Chapter 628: The Mind-God Transfer Jutsu
The five great Rashōmon Gates stood silently before Ino, serving as the entrance.
She pushed them open and stepped inside.
The main hall resembled an ancient Roman arena. The ground was vast and empty, devoid of any furnishings. Just above her line of sight, floating in a perfect circle, were countless white Hannya masks. They all faced Ino, like a silent audience.
These were all the Shinigami masks used by Uzumaki clan ninjas throughout their long history. The Uzumaki were once a great clan, on par with the Senju and Uchiha. Now, only two or three remnants were left.
More or less, these masks all housed the souls of their users and their enemies. They were, without a doubt, the Shinigami's private collection.
Numerous stone pillars supported the hall. The living pillars outside, who appeared to be working, were in fact supporting the weight of this great hall with their very souls.
On the path from the main hall to the inner sanctum, a small river wound its way through. A stone bridge connected the two palaces. Thick fog obscured the view below the bridge, but if one listened closely, the wails and sobs of the dead could be heard.
Ever since meeting his "good friend" Ino, the Shinigami had profited greatly. He had tidied up his residence quite nicely.
What was the true essence of the Shinigami? Ino wasn't sure.
When Teacher Six Paths (Hagoromo) achieved his ultimate power, almost all the other gods in the ninja world died out. There was no material left to study, even if she wanted to.
But their paths were different. That much was certain.
The gods gathered the beliefs of mortals; perhaps that was their "Shinto" (Way of the Gods). But Teacher Six, Ino, and even Madara pursued their own, individual power. This was the "Xian Dao" (Way of the Sage).
It was hard to say which was superior, but in Ino's opinion, the ninja world's Shinto was clearly inferior to Xian Dao.
The moment she entered the dimension, the Shinigami had been trapped by her Yamanaka clan's fourth-stage ninjutsu: the "Mind-God Transfer Jutsu."
At this moment, the god stood rigidly in the inner sanctum like an NPC, frozen like a statue.
White Hannya masks continuously flew in from the main hall—laughing, crying, raging, scorning—attempting to interfere. Ino didn't spare them a glance.
"We're good friends. It's only right for you to block some damage for me at a critical moment, isn't it?"
She had used the Mind Disturbance Jutsu on him for a long time. Although the resulting goodwill was manufactured by the jutsu, feelings were feelings, regardless of their origin. Thinking about turning on her "friend," Ino felt a pang of guilt.
Fortunately, her level was truly high now. If she had tried this when she was only "Super Kage" level, she would undoubtedly be in tears. But now, at the Six Paths level, her mentality was much more stable. The jutsu's binding emotional effect on her had weakened.
As if sensing her thoughts, the Shinigami began to struggle violently. Ino calmly continued her hand seals.
She had no idea what went through her ancestor's head to create this jutsu. No wonder no one had ever successfully used it.
Even at her current level, performing the second half of the Mind-God Transfer's seals was strenuous. The process of mobilizing chakra was incredibly complex, and the amount required was massive. Without Kisame-level chakra reserves, one couldn't even complete the jutsu. Chakra volume was one thing; profound skill in hand seals was another entirely.
Countless beams of white and black light shot between Ino and the Shinigami. Life force and Death force were exchanging in an utterly inconceivable way. Ino, familiar with Yin-Yang Release, glimpsed profound mysteries within the exchange, but she didn't dare dwell on them, focusing only on the seals.
She was mobilizing so much chakra that the barrier of this small dimension began to tear under the strain of the energy shaping. Worried about attracting the attention of some otherworldly creature, Ino had to simultaneously repair the spatial cracks while continuing the seals.
The Mind-God Transfer Jutsu reached three-quarters completion.
The Shinigami's body seemed to flatten from three dimensions into two. Its inherent Death force continuously precipitated out. Ino opened her mouth and absorbed all of it, good or bad. The Shinigami was reduced to a few meaningless, messy lines on a canvas. As the jutsu entered its final stage, those remaining lines were scrubbed away as if by an eraser, wiped repeatedly until not a single trace remained.
The Mind-God Transfer Jutsu! It had allowed Ino to fundamentally and completely replace the Shinigami.
The Yamanaka ancestor had likely intended for a human to usurp a god's body. But Ino already possessed a high-level Ōtsutsuki bloodline. Aliens or not, she looked down on a "minor god" of the Shinigami's level. She was unwilling to abandon her Ōtsutsuki bloodline just for this god's meager abilities.
The Death force condensed in her hand, finally forming a white Hannya mask.
She put it on.
A cold, natural energy instantly rushed into her chakra pathways. The Shinigami's prayer beads appeared in her right hand. The three black tomoe tattoos on her neck turned silver. A silver trim appeared on the sleeves of her moon-colored robe. With a hook of her left finger, the Shinigami's slightly battered tanto appeared in her hand. This was the Shinigami's complete gear.
In this state, she could slightly postpone her own death. By paying a certain price, she could even transfer it. This meant that even if Kaguya hit her with the All-Killing Ash Bones, she wouldn't die on the spot.
Ino removed the mask. With a thought, Uchiha Madara's scythe appeared in her hand.
The long-handled scythe and the Uchiha Gunbai were a set. When Madara had bailed, he was laughing and making bold declarations. Was he insane? No, it was a tactic to fool Ino. He had actually fled extremely quickly. The scythe had gotten stuck in the Fourth Raikage's bones, and he couldn't pull it out immediately. To maintain his "invincible" persona, he had simply abandoned it.
The scythe was now ownerless.
The Hannya mask had absorbed the majority of the Shinigami's Death force. A residue of miscellaneous, impure power was left scattered on the ground like ashes.
Not all death gods were created equal. The gap between Marvel's Death and Hela was incalculable. In Ino's opinion, this "old buddy" was a low-tier Shinigami, filled with impure power, thousands of miles from true purity.
Still, no need to waste it. She absorbed the remnants and fed them all into the scythe.
Ino swung the scythe, practicing a few moves.
When she had transformed into the Golden Tree, she had copied a mountain of Madara's Fire Release jutsu and taijutsu. She could now wield an "unconventional weapon" like a scythe with decent form.
After getting a feel for it, Ino felt its material and effects were inferior to her Prismatic Fishing Rod. Maybe I'll sell this to Sasuke later...
She proceeded to rip the Five Rashōmon Gates off the main hall, inner sanctum, and side halls. She packed them up, sealed them away, and then, shouldering the scythe, returned to the world of the living.
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