Konoha
A Secret Base Outside the Village
"Master, this is the Dark Release user we captured from the Mist Village. We've already extracted all his jutsu information through interrogation and documented it. He was drugged during transport, so he's been unconscious most of the time."
Uchiha Hayata, head of Naraku's intelligence network, knelt respectfully before him.
This base was one of the secret research facilities where experiments related to Hiruko's techniques were carried out. There were five main sections in the facility—living quarters, storage, research labs, and containment.
The main hall was mostly empty, except for some prison cells and wooden stakes. Naraku hadn't come to consult Hiruko today—he had his own reasons for visiting.
A young man lay unconscious, bound to a wooden stake in the center of the hall.
"You're sure he possesses the Dark Release kekkei genkai?" Naraku asked, inspecting the prisoner.
"Yes, Lord Naraku. I've fought him before—he was difficult to capture. His hands can absorb ninjutsu. He's well-known among the Mist shinobi."
Naraku stepped forward and examined the man's palms. Both bore diamond-shaped marks in the center.
"Just as I thought," he murmured. "Dark Release users possess these prismatic seals—they can absorb and release chakra and ninjutsu."
Naraku had confirmed enough. He turned to Hayata. "Good work, Falcon. Stand guard outside—I don't want to be disturbed."
"Yes, sir!" Hayata bowed and left the hall without question.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
Naraku created a clone to guard the entrance and prevent any spies from peeking in.
The Kigyara no Jutsu, if leaked, could throw the shinobi world into chaos. It was a cruel jutsu—created by Naraku himself with help from his unique foresight—that could consume people completely. It was considered a Forbidden Technique.
To safeguard it, Naraku had hidden the training scroll inside a secret compartment in his mansion, with backup notes stored in the clan affairs hall—just in case.
Now, he began the procedure.
He drew a vial of blood from the man, clipped some nails, collected hair samples, and carefully removed a small piece of muscle tissue, preserving it all in nutrient solution.
Then, Naraku formed hand seals and began.
"Kigyara no Jutsu!"
A gray-black liquid oozed from his body, enveloping him completely. It grew thicker, extending in a radius around him, until it reached the unconscious shinobi.
The strange liquid seemed sentient. It crawled up the man's feet, coiling around his body like a parasite. Within moments, the man was completely wrapped.
Hot steam hissed from the liquid. The man groaned in agony—but after two seconds, the cries stopped. The silence was chilling.
Steam continued to rise for ten minutes. Finally, the gray-black liquid receded, leaving no trace of the man behind—not even ashes. It was as if he had never existed.
The substance flowed back into Naraku's body.
Ten minutes later, the last drop vanished. Naraku opened his eyes slowly, breathing out.
"…So this is the true power of Kigyara no Jutsu," he whispered.
The diamond-shaped seals were now etched into his palms—identical to the ones the Mist shinobi had.
This jutsu didn't just devour the body—it took the soul as well.
Naraku felt the man's lingering consciousness inside him, faint and confused.
"Where am I? Who are you?" the voice echoed in his mind.
"This is hell," Naraku replied flatly. "And I am Naraku—the one who sent you here."
"…Am I dead?"
"Yes. Do you have any last words?"
A pause. Then, the soul whispered, "Tell Kyoko Okita… tell her not to wait for me…"
"I will." Naraku activated his Sharingan, casting a hypnosis genjutsu to lull the soul into sleep. His consciousness returned to the present.
He frowned. Despite being skilled in genjutsu, he had little experience with spiritual ninjutsu.
The Kigyara no Jutsu had absorbed not just the target's body but also a fragment of his soul—bringing with it flashes of memories, especially of the man's childhood.
His name had been Nakagiri Kabuto, a Special Jōnin from the Hidden Mist.
These foreign memories were now tangled with Naraku's own—a side effect of the jutsu's flawed design. The version created by Hiruko was incomplete, even dangerous.
Naraku now understood: even if Hiruko was a genius, his knowledge was limited compared to someone like Orochimaru—who had mastered thousands of jutsu and delved deep into forbidden techniques.
Even Hiruko's later experiments—where he successfully absorbed four or five different kekkei genkai—relied heavily on rare circumstances like time, location, and the presence of natural energy.
Now, having performed the jutsu himself, Naraku realized how flawed it was.
The real risk wasn't the act of devouring others—it was the soul contamination.
If a shinobi devoured five different people, then five different souls would exist within one body. Their memories would merge, blur, and eventually confuse or even erase the caster's identity.
Naraku had been careful—only taking a small piece of Nakagiri Kabuto's soul.
But even that had caused some overlap in memory. For now, it was manageable.
"The original plan was to use sealing techniques—puppet-based methods—to trap and slowly digest the souls," Naraku mused. "That slows the memory transfer, but it's still risky."
"The theoretical limit is five souls. But that's only because of the flawed puppet-based sealing method."
Naraku's mind raced. "If I refine the soul-related techniques—if I can strip away the soul before absorbing the kekkei genkai—then I could bypass that limit."
In theory, with mastery of natural energy and advanced soul manipulation, the Kigyara no Jutsu could become limitless.
"A soul-stripping process… spiritual jutsu… perhaps the Yamanaka Clan, or even Kato Dan's techniques, could hold the key," he murmured.
"Or maybe… Orochimaru."
Naraku turned and walked out of the chamber, his thoughts heavy.
The Kigyara no Jutsu was just the beginning.
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