Chapter 222: The Pure Land

"The Fifth Mizukage, Mangetsu, has died in the Land of Fire, the Three-Tails has been captured by Konoha, and Obito has successfully escaped... What a mess!"

Yuto stared at the intelligence in his hand, dumbfounded.

He truly hadn't expected that despite having his eyes gouged out, Obito had managed to escape, outmaneuvering Konoha.

"If I encounter Obito next time, who knows what the situation will be..."

With a bang, Yuto crushed the secret message, and then patted the small slug beside him, signaling it to return to Shikkotsu Forest.

He squinted his eyes, sensing that something had slipped out of his control. But it was too late to rush to Konoha now. Even without Kamui, Obito had far too many secret bases in the underground world; there was no telling where he might be hiding now.

Moreover, the critical issue was that... He was simply too far from the Land of Fire.

Yuto sighed, lifting his head to gaze at the endless deep blue before him.

Upon the vast ocean, there was only a small boat.

Ten days ago, He had left the Land of Fire, relying on this simple little boat to travel from the Land of Waves eastward, crossing through the territory of the Land of Sea and into the open ocean, far from human civilization.

The seawater here was a deep blue, almost inky, and incredibly deep. Even with his Byakugan activated, he couldn't see the bottom.

After passing the territory of the Land of Sea, the ocean had become eerily silent. There were no ships, not even the calls of seabirds.

This didn't seem like a place a shinobi should be.

"I'll finish my business and then head back. This sea... it really gives me the creeps," Yuto muttered to himself. Even he didn't like staying in such a desolate place for too long.

After marking the small boat with chakra, he adjusted his condition and dove into the deep blue sea.

"So cold..." Yuto gasped while diving deeper.

Since the year 48 of Konoha, the Slug Sage Katsuyu had always supported Yuto, being his most steadfast ally. The intelligence scroll earlier had also been sent by her.

Returning the favor, Yuto also intended to fulfill his promise: to free the Katsuyu from Shikkotsu Forest and grant her freedom.

Yuto and the Slug Sage had discussed this matter for a long time.

The most direct and crude method was to dig Shikkotsu Forest out, destroying the entire swamp and forest, drilling a tunnel to the Earth's core, and creating a gigantic underground cavern for her to crawl out of.

But that plan was clearly almost impossible to accomplish—too large in scale and too time-consuming; it wouldn't be completed within a shinobi's short lifespan.

Therefore, Yuto had made some modifications to this plan.

Since digging directly wasn't feasible, why not push the Slug Sage out from another direction?

He would find the deepest point in the ocean with the highest pressure and use summoning techniques to create a "water outlet" to shoot the Katsuyu out like a high-pressure water gun, breaking through the underground and freeing it.

This plan sounded far-fetched, but it actually had a chance of success—

First, the Slug Sage was nearly immune to physical damage, so even the highest ocean pressure wouldn't kill her.

Second, even if the water pressure couldn't break through the underground, it could slowly erode the rock layers, and the Slug Sage would eventually be able to crawl out.

Freeing the Slug Sage was a defiance of fate itself; if they followed the rules, there would be no hope at all.

The Slug Sage agreed to Yuto's plan and taught him the method for setting up the massive summoning technique.

The Shikkotsu Forest blood contract scroll was an essential "guidepost"; without it, the deep-sea water would definitely be misdirected.

The key to the plan was finding water pressure strong enough to break through anything—high enough to instantly crush steel into thin sheets, or reduce a mountain to a small ball!

Thus, Yuto had come here. Over the past four years, he had traveled the world, climbed the highest peaks, and ventured into the most secretive primeval forests. After considering everything, only this place seemed suitable.

The native inhabitants of the Land of Sea had always referred to this place as the "Black Sea of Death."

No one knew how deep the Black Sea was. Last time Yuto had come to explore, he had dived thousands of meters but couldn't withstand the water pressure and had to return.

But this time, Yuto was determined to reach the bottom.

Bubbles rose in the pitch-black seawater.

Yuto kept his legs together, descending vertically. Thanks to the air-sealing scrolls, he didn't worry about running out of oxygen—his only concern was combating the immense water pressure.

At first, everything went smoothly; Yuto sliced through the water like a razor, even taking the time to observe his surroundings with his Byakugan, as if sightseeing.

But after this "free-fall dive" broke past a thousand meters, he was no longer as relaxed. He tensed every muscle, his chakra surging through his chakra pathways, desperately resisting the water pressure.

However, at a certain point, his skin began to seep blood—this was the limit of what his body could endure.

For the first time, golden light flared deep within the pitch-black sea, illuminating an abyss that had remained dark for countless years.

"Tenseigan Mode, activate!"

Yuto unleashed his ultimate technique in one breath, transforming the Kumoniba into a spindle shape that wrapped around him, slicing through the water as he plummeted further down.

Rumbling sounds echoed around him...

This process seemed to last for an eternity. Beyond the golden light of his ocular jutsu, the deep sea had no other sources of illumination. The surrounding darkness was so complete that it was easy to lose all sense of direction and time.

But Yuto had his own method; he relied on the tactile feedback from Kumoniba, continuing to press toward the areas of highest pressure, avoiding the awkward situation of charging in the wrong direction.

Yet even Tenseigan Mode couldn't help him reach the bottom. As cracking sounds echoed, the golden spindle began to show fractures.

"Too deep..." Yuto's face changed drastically.

'It's Fifty thousand meters? A hundred thousand meters? Two hundred thousand meters?' He had no idea how deep he had gone, but Yuto understood that if he continued further, even his ocular power wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure of the deep sea.

After a brief hesitation, he chose to continue.

This time, besides Tenseigan Mode, he also activated the Strength of a Hundred Seal.

Creaking sounds, like a rat gnawing on a wooden table, filled the air as the golden Kumoniba was compressed smaller and smaller, until it was tightly pressed against his skin, crushing his bones in an instant.

Creation Rebirth activated, healing his injuries, only for the Kumoniba to destroy him again, with the chakra stored in the Strength of a Hundred Seal repairing him once more...

The cycle of pain and itching repeated endlessly, driving Yuto to the brink of insanity. After countless cycles of destruction and regeneration, his feet finally came to a sudden halt.

Yuto had finally stepped onto the rocky seabed.

"The stones here are so much stronger than metal..."

He thought to himself, while his body continued to be destroyed and regenerated.

With great difficulty, he took out the prepared materials and inserted them into the rock. The sound of teeth-grinding filled the air as he checked under the golden light—there was no damage to the rock.

"Murakumo Slash!"

Yuto silently called out, using his companion ocular jutsu to drive the material into the rock.

"Place a summoning technique marker every five hundred meters... I can only hope I have enough chakra stored."

As Yuto bled profusely, he moved quickly, and as he grew more practiced, his movements became faster and faster.

Bang!

A tremor ran through his hand, and his heart leaped with joy. This was the last one. All that remained was to place the blood contract scroll at the core, and the task would be complete...

Hmm?

Suddenly, his moving body accelerated, crossing a hundred meters in an instant and crashing into a mountain. Wrapped in golden Kumoniba, he smashed through the mountain like a meteor.

—The seawater had suddenly disappeared, and the immense pressure was gone. Caught off guard, Yuto shot out horizontally, still wrapped in Kumoniba.

Yuto was a bit dumbfounded as he stood up and brushed the dust off his head.

Activating his Byakugan, he froze when he saw the familiar pale blue in his surroundings.

'That was... the color belonging to Minato.'

Yuto stood rooted to the spot, slowly crouching down to scoop the sand into his hands.

The gray sand grains slipping through his fingers held a familiar chakra.

"But... you're all already dead..." Yuto murmured softly, looking around this desolate land with a complex expression.

He knew where he was.

This was the resting place of shinobis, the eternal secret realm of chakra reincarnation.

—The Pure Land!

(End of Chapter)