Sasuke's wild theories! Was this the realm of gods?

"Shengu Xuan... what exactly did you just use?!"

Sasuke's voice broke the silence of the woods. His Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly in his overwhelming excitement, locked firmly on Shengu Xuan as though he wanted to see straight through him, inside and out!

It wasn't just Sasuke. Kakashi and Naruto, and even Sakura off to the side, all focused their eyes on Shengu Xuan.

They had all seen that unbelievable scene.

One second, Shengu Xuan had been coughing up blood, injured from imitating Naruto's crude way of using chakra.

The next, a white light had flashed, and every abnormality in his body had vanished without a trace. His aura was even stronger and more harmonious than before his injury!

That instantaneous self-healing ability, nothing short of a "miracle," had once again dealt a crushing blow to their understanding of the world!

Medical ninjutsu?

Kakashi was the first to reject that idea inwardly.

The most skilled medical ninja, such as Lady Tsunade, could perform "Creation Rebirth" without hand seals, but even that consumed enormous amounts of chakra and life force to stimulate rapid cell division and achieve healing. There was a process, and there was a price!

But what had Shengu Xuan just done?

No expenditure, no price. As though with a mere thought, the very concept of "injury" had been "erased" from his body!

How similar that was to the Horse-no, the Dragon Talisman erasing Gozu earlier!

One governed "destruction," and the other "rebirth"?

Just how many godlike authorities... was this boy still hiding?!

"Oh? You mean this?"

Looking at their ghost-stricken expressions, Shengu Xuan was overjoyed inside.

He raised a hand and wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, though the Horse Talisman had long since healed him completely and no such trace remained, then gave an inscrutable smile.

He decided to give these poor "mortals" another little "shock."

"This isn't any special ability." Shengu Xuan's tone was as casual as if he were discussing something utterly trivial. "It's merely a... basic application of my own energy."

"A basic... application?" Kakashi's mouth twitched hard.

Instantly healing internal injuries counted as a basic application? Then what did that make the medical ninjutsu we ninja worked so hard to practice? Playing house?

"That's right." Shengu Xuan nodded. He glanced at Sasuke, who was still struggling to puzzle out "sealless ninjutsu," and decided to give him a little more material.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you thought my power came from 'sealless ninjutsu,' didn't you?"

"Doesn't it?" Sasuke immediately countered, his eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge. To him, "sealless ninjutsu" was already the only theory that could explain Shengu Xuan's inconceivable power.

"Yes, but not entirely," Shengu Xuan said, deliberately mysterious.

"Sealless ninjutsu is still, at its core, the 'control' and 'shaping' of the energy known as 'chakra.' That's only the first realm, the level of 'technique.'"

"Above that lies an even higher realm."

Shengu Xuan extended a finger and pointed at his own heart.

"Control over 'life' itself."

"When you can clearly sense the breathing of every cell in your body, hear the sound of your blood flowing, and touch the contours of your soul..."

"You'll discover that so-called 'injuries' are nothing more than a faint note of 'discord' in your body's internal energy circulation."

Shengu Xuan opened his hand. A gentle white light formed from the Horse Talisman's power swirled in his palm.

"And 'healing' isn't some profound ninjutsu, either. It's simply... gently erasing that discordant note. Returning your body to its most original, most perfect state of 'harmony.'"

"That's all."

Shengu Xuan's "twisted reasoning," steeped in the air of a charlatan, left Naruto and Sakura utterly bewildered. They couldn't make head or tail of it.

"What breathing cells... what contours of the soul... what riddles is this guy spouting now?!" Naruto clutched his hair, feeling as though his brain were tying itself in knots.

Kakashi looked just as lost. He felt that the wealth of knowledge he took such pride in was a joke before Shengu Xuan. He understood every word Shengu Xuan said, but once they were put together, he couldn't understand a thing.

Sasuke's reaction, however, was entirely different!

After hearing Shengu Xuan's words, his body jolted violently!

The two tomoe in his Sharingan spun wildly at an unprecedented speed!

An unprecedented, dazzling light exploded through his mind!

"I... I understand..."

Sasuke's voice shook violently and uncontrollably. An entranced fervor appeared on his face, as though he had glimpsed the realm of gods!

"I understand! I understand completely!"

"Hey, Sasuke, what do you understand?" Naruto was startled by the look on his face.

"Control! Absolute control!" Ignoring Naruto, Sasuke stared fixedly at Shengu Xuan, his voice turning shrill with excitement. "My understanding was far too shallow!"

"I thought the pinnacle of 'sealless ninjutsu' was perfect control over chakra! But I was wrong! Completely wrong!"

"In the end, chakra is just a 'tool' extracted from physical and spiritual energy! All this time, we've only been learning how to use a 'tool'!"

Sasuke pointed excitedly at his own body.

"But Shengu Xuan has taken an entirely different path! He bypassed the 'tool' to directly control the 'source' that produces it-our bodies and minds themselves!"

"Sense every cell! Listen to the blood flowing! Touch the contours of the soul!" Sasuke fervently repeated Shengu Xuan's words. "That's true 'control'! Operating your own body as the most precise 'instrument'!"

"That's why he can instantly unleash ninjutsu with world-destroying power! His body itself is a perfect ninjutsu launcher, with no need for 'external assistance' like hand seals!"

"That's why he can heal himself instantly! With his perfect 'internal control,' so-called 'injuries' can be 'recalibrated' with a single thought!"

Sasuke's "ultimate flight of imagination" left even Kakashi dumbfounded.

Operating the body as a precision instrument? Controlling every cell?

Was... was that really something a human could do?

That sounded ten thousand times more absurd than "sealless ninjutsu"!

But... Looking at Shengu Xuan's expression, neither confirming nor denying it, tacitly accepting it, Kakashi felt his understanding of the world teeter once again.

Could... could this be the truth?

Was this the... realm of gods that those two "geniuses," Sasuke Uchiha and Shengu Xuan, could see, but that a "mortal" like me couldn't comprehend?

Watching Sasuke's fervent expression of enlightenment, Shengu Xuan was laughing so hard inside that he nearly cramped.

This kid really is a genius at dreaming things up.

I just made up a few things offhand, and he actually constructed such a complete, "reasonable" training theory all on his own.

What a talent.

"Perhaps." Shengu Xuan gave an ambiguous reply and shot Sasuke a look that said, "You show promise."

Then he stopped paying attention to these mortals he had thoroughly hoodwinked and began testing his newly acquired power on his own.

He walked to the river and extended his hand, gathering the Dragon Talisman's power in his palm.

But this time, no world-destroying fire dragon appeared.

Instead, it was a crimson energy ball... only the size of a fingernail, compressed to the utmost.

Pfft.

With a light flick, he sent the energy ball shooting into the river far faster than a bullet.

There was no explosion, no thunderous noise.

The instant the energy ball entered the water, the river water within a one-meter radius vaporized, forming a momentary vacuum cavity!

Precision!

Absolute precision!

Under the influence of the Horse Talisman's divine healing authority of "returning to harmony," Shengu Xuan discovered that he had gained an entirely new, far more delicate control over the violent power of the Dragon Talisman within him!

He was no longer merely a brute who hurled bombs around.

Now, he could become a... god who toyed with the art of explosions!

He tried summoning the Shadowkhan again.

This time, he didn't summon an army of hundreds or thousands.

He summoned only one.

After appearing, that Shadow Ninja's body began to writhe and transform like liquid.

It first became a sharp kunai, then a sturdy shield, and finally even turned into a... crow that spread its wings and flew into the sky. After circling once, it landed again and returned to human form.

"So that's how it works..." Shengu Xuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

The Shadowkhan aren't merely soldiers.

They're manifestations of the very concept of "shadows," possessing endless possibilities for transformation!

Watching Shengu Xuan casually manipulate those powers that could drive any ninja to despair as though he were playing with toys, the fervor in Sasuke's eyes reached its peak!

"Do you see... Kakashi-sensei..." Sasuke's voice was restrained yet excited. "This is the power of 'control'! Holding power in the palm of your hand and toying with it! This is... the realm I should pursue!"

With that, Sasuke hesitated no longer. He abruptly turned and charged into the depths of the forest!

"I'm going to train! Until I can 'sense' my own cells, I won't rest!"

Watching Sasuke's retreating figure, as though he had gone mad, Naruto looked utterly baffled. "What's gotten into him this time?"

Kakashi shook his head with a wry smile and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Naruto, you should go too. You might not reach the level Sasuke described, but working hard on your chakra control certainly can't hurt."

"Oh... okay!" Though Naruto still didn't really understand, he felt that sense of urgency too and once again began his desperate tree-climbing training.

Watching it all, Shengu Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

Good. The helpers are all motivated now.

I can wait for the next "surprise" in peace, too.

He raised his head and looked up at the sky, his gaze growing deep.

The Dragon Talisman, the Horse Talisman, the Shadowkhan...

What would come next?

As he pondered, he suddenly felt a strange, burning throb in his eyes.

As though something were about to break free of its cocoon at the far end of his vision.

[Ding!]

[Detected a wondrous resonance between the explosive divine authority of the "Dragon Talisman" within the host and the host's "vision"!]

[New ability activation conditions met!]

The corners of Shengu Xuan's mouth once again rose wildly.

"Vision... resonance?"

"Could it be..."