Chapter 260: Spirit Body Sealing (Rare and Peerless) (4k-character chapter, requesting subscriptions)

【You have come into contact with a Special Spirit Body: Death God (native deity, Yin spirit). Do you wish to absorb it?】

【Absorbing...】

【Conducting judgment...】

Bai Cangshu's smile was nearly ferocious. He leaned his body backward, then thrust both hands forward, and in the face of Sarutobi Hiruzen's disbelieving gaze, he grasped the body of the Death God, which should have been impossible to touch.

Yes, he was certain: this Tao Baibai had truly grabbed the "Death God" itself!

From the Death God, who was draped in white robes, holding a short blade in its mouth, and clutching prayer beads, Bai Cangshu felt an extremely intense force of resistance. Unlike the ordinary souls of Kori, this Death God possessed the inherent ability to seize and control the souls of ordinary people.

Regardless of whether you are a Hokage, one of the Sannin, or a Tailed Beast, or even an ordinary person, once your soul is grabbed by the Death God, it will be pulled out of your body bit by bit, until finally, the Death God uses the blade held in its mouth to sever the connection between your soul and body, completely swallowing the soul into its belly.

This is a top-tier sealing technique. Once the soul disappears, even techniques like 【Edo Tensei】 or 【Reincarnation Ninjutsu】 cannot revive you. Likewise, if a part of the body's soul is devoured by the Death God, that part of the body will completely lose its vitality; it is a permanent injury that transcends the level of medical treatment.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's thinking was not wrong; 【Dead Demon Consuming Seal】 is indeed one of the few attack methods that poses the greatest threat to Bai Cangshu.

Once Bai Cangshu's soul is sealed, his so-called 【Intermediate Immortality】 cannot take effect. In Bai Cangshu's view, this is one of the most valuable items and abilities in the Naruto World, aside from the Otsutsuki Bloodline.

Of course, he would not learn Chakra or this kind of sealing technique; a technique that requires the user to pay with their life does not align with Bai Cangshu's aesthetics of power.

He chose a more direct method—devouring the Death God, incorporating it into himself, and turning all its abilities to his own use!

Feeling that force of resistance, Bai Cangshu ignored it entirely, directly switched to the 【Touch Spirit】 Milestone, reached out to grab the Death God's arm, and began to pull it toward his own body with force.

The Yellow Springs Power hidden within his bloodline also began to surge. That cold, deathly power extinguished the Killing Intent Wave burning on Bai Cangshu's skin almost in an instant.

That was the power currently occupying absolute dominance within Bai Cangshu's body. It was the power personally exerted by the 【Great Emperor of the Eastern Mountain】, inducing the backflow of Yellow Springs and the possession of Yin spirits. It was a power that thirty-three thousand Yin spirits could never resist, and a power that even a Child of the World like Gojo Satoru had absolutely no desire to try and break.

Bai Cangshu gave a hard tug, and the Death God, which had been floating behind Sarutobi Hiruzen, was instantly pulled closer by a segment. The Death God was no longer calm; it had merely been accepting Sarutobi Hiruzen's sacrifice to come and harvest a soul.

But it had not expected that even it would be attacked.

It felt a familiar aura flowing from the place it was being touched—that was... Yellow Springs!

The Death God silently took the short blade from its mouth and raised it high; it intended to directly cut the soul it held and swallow it into its belly to complete this ritual.

This was different from what Sarutobi Hiruzen had intended. His face was pale, and the coldness and pain of his soul being pierced by the Death God's hand were hard to dissipate. His combat vest was torn, revealing mysterious black characters resembling tadpoles on his chest; that was his contract with the Death God.

"No... no, I must take this guy with me to..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood firm, his soul also burning. A strong will erupted from his soul, and the short blade the Death God had raised high actually hesitated.

Both sides engaged in a tug-of-war once more.

Gojo Satoru was at this moment being dragged back by Bai Cangshu for the most part. The part of his body that had detached from Bai Cangshu was stiff due to the Death God's touch, and he was still mocking Bai Cangshu.

"Hey, hey, host buddy, use some strength. You don't want to lose my Limitless, do you..."

Bai Cangshu ignored this guy, whose personality was too flighty due to his immense power. With a thought, a huge suction force emanated from the 【Heart Throne】.

"Oh~ oh! I feel it, that power!"

Gojo Satoru let out a shout that was hard to tell if it was a complaint or an exclamation of admiration, but the next second, he was pulled back by the 【Heart Throne】 again. Along with him, the Death God, which was holding Gojo Satoru, was also drawn by this force toward Sarutobi Hiruzen and Bai Cangshu.

Bai Cangshu discovered he had found the method. This was a contest of souls, and it was also a contest of 【Heart】 and 【Will】.

He might not have the resolve Sarutobi Hiruzen had to perish together with him, but he had something else.

Greed, unparalleled greed!

Bai Cangshu wanted to make the Death God's power his own, along with all the souls and powers that the Death God had once swallowed into its belly!

And the quality of Bai Cangshu's soul, after experiencing the 【Taishan Fujun Festival】, was already completely different from that of an ordinary Human Species.

He was a Mythical Species, a Ten Thousand Things species, a human passed down since the era of ancient mythology!

Sarutobi Hiruzen only felt a cold, deathly intent coming from the Death God's arm, and even his soul began to grow cold, while that powerful suction force was continuously emanating from within Tao Baibai's body.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not stupid; on the contrary, he was very skilled at intellectual battles between ninjas. Although he did not understand what Tao Baibai's ability actually was, he understood that you must never let the enemy achieve what they want to do.

At this moment, his will changed rapidly. The Death God was no longer influenced by him, its contractor, and the high-raised short blade quickly slashed downward.

Sarutobi Hiruzen saw that the Death God was clearly intending to cut off its own arm!

In other words, in the Death God's judgment, this 【Dead Demon Consuming Seal】 could not be completed at all; it could not defeat Tao Baibai on the soul level, even with the Death God's own power.

The Death God was going to sever its arm to escape!

"Don't run, Death God!"

Bai Cangshu quickly raised his left hand at this moment and directly grabbed the short blade.

That short blade, which could clearly cut through a soul directly, lost all its supernatural properties in Bai Cangshu's left hand.

【King's Left Arm, cannot be destroyed】

"Get in here, Death God!"

Bai Cangshu took a step forward. Sarutobi Hiruzen subconsciously retreated, but that powerful suction force made him feel his soul was being hollowed out. Even more terrifyingly, the Death God behind him was clearly unable to resist either, and was being sucked into the opponent's body bit by bit through his own body.

Sarutobi Hiruzen reached out both hands and grabbed Bai Cangshu's left arm.

He used too much force, causing 【Flame Dragon Scale】 to trigger. Blazing flames began to ignite on him; at this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen was completely unable to use Ninja Arts to shake off this fire.

In just an instant, his skin and flesh began to curl. The intense pain made this 【Professor of Ninjutsu】 grunt, but he still did not let go, clutching Bai Cangshu's arm tightly, as if trying to exhaust his efforts to disrupt Bai Cangshu's actions.

The smile on Bai Cangshu's face disappeared bit by bit. He was tall, standing before the already aging Sarutobi Hiruzen like a towering wall, and at this moment, he lowered his head, looking down at this longest-serving Hokage in Konoha's history.

The other party had led Konoha through its most difficult periods, experienced glory, and gone through the Second and Third Wars, which Konoha had won. But also due to his governance, the village's geniuses and Elites had been lost one after another.

Hatake Sakumo committed suicide, Minato Namikaze died on the night of the Nine-Tails, and his own three disciples had either left or defected...

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly realized that he was about to die. The many images before his eyes were the lantern-slides of a person before death.

The force in his hands suddenly loosened a little.

"Tao Baibai..."

He did not hear Bai Cangshu's reply. He gripped Bai Cangshu's left arm tightly again, flames ignited, and the charred smell of his own flesh could even be smelled by Bai Cangshu.

Bai Cangshu was forcefully absorbing the Death God. The cold arm sank into his chest, soaked by the Yellow Springs filled with Death Intent Senra, and he suddenly felt a distinct power.

But the charred smell in his nasal cavity still made Bai Cangshu divert a little attention to pay heed to what this dying old man was saying.

"If you want slaughter and life... then my life, I give it to you..."

Bai Cangshu curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a mocking smile.

"Isn't your life already mine, long ago?"

If he hadn't wanted to force Sarutobi Hiruzen to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, he had many better ways to kill the other party.

Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored Bai Cangshu's mockery; as if experiencing a final burst of clarity, he gripped the other's left arm tightly, letting himself be scorched by the flames—that stinging pain was the key to maintaining his consciousness at this moment.

"Then, let us give you the lives of us old folks of this generation... all together..."

"If so, could you... spare those young seedlings..."

In Sarutobi Hiruzen's clouded eyes, a look of longing emerged; he seemed to have returned to his prime, when he chose Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade to be his disciples.

Jiraiya had a free-spirited personality but a pure heart, and he cared deeply for his companions;

Although Lady Tsunade had developed many bad habits from being spoiled by the First Hokage, she was also a strong woman who cherished the bonds of her companions, firmly carrying out her grandfather's policy of integrating the Senju into Konoha and abandoning the status of the number one clan in Konoha...

And Orochimaru...

Thinking of that disciple he liked the most, Sarutobi Hiruzen's dim eyes reflected the image of the young, reclusive, and paranoid Orochimaru—talented, yet hiding sorrow in his heart.

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly realized that he had never truly comforted this disciple's heart; the other party had always been trapped in the deaths of their parents and the disciple Nawaki, and Tsunade was the same...

He didn't know when he had become too accustomed to the so-called "Hokage mindset," always considering the big picture while ignoring the vibrant souls beneath that big picture.

In the end, one elite after another disappeared from Konoha...

Tears flowed from the corners of Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes; in the final moments of his life, he suddenly felt there were many things he hadn't accomplished. If Konoha suffered disaster today and war restarted, would he be the greatest sinner of all?

Although Bai Cangshu could not read minds, he still guessed the other's thoughts seven or eight times out of ten.

His mocking smile slowly faded, replaced by an indifference that looked down upon all living things.

These guys in this world seemed to want to shoulder the happiness of everyone, and even world peace, on their own shoulders.

They were clearly creatures so fragile they couldn't even live to be a hundred, and even the geniuses mostly perished in their teens or twenties; what was there to save in such a world...

Weak, yet wanting to protect.

Fragile, yet wanting eternal peace and happiness.

Is this perhaps why the tone of this world is so dark and sorrowful?

From an extremely detached perspective, Bai Cangshu judged the actions of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, and even more of this world's elites and heroes.

"Tao Baibai... spare those young seedlings, they are not worth you killing... nor should they be killed!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen gripped Bai Cangshu's left arm tightly, the flames having completely engulfed him.

At the same time, the Spirit Body of the Death God had crawled out from within his body, and with it, it was about to extract Sarutobi Hiruzen's soul.

Yet Sarutobi Hiruzen held onto Bai Cangshu's left arm for dear life, unwilling to let go.

Bai Cangshu suddenly lost interest in Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Your power is not strong enough, and your heart is not pure enough; whether good or bad, at least choose one side and see it through to the end. Being a fence-sitter like this, aren't you just a half-baked amateur?!

"Tsk, I have no interest in slaughtering the weak."

Whether it was hearing Bai Cangshu's reply or Sarutobi Hiruzen reaching his limit, the next moment, his soul was wrapped up by the Death God and submerged into Bai Cangshu's body.

【You have killed the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and obtained 3000 Dimension Points】

【You have obtained C-rank Singularity *1】

【Konoha Collapse Plan completion progress updated, currently: 73%】

【You have contained the Special Spirit Body: Death God (Local Deity, Hidden Spirit), Energy Attribute +7, currently:?】

【Please note, the Special Spirit Body: Death God is a containment-type Special Spirit Body; it hides other souls and powers within, and these souls and powers will be gradually precipitated into the Yellow Springs】

【You have obtained the new Tese: Spirit Sealing (Rare and Peerless)】

【Spirit Sealing (Rare and Peerless): When you draw the Death God into your body, you can pull the target's Spirit Body out of their body and devour it into your own. Before fully assimilating the Death God, this Tese can only be used when Yin Spirit Possession (Death God) is active】

【Attention, Reincarnator ex051, your act of containing the Death God will have a major impact on this world, and the world difficulty will undergo unpredictable changes】

【You have obtained B-rank Singularity *2】

【Based on your influence, relevant Plot Characters and quest lines will be removed from this world】

Bai Cangshu saw a waterfall of system prompts scrolling by; he stood on the collapsing Hokage Rock, watching the Konoha Hidden Village below, where explosions were still occurring incessantly.

He finally felt the benefits brought by wantonly changing a plot world.

But at the same time, this Ninja Village was slowly losing its value.

He picked up Sarutobi Hiruzen's corpse and, with a touch of his Footwork, drifted down from the air like a falling leaf.

This movement, which defied gravity, was naturally the effect brought by the Wind God Leg. The first to notice Bai Cangshu was Orochimaru; this villainous ninja, who had achieved his wish of obtaining the Sharingan, was currently observing the changes in the strength of those old acquaintances from Konoha after he had left.

Sensing Tao Baibai's return, he turned his head, his expression stiffening for an Instant, but it quickly melted away. He came before Bai Cangshu and lowered his head to confirm—it was indeed his teacher's corpse.

"He was indeed killed by you, then..."

Bai Cangshu put down Sarutobi Hiruzen's corpse and did not answer.

Bai Cangshu's gaze swept around; he decided to simply kill Danzō as well, but he could not find the other party.

At this moment, a blonde woman walked gracefully out of the chaotic battlefield; various explosive Ninja Arts, flying Kunai, and Shuriken all naturally avoided her.

Tianyi looked at Bai Cangshu and didn't even glance at the dead Third Hokage; she would never be surprised by such predetermined events.

"Tao Baibai, are you interested in cooperating once?"

Bai Cangshu's gaze focused on the woman; this woman was the leader of the 【9527】 remnant trio, and in the words of 【Empty】, the most miraculous Reincarnator.

Probably also the key to letting that guy get rid of his status as a farmed entity.

Bai Cangshu stepped forward, his hands hanging down, and the Killing Intent Wave appeared once again.

"Cooperation?"

His tone was strange, and the threatening implication was self-evident.

But Tianyi only took a step back, her expression remaining calm.

"I have a bargaining chip in my hand that you will definitely be interested in."

"Oh? What is it?"

"A person, a man named Ping Zhongshi."

(End of chapter)