Chapter Sixty-Four: The Illusion of the Otsutsuki

Yang Xin took the initiative, rushing forward and kicking Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, sending them flying a great distance. Then, with a sudden motion of his right hand, he flung out a spiraling shuriken.

A harsh, grating screech accompanied the weapon’s deadly spin as the spiral shuriken struck both Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. The two fought desperately to defend themselves, barely managing to withstand the attack. Yet though they survived, their bodies were battered and torn, leaving them utterly spent and unable to continue the fight.

Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, though defeated, stared back at Yang Xin with cold, unyielding eyes as he approached, his footsteps slow and deliberate. The cadence of his stride seemed to echo the pounding of their own hearts, pressing down on them with an unbearable weight. Even so, there was no hint of surrender in their gaze, only a chilling, stubborn defiance.

“I’ll spare your lives this time. Go back and tell Thanos this: if he wants the Mind Stone and the Time Stone, he’ll have to come and get them himself. And I will send him straight to hell,” Yang Xin said coldly.

Without another word, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive summoned their starship. A beam of light descended, and in an instant, they and their weapons vanished.

“Thank you,” Wanda said softly, struggling to support Vision.

“It’s time to remove the Mind Stone,” Yang Xin declared.

“But... he’ll die if we do that!” Wanda cried out in distress.

“Trust me—he won’t die! You must believe in Wakanda’s technology, in Princess Shuri’s expertise,” Yang Xin reassured her as he traced a shape in the air, opening a portal leading to Wakanda.

“Come on. Right now, we have no choice but to trust Yang Xin,” Vision said gently, embracing Wanda before resolutely following after Yang Xin.

Upon arriving in Wakanda, Black Panther began to assemble his army while the others discussed how to extract the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead without endangering his life.

“Vision’s energy system is powered by the Mind Stone in his forehead. If... I mean, just hypothetically, if there were another energy source to replace the Mind Stone, wouldn’t that increase our chances of success?” Yang Xin suddenly suggested.

“What could possibly replace the Mind Stone? I don’t quite understand,” Princess Shuri asked.

“The source seed of the God Tree from the world of Naruto. In that universe, there’s a profession called puppet master, and one renowned master named Sasori of the Red Sand abandoned his flesh and turned himself into a puppet... His situation is quite similar to Vision’s.”

“And what about his soul? How can you guarantee he remains himself?” Princess Shuri pressed.

“Chakra is a mysterious energy, almost a universal solvent. It can allow a soul to exist as a spiritual entity—like the Sage of Six Paths. The real challenge is separating Vision’s soul from his body, even if only for a moment,” Yang Xin explained, suddenly realizing his own proposal was somewhat reckless. Blending science and mysticism was easy to say, but almost impossible to do...

“I might be able to help. Understanding, deconstruction, reconstruction—the law of equivalent exchange,” Tony Stark suddenly offered.

“Tony, I’ve told you before: human transmutation is the ultimate taboo. I won’t allow it! And it’s never truly succeeded!” Yang Xin snapped.

“It was just a suggestion,” Tony replied awkwardly, taken aback by Yang Xin’s vehemence.

Princess Shuri pondered Yang Xin’s idea. After fully grasping the nature of chakra, she consulted with Bruce Banner at length and eventually proposed two plans: First, to remove the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead directly, without using the God Tree’s seed, and let fate decide the outcome. Second, at the moment the Mind Stone is extracted, Yang Xin would infuse the God Tree’s seed into Vision, and again, leave the result to fate. Third, Yang Xin could first grant Vision the power of the God Tree’s seed to enhance his vitality, and then remove the Mind Stone. Whether these two energy systems could coexist would be a matter left to fate.

“Actually, we can try the third option first,” Yang Xin said, raising his right hand, where a swirling mass of vibrant green chakra appeared, radiating life.

“Healing Palm Technique.” The green chakra easily smoothed away the wounds on Vision’s body.

“How do you feel? Any conflict between the two power systems?” Yang Xin asked.

“It feels... wonderful, beyond words,” Vision sighed in amazement.

“Princess Shuri, please check,” Yang Xin urged.

Immediately, Shuri used Wakanda’s advanced technology to scan Vision’s body, exclaiming in awe, “Chakra truly is a miraculous force. It’s actually expelling the damage caused by Corvus Glaive’s blade and repairing Vision’s neural cells. What’s more, it’s merging perfectly with his vibranium body—there’s not a trace of conflict!”

“Then let’s proceed with the third plan.” Yang Xin placed his hand on Vision’s shoulder, and the God Tree’s seed was injected into him. As the seed took root, it rapidly absorbed the energy of the Mind Stone.

Vision’s vibranium body began to transform, shifting to a pale, Otsutsuki-like form.

“Damn! The God Tree’s seed is drawing so much power from the Mind Stone?” Yang Xin was struck with the sudden realization that even if they removed the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead, he might not die after all. He thought back to how Madara Uchiha could simply take Kakashi Hatake’s Sharingan and use it as his own—chakra really did defy all logic.

“Remove the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead, now!” Yang Xin ordered.

Princess Shuri abandoned the old plan and, using Wakanda’s highly advanced equipment, carefully extracted the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead. Yang Xin could plainly see that the stone had already grown dim.

“Good grief! How much energy did it lose in just that short time?” Yang Xin tossed the Mind Stone up, then flung it to Captain America, who fumbled to catch it.

“How do you feel? Maybe I should call you Otsutsuki Vision from now on,” Yang Xin teased.

“It’s overwhelming, almost too sudden...” Vision inspected his new body, his fingers instinctively reaching for his forehead, now smooth where the Mind Stone once sat.

He quickly found a mirror and was startled to see how much he had changed. The vibranium body had been consumed and transformed into flesh by the God Tree’s seed. Although his skin was now stark white and his appearance somewhat unsettling, Vision felt a surge of genuine happiness.

He pulled Wanda into a tight embrace, whispering softly in her ear and expressing his heartfelt gratitude to Yang Xin.

“Steve, keep the Mind Stone safe,” Yang Xin said, patting Captain America on the shoulder.

Captain America nodded just as Black Panther finished rallying his army and approached.

“Shall we discuss our strategy?”