Inside Naruto Uzumaki was a seal, and within that seal resided the Tailed Beast known as the Beast of Calamity—the Nine-Tails, Kurama.
As one of the Tailed Beasts created by the Sage of Six Paths, Kurama had lived for over a thousand years, making it the most experienced being among everyone present.
It could confidently be said there were no true Buddhas or Bodhisattvas in the world—only clay and wood statues.
However, at this very moment, through Naruto’s perspective, seeing Sora’s pure, sacred form, Kurama suddenly wavered.
“…Could Bodhisattvas truly exist?”
Otherwise, how could there be such a warm radiance? Just looking at it made one feel calm and comfortable, like heating in winter or air conditioning in summer.
Kurama steadied itself, ‘It must be some kind of jutsu.’
Shinnou thought similarly.
When he saw Sora adorned like Guanyin, his heart jolted, and his smile froze—but he quickly recovered.
“…Just a Transformation Technique!”
Shinnou sneered coldly, bending into a crouch.
With all Eight Gates of the Eight Gates Released Formation open, his body was like a drawn arrow ready to be fired.
The next moment, he shot forward like a storm toward the delicate flower that looked as if it could be shredded any second.
Sora formed a seal with her right hand, raised a string of prayer beads in her left, and activated one of Sanzomon’s skills: “Infinite Barrage Sutra!”
As her words fell, the prayer beads released one hundred and eight orbs of light, bouncing around like billiard balls before homing in on Shinnou.
Bang!
A light orb struck Shinnou, rebounding off, and Shinnou staggered from the impact, interrupting his charge toward Sora.
Naruto shouted, “Stop! The more you hit him, the stronger he gets!”
Each heavy blow destroyed Shinnou’s muscles, but his Body Metamorphosis allowed them to regenerate and strengthen—making him stronger with each hit.
Just as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”
Sora thought, ‘If he keeps growing stronger like this, combined with the Eight Gates, he might reach the level of Might Guy at full power.’
Since he wouldn’t die from it, it would be—Might Guy: Full Power!
Then perhaps Might Guy Level Two, Level Three, Might Guy God, Blue Might Guy, Autonomous Ultra Instinct Might…
Thinking of this, Sora chuckled silently.
Nonetheless, that was mere fantasy. Shinnou couldn’t even reach Might Guy: Full Power.
“What is happening?” Shinnou was stunned—despite taking heavy hits, he wasn’t growing stronger?
‘Impossible!’
His technique was still operating… Why wasn’t he strengthening?
“I see,” Sasuke realized.
The one hundred and eight light orbs were actually illusions!
Although Shinnou appeared to take heavy blows, he hadn’t been injured at all, so his “get stronger with each hit” mechanism wasn’t triggered.
In other words, his strengthening principle was useless against Sora!
“…” Shinnou, unable to comprehend why his technique had failed, could only try to dodge the incoming orbs.
Despite his muscular build, he was unusually agile, evading while closing the distance to Sora.
Seeing this, Sora raised the prayer beads again, releasing another one hundred and eight light orbs.
Each raise summoned another hundred and eight!
It continued until the main hall was densely packed with bouncing orbs, leaving no space to dodge, sowing despair—this was true “bullet hell!”
“……” Even with a heroic mindset, Shinnou felt defeated.
Seeing the timing was right, Sora activated another skill from Sanzomon: “Butterfly Dream Sutra!”
Inspired by Zhuangzi’s dream of being a butterfly, it manifested the trials Sanzomon had endured and forced the target to experience them.
If Sora had undergone the full Eighty-One Tribulations, she could have made the enemy experience them all.
Unfortunately, she had not yet completed them.
Looking at Shinnou, Sora pondered, “Let’s make you fight Cell. In a way, he’s a result of body metamorphosis, too.”
With her words, the main hall transformed into a desolate wilderness, before the ground was paved with stone slabs, forming a battle arena.
Sora glanced around, ‘This feels like a Reality Marble.’
“What is this…” Naruto and Amaru looked around in shock.
Sasuke scanned the surroundings, deducing, ‘Still genjutsu. But for the target, it might be more than an illusion—more like Itachi’s Tsukuyomi, though capable of affecting multiple people simultaneously.’
Tsukuyomi could only target one person at a time—and couldn’t be “multiplayer.”
“Who are you?!” Shinnou roared from the arena.
Everyone turned to see Shinnou facing a green monster over two meters tall—a humanoid insect.
Cell!
Cell turned and gave Sora a wicked grin. “Didn’t expect we’d meet again, Sora.”
Sora was surprised. “You can even talk to me? Impressive—Zhuangzi’s dream of a butterfly indeed.”
Although this Cell was just a phantom created by Butterfly Dream Sutra, based on Sora’s memory, it acted almost like a real person—It blurred the line between reality and illusion.
This was the true nature of Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream.
“Go, Cell!” Sora commanded like a Pokémon trainer.
Cell lunged forward, engaging Shinnou.
Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat! Defeat!
Eighteen rounds—eighteen defeats!
…Naruto and Amaru couldn’t help but pity the repeatedly defeated Shinnou.
Sasuke, however, was different. He focused intently on Cell, ‘Although it’s genjutsu, that monster feels frighteningly real.’
Watching carefully with his Sharingan, Sasuke noted that every move Cell made was reproducible—this was no ordinary illusion!
On the arena, Shinnou’s fighting spirit was ground away by constant defeat.
Sora ended the Butterfly Dream Sutra and activated Sanzomon’s third skill: “Du Zichun Sutra!”
The Infinite Barrage Sutra came from bullet hell culture.
The Butterfly Dream Sutra came from Zhuangzi’s dream.
That said, what about the Du Zichun Sutra?
Du Zichun was once a dissolute son, hated by friends and family. After squandering his fortune, he met an old man who gave him three hundred thousand coins… which he wasted in two years.
Regretful, he met the old man again, who gave him a million—again squandered.\
Finally, given thirty million—he repented, used the money for charity, and went with the old man to Mount Kunlun to refine elixirs.
To complete the elixir, Du Zichun had to endure illusions—threats from divine generals, hauntings, cosmic disasters, even seeing his wife and son tortured.
He endured everything—until his child was killed, and he cried out, failing the trial.
Thus was the story of Du Zichun.
Sanzomon’s Du Zichun Sutra was a technique that could make enemies realize their conscience.
“Ah—!”
Hit by the Du Zichun Sutra, Shinnou clutched his head in pain.
Over the past fourteen years, he had played the role of the renowned medic Shinnou—a false persona.
Nevertheless, under the Sutra’s influence, that fake personality became real.
The gentle, kind Shinnou overtook his broken spirit.
Clutching his head, Shinnou looked guiltily at Amaru. “I… I actually did such cruel things to Amaru!”
“Teacher?” Amaru gasped in joy and surprise. “…You’re back?”
Shinnou gave a genuine, tender smile.
But he knew—this repentant state wouldn’t last long. Deep within him, the ambition remained, merely suppressed for now.
Eventually, it would return… and he might hurt Amaru and others again.
To a tyrant, people were just numbers.
That said, now, with his conscience awakened, Shinnou could not allow himself to become a monster!
He spoke sincerely to Amaru, “Amaru, Master Sora is right—you must become the true Shinnou.”
Amaru froze, sensing something, and cried, “Teacher… I’ve always liked you!”
A student-teacher love—with an age gap of fifty years at least.
Shinnou gently patted her head, smiling. “Thank you for your feelings.”
Then he turned, retrieved a sealed scroll hidden behind the throne, and handed it to Amaru. “Everything I have is in here. Become the true Shinnou, Amaru.”
Amaru nodded tearfully. “I will—I will become the real Shinnou!”
Shinnou lay down, closed his eyes… and died… this time for real.
Choosing death to prevent his dark side from reawakening and causing further harm—a noble end.
“Uhh…” Naruto cried, touched.
Sasuke glanced disdainfully at Naruto, then at Shinnou’s corpse—even he felt a twinge of emotion.
[Shakamon: 3%]
‘Oh? Another one percent—was this counted as a tribulation? Or was it because it involved me?’
Sora pondered as she canceled her Double Take Over, returning to Sanzomon’s form.
Sasuke looked at Sora, his heart trembling.
A monk who could awaken the conscience of such a sinister man—maybe even Uchiha Itachi could be saved…
‘No, what am I thinking?’
He had to kill Itachi himself—Itachi must die!
Sasuke steeled his heart, suppressing distracting thoughts, and looked at the scroll in Amaru’s hands.
“Hand over that scroll,” Sasuke said.
He wasn’t here to watch dramas. His goal was to retrieve something Orochimaru needed—likely inside that scroll.
Naruto blocked Sasuke, “That was left to Amaru by Uncle Shinnou. Sasuke, I won’t let you take it!”
Sora asked, “Orochimaru seeks immortality, doesn’t he?”
Naruto and Amaru were stunned—why bring that up now?
Even Naruto, king of unpredictability, couldn’t follow this line of thought.
Sasuke stared tightly at Sora, wondering what she was getting at.
Pressing her hand against her chest, Sora said, “This little monk does not lie. Inside that scroll is a power capable of granting immortality.”
She had felt something missing before.
How could a pilgrimage of Eighty-One Tribulations lack the equivalent of Tang Monk’s flesh?
— The end of the Chapter–
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