Hidden Leaf Village.
On the training field of the Shinobi Academy:
"Have you heard? Uchiha Shinji took part in the Land of Grass war, and they say he made a huge contribution! Even the Third Hokage publicly praised him!"
"What?!"
"What did he do? I heard from my clan elders that the Land of Grass war involved the Akatsuki and 'Upper Moon,' those terrifying organizations. No matter how strong Shinji is, facing S-rank wanted criminals like them, he shouldn't have been able to do much, right?"
"I'm not sure about the details, but word from the mission hall says both Shinji and Yakumo's records now include an S-rank mission!"
"Seriously?"
"Of course it's true! They say the village's reward alone was over a million ryo!"
The students gathered in small groups, exchanging the rumors they'd heard.
Clearly, as time passed, some details of the Land of Grass war had begun to spread. Many students from shinobi clans had caught wind of bits and pieces.
For the students of the Shinobi Academy, the most attention-grabbing news was undoubtedly about Shinji and Yakumo, who had participated in the war.
"Anything else? Tell me more!"
Among the crowd, Shion flitted from one conversation to another, still unsatisfied.
Tenten, standing nearby, said, "I'm so jealous of those two. I wish I could've joined them!"
"Totally, totally!" Shion nodded eagerly.
Shikamaru looked exasperated. "You think a war like that is some kind of academy exam? In a battlefield like that, one wrong move could get you killed!"
Ino chimed in, "Exactly. Even Sasuke, Kimimaro, and Neji weren't qualified to participate. With our current strength, we'd just be throwing our lives away."
Shion sighed softly. "If only we had strength like Shinji and Yakumo!"
Sasuke, hands in his pockets, passed by the group.
He overheard the discussions on the training field. Though his face remained impassive, he was secretly smug. Hmph, a bunch of clueless fools! What's so great about Shinji and Yakumo? I was the one who actually fought in that war!
Thinking this, Sasuke scanned the field, searching for Shinji and Yakumo.
While he was quietly thrilled to have experienced the recent Land of Grass war, he felt a pang of regret that, unlike Shinji and Yakumo, he hadn't earned an S-rank mission on his record.
After all, under normal circumstances, only Jonin were eligible for S-rank missions.
For a shinobi academy student to complete an S-rank mission before even graduating was a feat worthy of bragging about for a lifetime.
After looking around and failing to spot Shinji or Yakumo, Sasuke muttered, "Where are those two? Didn't the village's commendation ceremony end yesterday?"
His gaze then fell on Kimimaro and Neji, who were training in taijutsu at opposite corners of the field, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upward.
Having awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke no longer considered Kimimaro or Neji his equals. After the Land of Grass war, his arrogance had grown, placing himself on the same level as Akatsuki members. In the entire academy, the only ones he still deemed worthy of his attention were Shinji and Yakumo.
They're simply not on my level anymore.
Sasuke retracted his gaze and headed to his usual training area. Activating his Sharingan, he imagined the wooden dummy before him as Itachi and began his practice.
His recent encounter with Itachi had left him deeply frustrated. He hadn't expected that, even with his Mangekyo Sharingan, the gap between him and Itachi would still be so vast.
At the same time, the information Itachi had revealed left him restless upon his return.
Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan… His heart sank as he thought, Do the leader and 'B' both have Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan? How do I awaken eyes like that? Forget it, I'll just ask the leader directly!
As Sasuke resolved to question Shinji about the 'Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan,' Shinji himself was busy elsewhere.
In the Underground Laboratory of Hidden Leaf Hospital.
"Report the values."
Tsunade's authoritative voice echoed through the laboratory.
Shizune quickly responded, "Specimen Tank 1, peak value 55."
Yakumo followed, "Specimen Tank 2, peak value 34."
It was Shinji's turn. He glanced at the instrument before him and said, "Specimen Tank 3, peak value 71."
After hearing their reports, Tsunade frowned slightly, then turned her attention to the circular containment area in the center of the lab. There, a demon, heavily sedated with anesthetics and temporarily unconscious, was restrained.
Undoubtedly, after recognizing the demons' formidable power during the Land of Grass war, the Hidden Leaf Village had acted swiftly, capturing a live demon and assigning Tsunade to conduct in-depth analysis and research.
Shinji was pleased with this development.
With multiple invasions of the shinobi world by the Demon Slayer realm, contamination had become impossible to contain. The Land of Grass war, which turned an entire nation into a battlefield, had caused both physical and informational pollution that was now nearly impossible to eradicate.
Thus, sealing off all sources of contamination was no longer feasible.
Shinji's current goal was to analyze the demons' abilities and develop countermeasures as quickly as possible. Then, he would rally forces to invade the Demon Slayer realm, eliminate the mysterious figure behind it all, and finally address the contamination issue.
Shinji had a faint suspicion that the mysterious figure, who dared to repeatedly invade the shinobi world, must have a method to handle the contamination. Otherwise, their actions would be tantamount to digging their own grave.
He had confidence in the shinobi world's research capabilities.
Especially since this project was led by Tsunade herself, the foremost expert in human medical science in the shinobi world. While unraveling the full secrets of the demons' flesh-and-blood power might be challenging, finding ways to counter it was surely within her reach.
As for why Shinji was present in this highly classified laboratory, the reasons were straightforward.
First, as a participant in the Land of Grass war, he was already privy to the demons' nature, making him a classified personnel.
Second, as a rising star in the medical team, Shinji was one of the key talents the team was nurturing.
Third, his successful intelligence delivery during the war had earned his backer, Koharu Utatane, greater influence in the village, so he now represented the entire Elder Council.
Shifting her gaze from the demon, Tsunade ordered, "Implement the second protocol!"
"Yes!"
Shizune, Yakumo, Shinji, and the other lab assistants immediately followed Tsunade's instructions, initiating the second set of experiments to test the demons' flesh-and-blood power…