Chapter 26: Cutting Away the Old Chains, Now I Know: Today, I Am Myself

Looking at the prize wheel’s reward, Jiang Xia was still very satisfied; though he hadn’t drawn the Nine-Tails chakra he wanted, the Byakugan and the divine artifact were fine too.

With the Wood Release, he was now one step closer to achieving his goal of summoning the Susano’o Great Buddha.

Seeing he still had 400,000 points left, Jiang Xia immediately spent 300,000 points from the point store to buy the Gates of Life, Injury, and Obstruction from the Eight Gates Sealing Technique.

Meanwhile, on the military aircraft, Ling Zhantian stared blankly at his storage ring.

Inside the ring, besides the items Mo Yuan was to deliver, there were several vials of healing medicine, a stack of talismans, and even a neatly folded soft armor.

He touched the cold token and gazed at the cloud layer outside the window: “Father, I won’t bring Itachi shame.”

Mo Yuan pretended not to hear, secretly slipping another jar of wine into the ring, muttering to himself: “If Liu Qingshan’s old bastard finds out I took his medicine too, he’ll chase me all the way to Shanhai Pass to curse me.”

On the day Jiang Xia was discharged from the hospital, just as dawn broke, Wang Teng stood blocking the hospital room door, shouldering a bulging cloth sack.

Ye Lingxi stood behind him, holding a warmed bowl of porridge, shaking her head helplessly.

“Old Xia, I packed Itachi extra clothes, a formula to replenish qi and blood after injury, and…”

Wang Teng rummaged through the sack and suddenly pulled out a small bronze tripod. “This is the Anshen Ding issued by the academy—apparently sitting in front of it helps calm the mind, and it’ll definitely come in handy for understanding the Dao texts!”

Jiang Xia was just about to laugh at him for overreacting when Ye Lingxi handed him the porridge bowl: “Drink it while it’s hot—the dean said the longer Itachi spend absorbing the Dao text in Yangxin Pavilion, the stronger the characters’ power becomes. Itachi can’t afford to be weak.”

The three left the hospital and headed straight for Yangxin Pavilion behind the Literature Academy. When they pushed open the carved wooden door, no overwhelming scent of ink filled the room as expected.

There were no shelves piled with books—only a raised platform and three cushions, upon which rested a wordless heavenly scripture.

“This is the legendary Yangxin Pavilion?” Wang Teng stared at the scripture on the platform, its surface blank yet radiating profound Daoic resonance.

“The top one must be the Dao text.”

Liu Qingxuan’s voice came from outside: “Correct. This Dao text is not written with ink or brush—it must be seen with the heart as inkstone and spirit as brush.”

“The three of Itachi enter Yangxin Pavilion today. Remember: the characters Itachi see hold no good or evil; the Dao Itachi comprehend holds no high or low.” As he spoke, the spirit array beneath the pavilion activated, helping Jiang Xia and the others enter a better state.

The three sat cross-legged on the cushions, their gazes locked on the Dao text atop the platform.

Wang Teng idly rubbed the bronze tripod he’d brought, his mind filled with legends of Dao comprehension he’d heard at the academy.

Only half a day passed when the Dao text suddenly shimmered, and a mystical phantom character “ Zhou ” floated from its pages, directly sinking into his forehead.

Wang Teng shuddered violently, as if countless runes whispered in his ears; unconsciously, his fingers formed an obscure hand seal—the “ Zhou ” character perfectly matched his ability.

As Ye Lingxi closed her eyes and focused, ice flowers formed in the air around her. After nearly a full day, a slow-floating “ Han ” character appeared and settled into her forehead.

Ye Lingxi felt as if immersed in an ice-sealed secret realm; her mastery over “cold” instantly became crystal clear, even her breath carrying a faint chill.

Only Jiang Xia remained motionless; every scene he’d ever seen on Earth flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern, until finally his spirit settled.

Inside Yangxin Pavilion, the faint glow of the spirit array enveloped the three on their cushions. Wang Teng had received “ Zhou ,” Ye Lingxi had comprehended “ Han .”

Both perfectly matched their abilities—yet Jiang Xia sat motionless for two full days without any sign of progress.

“Is Old Xia having some kind of problem?” Wang Teng asked anxiously.

“Shh…” Ye Lingxi urgently signaled him to be quiet; both sat on their cushions, cultivating while observing Jiang Xia’s progress.

Outside the door, Li Chengru watched this and whistled softly, nudging Liu Qingxuan beside him: “Old Liu, how long did it take Itachi to comprehend yours?”

Liu Qingxuan frowned, thought for a moment, then replied: “A bit longer than Wang Teng—nearly a full day.”

“Then that doesn’t make sense—Jiang Xia’s been sitting before the Dao text for two days already, and still nothing.”

“He’s just gifted. Naturally, his comprehension takes longer.”

Li Chengru nodded, convinced. Time ticked by.

Three days, five days, seven days…

By the fifteenth day, Liu Qingxuan could no longer sit still: “This won’t do—I need to check on him. Something must be wrong with the boy.”

Just as he reached to push the door open, the wordless heavenly scripture erupted in brilliant golden light—a radiant phantom character “ Ren ,” brighter than the previous two,

slowly unfurled from the pages, carrying an otherworldly resonance, and sank directly into Jiang Xia’s forehead.

Jiang Xia suddenly opened his eyes.

His left eye spun rapidly with the Mangekyo Sharingan; his right eye bore the Rinnegan’s tomoe, radiating an transcendent pressure that controlled life and death, yin and yang, and perceived the flow of energy.

“ Ren ” does not mean endurance—it means the Ninja Way: the ninja’s duty is to protect the village, to protect the ninja world.

And my duty is to protect everyone around me—to protect humanity!

“Cutting away the old chains of the past, now I know: today, I am myself.” He whispered softly. As the words faded, a sharp aura erupted from his body, shattering the invisible chains Chanrao around him.

The confusion he’d carried from Earth, the fear of this unknown world, the clumsiness of his first powers—all were torn apart by the profound meaning of the “ Ren ” character and the power of his twin eyes.

His past, superficial understanding of ninjas from Earth’s anime now became a tangible legacy—not imitation of cartoon characters, but Jiang Xia’s own “Ninja Way.”

“So the chains were never from this world—they came from within me.”

Jiang Xia slowly rose, closed his eyes, then opened them again—his pupils returned to normal, yet now held a deeper steadiness.

His realm surged past the peak of Martial Master, leaving only a step between him and Great Martial Master!

Outside the door, Liu Qingxuan withdrew his hand from the door, sensing the shift in Jiang Xia’s aura. He exchanged a glance with Li Chengru.

Both saw shock in the other’s eyes—this wasn’t merely comprehending a Dao text; it was using the method of absorbing characters to complete a personal transformation.

In a small courtyard within the Shanhai Pass Demon-Suppressing Army, Mo Yuan felt the strange disturbance from the Dao text.

He paused mid-sip from his wine flask, muttering toward the outside of Shanhai Pass: “Such good wine—what a waste not to have some snacks to go with it.”

As he spoke, he vanished, reappearing outside Shanhai Pass, and casually said: “Liaoyuan!”

Flames erupted among the demonic beasts; Mo Yuan reached out, snatching one Disaster-Class demon beast with a single motion.

Back at the Demon-Suppressing Army camp, he extracted its spirit core, slit open a rift, tossed it inside, then carried the roasted demon meat back to his courtyard to continue drinking.

Inside Yangxin Pavilion, a rift opened and a fist-sized stone plummeted onto Jiang Xia’s head.

Jiang Xia clutched his head, about to yell at whoever had no sense of decency, when Li Chengru outside shouted first:

“This… this is a Disaster-Class demon beast’s spirit core! How did justice fall from the sky?!”

Liu Qingxuan also widened his eyes, but seeing the vanished rift, he understood: “That old man must’ve sent it.”

“The dean?” Jiang Xia frowned. Why would the dean suddenly give him such a massive gift?

“Then absorb it here—the spirit core of a Disaster-Class demon beast would be fought over even by Sovereigns outside.”

“The spirit array here is perfect to help Itachi absorb it better.”

“Yeah, yeah, that old dog hardly ever gets generous—just take it!” Li Chengru chimed in beside him.