The consciousness of a desolate world... slowly erged from the darkness.
Taro's eyes snapped open, and what greeted him was a roiling dark-purple sky — or perhaps calling it sky wasn't entirely accurate. In the usual sense, the sky refers to the atmospheric layer enveloping a planet. What lay before him, however, resembled a turbulent, dark-purple cosmos.
It was reminiscent of the swirling mist within the Kaioshin training chamber.
Yet this dark-purple substance churned and swirled... like demonic apparitions taking form.
As mories of the Kaioshin' training room flooded back, Taro realized he was lying on the ground. He did not imdiately rise, sensing no other presences in his vicinity. There was no urgency.
First... the ki within his body had been reduced to the faintest trace.
As he slowly propped himself up, Taro mused, The gravity here is about ten tis that of Earth.
He deduced this based on his years of high-gravity training experience.
Aside from that—
No air.
Taro realized he wasn't breathing. A specialized organ within his body had activated, using residual energy to substitute for the oxygen vital to life.
He opened his mouth, his vocal cords vibrating, but no sound erged.
Surveying his surroundings, he saw a desolate world no less barren than the ruined Earth he had visited before. Exposed dark-red rocks and mountain ridges dominated the landscape. From his trained eye, it was evident these landforms bore signs of deliberate destruction.
Where is this? Why did the Kaioshin send here... What's the significance?
Scanning the area with his senses, he found no life forms within range.
At that mont, he also noticed that not only was his ki severely suppressed, but his ntal strength was similarly restrained. Though still far superior to that of an ordinary human, it was a re shadow of the vast, ocean-like spiritual power he once wielded.
Taking a few steps, he felt the strain of moving under ten tis Earth's gravity without the support of his ki. Yet, it wasn't a significant obstacle. He could move freely, thanks to his body being accustod to training under hundreds of tis Earth's gravity.
"So, my physical body remains unchanged?"
Taro clenched his fists, then focused his mind on his eyes. Instantly, a scorching sensation — like boiling water — washed over his eyes, burning them. Taro let out a silent grunt and deactivated the Nine Tomoe Rinnegan.
"It's been a while since I felt this kind of pain."
Rubbing his temples, he allowed a faint smile to play on his lips.
Though his mouth curved upwards, his expression remained icy and composed. He continued examining himself, pressing and pinching various parts of his body, skull, and facial bones. His eyes darkened montarily as he concluded: My body... has aged by at least ten years.
This discovery caused his heart to sink slightly.
However, Taro was not one to wallow in self-pity. He quickly quelled the ripples in his mind and began exploring the desolate world. If the ancient Kaioshin had deed it necessary to put him into a decades-long slumber to bring him here, this place surely held the key to his breakthrough.
"If I can't find this opportunity, wouldn't this trip be in vain? And worse, wouldn't it an wasting over a decade?"
---
This world was eerily lifeless — not a single blade of grass, let alone humans. Perhaps life once existed here but vanished for so unknown reason, much like Taro's suppressed ki and spiritual energy.
Walking across the dark-red rocky terrain, Taro glanced up at the endlessly churning dark-purple "sky." Beyond its eerie surface, he sensed a faint, fleeting familiarity. The feeling ca and went so quickly that anyone without Taro's unparalleled ntal control might have dismissed it as an illusion.
But it wasn't.
Still, he didn't have the energy to investigate the skies. Besides, the strange dark-purple heavens made him instinctively wary.
Taro was no fool. Even if he were, years of living with his exceptionally intelligent wife would have sharpened his wits.
"The chaos that shattered the Kaioshin Realm and the Grand Cosmos before the current age... the Kaioshin's silhouette and sigh... this desolate world and the strange phenona above..."
And—
Taro glanced down at the dark-red rocky ground beneath his feet, then scanned the vast hills and ravines surrounding him. This place resembled a flayed world, stripped of its surface layer. If anything could withstand the destructive force that left such scars, Taro surmised while gazing again at the dark-purple sky, it might only be the remnants of the ancient Kaioshin Realm.
This place could very well be what remained of the Kaioshin Realm.
A lost sanctum.
If that were true, then perhaps the anomaly in the heavens was the very source of the chaos that upended the ancient era.
Taro withdrew his gaze. These matters were beyond his reach for now. If the anomaly decided to act, he lacked the strength to escape. Since the ancient Kaioshin nad Kawesir had sent him here, it was likely that the anomaly would not act rashly — at least not for now.
"So, where is my "opportunity"?"
Taro wandered aimlessly across the barren land. With no stars or sun and moon, he couldn't tell how much ti had passed. Relying on his sense of ti, he estimated about a week had gone by. During this period, he never stopped moving but, as expected, found no trace of life.
At the sa ti, he beca aware of another issue.
What about food?
Though Taro's body was extraordinarily resilient — his God tree physique granting him imnse vitality — he was still mortal. Even if he could go longer than most without sustenance, he still required food. Back when he wandered Earth alone, he could go more than half a month without eating, but hunger was hunger. He hadn't reached a point where he could completely transcend the need for nourishnt.
If anything, his powerful body required even more food than an ordinary person.
However, his robust foundation also allowed him to endure longer without sustenance.
A week passed, and thanks to his God tree physique, he hadn't felt a shred of hunger or thirst.
Even if he had a normal human constitution, he would have endured. His will was as unyielding as steel. Back in the ninja world, he had survived months in the wilderness on only a few military rations. With his current strength and realm, such feats seed trivial.
Nonetheless, he needed a long-term plan. This barren land offered no vegetation, no sign of life, and no apparent way out. If he remained trapped here indefinitely, even he would eventually starve to death.
What's that?
Taro stopped abruptly. In the distance, he noticed a small pillar-like stone hill. With his sharp vision, he spotted a black "thread" atop the cylindrical rock formation. It was too far to discern what it was, even for him.
Drawing upon his faint reserve of ki, Taro leapt toward the stone hill, landing atop it in one swift motion.
It was a sword.
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