Chapter 140: Tailed Beasts' Chakra
Early next morning, Ling asked Yata to inform Tajima Uchiha that he was going to the back mountain for training. After checking his equipment, he headed to the back mountain with The Nekomata's Journey.
After a simple warm - up to check his physical state, Ling let out a long breath. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's start."
"Humph~ First, let me make it clear. This time it's different from the last contact," The Nekomata's Journey playfully patted Ling on the head. "You've already felt the Malice contained in the Tailed Beasts' chakra. This is a power that can devour all reason if you're not careful. The most crucial thing is that although I can share the chakra with you, I can't remove the Malice in it. So you have to be careful on your own."
"Yeah, I know. Come on."
The Nekomata's Journey let out a disdainful snort. In an instant, a large amount of scarlet chakra gushed out from the little cat's body and enveloped Ling, who immediately frowned tightly.
The moment the Tailed Beasts' chakra filled his body, Ling could feel the negative emotions in it surging towards him layer by layer.
Moreover, the negative emotions aroused by the Tailed Beasts' chakra were completely different from those by the Oni chakra.
The negative emotions aroused by the Oni chakra only, superficially, floated on the surface. They were easy to distinguish, and as long as one was on guard, they wouldn't be invaded by it.
But the Tailed Beasts' chakra was different.
Although the Tailed Beasts' chakra was highly aggressive, when it invaded the body, it didn't destroy but rather strengthened the body ten or a hundred times.
Stirring up negative emotions was not its original intention. Instead, it invaded your heart bit by bit, making you abandon reason and release your instincts.
It was like a highly poisonous but extremely sweet fruit. Even if you knew its danger, you still couldn't help but want to taste it.
But the moment you chose to pick it and put it in your mouth, it would completely destroy you.
Feeling the extremely solid sense of power filling his body, Ling even vaguely heard a voice -
[Accept me, gain this power, and then fight recklessly.]
[Give up your reason. You know, for someone who is addicted to fighting, it has always been just an obstacle.]
[So stop thinking about those things that will delay your progress. Just abandon them and follow this power to enjoy yourself to the fullest!]
[Come on, accept me. I'll make your wishes come true!]
Ling tightened his grip on the staff sword, and his breathing involuntarily became a little rapid. The desire to fight and kill had never been as intense and urgent as it was now.
[Accept it?]
[Accept it...]
[— Accept it!]
Every cell in his body seemed to rebel at this moment, frantically conveying their wishes to Ling -
[Don't you long for battle?]
[Accept it? Accept it, accept it!]
[Can't you feel what kind of improvement this power will bring to you?]
[Throw all your concerns aside and fight to your heart's content! Isn't that what you've always been longing for deep down in your heart?]
For a moment, Ling couldn't even tell if this was his own inner desire or just an illusion caused by the impact of the Tailed Beasts' chakra. He didn't even notice that the corners of his mouth were curling up, forming a somewhat crazy smile.
"You up for it?"
A gentle female voice came from above, bringing Ling back to his senses a little. He raised his hand to pinch the corner of his forehead, let out a long breath, and it took him a while to relax his expression. He replied hoarsely, "...Maybe it'll be more difficult than I thought."
"Humph~ Any thoughts?"
"It's a captivatingly powerful force," Ling said as he drew out his staff sword. He tried to use his own chakra to neutralize the Tailed Beasts' chakra and make it his own. "I don't know how others would feel, but at least for me, it's quite tempting. How do I put this?
I sort of get how Akihiko was captivated by the power after awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan... This feeling of being all - powerful is really great."
"Don't get too excited too soon," The Nekomata's Journey licked its paw. "Strictly speaking, the Tailed Beasts' chakra isn't beneficial to humans... You'll know when you've used up this portion of chakra."
"Whew—It's easy for you to say..." Ling suppressed the urge in his heart to find an opponent and have a fight. He was getting familiar with the characteristics of the Tailed Beasts' chakra. "But the chakra you transferred to me, Little Neko, is even more than my own."
"Huh? That much? I was supposed to only give you a tiny bit carefully," The Nekomata's Journey tilted its head. "Humans are still too weak compared to the Tailed Beasts. This amount of chakra is even less than one - percent of mine."
"Less than one - percent... That's really terrifying," Ling let out another long breath and took up a stance to practice some empty slashes. "By the way, has The Nekomata's Journey's chakra always been like this?"
This time, it was The Nekomata's Journey that fell silent. It took a while before it replied, "...No, when we were first created by the old man, there was no such Malice in our chakra. It was just pure chakra."
Ling silently counted the number of empty slashes in his heart to calm himself down. "Can I know about it?"
"There's actually nothing to hide. When the Tailed Beasts are resurrected, they need to gather chakra again..." The Nekomata's Journey scratched its paws one by one, making Ling's already somewhat unruly hair even messier. Its usually gentle voice also became rather gloomy. "Apart from the natural chakra floating in the air in this world, people's chakra also disperses when they die.
And when people die, they always carry strong negative emotions. This causes their chakra to be filled with Malice when they die. For us, who also died with grudges, this part of the chakra is easier to absorb and transform than natural chakra.
Moreover, while we're alive, we absorb the surrounding chakra to strengthen ourselves. As time passes, our chakra blends with those emotions and can no longer be separated."
"I get it..."
The voice of The Nekomata's Journey carried a touch of sentiment. "That's also because of this... Although I still remember the old man in my heart and his wishes, all that's left of what the old man left me are vague memories and a name whose right or wrong I can no longer tell."
"Thank you."
"Huh? What are you talking about, kid?"
"Thank you for sharing with me the name you value so highly..." Ling stopped his movement and tilted his head slightly upwards. "Although my lifespan is extremely short compared to yours, I'll treasure this feeling... I promise."
After a brief moment of daze, The Nekomata's Journey curled up on Ling's head. It only made a single syllable to show it had heard and then fell silent.
Ling also didn't start another conversation. After taking several deep breaths, he raised the staff sword again and began the boring training.