Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

But before he could beg for mercy or use any ninjutsu to save his life, he collapsed instantly under that immense pressure.

It turned into a cloud of scarlet blood mist, which was then instantly dispersed by the violent airflow.

"..."

Orochimaru and Kabuto watched this scene quietly, taking it all in stride. They were already used to Sasuke's power.

But just as the blood mist was about to dissipate, a sudden change occurred.

An invisible and intangible strange fluctuation emerged from the depths of the earth.

It was like an invisible giant hand, precisely capturing the centipede's soul.

Under the influence of that power, the outline of the centipede's soul instantly became transparent. Then, that power carried the centipede and burrowed into the depths of the earth at an extremely fast speed.

That is the call of the Pure Land.

"Humph."

Sasuke, who had been observing coldly, suddenly had a glint of cold light in his eyes.

This is the moment he's been waiting for.

Want to run?

Sasuke made a fist with one hand, and the spiritual power that had been waiting to be unleashed instantly condensed in his palm.

"The Sixty-Third Binding Technique: The Lock and Bind!"

With a low shout, several chains made of black and white lightning tore through the air and lashed out fiercely at the invisible force.

"Crackling—!"

A crisp popping sound rang out.

The lightning chain suddenly taut in mid-air, its end firmly nailed to a seemingly empty mass of air.

"Stay here!" Sasuke shouted, pulling his arm back with sudden force.

The mass of "air" that was rapidly descending was abruptly pulled back and suspended in mid-air.

Only then, under the swirling and reflection of the lightning, did a semi-transparent humanoid silhouette finally appear in everyone's view.

It was the terrified soul of the centipede.

At first, Kabuto was puzzled by Sasuke's sudden act of attacking thin air.

He could no longer remain calm until he saw the centipede's faintly visible soul.

"This...this is...a soul?!"

Kabuto gasped in disbelief, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he stared at Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun can actually touch the soul directly?!"

Not only him, but even the well-informed Orochimaru felt a chill run down his spine.

The soul is the most mysterious and untouchable realm in the world.

Even he, if he wanted to interfere with the soul of the dead, had to use the extremely complex technique of "reincarnation" and the body of a living person as a medium, and pay a huge price to barely succeed.

Moreover, that is under the premise that the soul is summoned "unconsciously".

Like Sasuke, without any medium or sacrifice, he single-handedly forcibly brought back a soul that was about to return to the Pure Land...

This is a blatant violation of the laws of the world!

"Has Sasuke-kun's power already reached this level?" Orochimaru licked his lips, his eyes almost overflowing with fanaticism.

At that moment, Sasuke had no time to pay attention to the shock of the two people behind him.

His attention was entirely focused on the invisible force that was wrestling with him.

He could clearly feel the weight of that force, which was gripping the centipede's soul tightly and slowly shrinking it back into the ground.

It's like a silent tug-of-war with an invisible giant.

"Come out."

Sasuke gripped the chains tightly, his crimson Sharingan fixed on a single point in the void, his voice icy.

"A cowardly coward who hides his head and cowers."

He's provoking us.

He could not obtain the truth about the Pure Land from the resurrected Hokage.

The being that governs the Pure Land and maintains this vast soul cycle system, or rather, the power itself, has never shown any desire to communicate with him.

Although I already had a guess in my heart, the mastermind behind all this was probably the legendary "Sage of Six Paths".

But there is no evidence for any of it.

To verify this hypothesis, the only way is...

Force him to show himself!

However, there was no response to him.

Only that invisible force grew heavier and heavier, gripping the centipede's soul tightly.

"Still not coming out?"

Sasuke's gaze sharpened, and his spiritual pressure and chakra began to circulate wildly within him, locked in a stalemate with that power.

"I am very curious about the so-called Pure Land."

He stared at the ground and said, slowly and deliberately, "I want to know how it came into being, and who created it."

This statement seemed to have touched upon some kind of taboo.

Just as Sasuke finished speaking...

He suddenly felt as if he had thorns in his back, and an extreme chill suddenly invaded him from below.

That was a death threat that he had never faced, not even when facing a berserk Kenpachi, Stark, or Aizen.

"not good!"

Sasuke's pupils suddenly contracted.

Almost at the same moment this sense of crisis erupted, the once solid ground beneath his feet began to crack.

Soon, an ordinary-looking black ball, only the size of a fist, emerged from the crack.

Although it looks ordinary, it contains a terrifying power with the aura of all things in the universe!

As soon as it appeared, it crashed straight into the lightning chains that were tightly binding the centipede's soul.

"You want to break my technique?"

Sasuke's eyes sharpened, and he abandoned the incantation.

"Binding Path Number Eighty-One: Severing the Void!"

A huge, transparent wall of light appeared out of thin air, lying between the small black sphere and the lightning chains.

This is an absolute defense sufficient to completely block all Kido below number 89, and it is also one of the strongest defensive methods Sasuke currently possesses.

However, the usually invincible "Broken Void" technique did not have a very good effect this time.

The moment it made contact with the black sphere, the spiritual energy maintaining the void vanished instantly, and then the void barrier completely shattered into countless spiritual particles.

"......What?!"

Sasuke's face showed a look of horror.

The black ball, undeterred, effortlessly struck the chains composed of black and white lightning.

The endings were exactly the same.

The chains, containing both spiritual pressure and chakra power, vanished the moment they made contact.

Freed from its restraints, the centipede's terrified soul was instantly captured by that invisible force and sank completely into the depths of the earth.

The "Pure Land Manager's" target is not Sasuke.

After destroying the obstacle that allowed it to bring its soul back, the small black sphere slowly sank and eventually disappeared into the crack.

The ground closed up again, and everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

"What kind of power is that?"

Sasuke stared intently at the now smooth ground, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He was well aware of the defensive power of "Broken Void," but in front of that small black ball, defense seemed to have lost its meaning.

Sasuke lowered his hand, suppressing this deep-seated fear.

He knew that his current strength was probably not enough in front of the manager of that Pure Land.

But this also proves that the legendary being has indeed been secretly watching this world.

"Is he really the so-called Sage of Six Paths?"

Burying this suspicion in his heart, Sasuke slowly closed his eyes.

My consciousness sank down, and I found myself back in that familiar sealed space.

Above the thunderous wasteland, a blood moon hangs high.

Yin Jiuwei remained pinned to that scorched earth, its nine tails drooping listlessly.

"What's wrong? Are you in trouble?"

Nine-Tails grinned, revealing a gloating smile. "Judging from your expression, it seems you've suffered quite a loss."

Sasuke ignored its taunts and landed in front of the Nine-Tails' massive head, going straight for the kill.

"Do you know what that black sphere was?"

"A black sphere?"

Nine-Tailed Fox paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something, its beastly eyes widened suddenly, followed by a low laugh filled with a strange meaning.

"Heh...hehehe..."

"What are you laughing at?" Sasuke frowned slightly.

"I'm laughing at you, you Uchiha brat."