicably, a tiny shadow of gloom formed in his heart toward the unfamously met higher-ups of Konoha.

"Uncle Yuan..."

As Kato Osamu wanted to say something, Kato Yuan opened his mouth and interrupted him.

"I realized it too late. By the time I understood these things, Dan had already resolved to become the Hokage, guarding Konoha even if it cost him his life."

"This is understandable in its own right, but I probably also understood the consequences if he truly gained prestige, only before that he had already died in battle..."

"Osamu, I do not oppose any desire to become the Hokage, but I hope that you make this decision truly and genuinely after thinking for yourself, rather than being completely influenced by other people's thoughts before you truly understand this world."

"Establishing an ambition you don't even understand without rhyme or reason, and then throwing away your life in vain."

"Keep these words locked in your heart, but never say them to anyone in Konoha..."

"Osamu, you are sensible, sensible since childhood. You can understand what I'm saying, right?" There was even a hint of pleading in Kato Yuan's gaze.

Kato Osamu did not know why, looking at such an "old man" with eyes full of pleading and sorrow.

A strange and inexplicable indignation seemed to surge and roar within his heart, yet it had nowhere to vent.

He could not help but clench his fists, remaining silent, yet simply nodding dully.

"Mm..."

Seeing Kato Osamu nod solemnly, a trace of a smile finally appeared on Kato Yuan's wrinkled face. He gently stroked Kato Osamu's head and sighed again.

Perhaps he was happy that the Kato Clan had such a junior, and perhaps he was lamenting it as well.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

"Osamu, in the village, there is a place called the Root, which is the ANBU's... training camp. Elder Danzo has decided to recruit you into the Root for cultivation..."

Kato Yuan took a deep breath, his tone carrying a hint of reminiscence and reluctance.

"Once you enter the Root, you must not believe anyone's words, but you must also learn to disguise yourself. You must remember your uncle's words... think for yourself, and above all, the most important thing is to stay alive..."

Kato Yuan's nagging words filled Kato Osamu's heart with a bit of apprehension. He roughly understood that this was no longer something he or the Kato Clan could decide.

No matter how naive he was to the world, he knew that certain demands from violent institutions could not be rejected, even in times of peace.

Let alone just a few years after a war had just ended.

Kato Osamu raised his head and smiled at Kato Yuan.

"Mm, I'll remember it, Uncle Yuan..."

"You must survive..."

Lying in bed and recalling Kato Yuan's words, Kato Osamu stayed awake for almost the entire night.

It was the first time Kato Osamu had heard the name of this department.

He knew about the ANBU; when he had first arrived in this world, he was full of curiosity about it, and because he was so sensible, Kato Yuan had never brushed him off like a child.

Yet he had never known about Root. He roughly understood that this Root organization did not seem to be a good place, and he might even die there...

A person who had died once would only fear death all the more.

Yet when feeling utterly helpless, one could only accept the arrangements of fate.

His eyes were wide open, and his head swayed along with those two gently drifting Teru Teru Bozu on the windowsill.

Kato Yuan had said that the smiling Teru Teru Bozu hanging on the windowsill had been made by his parents with their own hands, though he no longer had the slightest impression of them.

He did not know what hour it was when he finally fell asleep. Kato Osamu's hazy eyes vaguely saw a faint fluorescent glow shining upon the two smiling Teru Teru Bozu, yet no matter how hard he looked, he could not see it clearly.

Konoha in the deep of night was not lively. Only scattered, dim yellow lights remained lit throughout the entire village, as if everyone was enjoying this hard-earned peace.

Far from the center of Konoha stood the small bamboo pavilion, where the night breeze swept right through without carrying much bitter cold. It gently brushed across Kato Osamu's face, setting the smiling dolls on the eaves to swaying softly.