Source of Chakra

discord.gg/q5KWmtQARF

Join my Discord!

**************

Frowning, Horyu asked, pointing at the wailing "souls" below, "Do you know these creatures?"

Toru shook his head, "No, but my Pa might."

Horyu nodded, but didn't summon Toru's old man. Instead, he drew another line of blood on his hand and summoned. In the next second, a creature of ghastly appearance appeared, Phantom Brigade. Horyu checked and thought it should be the creature he summoned last time. Summoning worked with intent, thus his intention to summon that creature, though he had yet to meet another member of the Brigade. Its form was still spectral and humanoid, cloaked in an ethereal garment. Its face was hidden, save for two glowing, unsettling eyes. Looking at Horyu then to the sea, the creature hissed, "Yes, Master."

Horyu pointed below and said, "Do you know those creatures?"

Toru looked at the specter that appeared on his back and shuddered, then his gaze fell on Horyu. The giant owl was a straightforward creature who valued honesty and despised deceit, thus naturally disliked specters and anything that reeked of evil. However, trusting Horyu's judgment, Toru remained silent, opting to give Horyu the benefit of the doubt and kept his beak shut.

The spectral being gazed down at the sea, observing the creatures swirling among the whirlpools. "Slaves of Shinigami," it said, its voice a blend of coldness and amusement.

"The Shinigami?" Horyu questioned, his brows furrowing.

"Yes, this is Uzumaki land, right?" The specter didn't wait for an answer, continuing, "The Uzumaki Matriarch once struck a deal with Shinigami to protect this land in exchange for the souls of their enemies. Shinigami agreed, placing his slaves here to guard it."

Horyu was taken aback. Looking down at the creatures circling the island, he estimated their strength to be significant, certainly surpassing that of the average Chunin. "With close to hundreds of them here, how could three villages have managed to destroy Uzumaki?" he pondered aloud.

"Kekeke, I told you before, Master" the Phantom continued, "Shinigami is greedy for souls. The stronger and more vibrant, the more he desires to devour them. And, as luck would have it, the enemies of Uzumaki also made a pact with Shinigami."

Horyu's expression darkened at the specter's explanation. "Betrayal?" he spat out, the word laced with disgust. The notion that the Shinigami could be swayed by a higher bounty of souls, betraying a previous arrangement, was unsettling but not entirely surprising.

"You said Shinigami can't break his deals. How come he sided with the enemies of Uzumaki?" he pressed, seeking clarity on the Shinigami's duplicity.

The phantom's laugh was chilling, echoing slightly even in the open air. "Who said they agreed? The matriarch talked to Shinigami and Shinigami planted his slaves. But the ritual with Shinigami works cash. If you serve the soul, he will execute the deal. But since enemies were still not there, Matriarch could only ask for help. If enemies haven't talked with Shinigami, he might still agree to it. But as I said, as greedy as he is, he decided to devour more vibrant Uzumaki instead of their enemies."

Horyu looked down at the restless sea below, his expression cold and calculating. "Why are they still here then?" he asked, his tone icy. The specter, seemingly amused by Horyu's question, replied with a chilling laugh. "The Uzumaki Matriarch trapped them here. Not just them, but Shinigami too. They've been starved for decades," it explained, its voice echoing the twisted joy it found in the situation.

Horyu frowned. Although in this reality Shinigami never appeared, in Anime it appeared many times. It didn't make sense. Noticing Horyu's confusion, the Phantom elaborated, "The summoning ritual works as a temporary breach, a short escape from this imprisonment. But Shinigami is always dragged back here, trapped until the next summon. But it is impossible to starve Shinigami. He already have souls he can feed on sealed inside of his stomach"

Clicking his tongue in displeasure, Horyu gazed down at the specters swirling below. "Why haven't they vanished yet then? I thought specters that don't feed on souls would disappear," he mused, seeking clarity on their lingering presence.

The specter's laughter grew richer, a sound devoid of warmth. "Master, when has the world ever lacked souls?" it retorted with a morbid amusement. The implication hit Horyu abruptly. "War?" he deduced, connecting the dots.

Nodding, the specter confirmed, "Indeed. Initially, there were thousands of them here, but now only a few handful remain. Those lucky few found unfortunate souls to feed on. We're bound to the Plane of Specters and can't linger long in this realm. But this world, with its constant vitality and violence, is like a feast. Humans and their wars leave behind a trail of lost souls. If we could stay here permanently, we'd never leave no matter how… distasteful it is."

Horyu furrowed his brow, his thoughts racing. Wars had always been a constant in this world, stretching back to ancient times. Even before Kaguya's appearance, conflict and bloodshed were commonplace.

Yet, when Kaguya descended to Earth, brought an end to bloodshed, and introduced a semblance of peace, the narrative took an ironic twist. The world somehow morphed her into a tyrant thirsting for nothing but carnage—a villain who aspired to harvest every living being for their bodily essence. But what of their souls? A question lingered in Horyu's mind: could this have been the machination of a powerful specter? After all, Kaguya's interest lay in the physical vitality of bodies, not the ethereal essence of souls. The more Horyu pondered, the more the pieces seemed to fit together into a coherent, albeit grim, picture.

Navigating the tumultuous seas around the Whirlpool Country with Toru, Horyu's thoughts were a whirlpool in themselves, swirling with revelations and hypotheses about the ancient past and its spectral manipulations. "Wars, the endless cycle of conflict... It's a feast for beings like you, isn't it?" Horyu remarked, his tone laden with a newfound understanding and a hint of disdain.

The specter, perched behind him on Toru's vast back, seemed to revel in the acknowledgment. "Indeed, Master. This world's relentless dance with death and despair is a banquet for our kind."

Still, a question lingered on Horyu's mind. "Last time, you mentioned that what you and even Shinigami seek is not just souls but life force, right?" The word 'life force' made the Specter shiver in excitement. "Yes, Master."

"Isn't life force in the body?" Horyu pressed, seeking to understand the finer details of this grim economy.

The Specter chuckled eerily. "What happens to a person's body when they die?" it countered, prompting Horyu to consider the physical changes that death brought.

"They get cold. The blood stops flowing," Horyu replied, piecing together the implications.

"Exactly. The body carries vitality, but the soul carries the source. Chakra is the source of everything. Though it uses the body as a machine to function, the source is the soul. That's why there are so many jutsus that work with a person's soul. The body is just a shell without it," the Specter elaborated, shedding light on a fundamental truth about life force and chakra.

This revelation resonated with Horyu, aligning with his understanding of shinobi arts and the metaphysical aspects of chakra. Orochimaru's ability to switch bodies, yet retain his techniques, underscored this concept. Bloodline limits might be tied to the physical form, but chakra, the essence of a shinobi's power, was intrinsically linked to the soul.

Edo Tensei was another example that the Specter's explanation brought to mind. The reanimation jutsu summoned souls back to the world of the living, and with them, their bodies were reconstructed, further illustrating the soul's primacy over the physical shell.

--

It is the start of the new week. Please support me with Power Stones! Much appreciated!

-----

To Read up to 50 advance Chapters (25 for each novel) and support me...

patreon.com/thefanficgod1

Please drop a comment and like the chapter!