Chapter 376: Sage Masahiko
Masahiko fell ill.
He contracted a bizarre disease named "Bizarre Black Sphere Treats Him as Non-existent and Phases In and Out of His Body at Will."
At Kushina's house.
"Great-grandfather, what exactly is this thing?" Kushina looked full of curiosity. "Are you... alright?"
Masahiko remained expressionless, looking at the small black sphere quietly floating in front of his chest. "I'm fi—ugh!"
The small sphere zipped right into his chest, giving him a momentary feeling of chest tightness.
"Alright, I'm probably not fine."
Even now, he hadn't figured out the situation. He maxed out his Yang attribute to level ten, but nothing spectacular appeared except this baffling little sphere. Every half a minute or so, it would complete a cycle of entering and exiting his body, and he couldn't stop it even if he tried.
Looking at the pitch-black sphere, his first reaction was that Black Zetsu had escaped. But after carefully checking the seal, he found Black Zetsu still staying obediently inside him.
His second reaction was naturally that he had obtained a Truth-Seeking Orb, but upon thinking about it, it felt wrong.
Other people's Truth-Seeking Orbs were several orbs lined up in a circle behind them, but he only had one. Having just one was bad enough, but he couldn't even control it, and it constantly "attacked" him by phasing in and out. Attacking him was one thing, but this little orb was only slightly larger than the tip of his thumb. Why was his orb smaller than everyone else's? Masahiko refused to accept this.
His third reaction was to check the attribute panel. If there's a problem, look for the system. But the system was unreliable at this critical moment.
The Yang attribute, just like his Gentle Fist, automatically disappeared from the attribute panel upon reaching level ten. It didn't bring a second inner dimension; it just brought a ball. More importantly, his 'Tai' (Body) and 'Nin' (Jutsu) stats, which were originally exact numbers, had both turned into '???'.
"Are they constantly changing? But why don't I feel... ugh!" Masahiko was deep in thought when the small sphere zipped out of his chest again.
Beside him, Naruto tentatively reached out a hand, only for Kushina to slap it away. "You can't just casually touch things that drill out of Great-grandfather's body!"
Masahiko felt slightly gratified. He hadn't let anyone else touch this small sphere yet, not knowing if it was dangerous. Kushina was much more mature than before...
"Great-grandfather, can I touch it?" Kushina looked at him expectantly.
Masahiko: "..."
Speechless for a moment, Masahiko frowned and asked, "Didn't the Nine-Tails say this thing is dangerous?"
Seeing Kushina shake her head, Masahiko hesitated. "Then use the Nine-Tails' chakra to touch it."
Kushina nodded. A fiery red fox tail slowly poked out from behind her and brushed against the small black sphere, but nothing happened.
"Is it really not a Truth-Seeking Orb?" Masahiko blanked out slightly. When he snapped back to reality, he found Kushina already grabbing the small sphere with both hands, rubbing it back and forth.
"Are you okay... ugh!" Masahiko was startled and hurriedly leaned his head back. After a poof sound, he gently slapped away Kushina's hands that were now pressed against his empty chest. "Don't do that, Minato is still here."
Beside them, Minato shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Kushina acted as if nothing happened. "Great-grandfather, I just wanted to see if I could grab it."
"You can't grab it. I can't even stop it myself." Masahiko shook his head with a wry smile, mentally keeping track of the time.
Half a minute later, the small sphere zipped out, and Masahiko let out a muffled groan. Another half minute later, the sphere zipped in, and Masahiko groaned again.
Half an hour later.
"Ugh... I can't live like this. When will it end?"
Kushina looked full of sympathy; she felt terrible on Masahiko's behalf. Naruto, that brat, was gloating and laughing on the side.
"What are you laughing at? Go back and paint the Hokage Monument! Great Ancestor is feeling unwell, so Hashirama and Tobirama's faces are also entrusted to you. I'm giving you three days! Ugh!"
Naruto looked innocent.
Minato tentatively spoke up, "Great Elder, have you noticed that this black sphere has gotten a little bigger?"
Masahiko was startled. "It has?"
...
Two days later.
Masahiko admitted Minato was right. That black sphere had indeed grown a size larger.
But heaven knew how he survived these past two days. Whether he hid in his dimension or erected layers of defense in front of his chest, nothing could stop the small sphere from phasing in and out. The sphere was getting bigger, and the chest-tightening sensation it brought him every time it passed through his body was getting stronger.
"It can instantly shatter any defense to enter my body. Is it really a Truth-Seeking Orb? Is my Truth-Seeking Orb experiencing a difficult labor?"
...
Half a month later, looking at the now fist-sized black sphere in front of him, Masahiko was already numb and hid inside his dimension.
"Come in if you want, go out if you want." Masahiko curled his lip. "Doesn't matter, who would fall in love with... ugh!"
...
A month and a half later.
"I'm begging you, please don't go in again. I'm going to die if you go in again." Masahiko wore a bitter face.
The object in front of his eyes was no longer a small sphere, but a pitch-black orb the size of a human head.
"Nngh... ah! Damn it, why do my moans sound so gross."
Half a minute later, Masahiko gritted his teeth, swearing he would never make another sound.
"Hmm?" The large orb didn't come out.
"Is it finally over?"
Masahiko hurriedly looked at his attribute panel. The 'Tai' and 'Nin' stats, which were once again displaying numbers, made him heave a massive sigh of relief.
Tai: 30,000 | Nin: 100,000 (Switchable)
"My physique increased six times, and my chakra capacity increased by more than three times." Masahiko breathed a long sigh and looked at his strength rating. "Still SSS-?"
He was slightly disappointed. He originally thought that by maxing out his Yang attribute, his strength would advance to another tier entirely.
"My strength indeed improved a lot, but is there no qualitative change? Right, where's that damn ball?!"
Masahiko concentrated, and the black orb slowly drilled out of his body. This time, there was no feeling of obstruction at all.
"It truly merged into one with me. It really is a Truth-Seeking Orb. Was that its formation process just now?" Masahiko frowned and muttered. Under his control, the head-sized black orb could be stretched into an oval or flattened, but when he tried to split it into multiple smaller ones, he failed.
"Having only one Truth-Seeking Orb feels a bit uncomfortable. Even though it's very big."
Masahiko sighed deeply and carefully read through his attribute panel again.
"No difference. Aside from the Yang attribute disappearing, the space is still just one space, and there's no upgradeable 'Truth-Seeking Orb' attribute showing up. Everything else is mostly unchanged... Hmm?"
Nin: 100,000 (Switchable)
"Switchable? I remember before... it used to say 'Convertible', right?"
Focusing his mind to switch, he entered a Sage Mode completely different from before. Masahiko blanked out slightly, then the corners of his mouth quickly curled upwards.
In this mode, the surging Sage Chakra in his body spread to his skin's surface. Most crucially, he could manipulate the surface Sage Chakra to condense into a cool, pale white cloak behind him.
"I'm finally part of the cloak-wearing clan too."
Masahiko sighed with slight emotion.
Level ten Yang attribute indeed didn't just bring a single large orb; it also allowed his constitution to enter a deeper level of Sage Mode.
This Sage Mode was somewhat similar to the Six Paths Sage Mode unlocked by the Sage of Six Paths for Naruto at the end of the original story—both represented absolute perfect control over Sage Chakra.
"His is the Six Paths Sage Mode, but my power didn't come from that old man Six Paths. Sage of Six Paths, Katsuyu Sage, Snake Sage, Great Toad Sage... From today onwards, I can finally call myself Sage Masahiko."
"I wonder if anyone out there could train in... my Sage Art!"
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