Chapter 52: Gift of the Sages

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To my surprise, Chiriku placed a finger between his brows and said, "Our teachings have always been opened to anyone ready to learn. Like everyone else though, I must warn you, the Gift of the Sages can be a dangerous path to follow."

I nodded and said, "I'll be careful. Please teach me."

Chiriku nodded, and asked, "Can you meditate?"

I nodded, so Chiriku explained, "I need you to do so then. You will feel something tug at your mind. Accept it."

I closed my eyes, moving my body to a better position as I instantly entered a deep state of meditation. This had become extremely easy for me to do thanks to the Statue of the Sage of Six Paths.

Not long after, I did feel something was trying to connect with me, and as I formed the link, I felt myself materialize. Looking around, I found myself in my mind space. Not far from me, was Chiriku.

The monk looked around in surprise, and with some shock, but he had the decency not to say anything.

My mind space represented my very being, and the same went for everyone. Naruto's was an endless maze prison because he had always been shunned by others and was the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki.

As for me, it was a rather large forest. It was quite beautiful, if I must say so myself, but there was something amiss. All the trees were bare, with people hung. The hung people were also skinned, making them featureless. Maybe I should see a Yamanaka some day…

Chiriku smiled slightly and said, "We all have our problems, don't we?"

I nodded, and Chiriku changed the subject, "If you want to get in contact with the spirits, then first you need a connection with the Summon World."

I informed him, "I already do, I signed a contract with a clan."

Chiriku nodded, "This will make things easier then. All you have to do now is visualize yourself using the technique you used earlier, and several spirits will reach out to you. Each of them will have a contract, and once you sign one of them, then that technique will forever be associated to that spirit."

I hummed, but as I was about to do it Chiriku added, "Before you do it, a warning. The number of techniques we have is limited, and that is even more the case for you, who are self taught. This means you must choose very carefully which spirit you will sign a contract with. A useless contract is one less technique to use."

I nodded, but inwardly I was laughing. Because the monks don't have any similar system to handsigns, searching for any jutsu must be extremely hard since they don't have a systematic way to control their chakra, like hand seals.

They couldn't do the same as me either as it required a hypersensitivity to Chakra. So it wasn't a surprise they barely had any techniques for their system, but the same didn't go for me.

I had already discovered every jutsu that used 3 Tenketsu or less, and although it only came up to be the equivalent of an E Rank technique, the number of 'slots' for spirits I had was probably higher than their entire temple. I would contribute a few to them later, Chiriku was quite helpful to me after all.

With that said, I once again tried using the technique from earlier, and as I did I felt the surroundings blur, while Chiriku was pushed out of my head.

My surroundings once again got dark as I left my mind space, but my spiritual self did not disappear. Instead, I saw several lights appear in the darkness. They shone with different intensities, and if I guessed right, then those were the famed spirits.

I was surprised by the number of spirits though, there was at least several dozens here, I didn't expect there to be so many of them. Not everyone of them had come either I guess, since this was a low level contract.

The more Tenketsu my chakra passed through, the more momentum it would pick, and the stronger the jutsu would be. There were exceptions, but it worked well enough as a rule of thumb.

As for these Monk Techniques, although the effect of the technique would be determined by which spirit it would get linked to, the intensity of the technique would depend majorly on the amount of chakra I would input.

So no S Rank Jutsu for an E Rank worth of chakra because of OP Spirit. How sad.

In any case, I quickly approached the lights, and they started getting more detailed. Some looked like animals, while others surprisingly looked nothing like that. Some were human like, and some even looked like elementals.

I expected to feel some kind of connection to one of them, but I felt none of that, so I decided to go for one of the stronger light, a bloody red light.

As I approached, the outline of a man appeared. His skin was black, and not Kumogakure black, but charcoal black, along with white lines coursing across his body.

The moment I approached him, a wicked grin appeared on his face as he said, "Rejoice, child, for thou has summoned the great and mighty…"

I grumbled in annoyance, "Don't put on airs, there are many other spirits I can choose from."

He looked shocked as he grabbed his face, his eyes bulging out as he cried tears of blood, "How dare thee speak of the great…"

I snorted, "Just tell me what you can do trash, and what sacrifice you want."

Why would I need him to introduce himself, I could guess for myself who that was. He looked exactly like Hidan when he transformed for his sacrificial techniques. Not really sure what his name is, but he was presumably a god worshipped by Hidan. And I didn't like him.

The 'god' started tearing open his own face with his fingers as he moaned, "How splendid! I… I think I'm in love!"

Say what now?

Alright, he's more trouble than he's worth, so I'll be getting out of here…

"Wait! You can't leave me!"

A little annoyed, I looked at him and said, "Just tell me what you can do, and if you're not useless, maybe I'll consider you as an option."

I shivered as he moaned in pleasure, and he outstretched his arms as he presented himself, "I am Jashin, Lord of Death and Destruction!"

He looked all excited saying that, so I couldn't help but ask, "Isn't death the Shinigami's domain?"

Jashin clutched his heart dramatically, cutting his chest open with his long nails while moaning, "Oh woman, I like it when you make me your thing!"

"I'm 9."

"Age is but a number!"

"I think I'll go now."

"Wait!" To my shock, Jashin plunged his hand into his chest, and plucked out his beating heart. What the…

"For my love is eternal, nothing equals it. For your heart is ephemeral, everything falls below."

With the heart of Jashin presented to me, I could see it was still beating despite being outside of his chest. After a moment, I finally found my words.

"That was a nice poem. Tell me then, what do you offer, Lord of Death and Destruction?"

I grabbed his still beating heart, not minding the blood as Jashin shivered. His form started turning ethereal as he whispered, "I would give everything for my love. Use my powers at will, I shall ask nothing more than in a place… in your heart."

So he was offering me a contract with no sacrifice? Free power? That is… definitely unusual.

But he couldn't be scheming something, since while I was unfamiliar until now to the Gift of Sages, I knew a thing or two about contracts, Uzumaki had similar techniques in their Fuinjutsu, such as their greatest technique, the Reaper Death Seal.

Still, I was wary, so before his form could disappear, I said, "If I take your power, then I will sacrifice the lives of one person to you. If I fail to do it under ten years, then my soul shall be yours. While the contract is active though, you are not allowed to influence me in any shape or form."

Jashin did not answer, but I felt the heart within my hands turn warm as it became brighter. All the other spirits disappeared as I opened my eyes in the real world.