Naruto: The Otherworldly Cultivator-Chapter 299: Spirit Transformation Stage

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 299: Spirit Transformation Stage

These seemed to be the first memories he had of this world, but it became immediately evident that this had not been one of his lives.

For one, if it had been, his Golden Scripture should have awoken his memories back then at some point, instead of waiting until he was Naruto.

But also, after experiencing the remnants of so many lifetimes, he could tell that this was very different, as he was not seeing things from a first-person perspective as he had done during all his previous lives.

He was seeing this Asura boy's life, but he was nothing more than a spectator...watching things from afar.

It was like his soul and the one belonging to Asura Ōtsutsuki shared a connection, but they were separate beings.

It was still an illuminating experience to see the legendary Sage of the Six Paths, also known as Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.

From the fragments of Asura, Naruto learned many things, like the fact that his father Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki was not exactly a human being and that the origins of his clan lay in some distant world.

He also discovered the origins of the nine Bijuus; apparently, he had been wrong in calling them demons since they had nothing to do with the demonic creatures from his old world.

They were just sentient masses of chakra brought to life with the power of the Rinnegan.

The flashes of memories seemed to come to an end, and Naruto could feel his consciousness returning to reality.

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It took him a moment to readjust himself.

He opened his eyes, this time for real, and found himself back at the burned field where he started.

Not much time seemed to have passed while he was immersed in his illuminating experience of awakened memories.

Tsunade and the rest were just ahead, still watching him. His two clones were holding the prisoner but seemed to have moved it to a safer distance.

Naruto became immediately aware of the changes in his cultivation. He had broken into the Spirit Transformation Stage, making the energy in his body and soul start to transform into something else.

His senses had become much more potent, allowing him to perceive almost the entire Land of Fire.

His physical and mystical powers had also improved many times over, and his energy reserves were much more abundant now.

But the biggest boon he received from breaking into this stage was remembering all these past lifetimes, and removing all the restraints placed on his soul.

He may not have learned any prodigious technique or anything that could enhance his combat abilities from his past memories, since most of his lives had been fairly humble and common.

However, even from the simplicity, there were things that could be learned... a certain degree of enlightenment can be obtained by living a quiet life and just trying to understand the nature of all things.

The road ahead of him was completely new and unknown to him. It was not something he had ever experienced before in any of his lives, but now he understood how to move forward and what he had to do.

His beginnings were mundane...he had never been anyone special. Not a prince, or the son of some Emperor, or the heir of a powerful sect. He was no chosen one by the Heavens...he was just...a man.

But this man was determined to break away from the shackles of mortality and discover what lies beyond these lower realms of existence.

From here on, there was only one more step to reach the Immortal Ascension Stage. During that stage, Naruto would need to purify all of his accumulated cultivation to create his own Divine Energy and imbue his own soul with it... as these were the only things that would be allowed to ascend into the higher realms.

'But that will be a worry for tomorrow...' Naruto looked up into the sky. 'Now... I have a tribulation to face.'

The clouds had turned dark, almost completely black, and began to cover the entirety of the sky, preventing most of the sunlight from reaching the land.

Sounds of thunder could already be heard. The Heavenly Tribulation was starting to form and would soon attempt to end Naruto's life, so he may never achieve immortality.

This tribulation was many times stronger than the previous one, and if he failed to overcome it... it would do more than just destroy his body. It would also destroy his very soul, and basically erase his very existence. He will not have another opportunity to try again.

"Come here." Naruto made a gesture to his clones and these ones hurried to bring him the prisoner they were restraining.

He stopped levitating and allowed his feet to touch the ground. His body was still surrounded by a golden aura while nine orbs of light floated behind him.

This, all combined with his golden Rinnegan, gave Naruto a very mystic feeling, almost making him seem like an otherworldly entity.

"N-no..." The prisoner tried to wrestle away from the clones. He did not want to get any closer to the real Naruto, as this one was giving him a terrible feeling.

"Do not fret. I have no intention of killing you today." Naruto reassured him.

"You called me a sacrifice..." The prisoner responded.

"And a sacrifice you will be." Naruto began to form hand seals.

Snake, boar, ram... nine in total, followed by both hands being clasped together.

"Ahhh!" The prisoner screamed desperately when he saw a giant shadowy figure appear behind Naruto.

A short distance away, Tsunade was the first one to recognize the jutsu that Naruto was using.

"That is the Dead Demon Consuming Seal! What in Kami's name is Naruto thinking?"

"What is that shadow behind him?" Ino asked.

"A God of Death, also known as a Shinigami." Hinata had at least read about the jutsu, even if she never learned it, since the only copy was inside the Hokage's private library.

"That jutsu allows you to seal anything inside the Shinigami, but then... it will claim the soul of the one who called it." One of the ANBU agents said.

"That's the forbidden jutsu that took the life of my Sensei... why would Naruto use something like that?" Tsunade asked.

"Oh... so that's why he said that before." Ino seemed to realize something. She turned to Hinata. "Do you remember what he told us about the Kyubi?"

Hinata nodded. "He is trying to retrieve it..."

"To retrieve what?" Tsunade felt somewhat lost.

"You were not in the village... you must have heard the story of how Naruto's father died. The Third was not the only one who resorted to this forbidden technique." Ino reminded her.

Tsunade finally understood what Naruto was trying to accomplish. "Is he trying to get his father's soul back from the Shinigami?"

"Yes... and the other half of the Kyubi that should still be tied to the Fourth's soul." Ino was sure that Naruto was more interested in the chakra from the Kyubi than freeing his father's soul.

"But that's impossible! We are talking about the God of Death. No one can reclaim souls from him. The God is the one who takes souls, not gives them away." Tsunade exclaimed.

"Naruto promised us before that he was going to kill a God of Death." Hinata said with no visible concern. "I want to see that."

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