Chapter 149: King of the World

"I walked here myself." Before Yuto could speak, the old man began talking to himself.

"I was born forty years before the founding of Konoha, about ten years older than Hashirama and Madara."

"If you calculate it, I am already ninety years old."

"Chakra can give shinobi strength, but it cannot make us live longer. Even the legendary Sage of Six Paths couldn't escape death."

"I am a remnant of the Warring States period. I started killing at the age of five, biting on a kunai. From then until Konoha was founded fifty years ago, I spent every day in slaughter."

Ryusuke Hyuga lifted his shirt, revealing his withered, scarred skin.

"Every bone, every piece of skin, every muscle has been tormented by enemies."

"Under normal circumstances, years of battle and near a hundred years of age should have left me bedridden, even if I were barely alive."

"However, I walked out of that grave, traveled long distances, and fought with you, boy."

"This is not something someone my age can do. Even Hashirama and Madara would be bedridden in their old age."

"Moreover, I don't know any secret techniques to delay aging."

"I have aged naturally in pain and years, and I am infinitely close to death."

"Last month, my cells couldn't produce a single drop of chakra."

"However..."

The old man sighed, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"At the moment I thought of 'killing that rebellious branch family,' my eye power and chakra returned to my body."

Yuto stood in place, perhaps because of the yellow sand, he felt his legs go weak.

He somewhat understood what the old man meant.

"Judging by your expression, it seems you know what I want to say... You are a smart child, a descendant of Yuuichi," the old man said, patting the ground beside him, "Sit down. I can hold on for a few more minutes."

Yuto silently sat down next to the old man. Beneath him was rolling sand, above was a brilliant starry sky.

The starlight shone on him, yet Yuto felt cold all over.

"It seems you really understand what I meant." The old man's expression was complex as he continued:

"Yes."

"The moment I decided to become your enemy, the world stood by my side."

"Stones, plants, wind and snow, mountains, animals, humans... everything you see, hear, and touch has chakra, the difference is only in quantity and usability."

"Chakra... chakra."

"Because I have lived long, I know many strange truths, such as the tailed beasts, aggregates of huge chakra, which also have emotions. Some humans, extremely powerful, can even have their chakra reincarnated over hundreds of generations."

"I have always thought, the ninja world is filled with chakra, which is no different from saying 'chakra possesses the ninja world.'"

"Chakra can reincarnate, feel anger and joy... so it's clear that the laws of all things are closely related to chakra. Absolutely, absolutely not entirely objective!"

"The end of the world might have been set the moment chakra appeared."

"People are pleased with the strong nations and shinobi villages they have built, thinking they have created destiny, but in reality, that is only an inevitable result under the 'King's will.'"

"And the king of this world is named Chakra!"

"Being a renegade from family and village is nothing new, I have seen many, but living outside the 'King's script'... do you know what you are facing, descendant of Yuuichi?"

Yuto stared blankly at the starry sky. The night sky of the ninja world was filled with stars, like diamonds and jade embedded in a vast black curtain.

However, at this moment, he only felt that those starlights were full of malice.

Yuto knew very well that the old man was completely right.

As a transmigrator, he had read the original work and knew the final outcome of the ninja world was "Naruto and Sasuke fighting Kaguya Otsutsuki."

Or to put it another way, it was "the chakra of Indra and Asura reincarnating and sealing Kaguya's chakra!"

The final fate of the ninja world was essentially a battle of chakra.

But in this predetermined script, suddenly a caged bird appeared.

The Caged Bird Seal is the most stubborn curse in the ninja world, entangling its bearer for life, even surviving World Reincarnation.

To eradicate it entirely, one must possess the power of the Sage, whether Sage Eyes or Sage Body can resolve the Caged Bird.

But the chakra of the ninja world has a "fixed quantity."

In a thousand years, there might have been many who achieved Sage status, but it was all just the reincarnated chakra of Asura and Indra, just the same thing in a different form. Including Hamura and Hagoromo, it's just the Otsutsuki family.

A caged bird seeking to become a Sage, to gain freedom, would inevitably change the world's final fate.

This is absolutely not allowed.

Even though the king of the world, Chakra, does not have a true personality, it would instinctively prevent such "rebellion."

Ryusuke Hyuga's body coming back to life is the world's counterattack!

"Descendant of Yuuichi, what are you going to do to make the world so angry?" the old man sighed:

"No matter what your thoughts are, stop now."

"Shinobi are weapons, possessing power beyond ordinary people, but ultimately, our opponents have always been humans."

"To go against the world, can you still be called a shinobi?"

"Bowing your head is not shameful."

"I think, even the Sage of Six Paths was in some sense... a slave to chakra."

Yuto grabbed a handful of sand, letting it slip through his fingers.

The yellow sand falls, trees wither, birds rot in the soil. The predetermined trajectory of this world is the chakra battle of Asura, Indra, and Kaguya.

It seems lively, but it is actually like stagnant water.

A thousand years ago, the Divine Tree descended, chakra spread throughout the world, wars became more frequent, and the death toll far exceeded that before chakra appeared.

For such a long time, a full ten centuries, not a single smart person thought "chakra is a precious energy source, it should be used to improve productivity and benefit the world."

Is this human nature's flaw, or the result of chakra's hidden guidance?

All life lives and dies on a predetermined path.

The so-called ninja world is a huge cage.

"Thank you." Yuto spoke, saying his first words:

"Those words just now were very helpful to me. Maybe in the future, more and more people will stand against me, but no matter what appears ahead, nothing can stop my steps."

The night wind blew through his hair, the young man suddenly laughed, his eyes clear, like a refreshing spring:

"I am no one's slave."

(End of Chapter)