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*Chapter 150: Flesh Curse Seal, Reversing the Eight Gates*
🕑 Added 2025-07-02 16:39:07 +0000 UTCThe journey back to the village was uneventful, not a single ripple of trouble.
Tormented by her main body’s cryptic behavior, ‘Yang Release Hikari’ had no patience to slowly study the round core in her hand.
Urging Yume Ryoma and the others to hurry, they moved even faster than on the way out.
Finally, on the evening of the ninth day, they safely returned to Konoha.
Whoosh!
The autumn wind rustled, swirling withered leaves through the air.
Konoha at dusk resembled an old photograph—peaceful, serene, and steeped in quiet charm. The four giant Hokage faces carved into the mountain gazed down at the weary Root members, their stone eyes dim and lifeless.
Handing their passes to the gate guards for inspection, Yume Ryoma looked at the tranquil village, his heart adrift.
Once upon a time…
After every mission, they’d pause here briefly, hidden heroes in the shadows.
They’d gaze at peaceful Konoha, watch children playing by the roadside, and stride proudly into the village under the Hokage Rock’s watchful eyes.
Back then, the Hokage Rock must have shone brilliantly, its gaze filled with admiration.
Those were the proudest moments for him and Danzo, when wounds and exhaustion were healed in that fleeting pride.
But now, everything had changed.
With a silent sigh, Yume Ryoma took back the passes from the guard and led his team through Konoha’s gates.
Human joys and sorrows don’t intertwine.
Unaware of the complex emotions flickering above Yume Ryoma’s head, Hikari, carrying the massive Samehada, was brimming with excitement.
The Ash Bone issue was resolved, a Sharingan was within reach, her research on reversing the Eight Gates was on the verge of a historic breakthrough, and she had a wealth of resources to process—nothing but good news.
Even the stray dogs on Konoha’s streets looked endearing to her now.
Rushing back to Base Three, Yume Ryoma carried transcribed intel on the Akatsuki and the Sharingan arm to report to Danzo.
Her ashen pupils gleamed as her Byakugan scanned the text in the booklet he held.
Reading the Akatsuki intel, Hikari realized the Thunder Drum Mountain mission involved Uchiha Itachi.
It seemed the Itachi from the original story hadn’t failed to pass intel to Konoha. Rather, Yume Ryoma’s encounter with Uchiha Obito led to his death.
And not just him.
Lan, Pan Xiong, and Die were supposed to die at Thunder Drum Mountain too, which explained why they rarely appeared in later Root missions.
Yume Ryoma’s death as Root’s captain, combined with the loss of nearly half their elite Jonin, crippled Root’s strength, necessitating new blood like Yume Torine and Sai.
There might be other ripple effects.
For instance, their deaths likely cost Itachi Danzo’s trust.
Coupled with Kisame’s surveillance, the elusive Obito and Zetsu, and Itachi’s lack of trust from both sides, he lost all means to pass intel.
Her existence might have already drastically altered the original plot!
So be it!
Hikari gripped Samehada tightly, its heavy, unique feel dispelling any unease about the plot spiraling out of control.
Her initial accumulation phase was over.
She was no longer a fugitive living in constant fear.
Once her main body resolved the Ash Bone bloodline disease and completed the Eight Gates reversal, reaching the pinnacle of the ninja world was only a matter of time!
Uninterested in Yume Ryoma and Danzo’s affairs, Hikari shed her Root uniform and mask, heading straight to the lab to find Chihaya Toru for the Sharingan.
“Three-tomoe Sharingan? I’ve got as many as you want! You were right, Hikari—I’ve successfully replicated the method to evolve Sharingan!”
Chihaya Toru grabbed Hikari’s hands, shaking them vigorously, his bloodshot eyes looking like he’d awakened a Sharingan himself, probably from days without sleep.
Since he handed over the Sharingan so readily, Hikari merely set the overexcited Chihaya aside, gathered her spoils, including a three-tomoe Sharingan preserved in saline, and dashed toward the Forest of Death.
Her only concern now was the Ash Bone issue; everything else could wait.
She arrived at the same waterfall where she trained Wind Release.
Boom!
The waterfall cascaded, crashing against the rocks below, splashing water that reflected the sunset’s glow. To ‘Yang Release Hikari,’ it was a dazzling crimson.
Compared to before she left, the pool beneath the waterfall had been expanded, now teeming with plump carp, surrounded by fishing nets—a veritable fish pond.
Zing!
With a single hand motion, ‘Yang Release Hikari’ unleashed a compressed vacuum wave, slicing the waterfall like paper. A faint red hidden barrier inside glowed faintly.
Chakra poured into the barrier, forming a unique pattern.
It was an unclosed circle formed by two overlapping wing outlines—one spiraling left, the other radiating right. The intersecting arcs created a crescent moon and an eclipse ring, adorned with three diamond-shaped points at the gap.
She sensed this chakra pattern wasn’t just decorative. The crescent and eclipse likely represented yin and yang, while the three diamonds symbolized water, all tied to her powers.
Buzz!
As the pattern solidified, the barrier dimmed, revealing a dark cave. Her Byakugan spotted her main body sitting in the center of the stone chamber.
Stepping inside, the waterfall closed behind, plunging the dim cave into near darkness, lit only by faint orange candlelight.
‘Yang Release Hikari’ stood casually.
Her main body, unlike usual, wasn’t blindfolded. Silver hair draped like silk, ashen pupils staring coldly, the strange curse seal on her forehead adding an air of mystique and authority.
The physical changes alone weren’t what shocked her.
Her Byakugan’s veins pulsed.
One purple and three green chakra glows, interwoven with countless mottled curse seals, formed an eerie, mystical pattern within her body.
“See it clearly?”
Her main body, delighted by the clone’s stunned expression, curved her lips and extended her arms for inspection.
“What—is that?”
The clone’s Byakugan gleamed, captivated by the intricate curse seals.
“Flesh Curse Seal!”
Hikari grinned, answering her clone’s confusion with visible joy.
After days of seclusion and a spark of inspiration, she’d finally crafted a seal to suppress the Ash Bone. Plagued by the bloodline disease that threatened her life, she’d now broken free, her heart surging like the waterfall outside.
Tossing Samehada aside, the clone sat down heavily.
Her gaze focused on the Ash Bone, wrapped in countless seals. It was far less active, its gray mottling unchanged since her departure.
The seals had forcibly halted the Ash Bone’s progression—an impossible feat!
“Didn’t we confirm seals couldn’t affect the Ash Bone? How’d you do it?” the clone asked, astonished.
Before learning sealing techniques, they’d tried—chakra touching the Ash Bone was absorbed as fuel for its growth, rendering seals useless.
And the Ash Bone’s durability made carving seals impossible.
Yet now, the seals clearly wrapped the bone, their purple chakra unabsorbed.
How had she overcome these limits?
“Because these seals never touch the bone!”
Hikari extended her arm, her smooth skin parting to reveal the gray bone’s surface.
Countless tiny meridians and fascia covered it. The clone now saw the black seals were etched not on the bone but on the flesh!
No!
Not etched!
The clone instantly corrected herself. Magnifying the seals with her Byakugan, she saw the bizarre symbols pulsing like they were alive.
“You built the seals with your flesh? How’d you come up with that?” The clone was floored by her main body’s genius. The strange, eerie black seals were formed from microscopic meridians and blood vessels.
“You finally get it!”
Hikari beamed with pride at her own brilliance:
“Only my flesh can touch the Ash Bone without being crushed or dissolved, and the human body is the perfect medium for curse seals.
Others can only etch seals on their skin, limited by surface area and precision, making complex techniques nearly impossible.
We’re different.
With Body Control, we can etch seals internally, unaffected by flesh regeneration, and even grow seals directly from flesh—super convenient.
Most importantly, with the Byakugan’s microscopic vision and the precision of human cells, we can grow complex seal techniques in our flesh like integrated circuits.
Theoretically, the body can hold nearly infinite seals!”
“Brilliant!”
The clone clapped enthusiastically, showering her main body’s invention with free emotional support:
“But I’ve got a question. Why doesn’t the chakra in the flesh get absorbed by the bone?
Forces interact.
To seal the bone, chakra must interact with it, which should lead to absorption, rendering the seal useless.”
“You’re right. I never sealed the bone itself.”
Hikari raised her arm, displaying the flesh curse seals covering the bone’s membrane:
“I converted a chakra-blocking seal into a curse seal and grew it directly in my flesh. It doesn’t seal the bone but forms a dense barrier around nearby flesh.”
“No need to seal the bone—just keep chakra away from it, and it can’t absorb power.”
The clone nodded rapidly.
Sealing the Ash Bone was tough, but sealing her own flesh was easy. By keeping chakra from the bone, the effect was nearly the same.
“But I found a new issue during sealing,” Hikari said, raising a finger, the strange seal on her forehead glowing as she spoke.
“Related to the seal on your forehead?”
The clone studied the pattern—a simple purple circle inside an isosceles triangle, its sides tangent to the circle, pleasingly symmetrical.
“Exactly.”
Without letting the clone guess further, Hikari pointed to the three green glowing points in her body.
“The Ash Bone seal isn’t perfect since it doesn’t target the bone directly. When it can’t absorb chakra, it instinctively draws life force to compensate.
The Ash Bone is part of my body—I can’t seal all my cells. This life force drain is nearly unsolvable.”
“Nearly?”
The clone echoed her word choice. If she claimed to have solved the Ash Bone issue, she must have a solution.
“The Eight Gates!”
With identical intellect, the clone instantly grasped the answer, her face lighting up with excitement:
“The first three gates—Open, Heal, and Life—don’t burn cells but lift bodily limits, pooling surface life force into the ‘gates’ for unified control.
You’re using the Eight Gates to compete with the Ash Bone for your body’s life force!”
“Correct!”
Hikari closed her eyes, the three green points from her forehead to collarbone flaring brightly.
Life force gathered into the ‘gates,’ the purple circle-and-triangle seal on her forehead rotating slowly, chains locking the three life-filled gates.
“The Eight Gates pool life force into the ‘gates,’ allowing a single seal to lock them without sealing each cell, avoiding direct interaction with the Ash Bone.”
“This seal is my greatest achievement lately. I call it the Yang Locking Seal.
Inspired by Root and Konoha’s sealing books, based on the Five Elements Seal, and combined with medical ninjutsu and Yang Release.
It locks life force in the ‘gates,’ accessible only with the ‘key’ on my forehead.
The first three gates will stay open permanently to counter the Ash Bone’s life drain.
I can freely allocate this life force—back to its source, into chakra, or to catalyze bodily revival, growth, or repair. Once I solve filtering external life force, the Eight Gates reversal will be complete!”
Clap clap clap!
Thunderous applause echoed in the cave as the clone celebrated her main body’s brilliant ninjutsu development:
“So, reversing the Eight Gates isn’t just about flipping life force input and output—it’s about reversing duration too. From a fleeting blaze to an eternal shining sun. It’s not even the same technique anymore!
Give it a new name!”
“Great idea!”
Hikari’s eyes lit up, nodding in approval. The two sat, racking their brains.
After a long silence, their Mangekyo and Byakugan locked eyes, quiet stretching endlessly in the cave.
“Got a good name?”
“If you can’t think of one, neither can I.”
“How about… we stick with Reverse Eight Gates?”
“Agreed!”
