Kannabi Bridge (18)

"Damn... you... Konoha scum," the last Chunin cursed as his eyes lost their light, his life fading away.

Yami watched as the soul left the Chunin's body. He reached out, hesitated for a moment, but in the end, didn't make contact.

With a sigh, he thought, 'Well, that was disappointing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't extract their souls. Even after their captain died and I triggered different emotions in them, I still couldn't manipulate their souls. But despite failing to achieve my main goal, I can't say the experiment was a complete failure. By experimenting on the Chunin's souls, I discovered that I could access their memories without them dying or me suffering from identity issues. All I had to do was link my soul to theirs to read their memories. This technique is similar to the Yamanaka Clan's mind techniques but with a huge drawback. When I link my soul to the victim's, I can read their mind, but they can also read mine. So, yeah, a huge drawback. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I shouldn't use this technique, and I should make sure to kill them afterward.'

After resting for a while, Yami gathered the bodies of those with intact faces and sealed them in a scroll. After everything he'd been through, there was no way he'd just leave these bodies behind. Once he returned to Konoha, he planned to hand them over to the Hokage for a proper reward.

Though doing so would put him in the spotlight—something he initially disliked due to being weak—things were different now.

'After experimenting on those souls, I realized something. If I want to develop my Kekkei Genkai, there's no escaping inhumane experiments. Sure, I could use animals instead of humans, but their souls are different due to their chakra. I'm not sure I could create intelligent objects using animal souls.'

Thinking about his next steps, Yami considered two options. The first was to go to the battlefield, secretly capture a few enemies, and experiment on them. But this method wasn't ideal. As a Chunin, he wouldn't have much time to rest or conduct experiments and would instead be sent on missions. Besides, he wouldn't have a secure place to start his experiments. He couldn't do them in the open—what if a Konoha ninja accidentally saw him? The consequences might not be too severe since he could claim he had awakened his Kekkei Genkai, but he didn't want that. He wanted to keep his soul abilities hidden for as long as possible.

The second option was to approach Orochimaru and conduct experiments with him. Honestly, Yami preferred teaming up with Orochimaru. He remembered that Orochimaru managed to implant part of his soul as a seal to resurrect himself. By now, Orochimaru should be working on that seal, if he hadn't already completed it. So if Yami teamed up with him, he might find a way to create permanent animated objects by giving them soul seals. He didn't know how long it would take to achieve similar results, but he was sure that with Orochimaru's help, the time would be greatly reduced.

The downside of approaching Orochimaru was that if things went south, Yami might find himself strapped to an experiment table, which was far from his intention. If Orochimaru showed interest in his Kekkei Genkai—which he certainly would—he might even try to possess Yami's body.

So before meeting Orochimaru, Yami needed to be strong enough not to be easily killed or captured by him. To do that, he needed to learn a few strong Jutsu, which meant he needed to contribute to the war and exchange achievements for powerful techniques.

With a sigh, Yami leaped between the trees, heading toward the Kannabi Bridge.

"Now that I think about it, joining Minato's team wouldn't be such a bad idea. Not only would I get guidance from Minato and maybe even Kushina, but I might also get a chance to look at the scroll of forbidden Jutsu."

Just the thought of the many Jutsu hidden within that scroll made Yami's desire to steal it grow.

The most forbidden Jutsu he was curious about was the Reaper Death Seal that Minato used to seal the Kyuubi. The technique could summon a death god that could seal anything in exchange for the user's soul. Does that mean it's also a spirit creature? Could Yami link his soul to it? Could he steal its power, or maybe even control it and make it obey him?

So many possibilities...

"Huh!"

While planning his next move, Yami suddenly sensed a familiar soul presence at the edge of his perception.

"This soul... it's Kakashi's."

Each soul had its own unique signature, and once Yami scanned someone with his soul perception, he could always recognize them, even without seeing them.

"What the hell happened? His soul feels even weaker than before."

Yami hesitated briefly before deciding to investigate. Entering stealth mode, he moved swiftly toward Kakashi's location.

In just a few seconds, he arrived at an open space and saw two Iwa ninjas standing beside a massive earth dome. Inside the dome, he could sense the souls of Kakashi, Obito, Rin, and a few others.

A quick scan with soul vision allowed Yami to estimate the power levels of the two Iwa ninjas.

"One special Jonin and one Chunin, huh."

Yami hesitated, unsure whether to reveal himself or not. The situation gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Boom!

A sudden explosion from inside the dome destroyed part of it.

"Well, screw it."

Forming a seal, Yami created a shadow clone beside him. Both of them entered stealth mode and moved toward the damaged dome.

"What the hell happened inside?" Iwa Jonin wondered as he saw part of the dome explode. "Did the others fail to kill those brats?"

On their way to a mission, they had received a report from a grievously injured Chunin that a few Konoha ninjas had infiltrated the territory, aiming to destroy the Kannabi Bridge. After providing their location and strength level, the Chunin had unfortunately died. Instead of returning to the camp to report, the Iwa ninjas decided to intercept the intruders, believing they would be too late if they waited for reinforcements. With three Jonin and one Chunin on their side, they were confident they could stop the enemy, who only had three young ninjas.

The Iwa ninjas had captured the weakest of the Konoha team, a female ninja to extract information from her, but something unexpected happened. The Uchiha brat went berserk, spamming fireballs relentlessly. While they dodged his attacks easily, the flames and smoke made it difficult to breathe. In the chaos, the one-eyed kid managed to take back the hostage.

After a brief confrontation, they trapped the Konoha ninjas inside the giant dome, while two of the Jonin went inside to eliminate them. Two stayed outside to guard. But now, with the dome partially destroyed, the Iwa Jonin realized something had gone wrong.

"We probably should head inside..." The special Jonin turned to his Chunin companion but never finished his sentence. Out of nowhere, a sword suddenly appeared, piercing the Chunin's heart.

"Enemy—!"

Thrust!

While distracted, the Jonin felt something pierce his chest.

"Dammit." Looking back, he saw the blurred figure of a Konoha ninja become visible.

"How did you—"

"I'm sorry, but the dead don't need to know answers," Yami said, twisting the sword to ensure it destroyed Jonin's heart.

With a thud, the Jonin's lifeless body fell to the ground, but Yami paid no attention to it.

"Stay on the lookout," Yami instructed his clone. He then jumped toward the destroyed part of the dome and peeked inside.

****

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