Anko experienced no discomfort or pain whatsoever, and even completed the Second Stage with unparalleled comfort, but others still found it unbearable.
After yet another failed experiment, Uya sighed and shook his head.
"It seems that success is indeed not so easy. Anko, you are truly special."
As he spoke, Uya patted Anko's little head, who was standing to the side.
Anko is now quite familiar with Uya and is no longer so awe-inspiring. Instead, she looks up at Uya with a grin and says, "Of course, I'm someone Lord Uya has taken a liking to."
"..."
Uya felt there was something odd about that statement, but she didn't say anything.
Uya refers to this transformation of himself as the transformation of the Sage Body.
If he can complete five consecutive transformations, he should be able to reshape his Sage Body and achieve a physique similar to Uya's, but of course, that's extremely difficult.
Even the Second Stage of transformation only succeeded on Anko, and anything beyond that seemed a long way off.
After the Second Stage, Anko's strength made another leap, directly stepping from near- Jonin to the Jonin. If she weren't so young and had such limited mastery of Ninjutsu, it wouldn't be impossible for her to even possess the strength of Elite Jonin.
Anko's talent was obviously no match for Kakashi's, but after these two stages of transformation, she has surprisingly caught up with Kakashi's pace.
Orochimaru didn't initially care much about his disciple Anko, treating her only as a temporary assistant. However, Anko's two transformations greatly surprised Orochimaru.
He originally wanted to study Anko, but Uya directly warned Orochimaru not to mess with Anko, so Orochimaru had no choice but to give up, feeling somewhat helpless.
Who exactly is Anko's disciple?
In the following period, Uya did not continue experimenting on Anko with the Third Stage, because Orochimaru's research finally yielded results, which Uya was extremely concerned about.
Orochimaru discovered the deepest connection between Chakra and the soul!
Uya had long known that Chakra and soul were connected. The body, Chakra, and soul were absolutely linked. The connection between the body and Chakra was very easy to find, or even unnecessary; it existed on its own.
Needless to say, the body and soul are also interconnected; if the body and soul are no longer connected, then that person is already dead.
However, the connection between Chakra and the soul is always elusive, a lingering thread that is difficult to find. Although some connections can be deduced through the Spirit Transformation Technique, it is still difficult to grasp the core.
Through his continuous research into the Chakra and soul of the Tailed Beast, Orochimaru finally discovered the essential connection between the soul and Chakra!
The soul is nourished by Chakra!
As we all know, once physical strength and Chakra are completely exhausted, it basically means that life has come to an end and death is imminent.
This raises a problem: physical strength undoubtedly represents the body, and exhausting physical strength means that the body has no power.
Chakra depletion simply means that Chakra is exhausted.
But what about the soul?
Why does the soul sever its connection with the body—that is, die—due to the depletion of Chakra and physical strength?
The connection between the soul and the body doesn't need to be studied; the key lies in the relationship between the soul and Chakra. Orochimaru, through experiments, proved that the soul exists within the human body nourished by Chakra.
Once Chakra is depleted and the body loses its nourishment, the soul becomes listless, which is why ninjas who have exhausted their Chakra feel particularly tired.
If physical strength is exhausted, then the soul will completely sever its connection with the body, leave the body, and be summoned by the World of the Dead, which is death.
Just like the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, it uses a part of the reincarnated person's body, plus Chakra, to forcibly summon the soul back from the World of the Dead.
After obtaining Orochimaru's research findings, Uya finally understood many things clearly.
The soul is nourished by Chakra. The way to strengthen the soul is simple: nourish it with Chakra, but it requires a special method.
Orochimaru hadn't studied this special method in detail, but he provided a rough outline. Combined with Uya's ideas and concepts, they quickly developed it.
However, at this moment, Uya also discovered a problem.
His body, Chakra, and soul are perfectly integrated, meaning that his own Chakra can only nourish his soul, not strengthen it.
To strengthen the soul, one needs to absorb Chakra from the outside world.
Furthermore, the Chakra absorbed must be unconscious and cannot possess a soul; otherwise, the two souls will clash, resulting in damage to the soul.
Orochimaru's research into the Living Corpse Reincarnation was due to the forced suppression and absorption of other people's souls, which caused damage to his own soul, leading to his instant death by Uchiha Itachi Genjutsu the original story.
Even if one soul is extremely powerful and the other extremely weak, if they devour each other, they will inevitably suffer damage.
Or to put it simply, two different souls are like water and fire, incompatible; forcing them to merge will inevitably cause the water to evaporate or the flame to be extinguished.
To absorb Chakra to strengthen one's soul, two conditions must be met.
The first condition is to understand the nature of the soul and Chakra, and to possess the method of absorbing Chakra with the soul, which is Secret Technique.
The second condition is that the Chakra must be soulless, unconscious, and Chakra, like Natural Energy scattered throughout the world; it must not possess a soul.
If one could strengthen oneself by simply absorbing the Chakra and souls of other ninjas, then the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, who also understood the mysteries of the soul and Chakra, would have been invincible long ago.
Tobirama Senju certainly understood the mysteries of the soul and Chakra; after all, he was the creator of the Impure World Reincarnation Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, a Ninjutsu entirely built upon the understanding of the connection between the soul and Chakra.
With Hashirama Senju present, Tobirama Senju could obtain almost any experimental material he wanted, capturing Tailed Beast was child's play for him, and his experimental environment was far superior to Orochimaru's. It's not surprising that he possessed so much knowledge.
Finding pure Chakra that is unconscious and soulless requires rather stringent conditions.
Every ninja possesses a soul, and their Chakra cannot be devoured. The same applies to the Chakra of Tailed Beast; Tailed Beast also possess souls.
Chakra with a soul cannot be devoured or absorbed. If it were anyone else, they would probably be at a loss as to how to find soulless Chakra. But for Uya, this was not a problem at all.
Uya knows more than one kind of pure Chakra that has no soul or consciousness!
Whether it's the Dragon Vein of Rōran or the 'star' of Hoshigakure, these should all be free Chakra without a soul.
In other words, all this Chakra can be used to nourish and strengthen the soul. For Uya, a strong soul is the key to breaking the shackles of the body and opening the Seventh Gate and even the Eighth Gate.
Previously, Uya had no idea how to strengthen his soul, break the shackles of his body, and open the Seventh Gate of the True Eight Gates Released Formation. But now, a clear path finally appeared before him!
The power gap in the Hokage world is too large. Uya Shinobi World now, almost surpassing Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha in their prime. However, he is still no match for the Sage of Six Paths and Princess Kaguya Otsutsuki, who are almost godlike beings.
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were both capable of suppressing the entire Shinobi World single-handedly. Later in the original story, the even more powerful Ten-Tails and Six Paths Level appeared, so Uya will never stop; she will continue to advance. (To be continued.)