Chapter 365: A Perfect Example Appears
Amamiya Kenichi rested his chin on one hand and watched Orochimaru swirl a test tube between his fingers. He had just taken a drop of Naruto's blood and immediately begun researching it, though he had not said what exactly he was studying.
Still, watching Orochimaru's movements, those natural, almost feminine little gestures, gave Kenichi a strange idea.
He wondered what it would be like if Orochimaru were changed completely.
Of course, that did not mean turning Orochimaru into a woman physically. In terms of physiology, Orochimaru was already female. What Kenichi meant was changing him from the inside out, all the way down to the soul.
Was there any meaning in researching something like that?
Strictly speaking, no.
Even if Orochimaru really were influenced by him one day and became completely female in temperament and soul, it would not actually change anything important. Orochimaru would still be Orochimaru. His strength would remain terrifying. His talent would still be monstrous.
But Kenichi simply found the whole idea fascinating.
He did not need many reasons. He was just curious.
Ever since he had become Orochimaru's student, Kenichi had noticed a certain trait in his teacher.
Pride.
Was Orochimaru truly a proud person?
That point could be debated.
But in Kenichi's eyes, his teacher was definitely proud. Orochimaru always seemed to believe that his own plans would never fail. Because of that confidence, he was incredibly daring whenever he conducted research or experiments. So far, that boldness had almost always paid off. There had been no real failures.
Of course, that was also because Orochimaru always prepared thoroughly and kept backup plans ready. Even in his pride, he never acted recklessly. He never tackled research, experiments, or schemes without making full preparations first.
"And ever since Mr. Amado's Edo Tensei was influenced by the Sage of Six Paths last time, Teacher's changes have become even more... natural?" Kenichi quietly withdrew his gaze.
Staring at his teacher for too long was never a good idea.
Ninja were extremely sensitive to being watched. Kenichi and Orochimaru had spent so long doing experiments together that Orochimaru was no longer especially wary of his gaze, but even so, staring too long would still draw attention.
Kenichi picked up a pen and idly scribbled on a sheet of paper, though there were no real words on it yet. He still could not confirm whether his idea was right.
He had clearly noticed that Orochimaru's state before and after that incident had changed considerably. Yet the Sage of Six Paths had not visibly done anything at the time. He had not even shown any signs of using chakra. Because of that, Kenichi had no way of telling whether the change really had anything to do with him.
He simply could not figure it out.
Still, research related to the soul could gradually be added to his schedule.
Just not now.
For the moment, the food problem and the Mangekyo Sharingan problem were more urgent.
"Teacher, I've got a few projects I need to push forward, so I'm heading out," Kenichi said, waving a hand.
Orochimaru casually waved back, utterly unconcerned.
Seeing that, Kenichi turned and quickly left the laboratory.
The moment he was gone, Orochimaru stopped what he was doing. He turned his head toward the door, frowned slightly, then raised a hand to touch his own head. At the same time, he silently activated the Living Corpse Reincarnation in his mind.
It still failed.
That gave Orochimaru a headache.
"A limit of three years... but why does trying to leave this body now make me feel such intense discomfort?" Orochimaru murmured to himself.
It seemed he needed to solve that issue soon. Otherwise, the Living Corpse Reincarnation, his technique for immortality, would end up a complete joke.
Kenichi, of course, had no idea his teacher was wrestling with such a troublesome problem.
He had just dispelled the Shadow Clone that had been researching seeds. Now he was rubbing his temples in irritation while looking at the two little brats in front of him.
"Naruto, you shouldn't eat so loudly. People will think it's rude," Uchiha Hikari said with a serious face, lecturing Naruto while he sat there holding his chopsticks in confusion.
"But Teuchi san told me that making noise while eating means the food tastes good and shows respect to the cook," Naruto said, tilting his head.
"That depends on the occasion. Sometimes..." Hikari patiently explained, though there was a faint smile in her eyes as she looked at him.
This blond boy had been brought back to the Land of Snow by Kenichi and entrusted to her care. And after hearing that this Uzumaki Naruto was now Kenichi's student, Hikari had become even more attentive.
For some reason, she always felt a strange sense of familiarity toward Naruto, as if she had seen something like him before, though she could not remember where.
Because of that, Hikari, who was usually not especially fond of strangers, was being unusually gentle with him.
Naruto nodded blankly. So there was actually such a saying? No one had ever told him before. This big sister in front of him really did seem much more knowledgeable than he was.
"Naruto, have you ever met a little girl with white eyes?" Kenichi asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He was a little curious whether Naruto had already met his future wife, Hyuga Hinata.
Hyuga Hinata was a character with very mixed reception among Naruto fans. Those who liked her admired her gentleness and unwavering feelings for Naruto. Those who disliked her often felt that her grown up design was lacking or took issue with different aspects of her character.
As for Kenichi himself, back when he had been casually watching Pain highlight clips, he had fallen for that little girl who had clearly known she was no match for Pain and still stood up for Naruto anyway. And the fact that her feelings had remained the same from childhood to adulthood was rare.
More importantly, Hinata had been the eldest daughter of the Hyuga main family, with a chance of inheriting the clan in the future. Naruto, on the other hand, had been nothing but a poor outcast, bullied, neglected, and hated by the village. His status as the Fourth Hokage's son and the village's hero came much later.
Yet Hinata had liked him from the very beginning.
"Eh? I have! A girl who cried a lot!" Naruto paused, then suddenly remembered and answered happily.
Kenichi raised a brow.
So the thread between Naruto and Hinata was still there.
As for Sakura, there was really nothing to be done. The person she had once been destined to fall for, Sasuke, was now living quite comfortably in the Land of Rice Fields with the rest of the Uchiha clan. Unless Kenichi deliberately interfered again, Sakura and Sasuke probably would never meet at all, much less fall in love.
Thinking about it, Kenichi had really wrecked a large part of the original plot.
Still, Naruto was young, and at this stage he was as dense as a log when it came to feelings. All his attention in the early days would probably still go toward Sakura anyway. There was no need to rush that matter.
"Kenichi nii, white eyes... that's the Hyuga clan, right?" To Kenichi's surprise, Hikari seemed even more interested than Naruto.
"Yes. Did your clan run into them on the battlefield back then?" Kenichi asked as he stretched, his body cracking softly. Then he bent down, undid the weights strapped to his limbs, and set them on the floor.
The moment they hit the ground, there was a heavy thud.
He had never stopped tempering his body. The Eight Inner Gates were not something that could be trained casually. This taijutsu demanded incredible physical strength, and in theory its upper limit was almost nonexistent. The stronger the body, the more terrifying the burst of power.
In Kenichi's eyes, this was basically equivalent to training every day to stack the foundation for the Eight Gates over and over. The better the base, the more monstrous the explosion of strength after release.
Even though he had already begun to grasp the Eight Gates, he still could not stop refining his body. Fortunately, the First Hokage's physique had ridiculously strong regeneration. As long as he had enough nutrition, no matter how brutally he pushed himself, he would not accumulate hidden injuries.
"We did meet them," Hikari nodded. "The Hyuga clan is strong, but their fighting style feels a little too limited."
Even now, she still could not fully understand how people who had once been mortal enemies had ended up becoming fellow villagers.
Kenichi smiled.
The Byakugan did indeed have a high lower limit, but its upper limit was not impressive. Unlike the Sharingan, which could continue evolving from one tomoe to two, then three, then Mangekyo, and eventually even Eternal Mangekyo and Rinnegan depending on emotional stimuli, the Byakugan's potential was comparatively flat.
It was useful, but in terms of actual combat ceiling, it fell short.
If the Hyuga wanted to break past that limit, they needed Otsutsuki blood.
That alone was enough for Kenichi to conclude that the Otsutsuki were a higher lifeform, extraterrestrials on a completely different level than the people of the ninja world.
"Hikari, are you wondering how former enemies can become present day comrades?" Kenichi asked.
Hikari immediately nodded.
She had indeed been thinking about that.
Kenichi smiled faintly.
Was this not a perfect example?
Once he got the chance to talk to Nagato again, this would make persuasion much easier.
Back in the Warring States Period, there had been no concept of villages. The ninja world had been divided into clans, all of them fighting and killing one another endlessly. But after Hashirama and Madara swept through the world and established Konohagakure, former enemies like the Hyuga and the Uchiha became comrades in the same village.
Minor conflicts still existed, naturally. But the constant life or death slaughter between them had almost disappeared.
Was that not peace?
Compared to the chaos of the Warring States Period, was the current era not far more peaceful?
At least for Nagato, this kind of concrete historical example was much more persuasive than empty ideals. It showed clearly that peace could exist. In truth, Nagato's path overlapped with Kenichi's to some extent. The difference was that Nagato was too fixated on the Tailed Beasts.
Kenichi's plan, by contrast, was more grounded.
What use was it to gather every Tailed Beast?
With the current level of his Wood Release, Kenichi could already turn some Tailed Beasts into decorative figures if he caught them in the wrong place. Once he brought his Wood Release to Hashirama's level, beating Tailed Beasts like dogs would not be impossible.
"It's simple," Kenichi said with a chuckle. "Because their identities changed. They were no longer just Hyuga or Uchiha. They became members of Konoha. Citizens of the Land of Fire."
Naruto was also listening, though it was obvious he did not really understand.
He was still too young. Complex ideas like this were beyond him for now.
Hikari blinked. She was not much older, but she could at least grasp part of it, even if not all.
"For example, if you are from the Uchiha clan and I am from the Amamiya clan, then you and I are obviously not from the same group. But if we both belong to the same country, then that difference becomes less important," Kenichi added.
"Kenichi nii, then can I change my name to Amamiya Hikari?" Hikari asked teasingly.
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
He knew perfectly well that Hikari was joking. Even if the Uchiha had given her painful memories, her parents had still been Uchiha. That name had been given to her by them. There was no way she would really abandon it.
Otherwise, she would have brought it up long ago.
"If you're not afraid your parents will scold you after you get back to the Pure Land, then I have no objection," Kenichi replied with a shrug.
Hikari stuck out her tongue and wisely dropped the subject.
Kenichi shook his head and looked at the two little brats happily eating hot pot. Then his thoughts shifted back to the memories he had received after dispelling his Shadow Clone.
"At the moment, the cold resistant gene has basically been narrowed down to a particular gene segment... but the wheat grown that way needs a lot of water, and its growth cycle is very long." Kenichi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
There were two research paths in front of him now.
The first was to continue refining the current strain, eliminate its flaws, and try to raise its output.
The second was to continue pushing the cold resistance even further, creating wheat that could withstand even lower temperatures, thereby expanding the planting area and making up for lower efficiency with sheer scale.
Both routes required time.
That was the real problem.
Crops needed time to grow. Whether output was high or low could only be judged close to maturity.
The wheat he was currently cultivating had already germinated and entered the growth stage, but compared to ordinary wheat, it developed far more slowly. That suggested an extremely long growth period.
"Looks like I still need to keep pushing the research," Kenichi murmured. "But is the Wood Release project still moving too?"
He thought of the Shadow Clone that had come up with that unusual idea earlier.
.....
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