Night – Uchiha Clan District
In the office of the Clan Affairs Hall, Uchiha Naraku sat on the third floor, where the clan head's residence was located. As he had grown into his leadership role, he now often handled matters of diplomacy and reception, and had moved directly into the clan leader's quarters.
The Clan Affairs Hall had three levels. The first floor housed staff offices. The second floor contained the clan leader's personal office and multiple reception and rest rooms. The third floor served as private quarters for the clan head.
Nearby were several sub-offices—various branch departments under the Clan Affairs Hall—most notably the Security Division's Courtyard. Its third floor included both a lounge and a training room for the elite guards, who often remained stationed nearby as both a rapid response unit and the personal protection detail for the Uchiha patriarch.
At that moment, Naraku was in his bedroom on the third floor, holding the scroll of the Spiritualization Technique, studying it intently.
Since getting off duty from the Konoha Police Force, he had been reading the scroll for several hours. It was already midnight.
The Spiritualization Technique involved relatively complex chakra control, but the hand seal required was shockingly simple: a single "Rabbit" (卯) seal.
Despite the simplicity in form, the scroll bore two ominous warnings written in red ink:
S-Rank Ninjutsu: Extremely dangerous and difficult to master.
Requires innate aptitude. Do not attempt practice without spiritual compatibility.
Naraku analyzed the technique further—it was clearly a soul-based ninjutsu, allowing the user's soul to leave the body. Once detached, the soul could be used for reconnaissance, possession, or even spiritual combat.
Deep within Naraku's body was a foreign soul, previously captured and sealed using his Sharingan's Genjutsu. He confirmed through his consciousness realm that the soul remained dormant and unconscious.
After careful consideration, Naraku decided to attempt the technique.
He formed the Rabbit seal with his hands and channeled chakra in the specific flow pattern described in the scroll. A strange sensation of lightness overtook him.
Then, he opened his eyes—and found himself standing behind his own body, which remained seated in a meditative state, hands still in the Rabbit seal, calm and unmoving.
"Did it work?"
It appeared he had succeeded on the first try.
The Spiritualization Technique was indeed an S-rank jutsu, known for its immense difficulty and risk. Yet Naraku had left his body cleanly and retained full spiritual awareness.
According to the scroll, this jutsu allows the soul to exit the body, become incorporeal, travel great distances, possess enemies, infiltrate their spiritual realm, and crush their mind from within.
It also allows the user to detect the presence of other souls, regardless of barriers or terrain. When used among allies, it could channel chakra to teammates remotely or aid them in battle.
Now in spiritual form, Naraku formed the Rabbit seal again and focused. His perception expanded drastically—he could sense the soul energy of thousands of Uchiha throughout the compound.
Their spiritual bodies glowed faintly blue. He detected eight chakra signatures on the third floor of the Security Courtyard: four on patrol, four resting.
The spiritual form floated effortlessly. Naraku briefly left the building, soaring silently through the night, invisible to both the naked eye and dōjutsu techniques.
After a few moments of drifting in the cold night air, he returned to the third floor of the Clan Affairs Hall and hovered over his physical body.
Aligning himself with it, he formed the Rabbit seal again—soul and body seamlessly reconnected.
Naraku let out a slow breath and dropped his hands. He reminded himself not to casually form the Rabbit seal during combat—accidentally initiating soul separation mid-battle would be… unfortunate.
He thoughtfully rubbed his chin, reflecting on the experience. The scroll's description proved accurate—the technique could indeed attack from afar, unseen and undetectable. However, the scroll also emphasized a number of serious drawbacks:
If the physical body is injured or destroyed during soul separation, the user may die, as the soul cannot remain detached indefinitely.
The soul can be trapped or controlled by sealing or barrier techniques.
If the user attempts to possess a powerful enemy, they risk being overpowered, having their chakra drained, or even becoming trapped in the enemy's body.
Naraku nodded to himself. These limitations were real but manageable. Sealing and barrier techniques were rare and usually possessed only by elite shinobi. As for spiritual dominance, avoiding strong enemies or unfamiliar targets would mitigate that risk.
Overall, the advantages of the technique were significant. Once the soul leaves the body, it can detect distant souls, even those dozens of kilometers away. Marked souls could be sensed from anywhere in the shinobi world.
If combined with the Living Corpse Reincarnation Technique, it could serve as a last-resort escape method—if overwhelmed, the user could abandon their body and take over another vessel.
Naraku glanced back at the scroll, rereading the red warnings.
"S-Rank Ninjutsu. Extremely dangerous to practice."
"Requires innate talent. Not suitable for general use."
Naraku touched his chin thoughtfully. He seemed to possess the necessary spiritual aptitude. Since arriving in this world, he'd never struggled to learn any ninjutsu. His physical and chakra compatibility were clearly exceptional.
Most members of the Kato clan who had forcibly attempted to master the Spiritualization Technique had suffered devastating backlash—souls unable to return, failed possessions, spiritual collapse, death.
But for Naraku, the training had gone smoothly.
He rose, walked over to the Uchiha Clan's Sealing Archive, and withdrew the Uchiha Scroll of Seals. He created a Shadow Clone, instructing it to record the Spiritualization Technique within the archive.
The technique, he noted, could:
Possess an enemy and destroy their soul from within
Remotely assist teammates with chakra infusion
Interfere with or neutralize enemies by attacking their spiritual structure
Yet it could not overcome foes with stronger souls. Naraku knew firsthand—he had consumed a weak enemy soul before, and it remained trapped within him.
He closed his eyes, entering his internal soul world, where the Mist Armor Shinobi's soul still floated, locked within a Dark-Style Hypnotic Genjutsu.
"Sorry," Naraku whispered, "I'll pass on your final wish…"
Then, with a surge of spiritual power, he crushed the soul completely.
For a brief moment, he saw it rise—drifting upward like mist into the void.
---
Meanwhile – Snow Country
Far away in the frozen land of Snow Country, Uchiha Ishi and three fellow Uchiha moved swiftly through the blizzard, cloaks flapping, chakra protecting their feet from the slippery ice.
Their journey had been long and grueling, trekking from the Land of Fire into the harsh, icy realm of Snow Country.
No matter the mission, Ishi silently promised himself: he would never settle in such a frigid wasteland.
"Lord Ishi," one of the younger Uchiha called out, pressing two fingers to his temple in a communication jutsu gesture, "We've contacted Baogui, a survivor of the Artisan Ninja Village. He's waiting for us in the capital."
"Good. Let's hope this trip proves worthwhile."
Though their first stop had been the capital, they initially found nothing of value. It was only after extensive scouting, aided by Ninja Cats, that they discovered remnants of the Artisan Ninjas had been hiding in plain sight—in the very capital they had already passed through.
Now, after an exhausting detour, they returned, hoping their second arrival would bear fruit.
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