Thud!
Resembling a deafening roar echoing from the depths of an endless starry sky that caused the entire universe to erupt and surge, Kato Osamu's soul felt as though it completely shattered in that very instant, bringing forth an extreme agony that threatened to send his entire body into spasms.
His eyes snapped open.
Aah!!
A painful, long howl seemed accompanied by some kind of special fluctuation, and a massive shockwave rapidly burst forth from the small building.
Small beasts roaming the night were greedily pillaging sweet tubers, yet they quickly vanished back into the brush, squeaking and shrieking in a panicked flight as if they had laid eyes on something terrifying.
An eagle stood atop a giant tree, its sharp eyes reflecting the starlight. With a single flutter of its wings, it streaked across the night sky and vanished without a trace.
What is happening to me...
Kato Osamu regained his wits. His body floated mid-air, and he struggled to keep himself from losing his balance before slowly landing on the ground.
His gaze settled upon that small attic, and he gently pushed open its little door, yet an unexplainable gust of wind whipped up and rushed into the loft.
Inside the small attic were all sorts of items, arranged row upon row on tiered wooden shelves.
At the very top sat mottled blades and swords, orange-red wooden combs on the verge of rot, and shattered pieces of armor. The marks of time upon them appeared profoundly heavy.
On the shelf of the final tier rested merely a few kunai and shuriken.
Kato Osamu could sense that these were all objects that had once contained soul fragments, except that now, they were all slowly turning to ash in the breeze.
The Teru Teru Bozu in his hand proved equally irredeemable as it transformed into drifting sand, slowly scattering through the gaps in his fingers.
As each item completely dissolved, an unfamiliar face materialized before him.
A woman clad in a crimson robe possessed a head of raven-black hair, a man wearing battle armor wore a face full of wrinkles, and a kind-looking old grandmother had three long swords slung across her back...
Their gazes seemed to traverse endless time and space, landing upon Kato Osamu. They smiled faintly before slowly fading away into the breeze.
Kato Osamu bowed slightly toward them...
One figure after another continuously flashed before Kato Osamu's eyes. He did not know their names, nor did he know the experiences they had once lived, yet he could feel the final thoughts they had left behind in this world.
Until Kato Osamu's parents appeared, followed next by Uncle Dan, Uncle Gen...
Only when absolute stillness returned to the entire attic did Kato Osamu slowly snap back from his deep reverie.
When the last person in this world who remembers you also passes away, then the entire universe will no longer have anything to do with you.
Kato Osamu slowly stood up. His gaze fixed straight out the window, and a ball of gloomy soul-fire materialized in his hand.
Sorry, someone is coming...
This fluctuation...
Konoha possessed many great noble clans, among which the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan existed as the absolute pinnacle. Beneath them, the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi had been on friendly terms across eras, serving as the most loyal partisans of Konoha's Hokage lineage.
Specializing in Yin Release, the Nara Clan excelled in the Shadow Technique; specializing in Yang Release, the Akimichi Clan excelled in the Multi-Size Technique; while the seemingly most unassuming Yamanaka Clan shared similarities with the Kato Clan, taking a branch of soul secret techniques—the Mind Body Switch Technique—as the foundation of their family.
The current head of the Yamanaka Clan, Yamanaka Inoichi, had only assumed the position of clan head for a mere two to three years, yet he was already a renowned Jonin of the Yamanaka family.
At this moment, however, Yamanaka Inoichi—who had just fallen asleep—was abruptly jolted awake from his slumber. Regarding spiritual fluctuations and familiarity with the soul, no one in the entire Yamanaka family understood them better than he did.
A soul shockwave had just swept silently across the entire village of Konoha a moment ago...
As the squad leader of Konoha's ANBU Analysis Team, this was not something he could afford to take lightly...
It seemed to come from the vicinity of Training Ground Five...
Tracing the dying embers of the soul shockwave, Yamanaka Inoichi sprinted rapidly toward Training Ground Five.
"Inuzuka Tsume..."
Yamanaka Inoichi confirmed that his perception was not mistaken. On his way to Training Ground Five, he encountered the Inuzuka Clan's Special Jonin, Inuzuka Tsume.
Accompanied by a hound with black fur, Inuzuka Tsume also cast a solemn glance at Yamanaka Inoichi.
"Jonin Inoichi, you sensed it too?"
Inuzuka Tsume exchanged a look with Yamanaka Inoichi, seemingly thinking of something, and the expressions on both of their faces grew a fraction heavier.
"Kuromaru has been howling continuously, as if something is making it restless and uneasy..."
"It's a soul fluctuation..."
"There is a trace of a faint soul fluctuation. Judging by its trajectory, it swept across the entire Konoha Village..."
"I've already sent someone to notify the Hokage-sama..."
The two of them dashed through the treetops, and within barely a dozen minutes, they followed the source right to the Kato Clan's training ground.
A flash of gloomy blue light flickered and vanished into nothingness once more, feeling almost like an illusion.
"This is... the Kato Clan's training ground..."
It seemed like a very long time since he had heard that name, and Yamanaka Inoichi visibly paused for a moment.
"This place should have been abandoned for a long time... shouldn't it?"
"No, that little girl by Tsunade-sama's side is also a member of the Kato Clan..."
The two of them reined in all presence of their chakra and slowly approached the small bamboo building.
"Someone is here..."
Inuzuka Tsume gently stroked Kuromaru's head, and Kuromaru darted into the small bamboo building like a streak of black light. However, its high-pitched barking rang out for a mere two sounds before cutting off abruptly.
"Kuromaru!"
At the sight, Inuzuka Tsume used a Body Flicker Technique and also vanished from her spot.
Yamanaka Inoichi tapped a finger to the center of his brow, linking his consciousness with that of Inuzuka Tsume.
"Who are you people?"
The gloomy blue soul-fire had already obliterated every trace of where the soul fragments had once existed, and Kato Osamu looked toward the woman before him with a hint of gloom.
"Kuromaru!"
The large black hound lay motionless on the ground, causing Inuzuka Tsume's gaze to turn somewhat icy as she locked a fixed stare onto Kato Osamu.
"Tsume! Don't be rash!"
Yamanaka Inoichi's voice echoed inside Inuzuka Tsume's mind, allowing her to calm down a fraction and silently appraise the child before her.
"A fellow disguising themselves as a Konoha shinobi, huh..."
She had never laid eyes on this child before, but to be able to emit such a spiritual shockwave, Konoha surely could not boast any child of the same age capable of doing so.
"I've seen many spies who sneaked into Konoha, but I've never encountered one as bold as you..."
"If I said I wasn't a spy, the two of you probably wouldn't believe me anyway..."
"Ninja registration number..."
Inuzuka Tsume held back, refraining from striking for the time being, though she had already nearly grown certain of this child's identity as a spy.
Kuromaru was familiar with the signatures of most shinobi in the village and would never proactively attack a village shinobi. Looking at Kuromaru lying on the ground, if not for the fact that she could sense the living presence of Kuromaru's breath, she would have already made her move.
Kato Osamu said nothing. He had no ninja registration number.
Inside Root, such things were unnecessary...
"Hmph, brat, you can try resisting, if you want to die..."
Inuzuka Tsume had already locked in her conjecture, and a kunai came hurtling toward Kato Osamu, followed closely by a whip kick imbued with wrathful force from beneath her feet.
"Daring to lay a hand on Kuromaru, you're simply courting death!"
For some reason, Kato Osamu harbored the illusion that he could dodge this. It seemed the movements of Inuzuka Tsume as a Special Jonin were not as ferocious as he had imagined.
Having undergone a wondrous experience akin to some form of heritage inheritance, his reflexes and spiritual power were no longer what they used to be.
"Stop!" Yamanaka Inoichi's voice abruptly resounded in Inuzuka Tsume's mind, causing her movements to stall.
Sensing the shift in Inuzuka Tsume's actions, Kato Osamu shifted his feet slightly. Accompanied by the howling rush of wind, Inuzuka Tsume's shin brushed past Kato Osamu's ear with a distance so fine it was almost imperceptible.
The floor of the small bamboo building was struck by a heavy stomp, sending bamboo splinters flying in all directions.
"Special Jonin Inuzuka Tsume..., stop your hands..."
The Third Hokage's voice inexplicably materialized in Inuzuka Tsume's mind, causing all her doubts to dissolve entirely into reverence.
"This child is named Kato Osamu, and he just registered as a Genin today, which is why he doesn't have a ninja registration number yet..."
"As for the matter of the special fluctuation, I will summon him personally..."
The Third Hokage had not expected that Kato Osamu would stir up trouble the very first day he left Root. He lightly pressed a single finger against the brow of a Yamanaka clan Chunin, operating much like a remote call as two Yamanaka clansmen served as the microphones transmitting the message.
"Understood, Hokage-sama!"
A flash of blue light flickered across Kato Osamu's eyes. He saw that the spirits of Yamanaka Inoichi and Inuzuka Tsume were linked together through chakra.
Meanwhile, Yamanaka Inoichi's spiritual power intensity was extraordinarily high—surpassing Inuzuka Tsume by four or five times over. Once his spiritual energy linked with Inuzuka Tsume's mind, it acted like a signal generator, continuously radiating fluctuations of a certain frequency.
A portable, mobile wireless signal transceiver—in short, a walkie-talkie...
Before you continue