Chapter 219: Nascent Soul

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 219: Nascent Soul

As soon as he began the process, his core spun around at a tremendous speed and the condensed energy stored within spread in all directions.

At first glance, it appears as if the room containing his core is a boundless black void, as it is surrounded by darkness that prevents him from seeing anything beyond a few steps from the core. But as the energy began to move, clear boundaries could be seen.

Those boundaries were the metaphysical edges that gave shape to his soul and were now absorbing his cultivation in them.

Up until now, every stage of cultivation had been dedicated to reinforcing the body in some way, but the Nascent Soul Stage was different. This was the point where the soul was the one being strengthened instead.

No matter how much one extends their lifespan, mortal bodies will always be mortal at the end of the day. And there is no way to change that, no matter how much one cultivates.

The soul is where the key to immortality lies…only by empowering the soul with enough energy, one will be able to take that last step and break the shackles of mortality.

This is why the Heavens only begin to administer tribulations once someone gets to this point. It is only now the Universe begins to feel the threat and fears its laws are being broken.

Naruto could feel his soul regain its lost power now, as his core poured all of its energy into it.

The first stages of cultivation were mere preparation for what was coming next. Had he not refined his mortal body, it would never have been able to contain the powerful soul of a Nascent expert.

From now on, the golden core will serve as a temporary container and refinery for his chakra, while his soul will be where it all ends up, further reinforcing it until it's ready for the next step.

Naruto watched as A pillar of pristine white marble rose up until it stood at the same height as the core.

" It is done…" This had gone a lot smoother than he expected. Perhaps it was because of the Golden Core he had created. The purity of the energy stored within had made the process much less troublesome than the last time.

His eyes moved to the pristine pillar that appeared close to his core.

This structure was merely a visual representation of how far his soul has been reinforced.

This was the first one of nine. Only when all nine had risen up and surrounded his core, he could be considered to be at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage.

" During my last life, I only got to seven pillars…but to even get that far, centuries of hard work had been necessary… as well as a lot of luck."

Now he had gotten this close to his previous peak of power in only three years of time.

If anyone from his previous life were to learn about this, they would be turning themselves green with envy.

" Well…they would also try to kill me and steal my secrets."

The sounds of a violent storm could now be heard, even in this place of quietness.

Naruto grinned. " Already here, huh?... trying to stop my progress."

Back In the real world, Kakashi and Yamato had been observing Naruto.

For the first twenty-one hours, there had been nothing of note to comment on, but then, something changed all of a sudden.

Naruto's aura seemed to explode and his body became imbued with powerful energies that swirl around.

Kakashi didn't need to use his Sharingan to notice the changes, they could be seen clearly.

"What is happening to him?." Yamato looked at Naruto with concern. " You think something went wrong with the Three Tails?..."

His first guess would be that Naruto had failed in containing the beast and its chakra was now seeping out.

Kakashi shook his head. " This is not the Bijuu's charka…I'm sure of that at least. "

All Bijuu had different chakra signatures, but they also had some similarities between them. Anyone with mildly developed senses would immediately differentiate their characteristic demonic chakra from the rest.

So Kakashi knew that the pure energy emanating from Naruto had nothing to do with those creatures. This was human chakra, but it was like nothing Kakashi had felt before.

" This chakra is so…" Yamato could not find the words to describe it, but he also felt its difference.

" Pure…concentrated.." Kakashi said." There is more than just chakra in there." From what he had learned from Naruto, what he was feeling was likely natural energy mixed in there.

All of a sudden, the sky turned dark and they began to hear the sounds of thunder.

" A storm?...so sudden?." Yamato commented. Just a moment ago, the sky was completely clear, and now it was filled with dark clouds.

Kakashi looked up and immediately knew that there was nothing natural about this phenomenon. " Heavenly Tribulation…" Naruto's previous words came to mind.

" What he said before?. You think he was talking about a storm?" Yamato asked.

" I have a bad feeling…" Kakashi said. "Whatever this is, Naruto believed it was dangerous enough to threaten the safety of Konoha. Thars why he chose to do this here instead."

Yamato nodded. " Then…what do we do?"

" Nothing…" Naruto opened his eyes before moving them to the sky.

" Naruto!, you are finally awake," Yamato said.

" I wasn't sleeping…" Naruto responded.

" Is this the phenomenon you spoke of?, the one that could destroy the village?" Kakashi asked.

" A Heavenly Tribulation…indeed." Naruto stood up. " You are about to see something that few mortals have seen before."

" We have seen storms before," Yamato said.

" Not like this one, you haven't. And this is not a thunderstorm…look." Naruto pointed at a spot in the sky.

Yamato and Kakashi gasped when they saw it.

There was a point in the sky where the thick dark clouds had parted aside, forming a perfect circle, however beyond that circle was nothing but darkness.

" What is that?." Kakashi asked.

Naruto stretched his limbs and got ready. " What you are about to witness is…The Wrath of the Heavens."

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