Chapter 189: Secret of Ashura
The "Dragon Vein" is a radiant and powerful force, potent enough to forge a Zanpakutō on its own. Naruto had successfully done this once before, so attempting it again wasn't too difficult. However, issues still arose.
Unlike a standard 'Asauchi,' this newly forged blade was entirely purple, with a perfectly circular guard adorned with intricate dragon-like patterns along its edges. This sword didn't require 'Shikai' to unleash its power; it already contained immense strength.
When Naruto gripped it, a vast amount of spiritual energy surged forth, merging into the sword. It absorbed not only spiritual energy but also a portion of his life force.
"Engrave time, Dragon Vein," he chanted, releasing its power.
A circle of translucent purple energy spread out from the sword, extending across the laboratory and enveloping most of Sound Village. Yet, on the surface, nothing remarkable seemed to happen. Time itself didn't appear to change.
"Has the sword already taken effect?" the two Nine-Tails wondered, scanning their surroundings but sensing no impact on themselves.
"Did it fail because the materials were too limited?" Orochimaru speculated.
Naruto shook his head and pointed the sword at Orochimaru. Suddenly, Orochimaru's body jerked unnaturally, and he muttered two garbled, distorted syllables as his furrowed brows forcibly relaxed. It felt as if he were being "rewound."
Orochimaru was astonished, his mouth agape in disbelief.
Naruto, contemplating, raised his other hand and lightly slashed his forearm with the blade, leaving a wound from which blood began to flow.
Orochimaru watched, almost salivating.
The power of the Dragon Vein activated again. A force enveloped Naruto, and he didn't resist, allowing it to drag his body through a tunnel of "void" and "chaos."
During this passage, the wound on his arm rapidly healed. This wasn't due to his natural healing but the power of the sword.
Naruto dismissed the barrier with a wave and sheathed the blade.
"Can this sword reverse time?" Orochimaru asked quietly, voicing a guess that even he found incredible.
"Of course not," Naruto shook his head. "But... it is related to time."
"Its ability is that, upon release, it creates a domain where any moment within the domain can be marked. It can then rewind any object within the domain back to that marked moment."
"However," he continued, "the spiritual energy, chakra, and memories remain unaffected."
"It's somewhat similar to the ability of Izanagi."
For Naruto, the sword was somewhat redundant. His own body didn't require time-reversal to heal injuries. As for how much of a difference rewinding time could make in battle, without affecting memory, Naruto didn't see it being particularly effective.
The key issue was that a Shinigami's essence is their spiritual pressure. Against someone with similar or greater spiritual pressure, would this sword still be effective?
Orochimaru, licking his lips, had some ideas.
"Do you want to test the sword's ability?" Naruto turned to him, smiling as he casually voiced Orochimaru's deepest thoughts.
Orochimaru paused, then grinned. "Of course, I'm curious. But with such a powerful sword, are you really willing to trust—"
Before he could finish, Naruto extended the sword to him.
Orochimaru's pupils dilated in surprise. Tentatively, he extended his tongue, wrapping it around the hilt, mumbling, "Naruto-kun, you're really giving it to me?"
"This is a weapon that can control time."
Naruto, unfazed, waved his hand. "Go ahead and use it."
Orochimaru grasped the hilt and, mimicking Naruto, recited the release command. Instantly, his expression changed dramatically. His chakra was almost immediately drained, along with his life force.
The cost of using this weapon was astonishing. However, given its ability to manipulate time, such a high price was within acceptable bounds.
He took a deep breath and let the sword draw out his energy.
The purple domain expanded.
But it was much smaller compared to what Naruto had managed, not even covering the entire laboratory. It barely extended three meters from his own position, just enough to include Naruto.
"If you want to use its ability on me, you can," Naruto said, smiling gently.
Orochimaru hesitated, uncertain of Naruto's intentions. Was this an invitation to test the sword's power on him, or...?
"Since you're so insistent, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said with a grin, raising the sword.
The energy within the purple domain fluctuated, and a faint purple light enveloped Naruto's body, circulating around him. Orochimaru gritted his teeth, astonished.
Nothing happened!
Despite his efforts, Orochimaru could clearly feel that Naruto was like an immovable mountain. The combined strength of his own power and the Dragon Vein's was insufficient to affect him.
His chakra and life force continued to drain.
Undeterred, Orochimaru tried again, but it was impossible to have any effect on Naruto.
Seeing no results, he shifted his focus and used the power on Sasuke. Though there was some resistance, it was only difficult, not impossible. With enough effort, he managed to rewind Sasuke back to his state from a minute earlier.
Orochimaru quickly dismissed the domain and placed the sword on the table.
Using the ability for less than a minute left him gasping for breath, his already pale face turning even more deathly white.
He stared at Naruto intently.
Now he understood why Naruto had been so nonchalant earlier, why he had even urged him to use the sword's power.
Naruto had known all along that Orochimaru wouldn't be able to affect him!
This firsthand experience made Orochimaru acutely aware of just how vast the gap between him and Naruto truly was.
"Naruto-kun, you were just putting me in my place," Orochimaru muttered.
Naruto shook his head. "Not at all, just testing a theory."
Indeed, the sword's effectiveness depended entirely on the user's level.
Orochimaru chuckled, not taking Naruto's words at face value.
He was convinced that this was Naruto's way of reminding him of his place.
Naruto gave the sword to Karin to carry. While its ability was somewhat redundant for him, it could enhance Karin's strength and allow her to become more familiar with using the power of a Shinigami.
During this time, aside from forging the Dragon Vein sword, Orochimaru had made some progress in his research on the Byakugan.
There was indeed a higher evolutionary form of the Byakugan.
As one of the clan elders had mentioned, merging a large number of Byakugan could lead to its evolution. However, the amount of ocular power required was staggering. The three pairs of Byakugan they currently had were far from sufficient to support the evolution. Orochimaru's preliminary analysis yielded a startling conclusion: at least a hundred Byakugan would be necessary for the evolution.
But that wasn't the only finding.
Orochimaru also discovered that the Byakugan had a peculiar reaction to Hashirama Senju's chakra.
Initially, he thought it was due to the "life force."
But as the experiments continued, the Byakugan also reacted similarly to Sasuke's sword.
No other chakra, whether it was his own or natural energy, produced this reaction in the Byakugan.
"A reaction to Indra's power?" Naruto, reading Orochimaru's report, easily extracted the crucial information from the mention of "Sasuke's sword."
Orochimaru nodded, his eyes gleaming with intrigue. "Exactly."
"It also reacts to the First Hokage's chakra."
"I wonder..."
"Naruto-kun, you're so unique. Could your chakra also have an effect on the Byakugan?"
Naruto looked at him.
Orochimaru immediately clarified, "I don't need your flesh, just a bit of your chakra."
"I just want to make some assessments."
Naruto shook his head and gestured for Orochimaru to lead the way.
He didn't think his chakra would have such an effect.
And indeed, it didn't.
When Naruto extracted a bit of his chakra from a scroll and exposed it to the Byakugan, there was no reaction.
But...
When he used "Ashura" and released the golden chakra, the Byakugan began to stir, reacting just as Orochimaru had described.
Orochimaru clicked his tongue in amazement.
"So the Byakugan reacts to the powers of Ashura and Indra," Naruto mused. "These two were the sons of the Sage of Six Paths."
"So..."
"The Byakugan is influenced by the 'power of the Six Paths'?"
Orochimaru tilted his head. "Would it be more accurate to say it reacts to Six Paths chakra?"
Naruto nodded. "But why does the First Hokage's chakra also affect the Byakugan?"
"Do you have a sample I could examine?"
Orochimaru obliged, retrieving a piece of pale but still vibrant tissue from another experiment.
"Here it is."
Naruto narrowed his eyes, his expression growing serious.
In this piece of Hashirama Senju's tissue, he found something... surprising.
He had seen Hashirama's chakra before, knew what it was like.
But in this tissue...
In addition to Hashirama's chakra, there was another mysterious force.
Although the force was no longer present, its lingering aura was strikingly familiar to Naruto.
It was identical to the aura of his sword, 'Ashura'.
In other words...
During Hashirama Senju's lifetime, his body also contained 'Ashura' chakra.
Naruto frowned.
He had always been curious about why he possessed 'Ashura' chakra, initially thinking it was some kind of "Kekkei Genkai" awakening.
But now...
It seemed that wasn't the case.
There was hardly any blood relation between him and the First Hokage.