Even in the natural world, a thunderstorm could not continue forever.
After raging for more than two hours, the storm finally dispersed. The clouds opened, the sky cleared, and the uninhabited island once again returned to bright sunshine.
Miwa Masayo flowed out from the crack in the rocks where she had hidden, still shaken. She looked up at the sky with lingering fear, and only after confirming that even the last trace of thundercloud had disappeared did she cautiously run back toward the mountaintop.
During the final stage of the storm, the frequency of the lightning strikes had begun to drop. In order to chase after more lightning, Uchiha Yoru had done everything he could to move closer to the storm clouds, trying to let the thread of lightning-aspect natural energy within him connect to them.
He kept searching for higher ground, climbing step by step until he reached the summit of the island, where he endured the final wave of lightning.
At first, Miwa Masayo had curiously followed her human, climbing the mountain bit by bit behind him. She had done it out of worry, not because she wanted to hear his screams and howls.
As for the expression on her face that looked like she was secretly laughing, that was only because his voice had remained loud and full of vigor. Knowing that meant he wasn't in mortal danger, she had simply been genuinely happy.
Maybe there truly was a heaven in the shinobi world.
And maybe it had really been angered by Uchiha Yoru chasing after lightning.
Because in the very last round of the storm, the lightning erupted in a terrifying explosion.
The scale of it was enormous, more violent than anything before. In sheer quantity, it even seemed to surpass all the previous lightning strikes combined. The lightning descended densely from the storm clouds like a forest, crashing down onto the mountain in uncountable numbers. Thunder boomed in continuous waves until it merged into one prolonged, violent roar.
Together with that unprecedented bombardment came rain like a waterfall, pouring from the sky in sheets. The towering thundercloud then collapsed and spread outward like a flattened cake. As the thundercloud expanded, the range of the lightning expanded with it, and that forest of lightning rapidly swept across an even wider area.
Faced with a scene like the end of the world, staring at that advancing forest of lightning, Miwa Masayo immediately understood how terrifying it was. Frightened out of her wits, she tumbled and scrambled down the mountain.
She knew very well that her speed was nowhere near enough to outrun the spreading forest of lightning. Without Flame Leap, she had no chance of escaping its pursuit.
So the tabby charged toward a crack in the mountainside she had already taken note of earlier, then used the boneless softness unique to a cat's body to squeeze herself inside in one smooth motion, narrowly avoiding the sweeping lightning forest.
Even though she had moved quickly enough, the tip of her tail had still been brushed by the residual current when she dived into the crevice. The white tip was scorched into a black, curled little puffball.
The final frenzy of the thunderstorm had been terrifying, but it had also hastened the storm's own end.
The forest of lightning took only a little more than ten seconds to spread across the entire mountain. Dense bolts washed over everything above ground, and then, after only a few more seconds, the storm vanished completely.
...
Miwa Masayo hopped from one steaming stone to another, quickly making her way up the mountain. Before long, she saw Uchiha Yoru's figure in the distance.
He had not fallen.
Instead, he stood atop the highest rock with his left hand raised, upright like a pine tree, having proudly overcome the terrible thunderstorm.
The drifting steam kept obscuring her view, preventing her from seeing him clearly, but that fearless, heaven-defying presence carved itself deeply into the tabby's heart.
Suppressing her excitement, she sped up and ran toward the person closest to her.
[With such a scene, such imposing presence, Yoru must have succeeded.]
[How should I congratulate him, nya…? What should I say, nya…?]
The bouncing tabby quickly reached him.
And then the expression on her face turned into another speechless little knot.
From afar, Uchiha Yoru had looked mighty and extraordinary.
Up close, however, he looked horribly miserable.
His entire body was charred black. Greenish-white smoke drifted from his torn clothes. His mouth hung slightly open, and with every breath, black smoke and dust puffed out.
Worst of all, the hair Miwa Masayo loved to play with had been burned to a complete mess. There was barely any left.
As for Uchiha Yoru himself, he had completely lost consciousness. Perhaps because the lightning had stiffened his body, the idiot had actually fainted while standing upright.
Miwa Masayo hurriedly lowered him flat onto the ground, found some clean water and poured it into him, and even stuffed a dried little fish into his mouth while she was at it.
Just doing all that left the tabby exhausted and limp.
Even though she was a cat sage, using an eight-pound body to move around a one-hundred-and-seventy-five-pound human was simply too much. The main problem was his center of gravity and leverage. It was far more tiring than knocking down an enemy weighing several thousand pounds.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before Uchiha Yoru regained consciousness.
Miwa Masayo was both happy and angry. She pounced right in front of him, raised her right paw, and began hammering his forehead over and over with her kitty punches while shouting nonstop.
"Hit hit hit, I'm gonna beat you to death, nya!"
"Serves you right for taking risks, nya! Serves you right, nya!"
"Lightning was that scary, and you still chased after it. Did you think I couldn't tell, nya!?"
The little white-pawed blows were soft and fleshy and didn't hurt at all. Faced with the tabby's scolding born of worry, Uchiha Yoru could only smile apologetically and say, "Sorry. I made you worry."
"This time really was a bit dangerous. I really should have stopped at the end."
"I was too greedy, always wanting everything to be complete and perfect. I also didn't have enough respect for heaven and earth, for nature itself… that's why I nearly overturned the cart at the last moment."
"...It won't happen again."
(As if.)
After spending so much time with him, Miwa Masayo instantly heard the insincerity in that final sentence. But after venting her feelings, she was no longer quite so angry.
They were immortals—or at least people walking the immortal path—but the path of cultivation in the shinobi world was dim and uncertain. If they wanted to keep moving forward, taking risks was only natural.
Besides, what path in this world did not involve risk?
The shinobi world had developed ninjutsu for a thousand years. By now, the ninjutsu system had five great elemental releases, dozens of bloodline limits, nine tailed beasts, and hundreds of summoning beasts.
What a flourishing extraordinary system.
The path of a shinobi could practically be said to be clear and obvious.
But did that mean shinobi did not need to take risks?
Of course not.
Immortals fought against the unknown, using their lives to explore the way.
Shinobi had a clear road, but the problem was that there were simply too many of them walking it. In the end, they still had to use their lives to compete against others for space on that road.
Since Uchiha Yoru had survived the risk, and Miwa Masayo's anger had already faded, she was not going to keep blaming him too harshly.
Still, the tabby remained somewhat frightened, so she asked, "What exactly was worth taking such a huge risk for, nya? That was lightning—real thunder, nya. If you'd been hit by a full-power bolt, even a thousand-year-old tree would've turned into a pile of ash instantly, nya."
Uchiha Yoru answered, "It was for a body that can resist lightning. That was why I refused to give up at the end. Actually, by then, my body had already adapted to lightning to a considerable degree. Even taking two or three strikes in a row wouldn't have caused obvious damage."
Then he smiled bitterly and said, "But I never expected that final outburst of the storm to be so violent. I don't even know how many bolts I took."
"Luckily, once the number of bolts increased, the power of each individual strike dropped sharply. Each one was probably less than one percent of the strongest bolts earlier. That's the only reason I wasn't killed on the spot."
"You deserved it, nya. That's what you get for taking reckless risks, nya."
After scolding him once, Miwa Masayo still couldn't resist asking curiously, "Then did you get what you wanted, nya?"
Uchiha Yoru smiled.
"Of course I did. And I even got some extra gains."
"Let me see, nya. Let me see, nya."
Uchiha Yoru smiled, then casually snapped his fingers.
The next instant, a bolt of lightning exploded from the clear sky.
There had been no buildup, no gathering clouds. In an instant, he had gathered the free natural energy drifting across dozens of kilometers, filtered out the lightning-aspect portion, and triggered a lightning strike.
And this was with the thunderstorm only having just dispersed, when the lightning-aspect natural energy in the air was already extremely sparse.
If the surrounding environment had still been like it was three hours ago, on the verge of a storm, Uchiha Yoru felt he could probably reproduce the same spectacle as that forest of lightning.
He set the strike's target as himself.
But when the brilliant bolt hit him, it produced no injury at all. Instead, it silently melted into his body.
Miwa Masayo was dumbstruck.
She couldn't help blurting out in admiration, "Amazing, nya!"
After being tempered by the thunderstorm, Uchiha Yoru's body had undergone a rebirth. In the process, lightning-aspect natural energy had fused deeply with his body, giving birth to an entirely new divine ability.
He could summon lightning from a clear sky.
He could control lightning.
He could ignore lightning damage.
He could absorb natural lightning.
The ability was so comprehensive that he had no idea what to call it.
In the end, the simple but imprecise term Thunder Law became the name of his new divine ability.
But this was not the greatest gain of all.
With visible excitement, Uchiha Yoru said to Miwa Masayo, "Lightning isn't only the power of destruction. It's also the power of new life. I was lucky enough to obtain that rebirth force hidden within thunder itself."
"I got two enormous benefits."
He raised his right hand and held up his index finger.
"First, I gained an extremely powerful healing ability. The kind where you can literally see wounds closing with the naked eye."
The damage the final outburst of the storm had caused him had been far worse than what Miwa Masayo had seen.
Before he lost consciousness, Uchiha Yoru had seen his own body clearly.
It wasn't just the cracked skin on the surface.
It wasn't just the densely packed lightning blisters.
The fluid inside his body had actually been boiled by the lightning, and the steam had torn through his flesh on the way out, leaving huge holes large enough to fit a fist into.
And yet by the time Miwa Masayo had climbed the mountain, all those terrifying, grotesque wounds had already closed. The Uchiha Yoru she had first seen on the summit had only looked battered and miserable, not mortally wounded.
Then, during the time after he woke up and spoke with Miwa Masayo, even the scabs on his body had begun falling away as the wounds fully recovered.
That speed alone told Uchiha Yoru how strong his regenerative ability was.
His own evaluation of it was simple.
"It definitely can't compare to First Hokage-sama's 'Hashirama doesn't die in battle' level, but it's certainly much faster than medical ninjutsu, and the quality of recovery is much better too."
"I think it's because lightning brought vitality, and combined with my breakthrough in foundation building, that I ended up with this kind of healing power."
Then he raised his middle finger as well and continued, "And I got something even better. That powerful vitality greatly extended my lifespan. Right now, I don't know exactly how long I'll live, but even by the most conservative estimate, it shouldn't be less than three hundred years."
"Rika-chan, longevity is finally within sight."
"And on top of that, I can clearly feel that my current appearance will remain like this for a very, very long time. It's possible that even when I reach the end of my lifespan, I'll still look like I'm only a little over eighteen."
"Hahahaha, I've already obtained an ageless body. Envious? Jealous?"
Miwa Masayo's eyes sparkled like stars.
"That sounds amazing, nya. I want it too, nya."
"Yoru, help me draw lightning too. I want lightning immunity, and I want a long life too, nya."
Hearing his dao companion's request, Uchiha Yoru immediately showed a troubled expression.
He thought about it for a while before finally saying hesitantly, "Rika-chan, you're called a cat sage, but in my immortal path system, you'd actually fall into the category of a yao. You've heard me explain that concept before."
"I know, nya. A yao is a bird, beast, stone, or plant that originally had no intelligence, but by chance or cultivation gained true wisdom. That really does sound like me, nya."
Possibly because of the difference in position and identity—or simply because she hadn't grown up inside that cultural atmosphere—Miwa Masayo didn't feel there was anything negative about being called a yao.
Naturally, Uchiha Yoru had no intention of spoiling that for her.
He continued, "This time, after enduring the cleansing of thunder, I deeply felt the killing power of lightning—it's the ultimate force of pure yang. I think lightning is extremely dangerous to yao, because yao tend to have especially pronounced strengths and weaknesses."
"I'm worried that before you ever get the vitality of thunder, the lightning would simply kill you outright."
Miwa Masayo was immediately startled.
In her heart, she had already begun to retreat.
But she still found it hard to give up such a huge possible benefit, so she asked, "I definitely can't just give up on something this good, nya. Can't we at least try, nya?"
She spread her little plum-shaped paws and gestured as she spoke.
"Use the weakest lightning possible and let me test it, nya. Let me feel what kind of stuff lightning is, and see whether I can take it."
"Alright."
Uchiha Yoru did not hesitate.
He pointed with one finger, and a tiny, short bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere, directly striking Miwa Masayo's tail.
"Myaow!? Why would you hit my tail, nya!?"
"Wuwuwuwu, why does it hurt this much, nya!? Nya nya nya!"
That bolt had only been about as thick as a pinky, yet it still made the cat sage Miwa Masayo cry out miserably. Her muscles twitched uncontrollably, electric light danced over her whole body, and she collapsed to the ground with frantic mewling.
After experiencing lightning once, she never again brought up the idea of training with it.
...
The two of them slowly made their way back down the mountain and returned to the beach to rest.
A few hours later, Uchiha Yoru's body had fully recovered.
Even the twisted, charred hair he had shaved off had grown back, and had even settled into the most suitable length automatically.
After washing himself clean in a stream near the beach and changing into spare clothes, Uchiha Yoru had returned to his previous appearance.
At this point, even Miwa Masayo could no longer tell that he had once been struck unconscious by lightning, blackened from head to toe and smoking.
But the tabby had not recovered nearly so well.
The damage caused by that one experimental bolt still left her whole body aching faintly, and this only made her more envious of her human's regenerative ability.
Lying on a blanket, she watched Uchiha Yoru preparing the giant octopus tentacles, and silently began thinking about how she herself might obtain healing power.
That was a life-saving divine skill.
Miwa Masayo thought and thought for a long time.
But by the time Uchiha Yoru had already set up the griddle and begun grilling the octopus, letting the fragrance of sizzling octopus spread across the beach, she still hadn't come up with a single idea.
Once that irresistible smell reached her nose, her mind was filled with nothing but octopus legs. All other thoughts immediately lost their power.
She suddenly stood up and began walking toward her human, talking to herself as she went.
"I'm not thinking about it anymore, nya. I'll just leave it to Yoru, nya. His brain works better, nya."
"No, that's not right. I'm not stupid, nya. It's Yoru's fault. He made the octopus legs smell too good, so I couldn't focus on thinking. That means he has to come up with a good way to make up for my losses, nya."
"A nice fragrant octopus leg will do. Not a lot. Just one slice, and I'll forgive him, nya."
Miwa Masayo was easy to satisfy.
The octopus leg was delicious.
Uchiha Yoru hadn't added any spices at all. He had used only oil and a tiny bit of sea salt, grilling it simply on the iron plate until both sides were golden brown, and it had already become a mouthwatering delicacy.
The sliced meat was only about a finger thick. Once grilled, it was cut into bite-sized pieces, perfect for eating in one mouthful. A light bite brought out that pleasantly springy, tender-chewy texture, and then the burst of umami that followed was enough to intoxicate anyone.
With an ingredient this high-end, the freshness had already reached its peak. Any spice added to it would only be superfluous.
And more importantly, this octopus meat was not ordinary food.
It was extraordinary food enriched with tailed beast chakra.
For the two immortals, food that could produce real bodily satisfaction was simply not something ordinary food—which could only fool the tongue without satisfying the body—could ever compare to.
Of course, looked at from that angle, the best food was still the transparent little fish from the Land of Rivers. After all, those were purely extraordinary creatures made of natural energy.
But the key point here was that this was real meat.
Big chunks of meat.
That was far better than the transparent little fish, which could only be ground into powder and mixed into flour. This could be torn apart in great bites and eaten until full—the only way eating could really feel like eating.
To be honest, ever since stepping onto the immortal path, their bodies' demand for energy had grown enormously, doubling over and over.
Eating had become a major problem for the two immortals.
Especially after the cat sage had completed a certain degree of sage transformation, and Uchiha Yoru had already gone through two breakthroughs in the Foundation Establishment stage, ordinary food had almost entirely lost its nutritional value.
Eating had stopped being enjoyment.
Until now.
This octopus meat, with its perfect color, aroma, and taste, satisfied every need in them.
So naturally, the man and the cat ate with complete abandon, wolfing down half a tentacle in one go before finally stopping in satisfaction.
Uchiha Yoru was so full he couldn't even stand, so he simply lay down beneath the shade of a tree, lightly patting his stomach and humming in contentment.
"Comfortable… being full really does feel great…"
Miwa Masayo had also eaten until her belly was round as a ball. She couldn't lie down and couldn't even really crouch properly anymore, so she could only rest on her side atop her human's chest, letting his breathing gently rock her up and down.
The demands their bodies had been lacking for so long were finally satisfied in this moment, and their moods naturally improved with it.
In the sea breeze of the afternoon, Uchiha Yoru felt a long-forgotten drowsiness.
He and the tabby were both yawning one after another, until tears even gathered in their eyes.
A full stomach, the sea, the ocean breeze, blue sky, white clouds, tree shade—
With so many perfect elements for a nap gathered together, the only proper thing to do was rest well.
Everything else could wait until after they woke up.
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> [email protected]/SorenSwiftTL (replace @ with a)