Chapter 241 : The Reaper Appears
Uchiha Taiga wasn't particularly surprised to see him like this.
In his eyes, a guy who had been watching the ninja world from Yomotsukuni would never show himself unless absolutely necessary.
This was evident from his final appearance in the original storyline. He was definitely a scheming old fox, merely styling himself as the side of justice.
He stood there, the corners of his mouth still turned up. His smile hadn't faded, and his gaze remained perfectly calm.
Otsutsuki Hagoromo truly lived up to his reputation as an ancient being. Having lived for a millennium, he had weathered countless storms, experienced world-ending wars, sealed his own mother, founded Ninshu, and left behind countless legends.
Faced with this situation, he was surprised but not panicked. The expression on his face shifted from shock to composed steadiness.
The arm that Uchiha Taiga had grabbed suddenly turned ethereal, shifting from solid to translucent, then to completely transparent, before vanishing entirely.
The entire process was like a block of ice melting in the sunlight—going from existence to nothingness without a sound or a trace. The arm simply disappeared, as if it had never been there at all.
Taiga's hand grasped empty air, and he raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Oh?"
Hagoromo immediately distanced himself, floating back a few paces. He slipped away from Taiga's reach like a leaf carried off by the wind.
His expression was highly guarded as he stared at Taiga.
Taiga was a little surprised, but didn't think much of it.
An entity like Otsutsuki Hagoromo was bound to have some tricks up his sleeve; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to keep his identity hidden in the shadows for so long.
Not to mention, this was the very being who had sealed his own mother, Otsutsuki Kaguya. His methods were undoubtedly formidable.
The corners of his mouth curled up as his gaze fell on Hagoromo's reappearing arm.
The arm had actually materialized again after vanishing.
"Nice trick."
Taiga spoke, his voice carrying genuine praise.
Truth be told, this move alone was an eye-opener. Although he didn't know exactly how Hagoromo pulled it off, with Taiga's current abilities, he was able to analyze a few things right away.
"Soul... no, chakra intangibility. From existence to nothingness, and back again."
He paused, looking at Hagoromo.
"Impressive."
His tone was sincere when he said this, because he truly found the technique remarkable.
Chakra was a very unique energy, representing the fusion of life force and the soul.
A ninja's chakra was extracted from within the body, a combination of physical and spiritual energy.
A Jinchuriki's chakra contained the power of a Tailed Beast, while Kekkei Genkai chakra contained specific genetic expressions.
As for Hagoromo's current state, calling him a soul wouldn't be wrong, but a more accurate term would be a chakra body.
He had no physical body, no flesh and blood—only chakra.
His very existence was a condensation of chakra, and his consciousness was the consciousness of that chakra. The only thing he lacked was the life force that represented being alive.
In this state, Hagoromo was actually able to make his arm disappear and reappear. It wasn't severed and reattached, nor was it destroyed and regenerated; he made the chakra arm go from existence to nothingness, and then back to existence.
This was a level that could only be achieved through the ultimate transformation of Yin Style and Yang Style. It was an incredibly profound technique.
Hagoromo didn't waste any more words. At this point, talking was meaningless.
The next moment, he reached out again, grabbing at Taiga.
His movements were just as fast as before, so fast that only a white blur flashed through the air. His hand shot out from his sleeve, fingers spread wide, a faint white light flickering in his palm.
That light was chakra. It carried a pulling force, like a vortex, affecting the entire space the moment it appeared.
It was obvious he wanted to grab Uchiha Taiga, drag him out of this world, and take him to Yomotsukuni.
Taiga watched him, his brow twitching slightly.
"Again?"
Despite his words, Taiga made no move to dodge, not even blinking an eye. He just stood there, watching Hagoromo's hand reach for him.
But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something.
Along with Hagoromo's movements, an inexplicable entity had unknowingly appeared behind him.
The thing looked as if it had emerged from the void, like a painting hung in midair.
Its body was massive, towering over an ordinary person. It wore a long white robe that nearly dragged on the ground.
It had the face of a demon—hideous, terrifying, and twisted. The corners of its mouth turned downward, and its eyes lacked pupils, showing only a blank white void. In its hand, it clutched a string of prayer beads. The beads were enormous, each the size of a fist, swaying slightly between its fingers.
It floated in midair, feet off the ground, its body leaning slightly forward. Its mouth hung open, revealing a pitch-black maw from which a long tongue extended, like a snake slithering out of its hole.
The tongue was a striking, blood-red color, writhing slightly in the air, looking incredibly eerie.
The Reaper!
Taiga raised an eyebrow, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.
He hadn't expected Hagoromo to summon this thing, nor had he expected the Reaper to appear here.
But he didn't move. He remained standing there, watching the Reaper and its long tongue curling toward him.
The next moment, Taiga allowed Hagoromo to grab his shoulder.
Hagoromo's fingers clamped down on his shoulder, digging tightly into his clothes. The suctioning chakra surged from his palm and poured into Taiga's body, searching, pulling, trying to drag him away.
At the exact same time, the Reaper moved.
Its mouth opened wide enough to swallow a person whole. Its tongue lashed out, tracing an arc through the air as it wrapped toward Taiga.
The next moment, the tip of the tongue touched Taiga's clothes, brushing against his body.
Hagoromo looked at him, his voice low.
"Child, you are too dangerous."
"Come with me."
As his words fell, the Reaper opened its massive maw and snapped its jaws down toward Taiga.
The mouth opened incredibly wide, large enough to engulf his entire body. The darkness within its jaws was like a bottomless pit, with no end and no edges in sight.
Yet, in this dire situation, Taiga suddenly broke into a wide grin.
His smile was huge, baring both rows of his teeth.
He lifted his head, looked at the Reaper, shot it a piercing glare, and spat out a single word.
"Scram."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried immense weight, as if a mountain were crashing down.
Inexplicably, the Reaper's body violently stiffened.
Its mouth was still open, its tongue still extended, but its body ceased all movement, frozen like a statue.
At this very moment, something appeared in its eyes for the first time—fear. It was the instinctual reaction of encountering a natural predator.
The Reaper's body solidified in midair, like a video that had been paused.
Hagoromo's expression changed. He clearly hadn't anticipated that the Reaper's appearance would result in this—that it would actually be frightened off by a single glare from Uchiha Taiga.
Truthfully, it wasn't until this moment that Hagoromo truly felt the terrifying nature of Uchiha Taiga.
One had to understand that an entity like the Reaper possessed no intelligence. Its very existence was more like the manifestation of a certain law of nature.
Yet, right now, a single look from Taiga had instilled fear into this very law.
So... what exactly did the Reaper sense?
Hagoromo opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. Though his hand still gripped Taiga's shoulder, he no longer dared to exert any force.
Taiga casually grabbed hold of the Reaper's tongue. Feeling the texture against his hand, he raised an eyebrow.
"I see. It's not pure chakra, but a mixture of natural energy and chakra. As a native god of the ninja world, to have now fallen under the subjugation of the chakra system... how truly pathetic."
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