Naruto: They are all reborn.

Chapter 22: There are limits to being a ninja.

The tranquility of the lake was broken, and the turbulent water swirled continuously, forming an inward-curving whirlpool.

At the very center of the whirlpool, a giant dragon formed from flowing water raises its head. Its eyes, which should be lifeless, reflect the moonlight, as if adding the finishing touch to a painting.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet.

"Even with the advantage of the terrain, this kid is still able to use such a powerful ninjutsu. He's really amazing."

The ninja sword on Zhongzhi's back was finally drawn, lightning crackling across its blade, its immense power inspiring a heartfelt desire to kneel and worship.

It was impossible to tell whether it was lightning or a flash of light; the naked eye could only catch a glimpse of it before the dragon's head was sliced ​​open with incredible smoothness.

However, trying to cut water with a knife only makes it flow more.

The water dragon's body did not stop moving forward just because its head was cut in two. The surging water continued to pound against its central axis, but its feet were firmly planted in the earth, and its massive body did not move an inch under the impact of the water.

The next instant, Shi Xu suddenly appeared beside him, holding a piece of jade-white bone and thrusting it at him.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhongzhi drew his sword and slashed down, the blow colliding with the bone and producing a deafening roar that scattered the surrounding water.

"You did indeed come to me by following the direction of the water flow."

Zhongzhi sneered, pulled his sword back a short distance, used this short distance to increase his speed, converted the speed into power and exploded it, and then repelled Shixu.

Shi Xu saw his movements, so instead of forcibly struggling with him, she used the momentum to retreat and land steadily on the ground.

Once freed from the interference of the water flow, Zhongzhi finally saw what he looked like.

Shi Xu's body was covered in intricate black patterns that started from the palm of his right hand and converged on his forehead, forming what appeared to be an eye.

"What is this?"

Shi Xu smiled and said, "I don't know either."

He laughed. Where did his confidence come from? From those black patterns?

Zhongzhi's eyes turned serious, and he quickly raised his knife and slashed forward.

But Shi Xu did not retreat but advanced, gripping the bone and launching a fierce attack on Zhongzhi without fear.

Lightning flashed everywhere, each exchange accompanied by bolts of lightning and sparks, creating a stunning spectacle that left onlookers speechless. Their attacks grew faster and more ruthless, bombarding each other like a storm.

Zhongzhi became increasingly alarmed and blurted out, "You actually managed to keep up with my speed?!"

The other person is a student at the Ninja Academy, and a freshman at that!

Just minutes before, he had to hold back, careful not to kill the man. But now, he could face off against his own fully powered self.

What is this?!

As the Raikage once said: Everything will betray you, except for the muscles you've built through hard work and the sweat you've shed.

But now, my Raikage! It turns out that muscles and sweat can betray you!

"Click!"

A crisp, mournful cry rang out, and the ninja sword in Zhongzhi's hand showed signs of chipping, followed by a crack extending from it.

His mental state was already unstable due to the earlier events, and now, with this sudden turn of events, he was completely flustered, and his hand movements were full of flaws.

Shi Xu seized the opportunity and launched his final attack.

Pfft!

Nakano could see Toki's movements, but he couldn't move his body. He could only watch helplessly as the bone broke the ninja sword and pierced his chest.

Why?

Zhongzhi dropped the ninja sword, gripped the bone embedded in his body with both hands, and stared intently at Shixu, his eyes filled with resentment.

"Why should I?!"

With this roar, thick, scarlet blood gushed out, flowing onto the ground with a thud.

"Is this all your last words?"

Shi Xu continued to exert force, inch by inch, driving the bone in his hand into his body, slowly taking away his life.

"I...don't...accept."

With blood still in his mouth, Zhong Zhi spat out these three words. Shi Xu noticed that the resistance in his hand had disappeared. Without the slightest hesitation, he plunged the entire bone into Zhong Zhi's body and stabbed it out from the other end.

He seemed to want to say something more, but soon his eyes glazed over and he lowered his head.

too fast.

Everything happened too fast.

From the moment Shi Xu killed the two attackers, to when he was suddenly knocked into the lake by Zhong Zhi, and then when he reappeared, he was able to turn the tables and suppress Zhong Zhi.

Not only was Nakaji confused, but even Shixu himself didn't know what had happened.

After absorbing the chakra of the central point, the rhomboid mark on its palm seemed to have eaten its fill, emitting black lines that ran up its arm. As it continued to expand, it was like a power bank discharging power, filling its body with strength, and even allowing it to use its bones in battle.

When he took a piece of forearm bone from his palm, he discovered that the bones were extremely dense and even harder than the kunai in his hand.

The patterns not only gave him immense power, but also altered his physical structure.

Standing by the lake, gazing at her reflection in the water, Shi Xu couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"

"wedge."

Unexpectedly, a clear, moon-like female voice rang in his ear.

"Who is it?!"

Shi Xu immediately went on alert, looking around, but found no sign of anyone being there.

The markings on his body gradually faded, and the powerful force that filled every corner of his body also receded like the tide. This feeling of weakness after losing power made Shi Xu feel somewhat uneasy.

Just then, a commotion arose from not far away; it must be Konoha ninjas arriving.

As Shi Xu pondered the woman's voice from earlier, his gaze wandered, and he suddenly noticed the bone protruding from Zhong Zhi's chest.

Oops!

He made a hand seal and activated the Instantaneous Movement Technique to arrive in front of Zhongzhi's corpse, took the bones, and hid them in his clothes in one swift motion.

"Toki!"

Tsunade's voice descended from the sky along with the person, grabbing his shoulder, her beautiful eyes filled with worry.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Shi Xu raised her most injured right hand, putting on a pitiful expression: "Tsunade-sensei, it hurts so much~"

"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt..."

Tsunade pinched his right hand, pretended to blow on it, but actually used chakra to examine it.

But the deeper the investigation went, the more doubts Tsunade had.

Shi Xu's clothes were covered in battle scars, but his body showed no signs of injury, not even abrasions.

Meanwhile, the Konoha Anbu had just finished their on-site investigation and stumbled upon this scene as they walked over.

"Lady Tsunade, no trace of anyone else was found at the scene."

In other words, these three corpses on the ground were all created by the child in your arms who was crying and complaining of pain.

Tsunade understood immediately and then asked, "Tell the teacher what happened?"

Shi Xu did not answer immediately, but silently raised her head and looked into her eyes.

"Teacher, there really are limits to a ninja's abilities. In my short life, I've learned that the more cunning a person is, the more likely they are to stumble in unexpected situations."

Tsunade was taken aback: "What? What are you talking about?"

Shi Xu turned his head to look at the three corpses on the ground, and touched the bones hidden in his clothes with his other hand, as well as the abundant chakra in his body.

I think... I'm no longer a ninja.

In Kirigakure, the village of the Land of Water, there is a ninja clan called "Takenori".

They possess a bloodline limit called "Shikotsumyaku," which makes bones denser than steel and allows them to freely manipulate the bones within their bodies for combat.

If that's all there is to it, Toki still falls into the category of ninja.

What truly perplexed him was the chakra within his body that lingered and remained incredibly pure.

A ninja's chakra is refined from physical strength. When it is not needed, chakra is not refined. The refined chakra will gradually dissipate. Therefore, Mito Uzumaki and Tsunade use the Yin Seal to store the dissipated chakra.

However, Toki used the Karma seal on his right hand to absorb the central ninjutsu and convert it into chakra, storing it within his body. This chakra would not dissipate, constantly providing him with powerful energy for his actions.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Although he hadn't done any more experiments yet, Toki had a premonition that most of the ninjutsu in the ninja world would probably be useless against him.

The existence of the Karma seal is a complete and utter defeat for ninjas.

While pondering the changes in the wedge and his body, Shi Xu recounted what had happened here.

Of course, he didn't mention the part where he fought Zhongzhi head-on, only that he took advantage of the opponent's underestimation and used the mental decapitation technique in the water formation wall to win the victory.

"I see."

Tsunade nodded, then stood up and spoke with the Anbu for a while.

"A month ago, Grandma Mito and I worked together to eliminate a group of spies from Kumogakure, but these two escaped because they were too weak. As for this stronger Kumogakure ninja... he must have infiltrated with the Kumogakure delegation."

Shi Xu's mind stirred slightly, and he asked, "Can the village use this matter to put pressure on Kumogakure?"

Tsunade shook her head: "Unlikely. It's impossible for these people to have enough incriminating evidence against them, and besides... Konoha and Kumogakure just signed a ceasefire agreement."

"So... I'm the only one who has to suffer this loss?"

"I will have the teacher make it up to you," Tsunade replied.

But Toki suddenly asked, "What if my teacher wasn't Tsunade, but just an ordinary Konoha ninja?"

The night wind swept across the land. Tsunade lowered her head and remained silent, while the Anbu members focused intently on disposing of the corpses.

In the days that followed, Konoha was peaceful, and the villagers excitedly discussed the changes after the war ended, completely unaware that a battle had taken place the night before.

They are like fish kept in a fish tank.

Shi Xu had this thought.

One night, he was suddenly called to the courtyard by Mito to chat.

"Grandma Mito, what brings you here so late?"

In the large courtyard, Mito sat on a rock, gazing at the distant Shadow Rock, lost in thought.

Only when she heard Shi Xu's voice did she beckon: "Xiao Shi Xu, come sit a little closer."

"Um."

Shi Xu responded and sat down next to her.

"I already know what happened that night; it was an excellent battle." Mito stroked his hair, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes.

"You're very capable and talented. I wonder... if you know anything about the Tailed Beasts?"

Tailed beasts.

In the war-torn history of the ninja world, there is a terrifying existence deeply etched into people's minds along with calamities: the Tailed Beasts. There are nine of them, named from 1 to 9 Tailed depending on the number of tails.

Although the tailed beasts are incredibly powerful and inspire fear, they have now become tools of war.

That's all I know.

After saying that, Shi Xu swallowed hard to soothe his dry throat.

Mito's smile was gentle and kind, and her eyes were clean and bright; she didn't look like an old woman whose life was about to end.

"It seems you are very eager to learn. Knowledge about tailed beasts won't appear in the textbooks of the ninja academy. However... there are a few points I need to add."

Shi Xu straightened his back respectfully, like a well-behaved child in kindergarten who had just heard his teacher call his name: "Please speak."

Mito continued, "Tailed Beasts are life forms created from pure chakra. Even if they die, they will be reborn after a period of time."

Pure chakra?

Shi Xu paused for a moment, then subconsciously raised his right hand to take a look.

Tailed beasts = chakra, and the Karma seal can absorb chakra, so tailed beasts = food.

Cough!

Shi Xu quickly dismissed the thought from her mind and continued to listen attentively.

"The power of the Tailed Beasts is immense. Past ninjas had attempted to capture them, but all attempts ended in failure. It wasn't until after the establishment of Konoha that Hashirama captured all the Tailed Beasts except for the One-Tail."

and many more!

Upon hearing the shocking news, Shi Xu's eyes widened abruptly: "You mean... the First Hokage captured all eight tailed beasts, accomplishing something that countless ninjas in the past had failed to do?"

Mito nodded, a hint of pride showing on her face. At that moment, she seemed like a child who had not yet grown old.

"Hashirama is known as the God of Shinobi. He possesses a bloodline limit called 'Wood Release,' and apart from Madara Uchiha, no one in the entire shinobi world can rival him."

"If the First Hokage possessed such immense power, why did so many tailed beasts fall into the hands of other villages?" Tokio wondered.

As far as he knew, other villages had also relied on the power of the tailed beasts to show off their power in the recent war.

When this topic came up, Mito's voice became somewhat melancholy: "Because those tailed beasts were originally given to them by Hashirama."

"Konoha was able to be established largely because the Senju and Uchiha clans united, while other ninja villages were established because they felt the pressure and crisis brought by Konoha. But as a result, the Warring States period, which lasted for nearly a thousand years and was filled with endless war, came to a complete end."

"Hasuma, who came all the way from the Warring States period, knew very well that the peace at that time was entirely built on his immense power. But no matter how powerful Hasuma was, he was just a ninja, a human being. As a human being, he would experience birth, aging, sickness, and death."

Shi Xu recalled the content about the First Shinobi World War in his history textbook. The textbook was very vague about the cause of the war, but now he had found the answer.

"Once the First Generation Lord dies, war will break out."

"You are indeed intelligent."

Mito nodded with great satisfaction and continued, "So Hashirama found the Tailed Beasts, wanting to entrust the peace he sought after his death to them."

Got it, the tailed beasts serve a similar purpose to nuclear deterrence.

Shi Xu suddenly felt a little lost: "Instead of distributing the Tailed Beasts, why not keep all nine Tailed Beasts under Konoha's control? That way... it should bring greater deterrence to the entire ninja world."

Mito Uzumaki sighed, "Tobirama also asked this question, and Hashirama gave the answer."

He said, "Have you ever thought about what Konoha would become if it possessed such a powerful, but not entirely controllable, force?"

It's a single update, but with 4,000 words, it's equivalent to a double update.

(End of this chapter)