43 43. The Second Trial
Augh…
"My head hurts like hell." Yuji slowly opens his blurry eyes and clutches his forehead.
'I pushed my brain to its limits. The increased blood flow in the brain resulted in the formation of blood aneurysms in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain.
Blood aneurysm is a bulge or ballooning in the blood caused by the excessive flow of the blood in the brain. This blood aneurysm or bulge in the blood vessel can leak or rupture during strenuous activities and can cause bleeding or hemorrhagic stroke in the brain. This condition is also called brain burst.
The excessive blood escape from the eyes, ears, and nose. It is a life-threatening situation and requires prompt medical treatment.
"Huh!"
His blurry vision slowly returns to normal, and he stares at his hands.
"Just what's going on? Where are all the wounds on my body?"
Yuji flips his hands and inspects his stomach.
"Wait! Could this be…"
He wipes his eyes to regain clarity and glances at his surroundings.
"Sigh… As I suspected!"
Pitch-black darkness with a few globes of light greets him.
"I am in my mindscape."
Yuji slowly stands up and walks around in his mindscape. He reaches the center of his mindscape and notices his soul held in the giant black crystal.
Clang… clang…
He knocks on the crystal, but there is no effect.
"Even though this place is my mindscape, I have no control over it."
He sighs and turns around.
"I should exit this place! My body is seriously injured and requires immediate medical attention. Since I am in this place, then that means my body is still alive."
Yuji closes his eyes and thinks about exiting his mindscape.
"Huh! What?"
After a few seconds, he opens his eyes and is surprised to find himself in the same spot.
"What? I can't exit my mindscape. Why? What happened? It will be troublesome if I can't exit this place."
Yuji sits on the floor and ponders.
"Mindscape is technically a part of the subconscious mind. When a person sleeps or is unconscious; he loses access to his conscious mind. Perhaps I am in a similar state. I lost consciousness and lost access to my conscious mind. However, as a result of some odd reason; I am pulled to this place."
Yuji ponders.
"Hmm… odd reason. Could it be?"
Yuji turns his hand and notices the glowing seal on the back of his hand.
"The inheritance seal is glowing. Could it be… could I have met the criteria to unlock the next phase of the inheritance?"
He stands up and walks toward the strange temple in his mindscape.
Hmm…
"This temple looks slightly different from the last time." He scrutinizes the temple.
"I see!!"
Yuji notices five runes on the temple's door frame. One out of the five runes is white, while the second rune is flickering with a blue light. The rest three runes are grayed out.
"So, there are five steps of the inheritance and I am currently on the second step."
He pushes the door open and steps inside.
"I wonder what tests will I face this time!" Yuji enters the temple with slight anticipation.
"I hope this time I will learn how to use chakra to perform ninjutsu."
Clang… Bang…
As soon as Yuji steps inside the temple, the door of the temple shuts close.
'Previously, I had to fight animals and other monsters. I wonder what I will face this time." Yuji enters in his combat stance and slowly walks deeper into the temple.
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Huff… Huff…
Yuji breathes heavily while dodging the attacks of a giant unknown-winged creature. He stretches his palm and manifests a pitch-black dagger into them.
Whoosh…
He kicks the ground and propels himself towards the giant bird-like creature.
Scree…
The bird screeches and attacks him with its claws.
Whoosh…
Yuji ducks down and dodges the attack. He slashes the dagger toward the feet of the giant bird.
Ding…
A metallic sound echoes in the surrounding. The dagger in his hands dissipates.
Tch…
"Once again!"
This time, he creates a bow and arrow and shoots it toward the giant bird.
Swish…
The arrow pierces the eye of the bird.
SCREEE…
The bird screams in pain and flaps its giant wings to produce a powerful wind current.
Yuji is sent flying by the wind attack. He slams into a nearby wall.
Keugh…
He spits some saliva and grimaces in pain. He clutches his arm in pain. There is a claw wound on his arm.
"Even though this injury isn't real. The sensation and pain are real."
He infuses black chakra into his palm and places it on top of his wound to cauterize it. White Smoke and the smell of burning flesh spread in the surrounding.
Yuji grits his teeth and stands up.
SCREEE…
The giant bird screams and lunges at him with its claws.
Huah…
Yuji takes a deep breath and focuses his eyes on the bird. He extends his right arm.
Dark black chakra gathers in his palm and manifests into a javelin. He morphs the tip of the javelin into a spiral drill.
BANG…
Yuji kicks the ground and increases his speed using the basic body flicker technique.
Swoosh…
He launches the black spear toward the bird.
Fwoosh…
The drill spear spirals through the air and pierces through the head of the bird.
BANG…
The corpse of the bird falls and its momentum carries it forward.
Haah…
Yuji jumps sideways and avoids the death charge of the bird.
Huff… Huff…
He lies down on the floor of the temple and pants.
"I am so exhausted! But this is the final one! I don't know how many days I spent fighting them, since there is no concept of time. However, I did spend quite an unusual amount of time here. If the previous trial was a test of physical endurance, then this test was a test of spiritual endurance."
Yuji extends his hand. A wisp of black chakra appears in his palm.
"This chakra, it's not an anomaly but a bloodline trait, Dark Release: a Kekkei Genkai of Yin-Yang."
Shoom…
Suddenly, a fuinjutsu seal appears beneath him. Black flames rise from the seal and envelop him.
Ugh…
Yuji attempts to resist them, but the flames overwhelm him. They enveloped his entire body, and he passes out while struggling to douse the flames.
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Back in the Konoha hospital,
Guffaw…
Yuji opens his eyes and sits on his bed.
Huff… Huff…
He breathes heavily while his body trembles in shock.
AH!
Keiko who was sitting beside Yuji is startled by the latter's sudden movement.
"He woke up! He really woke up!" Keiko's eyes widen in surprise.
"Tsunade-sama… he woke up!" She screams and runs out of the room before Yuji has any chance to interact with her.
Yuji's blurry vision turns clear, and he slowly looks around.
"Where am I… is what I would like to say, but looking at this room, there is no doubt about it. It's the hospital!"
He looks around to search for a calendar to figure the date.
"There isn't any!"
He sighs and stares out of the window.
"My entire body is stiff and muscles are sore. Seems like I spent quite a lot of time in the hospital."
He glances at his right arm.
'Hmm… why do I feel like my right hand is stronger than my left arm? This shouldn't be the case since I trained myself to be ambidextrous. It's not just stronger, but a lot stronger. Is it a side-effect of that technique?"
He clenches his fist and grips the metallic corner of the bed. He applies some strength without infusing any chakra.
"Ah!" Finger marks appear on the metal cylinder.
"I am sure I can break it if I apply more strength."
He repeats the same process with his left hand, but, forget about leaving finger marks, the metal didn't even budge from his grip.
'Looks like I have to slowly research that technique. Perhaps I can further enhance my body with it.
Shiing…
Suddenly.
A sharp pain flashes across his head.
Argh…
Yuji clutches his forehead and curls his body. The chakra inside his body circulates on its own and flows toward his palms. A burning sensation spreads across his right and left palms. He clenches his palm into a fist, but the burning sensation rises in intensity.
He stuffs the pillow in his mouth and bites it to resist the pain and prevent himself from screaming.
After a few seconds, the pain subsides.
Huff… Huff…
Sweat trickles down his body and drenches his clothes and the bedsheet.
"This was more painful than being cooked alive." He recalls the sensation of being burned alive from his past life.
"I felt like something was branding my soul and body."
Yuji opens his palms and stares at them.
"Huh!"
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