Chapter Sixteen: Browsing Memories?

Kato Mikaze, utilizing the Soul Cultivation Technique’s out-of-body effect, discovered another function of this jutsu during his first real combat kill of an enemy ninja.

Let’s turn back the clock half a month, to a night in the Land of Rain’s forests, where the air was laden with humidity and the scent of decaying branches and leaves permeated everywhere.

Kato Mikaze’s three-man Konoha ninja squad had been pursuing their enemies for three days. Not only had they confirmed the accuracy of their intelligence—the Rain ninja targets were indeed spies who had stolen vital Konoha secrets—but they also faced an uphill battle.

One was a Rain Chunin, the other a Rain Jonin.

Kato Mikaze and his team had yet to find a suitable opportunity to eliminate the two. There were simply too many of their comrades nearby. If they rashly attempted an assassination, it was uncertain whether they could complete the mission, let alone survive. The entire squad risked annihilation. Though ninja are said to prioritize mission completion above all, knowingly charging into certain death would be sheer folly.

The only good news was that their own tracking skills surpassed the enemy’s sensory abilities, and their careful approach ensured the targets remained unaware of pursuit.

As the leader of the Konoha three-man squad, Kato Mikaze did not order a retreat, despite the clear reality that the mission was beyond the team’s capabilities. He wanted to keep searching for the right chance to strike. In addition, his newly mastered Soul Cultivation Technique held unique advantages for assassinations, especially those executed out of sight.

After trailing the targets until nightfall, the squad found a concealed hollow in a tree about ten kilometers from the enemy encampment, where they hid and rested, recovering from a day’s pursuit.

After eating and restoring some chakra, Kato Mikaze issued his orders: “Yuta, Naiki! Secure the camp. I’m going to use the clan’s secret technique and attempt to assassinate the targets. I won’t be able to move while performing the jutsu—guard my body well.”

Yuta Nanri and Naiki Takenouchi were somewhat puzzled by their captain’s decision. “Why attempt the assassination when the power gap is so obvious? Wouldn’t failure put the whole squad in danger of encirclement?” Yet, the mission’s completion would benefit everyone, and with the squad ten kilometers from the target camp, a retreat would be feasible if things went awry.

Trusting their captain’s abilities and recalling their shared battles, coupled with the basic discipline of obeying superior orders, Yuta and Naiki acted as instructed. They set up traps and alarms around the hollow. Yuta took up position near the entrance, while Naiki stayed inside to guard Kato’s body.

Once his teammates were ready, Kato Mikaze sat cross-legged in the safest spot, formed the hand seal of the Hare, and, circulating his chakra, activated the Soul Cultivation Technique’s out-of-body effect. His body remained perfectly still, while his soul emerged from the crown of his head.

After greeting a stunned Naiki Takenouchi, Kato’s soul didn’t bother with the entrance, instead passing directly through the thick wood of the tree and disappearing from Naiki’s sight.

Ten kilometers was not far for a ninja’s legs, and for a soul unimpeded by trees and able to fly, the trip was lightning-fast. In the dense forest, Kato’s soul easily oriented itself and sped toward the target, soon reaching the perimeter of the enemy camp.

From prior tracking, he knew the enemy sensory ninja was weak. Hiding his soul’s fluctuations, Kato was confident he wouldn’t be detected. He passed easily through several traps and wards, entering the camp.

It wasn’t large. After a quick investigation, he found the Rain Chunin stationed on the perimeter, likely on watch, while the Rain Jonin slept at the camp’s center.

After some consideration, Kato decided to strike the Jonin first. With the target asleep and his own soul at peak strength, his chances of a clean kill were highest. Dealing with the Jonin first would make handling the Chunin easier.

His soul flew toward the Rain Jonin and possessed him.

Inside, the Jonin’s soul world was a blank whiteness, with fleeting, meaningless images occasionally flashing by.

Deep within, Kato found the target’s slumbering soul.

Following the family secrets recorded in the “Secret Techniques of Soul Transformation: Training and Insights,” Kato’s soul acted. Harnessing his spiritual power, he used a specialized soul-sealing jutsu to sever the connection between the Jonin’s soul and body. When the Jonin’s soul awoke, it was already sealed and had lost control of the body.

A ninja’s soul, bereft of the body’s protection, was as fragile as driftwood without roots. The soul seal was, in effect, a temporary severing of soul and flesh.

The soul seal, a crucial aspect of the Soul Transformation Technique, had significant limitations: it could only be initiated after direct contact with the target’s soul via possession. Even after a successful seal, the target’s soul and body would resist, consuming Kato’s chakra and spiritual power—a temporary measure, not fit for long-term control.

With the Jonin’s soul sealed, the rest was easy. Kato interrogated the captive soul within its own world.

Very few could endure the agony of soul-torment. The sealed soul carried its memories.

Kato could directly browse the depths of the Jonin’s memories. This was his first time using the Soul Cultivation Technique in combat against an enemy ninja—an elite at that. Though Rain Country Jonin were generally weaker than those of the Five Great Nations, the difference was not great.

Erring on the side of caution, Kato perused the Jonin’s memories.

His lack of experience nearly cost him dearly.

In that instant, a torrent of memories nearly overwhelmed Kato’s soul. Unlike operating a computer, you couldn’t simply pick and choose which memories to view; there was no order, such as chronological sequencing.

The memories were chaotic, tangled, vast, and each fragment was incomplete. Directly browsing the enemy’s soul memories caused his chakra and spiritual power to drain away like floodwaters.

Kato barely managed to maintain the soul seal, nearly allowing the target to break free.

In a short time, a deluge of fragmented memories flooded Kato’s soul, yet he gleaned nothing useful, and the risk far outweighed the reward.

The experience of browsing another’s soul was miserable. Kato had originally planned to use this method to learn powerful jutsu or secrets after killing others with the Soul Cultivation Technique.

But after trying it in battle, this plan was as good as dead.

He came away from the Rain Jonin’s soul with a chaotic jumble of memories and nothing of value. Worse, his own spirit was so depleted he could not possess another body again that night. Fortunately, he had already interrogated the Jonin’s soul for the critical intelligence.

Kato had intended to possess both targets in turn and kill them, but after the memory incident, he had to adjust. He controlled the Jonin’s body, lured the Chunin to the camp’s edge, and, catching the Chunin off guard, slit his throat with a kunai. The suddenly attacked subordinate stared wide-eyed in confusion and terror, never understanding the reason for his death.

Immediately afterward, Kato unleashed the soul-sealing technique again, destroying the Jonin’s soul and killing him.

Kato’s soul left the Jonin’s body, preparing to speed back to his own body ten kilometers away.

Before leaving, he glanced at the two corpses. The Chunin’s body showed nothing unusual, but above the Jonin’s corpse floated a fragment of soul.

Kato drifted over, found that he could absorb it, and did so before fleeing back to his squad’s hiding spot.

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