Chapter 124

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As the time for his passive skill refresh approached, Kyomu's heart always fluttered with unease.

"Give me a passive skill that aids in training..." Kyomu fervently wished in his heart.

With a new battlefield yet to open, Kyomu was likely to remain confined to the village for recuperation. In such a time, a combat enhancement passive skill would not be of much use.

If he could get a good training aid passive skill, Kyomu could use this period of rest to significantly improve his own strength.

That way, even if he were to enter the battlefield in the future, he wouldn't need to rely on top-tier combat passive skills to make a significant impact.

With a heart full of apprehension, Aragami Kyomu lounged in a chair in his courtyard, waiting for the moment the passive skill would refresh.

Passive Skill: Divine Summoning

Skill Description: During the skill's duration, you may pray to the heavens. Upon receiving a response from someone, you will gain one of that person's peak talents, lasting until the end of the passive skill's duration.

*Note: A prayer is considered successful as long as there is a response, regardless of the respondent's time period, past or future.

Duration: 30 days

Message: Can I summon myself? Hmm, my future self 20 years from now may be OP.

Thrilled, Kyomu sprang up from his lounge chair, his face alight with excitement. He wanted to roar towards the heavens but managed to suppress the urge, thinking it better to act now rather than later.

"According to the message, summoning others might not guarantee a response, but summoning myself should surely work, right?"

Kyomu thought clearly, seeing through to the essence. The baseline of this passive skill was like a peak experience card.

But that was just the baseline. The upper limit was terrifyingly powerful. If he could win the favor of the many legends from his previous world's memories, not taking off would be a disservice to himself.

And with so many traversers across countless worlds...

No matter if it was a bit far-fetched, he had to try.

Kyomu calmed his mind and, with the most devout posture, began to pray to the heavens.

As expected, the Three Pure Ones showed no intention of responding.

He lowered his expectations.

Still the same, Kyomu's prayers were like stones sunk in the ocean.

"Am I thinking too much, or is it just not fitting well?"

Kyomu was somewhat disheartened, feeling he had taken too big a step. How could those high above in the myths spare a thought for the whispers of a mere ant?

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Let's change the target," Kyomu decided, switching his target. "Hashirama should be okay, right? Moreover, as long as I receive a response, I can gain one of their abilities. And the passive skill doesn't limit the number of respondents.

The more responses I get, the more splendid my month will be, piecing everything together?"

Decided, Kyomu again became devout, mumbling to himself.

"I pray to Hashirama 20 years from now, hoping to receive your response and aid, from a distinguished Konoha ninja of the year 48."

The prayer traveled through the river of time, instantaneously reaching Hashirama, who was summoned through the Reanimation Jutsu 20 years later.

"How odd, I can actually hear someone speaking from 20 years ago. Is this a side effect of the Reanimation Jutsu?"

Hashirama turned to the tall man beside him, about to inquire but was directly given an answer.

"Agree to it." The man's eyes gleamed playfully, "That's the nonsensical me from 20 years ago."

Time rewound, and Hashirama's response reached Kyomu at this moment.

"I agree to assist you, but as for how, I..."

Kyomu's eyes snapped open.

Success!

And a response was all that was needed; the content hardly mattered. Once there was a response, he could gain one peak talent from the respondent.

What was Hashirama's peak talent? There was no need to ponder; it was definitely the supreme yang chakra cultivation talent derived from his Senju body.

In an instant, Kyomu felt his understanding of yang chakra deepen, and controlling it was no longer a struggle but as smooth as instinct.

Rubbing his hands together, Kyomu quickly calmed his emotions. He had more people to pray to.

Madara.

But Madara was notoriously aloof, with a peculiar temperament, requiring a different strategy.

"Sincerity is all that's needed; there's no limit to what can be prayed for."

Kyomu murmured to himself, a sly smile appearing on his face. But in a moment, he collected his spirit and, with the most devout posture, uttered the most infuriating words.

"I pray to Madara 20 years from now, to let him know one thing: Hashirama is stronger than him, he will never surpass him, and Hashirama has never held him in his heart."

Hehe, a triple strike! Kyomu was confident; he didn't believe Madara could resist not responding.

"Uh?" Two minutes later, "I didn't receive a response, that shouldn't be right. Is he dead or..."

After waiting a while longer and seeing that Madara still didn't respond, Kyomu frowned.

"It seems there might be some other accident; the uncertainty 20 years later is too great." Kyomu accepted it, "Then what about Madara 40 years ago? There shouldn't be any accidents then, right?"

Hands together once more, Kyomu sincerely repeated the most damaging words to Madara from 40 years ago.

"I pray to Madara 40 years ago, to inform him of one thing: Hashirama is stronger than him, he will never surpass him, and Hashirama has never held him in his heart."

The sincere words traveled back through the river of time to the past

Already having captured the Nine-Tails as a pet and planning to confront Hashirama, Madara stood frozen, rage unconsciously rising in his heart.

I'm weaker than Hashirama?

I can't beat Hashirama?

Hashirama has never cared for me?

"Do you wish to die?!" Madara's cold voice echoed, "Or have you witnessed my true power?"

Enough, that was more than enough. The voice in Kyomu's ears made him ecstatic. His verbal triple attack didn't work on the future Madara for some reason, but the past Madara couldn't stand this at all.

Upon receiving the response, Kyomu felt a clarity in his mind. Madara, possessing the Indra chakra, naturally had the most outstanding talent in yin chakra cultivation, unparalleled in mental strength.

"Now that I have Hashirama's yang chakra training talent and Madara's yin chakra training talent... the Sage of the Six Paths and his brother..."

Just as the thought emerged, Kyomu quickly dismissed it. The Sage of the Six Paths was still watching over the ninja world from the Pure Land, and without sufficient strength, it was best not to provoke him.

"Heh, my future self, it's time to strike it rich!" Kyomu finally decided to utilize his fallback plan.

Hands together, his face the picture of sincerity.

"I pray to my future self 20 years from now, strike it rich, quickly, give your past self a fortune!"

"Idiot."

A light, floating word echoed in his ear, causing Kyomu to freeze before his face flushed red. "You..."

But even so, Kyomu found he had no way to retaliate; his future self was still himself, after all. What can you do when you insult yourself? It was infuriating...

However, in an instant, Kyomu wasn't angry anymore, mainly because what his future self bestowed upon him was too much!

"Is this considered spending in advance?" Kyomu squinted, "Who cares, it's not like it's on credit. Why overthink it?"

Settling down, he reflected on the changes in his talents.

"Shh... What kind of monster am I in the future?" Kyomu gasped, "Aren't I supposed to get only the peak of one talent? How come I suddenly got four!"

These four talents were: a physical talent, not a Sage Body but superior to one, already surpassing Hashirama's yang chakra training talent and even more comprehensive.

A soul talent, never possessing the eyes of a Sage but the talent in yin chakra was indescribably strong, similarly surpassing the yin chakra training talent given by Madara.

A chakra talent, not the progenitor of chakra, but chakra was as obedient to him as a child, with various applications coming naturally.

A taijutsu talent, not daring to claim physical sanctity, but his understanding and insights into taijutsu moves, especially in swordsmanship, were unparalleled, unmatched in past and future.

"After going around in circles, it turns out my future self is the most awesome." Kyomu couldn't help but scratch his head, "Actually, the scolding wasn't wrong. Isn't this just ignoring the obvious, doubting myself?"

Putting aside being scolded by his future self for a moment, Kyomu then pondered over his training plan for the month.

When he previously had "King of Nonchalance" and "Rewards the Diligent" as perfect passive skills, Kyomu was weak, and the benefits were not significant.

It could be said that he spent the most trashy growth period with the most perfect passive skills.

But now, having received four peak talents from his future self, although it wasn't as continuous as the "King of Nonchalance" MAX attribute series or as infinitely growing as "Rewards the Diligent,"

To be honest, with Kyomu's current strength, plus the strong talents obtained after summoning himself, even if there's only one month, is was more than enough. 

"The physical talent, superior to the Sage Body, allows me to create multiple shadow clones for localized accelerated training.

The talent in the soul, deriving from the strong mental strength, can perfectly solve the side effects produced when shadow clones assist in training.

The talent in chakra allows me to refine high-level chakra applications more quickly. Nature transformation and shape transformation are just appetizers; merging two or more types of chakra to give birth to a Kekkei Genkai is the real deal!

Taijutsu needs no further mention, inspiration floods in, and my swordsmanship can advance much further."

Kyomu was invigorated, his planning sound and well-founded, "The Shadow Clone Jutsu assisting in training only provides experience, and does not help much with physical attribute growth.

So now, all I need to do during this month of talent is to rigorously train my body.

As long as the training intensity and energy intake can keep up, it's possible that in one month, I could achieve the physical growth that would normally take a year."

Having made up his mind, Kyomu had no intention of sleeping.

Looking around, Kyomu felt his small courtyard was utterly insufficient for his purposes; demolishing his home was out of the question.

As for where to go, Kyomu already had a plan.

The Forest of Death no longer suited him; Kyomu decided to move his training ground to the Hokage Rock Mountains.

This place was full of countless boulders, perfect for Kyomu to train his strength.

"Kyomu, where are you heading so late at night?"

A member of the Anbu on night patrol 'coincidentally' encountered Kyomu, stepping forward to inquire.

"I can't sleep, thought I'd train a bit at the Hokage Rock Mountains."

"Does the training ground not meet Kyomu's needs?"

"Of course it doesn't. If it did, I wouldn't bother going so far." Kyomu then extended an invitation to the two Anbu members, "Want to join?"

The Anbu members exchanged glances before nodding.

Their mission was to monitor every move of Kyomu after his return to the village, to see if he harbored any unusual intentions.

"If Kyomu doesn't mind our disturbance, I think we'd be happy to."

"Not a disturbance, it's just some basic physical training."

Kyomu chuckled, leading the two following Anbu to the Hokage Rock Mountains.

Then, choosing a particularly appealing boulder, Kyomu used Yoei to hollow it out.

"Could you two lend me a hand?" Kyomu didn't keep idle people around, "How about helping me pick a few trees about the thickness of a big bowl to bring back?"

The Anbu members communicated with a glance, and one of them quickly left, soon returning somewhat laboriously dragging two trees to the mountainside.

"You need to train your bodies more." Kyomu shook his head, then in a few jumps reached the foot of the mountain, carrying a tree in each hand up the slope.

Casually throwing the trees onto the ground, under the astonished gazes of the two Anbu, Kyomu shoulder-carried a boulder taller than a person, making several quick trips back and forth.

Similarly hollowing out a hole in the middle with Yoei, Kyomu placed several boulders side by side, four on the left and boulders on the right, with the weight of both ends roughly equal. 

With a flick of his toe, Kyomu inserted the trees he had just acquired into the ground, creating a makeshift large dumbbell from the most primitive materials.

"Want to join?" Kyomu gestured towards the ground at the large 'dumbbell,' "It's very effective for physical training."

"This... Kyomu, you must be joking. We can't handle that."

"That's a shame." Kyomu shook his head and formed a hand seal.

Puff, puff, puff.

A series of shadow clones filled much of the space on the hillside, easily numbering seventy or eighty.

The two Anbu members' mouths hung open, large enough to fit two eggs.

Such intensity of training, wasn't it asking for death!

But Kyomu...

Not only did he lift the large 'dumbbell' he had crafted, but he also began performing squats, one after another.

Is this how the strong train themselves?

Their worldview was being overturned.

(End of Chapter)