Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 368 The Complete Soul Fire

Just as victory seemed within reach, a sudden change occurred, and the demon, forgetting his surroundings, felt an unprecedented rage: "You bastard, who are you?"

Ignoring the angry glare of the demon, Aokiji shifted his gaze to the old woman present. Although she was very old, judging from the features between her brows, she must have been incredibly beautiful in her youth.

Aokiji greeted her with a slightly wistful voice, "Long time no see, Shui Ren."

He recognized himself… Shui Lian was slightly taken aback.

She didn't remember many people in her long life, but that one person definitely belonged to her.

When she heard that person had died, she often lamented that if she had told Aokiji about the prophecy back then, perhaps the ending would have been different.

This guilt left such a clear impression on her that even after many years.

Although her appearance had changed somewhat, Shui Lian recognized Aokiji from his overall features. She asked tentatively, "N-are you Aokiji...?"

"You've gotten old..."

Aokiji's gaze fell on a young woman who resembled her in her youth, and she raised her chin slightly: "Is she your daughter?"

Seeing the gaze directed at her, Ziyuan's pupils dilated slightly, and she asked sideways, "Mother, do you know this person?"

Although I don't understand what's going on, judging from the conversation between the seemingly young man and his mother, the two know each other.

Thinking of this, Ziyuan glanced at the blue giant. With this powerful ally, her confidence soared, and she was certain that she could reseal the demon.

When Wangliang heard that the white-haired boy was Aokiji, he was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered Aokiji's information.

Just as Shui Lian had a deep impression of Aokiji, Wang Liang also had a very deep impression of Aokiji, except that he hated him to the core.

It is humans who have prevented its resurrection.

"Who are you……"

"Oh dear, have you forgotten me so quickly?"

Aokiji said in a flippant tone, "Looks like I'll give you a good chance to remember me."

"Soaring..."

Flames erupted from the Soul Fire's hand, burning the demon's body.

"You think a mere flame..."

Before the demon could even show its disdain, the flames that pierced its very soul burned it, causing it to scream in agony.

Impossible, this flame can actually burn its soul.

"What's so trivial?"

A sadistic smile appeared on Aokiji's lips, his tone mocking, waiting to see how the other person would feel.

"Ahhh..."

"Looks like he can't speak..."

Aokiji lost interest in the conversation and said indifferently, "Burn it..."

The Soul Fire intensified its power, and blue flames enveloped the demon's body, burning its flesh and revealing its immense, evil soul.

"They're finally out..."

Aokiji stared calmly at the black mist that exuded an evil aura.

The black mist coalesced into a human shape, its scarlet eyes radiating an aura of intense resentment.

"Now's the time..."

With Aokiji's help, Shui Lian and her daughter recovered and rallied, unleashing holy white lightning to relentlessly bombard the demon.

"Ahhh..."

The demon let out a low growl of pain.

"Mother..."

Ziyuan called out to Shuilian.

Shui Lian understood and attempted to reseal the demon by reusing the sealing technique.

A surge of white energy emanated from the water lily, shooting straight into the sky to form a vast net that lunged at the demon.

Upon seeing the giant net, the demon felt a sense of foreboding.

If she were covered by this giant net, she would return to that dark and sunless space.

It was unwilling to accept this.

Victory was clearly within reach.

However, even if it was unwilling, it was already powerless to change the situation.

Just as the net of heaven was closing in and the demons were in despair, something unexpected happened.

"Click..."

A claw tore the giant net in two.

"That won't do..."

The time was ripe, and Aokiji was no longer going to stand idly by.

"you……"

The demon looked at Aokiji with disbelief. Wasn't this guy with Maitreya?

Suddenly, it noticed the evil aura emanating from Aokiji's eyes and instantly understood...

Shui Lian and her daughter stared wide-eyed, utterly bewildered by Qingzhi's earlier actions.

Is he stopping them from sealing away the demon?

"Aokiji, what are you doing?"

Aokiji shrugged and replied, "Sorry, I don't intend to let you seal away the demon this time."

At this moment, the demon burst into laughter: "So that's how it is. You're after my power, aren't you?"

Shui Lian's eyes widened in shock, her voice filled with grief: "Why...?"

Aokiji closed his eyes slightly and whispered, "For greater power."

Having received an affirmative reply, the demon was overjoyed at the prospect of survival: "Sure, as long as you let me go, I can give you all my power and everything else."

Aokiji opened his eyes, and a flash of red light appeared.

Just as the demon regained consciousness and was feeling fortunate, a giant claw suddenly grabbed it with incredible speed.

"What are you doing...?"

Faced with Aokiji's fickle behavior, Wangliang's heart sank.

"Are you mistaken? I never said I was on your side."

"W-what...?"

Aokiji lost interest in wasting any more breath on the demon, and his eyes sharpened:

"Spiriti Fire, devour it!"

Hearing these shocking remarks stunned everyone present.

What did he just say? He actually said he wanted to eat the demon.

The Soul Fire grabbed the demon and tore a gash in its face.

The demon was terrified when it saw the bottomless mouth; what kind of monster was this?

"etc……"

The Soulfire ignored the pleading voice of the demon, opened its mouth wide, and bit down.

"ah--"

With a scream, the Soul Fire devoured the soul of the demon.

"Thank you for the meal..."

Aokiji touched the corner of his mouth with his index finger and said in a pretentious manner.

At this point, the soul of the demon was already quite weak after being bombarded by several rounds of attacks, and the soul fire did not take much effort to devour it.

Although this soul is no longer very strong, what makes the wraith special is its nature.

To give an analogy, it's like wanting to revive the Ten-Tails. You don't necessarily need to absorb all the tailed beasts to summon it. What you need is the chakra characteristics of all nine tailed beasts to fuse within the Six Paths Demon Statue and undergo a qualitative change.

The current Soul Flame falls into this category; it has devoured the soul of the demon, and the Soul Flame is also developing in a qualitative direction.

Even the usually calm Shui Lian couldn't help but gape at this sight.

Eaten, ate it all...

The demon was actually eaten.

What exactly is this blue giant in front of me...?

Aokiji covered his eyes with one hand, his pupil power continuously increasing. This bite of the demon's soul was more nourishing than all the ones he had devoured in the past combined.

This power is now feeding back into the Soul Flame. A black, ferocious aura swirls around the Soul Flame, and its original blue body is now tinged with a bluish-black hue due to this power.

"This feeling is..."

Aokiji clenched his fist, deciding to give it a try...

Aokiji channeled the immense chakra within him into the Soul Flame.

The Soul Flame received Aokiji's chakra, and its body expanded at a visible speed, causing fundamental changes to occur.

Except for the huge tentacles on its head, which began to shrink, the rest of its body swelled up, and its thin body became muscular, presenting an inverted triangle shape.

His chest muscles were bulging, his back was broad and full, his muscles were clearly defined, and his abdomen had shark fin-like patterns. His originally slender legs had become very thick, and his feet were covered with black armor like lava, making him look extremely domineering.

Aokiji stood atop the Soul Flame, looking down at the shrine below. Compared to it, even the enormous shrine seemed extremely small.

The soldiers surrounding the shrine were stunned speechless upon seeing this enormous creature. Those with weaker constitutions collapsed to the ground, their legs giving way, exclaiming, "What kind of monster is this?!"

Feeling this immense power, Aokiji, though he had never personally witnessed the complete Susanoo, could only imagine what it was like.

From now on, the soul fire in this state shall be called the complete soul fire.

Aokiji was named after Susanoo.

The fully-formed Soul Flame could cause the earth to shake with the slightest movement. If it weren't for the fact that this was a shrine, Aokiji would have liked to make good use of the Soul Flame in this state.

This power is truly amazing...

With this power, even Kamui Obito and Rinnegan Nagato would be no match for it...

Oh, right, there's also Danzo and the Third Hokage...

I'm going to show you what true despair is...

Thinking of this, Aokiji smiled smirked.

Then the smile grew uncontrollably, and his shoulders began to shake.

"Ha ha ha ha…………"

Aokiji looked up at the sky and laughed wildly, letting out a sickly laugh.

Powerful forces can lead to downfall and corruption.

Aokiji is currently in this state.

But that smile quickly came to an abrupt end.

If Aokiji was initially hesitant to use the Soul Flame in this state due to fear of external influences, then the subsequent internal influences forced him to stop using the complete Soul Flame.

A few seconds after activating this mode, my eyeballs felt a burning pain, blood vessels burst open in the whites of my eyes, my eyes looked like they were about to burst, and even blood began to overflow from my eye sockets.

The side effects of the complete Soul Flame were too great, even Aokiji's immortal body could not offset them. Aokiji covered his bleeding eyes with both hands, the intense pain making it impossible for him to maintain this state.

The red in his eyes faded, turning into turquoise. Aokiji deactivated his Mangekyou Sharingan, and the soul fire beneath his feet dissipated as well.

Without the support of the soul fire, Aokiji's body fell, landing on the ground in a kneeling position.

Aokiji raised his face, and multiple phantom images appeared before him. This was the side effect of the Mangekyou Sharingan backfiring on his eyes.

He shook his head to refocus his gaze.

Damn, we went a little too far...

I need to find a way to get rid of this side effect.

Although the Sage Body greatly reduced the side effects of Aokiji on the Mangekyou Sharingan.

However, since it is not a being of the same original power as Hashirama, the side effects of the Mangekyou Sharingan still exist.

To resolve this side effect, Aokiji already knew of two options: finding a relative with Mangekyou Sharingan and capturing a White Zetsu for research.

If the former is impossible, then the latter is the only path left.

Although White Zetsu are weak in combat, they are extremely well hidden. Defeating them is easy, but finding them is very difficult.

The White Zetsu that is most likely to be the one from the Akatsuki is the one we can be sure of.

It seems I need to find Orochimaru as soon as possible and get his help to capture this White Zetsu...

He remembered that Kabuto Yakushi should still be in Konoha, and if he could find him, it wouldn't be difficult to find Orochimaru.

With that in mind, Aokiji immediately prepared to set off, intending to return to Konoha and, while he was at it, settle Karin and her daughter in Konoha, thus giving the Konoha leadership a good slap in the face.

"etc……"

Just as Aokiji took a step, a voice came from behind him.

Aokiji turned around. "What is it...?"

Shui Lian asked, "What did you do to the demon?"

Aokiji casually replied, "I ate it."

"Did you eat it?"

"..."

"Speaking of which, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"What's wrong?"

"Back then, did you see my future?"

Shui Lian slightly opened her mouth and silently nodded.

"I see……"

Shui Lian said somewhat apologetically, "I'm sorry, if only I had..."

Aokiji's voice was indifferent as he raised his hand to interrupt, "Since things have come to this, let's leave it at that..."

Shui Lian sighed, "Alas..."

Aokiji looked at the young shrine maiden beside Suiren: "If I'm not mistaken, your name is Shion."

Ziyuan was taken aback, her eyes seeming to say, "How did you know?"

Aokiji smiled. "Are you wondering how I know your name? After all, I was the one who named you..."

Ziyuan looked at her mother with a questioning look in her eyes.

Shui Lian nodded with a wry smile.

Shion sighed, "It seems there were many things I didn't know back then."

"Mother, Grandma..."

The crisis was over, and a little girl with blonde hair ran between them.

Aokiji looked at the little girl and asked, "Your daughter?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

Because of Aokiji's mischievous tendencies, the name that should have belonged to this girl was changed to her mother's name. Aokiji is quite curious about what the girl's name is now.

"coral."

Shion patted the little shrine maiden's head and replied.

Coral, Maitreya?

Aokiji thought of something.

He shook his head and smiled, then asked, "The demon has now been devoured and replaced by my soul fire. From now on, without this opponent, you can be freed from your duties as priestesses."

Upon hearing this, both Shui Lian and Zi Yuan fell silent.

Suddenly feeling lost, even they were a little confused.

Seeing Sango's blonde hair, Aokiji couldn't help but think of his former lover. Overwhelmed by memories, he sighed, "How are you going to raise this child? Continue to let her be a shrine maiden?"

"..."

Seeing that the two didn't respond much, Aokiji suggested, "If you really don't have any ideas, why don't you let her come to Konoha? I can teach her ninjutsu."

The path leads to the same goal. As a natural-born shrine maiden, Sango should theoretically possess the talent to be a ninja, especially in sealing-type ninjutsu.

"To become a ninja?"

"I didn't say that. I just think learning some self-defense skills and getting out for a walk while doing it wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?"

Shui Lian paused for a moment, then replied, "...I will seriously consider it."

"If there's nothing else, then I'll be going." Aokiji added before leaving, "If you have any ideas, you can come to Konoha to find me anytime."

After Aokiji left, Shion and Suiren each glanced at Sango. This child was a bit too lively. Anyway, since Mouryou was gone, perhaps letting her go to Konoha wouldn't be a bad thing.

After leaving the shrine, Aokiji found Karin and her daughter and said, "We've finished our business. Let's go back to Konoha."

Ps:

I managed to type out a chapter using my phone.

It seems I still have time to continue writing, but I'm feeling rather down, so I'll leave it at that...

This year has been unlucky; three of my relatives have passed away in quick succession.

Sigh, this is probably the kind of trouble that comes with getting older. But after the pain, life goes on...

(End of this chapter)