Hanzō withdrew with Amegakure’s shinobi.
Orochimaru began gathering the wounded and gradually pulling Konoha’s forces out of the Land of Rain.
Neither side declared victory or defeat.
They simply acted according to the unspoken understanding between them.
Inside the camp, Nawaki was the most depressed person of all.
Once again, he had been the one who needed saving.
After witnessing the true cruelty of war, he finally understood why Tsunade had been so strongly opposed to letting him come to the battlefield.
This place was nothing like what he had imagined.
Out of tens of thousands of shinobi— only a dozen or so powerful figures would ultimately make names for themselves.
Everyone else would become stepping stones beneath their fame, crushed beneath the waves of the era.
“What’s wrong?
Depressed?”
After finishing with the wounded, an exhausted Tsunade walked into the tent.
Nawaki remained silent.
Tsunade smiled instead.
Learning to fear and respect the battlefield was a good thing.
“Before, whenever I refused to let you come, you acted like I was ruining your life.”
She ruffled his hair.
“Get some sleep, little brother.”
There were too many wounded, so Konoha’s withdrawal wasn’t particularly fast.
But information about the final battle had already begun spreading.
First— the Second Shinobi World War was officially over.
The war had come quickly and ended just as quickly.
None of the major nations had suffered truly catastrophic losses.
More than anything, the entire conflict had felt like an enormous probing contest.
Perhaps that was precisely why the Third Shinobi World War would arrive so soon afterward.
Next came the name of the Sannin.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade had finally become famous throughout the shinobi world.
Although Tsunade didn’t seem particularly fond of the title.
And finally— there were Shikatoki and Minato.
Minato received the title Yellow Flash ahead of schedule.
Shikatoki, meanwhile, gained a title of his own—
Shadow Sovereign.
The reputations of the two, however, couldn’t have been more different.
Minato was easy to judge.
After Tobirama Senju’s death, he was the only known user of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
His defining trait was simple— speed.
The fastest.
Shikatoki’s reputation, on the other hand, was much less flattering.
Based on the ninjutsu information currently available to the public, whether it was his Shadow Imitation Technique or his fūinjutsu, every technique he possessed seemed absurdly devious.
There were even rumours circulating that if you encountered Shikatoki alone— you should simply run.
Well…
That was a form of deterrence too, wasn’t it?
At the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire—
“Jiraiya, have you lost your mind?”
Tsunade stared at him in disbelief.
“You’re staying in the Land of Rain?”
Orochimaru also looked toward Jiraiya.
“Your injuries haven’t completely healed yet.”
“You should return to Konoha first.”
“You can decide what to do once everything settles down.”
Jiraiya grinned confidently.
“Hehe.”
“Tsunade, Orochimaru, I’m almost completely recovered.”
“And now that the war is over…”
“It’s time for me to search for the Child of Prophecy.”
“You don’t have to stay in the Land of Rain to do that!”
Tsunade couldn’t understand his reasoning.
“Call it intuition.”
Jiraiya murmured.
Then he handed Minato a scroll.
“Sorry, Minato.”
“Looks like I won’t have much time to teach you.”
“This is the summoning contract I promised you.”
“Just sign your name.”
Minato accepted the scroll without blaming Jiraiya in the slightest.
“Thank you, Sensei Jiraiya.”
“Alright.”
“I’m off.”
With his back to everyone, Jiraiya raised a hand and waved.
Free and unrestrained as ever.
Shikatoki remained calm.
He had originally thought Jiraiya might never meet Nagato and the others this time around.
So this was how fate would bring them together instead?
Thinking back on everything that had happened during the war, Shikatoki looked into the distance.
“Big Sis Tsunade.”
“I’m not going back either.”
Tsunade stared at him in disbelief.
“You’re staying in the Land of Rain too?”
“Of course not.”
Shikatoki shook his head.
“I’m going to Yugakure.”
“What are you going there for?”
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
“Hot springs?”
“To become stronger.”
Shikatoki’s expression was serious.
Tsunade fell silent.
Eventually, she nodded. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“Alright.”
“I’ll explain things to the old man.”
“Come back soon.”
“Mm.”
After separating from the group, Shikatoki didn’t rush.
The Land of Rain was still quite a distance from Yugakure.
He travelled at a leisurely pace, stopping from time to time to take in the scenery.
The war was over.
It felt as though the entire world had suddenly slowed down.
Without even realising it—
Shikatoki found himself back at Uzushiogakure.
The village was still nothing but ruins.
The surviving Uzumaki had officially joined Konoha, so Uzushiogakure had naturally been abandoned.
Walking through the wreckage, Shikatoki couldn’t help feeling emotional.
“I still don’t understand why I was willing to risk my life back then.”
Eventually, he reached the Uzumaki Clan’s Mask Storage Temple.
Shikatoki stopped.
There was a particular mask here.
The very mask Orochimaru would one day use to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
The mask belonging to the Shinigami.
Curious, Shikatoki picked it up.
The Skill Editor suddenly reacted.
[Special Item detected.
This item can be converted into a Template.
Convert?]
“A Special Template?”
Shikatoki glanced around.
He put down the mask and picked up another one nearby.
This one was cracked.
The Skill Editor gave no response.
“Is it because this mask is damaged?”
“Or because the god it represents doesn’t actually exist?”
Shikatoki couldn’t figure it out.
Eventually, he picked up the Shinigami Mask again.
“Might as well try.”
Shikatoki made his decision.
“Convert!”
The moment he gave the command— the previously clear sky instantly darkened.
Cold, eerie winds swept through the surroundings.
The waves along the shore began churning violently.
“This much commotion?”
Shikatoki cautiously looked around.
The next instant— an enormous spiritual figure appeared.
White hair.
White robes.
A towering body.
A short blade clenched between its teeth.
Shikatoki’s eyes widened.
“Isn’t that the damn Shinigami from the Dead Demon Consuming Seal?!”
“Holy shit!”
“System, don’t screw me over!”
The Shinigami stared directly at Shikatoki.
A chill spread through his entire body.
He couldn’t move.
It felt as though his soul might be ripped from his body at any moment.
Then— something completely unexpected happened.
The weakened Shinigami let out a miserable wail.
Under Shikatoki’s disbelieving gaze, enormous amounts of energy were forcibly extracted from its body.
The Shinigami visibly shrank.
Its expression also became much more wary.
Just before disappearing, it gave Shikatoki one final look— as though committing his face to memory.
[Conversion complete.
Please inspect the result yourself.]
“Holy crap!”
“This Editor is that powerful?”
“It just robbed the Shinigami to its face?!”
Remembering the Shinigami’s final stare, Shikatoki shuddered slightly.
“I think I just got marked by the God of Death…”
But what was done was done.
Shikatoki opened the Skill Editor.
Beneath the ordinary Template section— a new category had appeared.
Special Templates.
There was only one entry inside.
[Special Template: Shinigami]
[Shinigami: Unique Template.
Grants the ability to inflict soul damage.
Once added, this Template cannot be removed.]
“Soul attacks!”
Souls unquestionably existed in the Naruto world.
The Scroll of Seals even contained the Spirit Transformation Technique, which could directly interact with and attack souls.
Fundamentally speaking— being able to damage the soul was anything but ordinary.
“Well, this turned into an unexpected adventure.”
Shikatoki abandoned his travel plans for the moment.
He found a clean place to sit and immediately began experimenting.
“What happens if I add it to Shadow Imitation Technique: Modified Version?”
[Shinigami — Compatibility: Extremely Low: When a shadow dies, it will inflict soul damage upon the enemy.
However, activation requires consuming the host’s soul.
Adding this Template is not recommended.]
“Not chakra or natural energy?”
“Nope!”
Shikatoki rejected it immediately.
In the original story, Orochimaru repeatedly changed bodies, damaging and weakening his soul in the process.
That was also why he became extremely vulnerable to genjutsu.
“What about my Sealing Technique?”
[Shinigami — Compatibility: Extremely Low: Allows the host to directly seal an enemy’s soul.
However, activation requires consuming the host’s soul.
Adding this Template is not recommended.]
“Then that only leaves Sage Mode.”
[Shinigami — Compatibility: Extremely High: Perfectly compatible with natural energy.
Grants true mastery over the power of the soul.]
“What else is there to think about?!”
Shikatoki’s face lit up.
“This is the one!”
[Template successfully added.]
[Sage Mode: Automatically absorbs natural energy and gradually replaces chakra with it.]
[Added Template:]
[Shinigami: Grants mastery over the power of the soul.]
Shikatoki suddenly felt something within him— a power that seemed as though it had always belonged to natural energy itself— returning to its rightful place.
Energy originating from the soul surged continuously through his body.
Shikatoki immediately sat cross-legged.
He had no idea how much time passed.
Eventually— his eyes opened.
“Damn, I feel refreshed!”
He stood and stretched.
A small bird happened to land nearby.
Shikatoki reached out and caught it.
But now— he didn’t only see the bird itself.
He could also see its soul.
Curious, Shikatoki tried gently pulling on it.
It actually moved.
“If I change the shape of the soul…”
Almost instinctively, Shikatoki altered it.
The bird immediately let out a miserable cry.
Its physical body began changing along with the shape of its soul.
Shikatoki was so startled that he immediately restored the bird’s soul to its original form.
“Holy crap!”
“Isn’t this basically Mahito’s Idle Transfiguration?!”
“I better not turn myself into some freak like that bastard!”
Shikatoki continued testing soul-based attacks.
He soon discovered that chakra couldn’t mobilise soul power at all.
Only natural energy could.
Adding soul damage to an ordinary attack didn’t consume too much energy.
But directly altering the shape of a soul— that was considerably more expensive.
“Another top-tier ability.”
Shikatoki grinned.
“Now, onward to Yugakure.”
He stepped onto the surface of the water and followed his map toward Yugakure.
Uzushiogakure wasn’t particularly far from the village.
Roughly half a day later—
Shikatoki arrived at Yugakure.
There were surprisingly many people inside the village.
The streets looked lively and prosperous.
That caught Shikatoki off guard.
He casually approached a nearby stall.
“Bro, Yugakure looks like it wasn’t affected by the war at all.”
The stall owner glanced at him.
“What do you mean, not affected?”
“Things were pretty bad when the Second Shinobi World War first ended too.”
“But it’s already been more than a year.”
“With all the hot springs here, Yugakure has finally recovered.”
Shikatoki froze.
“The war ended more than a year ago?”
“Yeah.”
The stall owner looked at him strangely.
“Young man, are you not from anywhere near the Five Great Nations?”
Shikatoki nodded.
“Thanks for telling me.”
He wasn’t stupid.
He quickly understood what had happened.
“So I spent an entire year in the ruins of Uzushiogakure?”
“Seriously?!”
Shikatoki genuinely hadn’t noticed the passage of time at all.
Then again—
Uzushiogakure had remained a wasteland the entire time.
There had been nothing there to help him notice the changing months.
“Forget it.”
“A year isn’t unreasonable.”
“I gained control over soul power, after all.”
Shikatoki stopped dwelling on it and began observing Yugakure.
There really were a lot of people here.
Not only civilians and merchants—
Shikatoki also spotted several shinobi.
They didn’t look like they were here on missions.
They seemed more like travellers who had stopped by to enjoy the hot springs and rest.
Judging by their forehead protectors— most were shinobi from Kumogakure and Kirigakure.