In the dim room, a bright yellow light shone.
This was a rather crude laboratory. Compared to the underground lab in Konoha, this lab didn't have enough equipment and materials.
However, it was originally only meant to be a place for replenishment, so naturally, it had a lower standard.
This laboratory was located in a secret base somewhere in the Land of Tea. After securing sufficient funds, Shiraishi had his subordinates build such supply bases in many countries.
However, most of these bases were set up in small countries, with only a few located within the Five Great Nations. The personnel guarding the bases would communicate using special codes.
Inside a massive floor-to-ceiling glass column, the Clay Golem, General Tsuchi, was placed. It was filled with a vibrant green solution, rich in natural energy, along with some restorative agents to heal its body.
Although General Tsuchi possessed a certain degree of 'immortality,' it wasn't truly immortal.
After such a devastating explosion, no matter how strong its vitality, it was utterly exhausted.
Most of the 'clay' had already integrated into its body, but a few pieces of 'clay' still floated freely in the solution, slowly recovering.
A moment later, the lab door opened.
Shino, the Bug Man, walked in from outside.
"It was shattered into such pieces, and it can still regenerate?"
He walked over to Shiraishi and looked at General Tsuchi in the glass column with great interest, amazed by the strong vitality of this artificial creature.
"The core of this guy, after all, is natural energy as its power source. At the moment of the explosion, it absorbed a lot of energy from the sea, neutralizing most of the explosive force."
"So, as long as the natural energy isn't extinguished, it won't die?"
This was the first time Shino had heard such a thing.
Shiraishi smiled and said, "Theoretically, yes, but only in theory. There's actually a limit to what it can withstand. However, if stronger Sage Mode chakra is integrated into it in the future, then it will be the perfect artificial human I envision."
Shino didn't understand these things, but he knew that the creature Shiraishi had created, to some extent, had already defied the limits of chakra.
If it were to evolve into its complete form, how terrifying it would become was unpredictable.
However, thinking like this was a bit like worrying for nothing. Shiraishi, as the creator, wouldn't possibly leave anything unchecked in its body.
As a creation, how could the creator allow it to betray him?
There would definitely be comprehensive restrictions and control methods.
Meanwhile, the Clay Golem, General Tsuchi, merely looked left and right in the emerald solution with its black-hole-like eyes emitting a faint golden glow, seemingly pondering something seriously. It gurgled bubbles from its mouth, then began to swim and play inside the glass column.
Even the resentment in its eyes dissipated considerably.
"Is Konoha alright? Being away for so long?"
"It's fine. These two days are the weekend, and the Ninja Academy is on holiday. In about an hour, General Tsuchi's body will have recovered. Then I'll have it sneak back to Konoha and summon me back. The total duration won't exceed ten hours."
Even if something unexpected happened, Ruri would help him cover it up.
Moreover, as a transparent figure like himself, the only connection he had to the Hokage faction was Tsunade, one of the Sannin.
As for Sakumo, he was a representative of the commoner class; strictly speaking, he couldn't be entirely considered part of the Hokage faction.
"Did you read the letter I sent you all last time?"
Remembering something, Shiraishi looked at Shino.
"Yes. We will no longer contact Akatsuki, and the Land of Rain will be treated as a forbidden zone. All bases there will be withdrawn."
Shino replied.
Although he didn't know what had happened to make Shiraishi make such a decision, as a subordinate, he only needed to follow orders.
"How have the Uzumaki clan survivors been arranged?"
"We already sent people to escort them back to the Land of Demons yesterday. These are their blood and hair."
Shino took out two transparent plastic bags. One bag contained bright red hair, and the other contained several tubes of blood.
Shiraishi accepted these, still trusting Shino's ability to handle affairs.
He was cautious and meticulous, decisive and sharp, truly having the demeanor of a great general.
Even some important tasks, Shiraishi would entrust to him, and the completion rate always left Shiraishi very satisfied.
"Did they not reveal the whereabouts of the other Uzumaki survivors?"
Shiraishi felt that the Uzumaki clan survivors likely maintained contact in secret. He hoped to find other survivors through this group of Uzumaki clan survivors.
Whether it was to have them learn sealing jutsu or transform them into combat personnel, they would be far superior to ordinary people.
Their innate vitality and chakra, stronger than average, made them very suitable for cultivating the natural energy system.
"No. But I believe it's only a matter of time."
"As long as you're confident."
Shiraishi didn't ask how to care for these Uzumaki survivors, but he believed Shino absolutely understood his meaning, and he could handle the specific details.
Currently, the organization had gathered many useful talents.
For example, blacksmiths, engineers, doctors, and other somewhat famous individuals in the ninja world. As long as they had genuine talent and were down on their luck, Shiraishi would have Shino and his team recruit them.
Then, these people would be gathered at the headquarters in the Land of Demons to work for the organization.
During the organization's initial accumulation period, the help provided by these individuals might not be substantial, but the initial accumulation would eventually be completed. At that time, the organization would truly take flight.
Talents from all walks of life needed to be cultivated, because compared to combat personnel, the cultivation of these talents was actually the most difficult.
The reason was that natural energy could be learned quickly, while knowledge and experience could only be accumulated over time.
The prosperity of the organization was inseparable from these ordinary yet extraordinarily talented people.
"Oh, right, this is a letter from Lady Miroku, the Priestess of the Land of Demons, for you, Leader."
Shino took out a letter from his embrace and placed it in Shiraishi's hand.
After doing this, Shino left. As an executive of the organization, he had many other important matters to attend to.
Shiraishi held the letter from the Priestess of the Land of Demons, a look of surprise on his face.
Because in the letter, he sensed something rather familiar—
Natural energy.
Miroku, the Priestess of the Land of Demons... also knew how to utilize natural energy?
Shiraishi felt a sense of novelty.
Because he understood that many people in the ninja world hadn't even noticed the existence of natural energy, and even if they knew about Sage Mode, that was a matter for ninjas.
However, compared to the total human population, the proportion of ninjas was very small.
And even within the ninja profession, only a very small handful of people knew about natural energy.
Shiraishi didn't think natural energy was his exclusive patent; that would be too arrogant.
Because before him, some summoned beast clans had already learned to utilize natural energy, and even combined it with chakra to form the Sage Mode system.
But this time, it was definitely the second instance Shiraishi had seen of someone possessing natural energy, aside from his own people.
"The Priestess of the Land of Demons..."
It was said that the Priestess, who held power in the Land of Demons, possessed a mysterious ability to see into the future.
She also wielded unknown sealing jutsu, capable of sealing various demons and evil spirits passed down from ancient times.
"It seems the path of natural energy is not lonely at all..."
Shiraishi smiled, wiped away the natural energy on the letter, and took out the letter paper.
Shiraishi picked up the letter paper, which contained only one line of text—
Beware of Mount Myoboku.
That was it.
Only these five words.
Shiraishi frowned.
"Beware of Mount Myoboku..."
What did that mean?
Why should he beware of Mount Myoboku?
He and Mount Myoboku should have no connection whatsoever.
Why should he be wary of these toads?
Shiraishi recalled the sudden increase in toad numbers in Konoha's underground waterways a few years ago, and couldn't help but narrow his eyes, a flickering light within them.
"A priestess? What an interesting existence..."
He didn't fully believe the contents of the priestess's letter, but a few years ago in Konoha, the sudden increase in toad numbers had already alerted Ruri's ninja cats.
They suspected it was the work of Jiraiya, one of the Sannin.
Now, Shiraishi's suspicion in this regard had intensified, believing the probability of it being Jiraiya's doing was even higher.
Although he really wanted to go to the Land of Demons to talk with the priestess face-to-face, he had too many things to do here and couldn't leave for now.
Wait, it seemed he wasn't entirely without options.
Shiraishi looked at the Clay Golem, General Tsuchi, playing happily in the giant floor-to-ceiling glass column. As a tool for communication, there was no more suitable candidate than it.
Seeing its current relaxed and carefree demeanor, he knew it was very idle now, with plenty of time to spare.
He needed to find something for it to do, to get some exercise, lest its body rust away.
◎
Returning to Konoha was about nine hours later, almost dawn the next day.
Today was Sunday, and the Ninja Academy was still on holiday, so Shiraishi could move freely at home.
If he were an ordinary ninja, relying on such meager income, he certainly wouldn't be able to sustain his life, and even renting a house would be a bit difficult.
After all, he wasn't a full-time teacher; his monthly salary could support himself, with some left over.
But as the adopted husband of the Uchiha genius girl, Shiraishi felt that his role as Tsunade's assistant at the Ninja Academy was merely to experience life.
Money or no money didn't matter; what was important was a positive and optimistic attitude towards life.
Hyuga Kaji, who was unconscious on the operating table, was also transported back by General Tsuchi.
Shiraishi had slept for several hours before being reverse-summoned, to ensure he had ample energy for research upon his return.
Shiraishi didn't intend to waste time. Although he had plenty of time, once he resolved the Caged Bird, he would focus on the infiltration of Sage Mode, concentrating his efforts there.
That way, he would have even more confidence in many of his future plans.
Not only could it increase the strength of himself, Ruri, and Ayane, but it would also provide a huge boost for some core executives.
He injected Hyuga Kaji with a special sedative, then used powerful restraints to secure his entire body to the operating table, and disrupted the chakra flow within him to prevent him from resisting with his Byakugan and Gentle Fist, lest he wake up and interrupt his research.
"Ruri probably isn't awake yet..."
Shiraishi thought for a moment and decided not to disturb Ruri. He then had General Tsuchi watch over his body from the side.
Shiraishi walked to the fire formation, formed hand signs, and his ethereal spirit body detached from his physical form.
Unnoticed by the fire formation, his spirit body directly entered it, connecting with its mental world to extract the secrets of the Byakugan.
A Hyuga main branch ninja would surely know more about the Byakugan and the secrets of the Caged Bird Seal.
This guy's status in the Hyuga clan wasn't low.
Unlike the blank mental world of that white creature he entered last time, the fire formation's mental world contained many more things.
Shiraishi wandered through this unknown world.
Before him, stone pillars with white ropes tied around them stood in a row, blocking his path and preventing him from passing through.
"As expected, there's a protective jutsu, isn't there? I knew it wouldn't be that simple.
This must be some kind of powerful sealing jutsu."
Shiraishi's expression grew serious.
The terrifying experience he encountered in the mental world of that white creature was still vivid in his memory.
Although the pressure these stone pillars exerted on him wasn't as immense as that Sharingan, from his perception, it was still a very powerful jutsu, and its composition was somewhat different from ordinary sealing jutsus.
"This is quite a challenging task."
Now that he knew the power level of the jutsu, Shiraishi began to search for its specific structure, looking for weak points to breach and break it.
Shiraishi placed his palm on a stone pillar with a white rope and sensed it.
The Spirit Transformation Jutsu is a very convenient S-rank ultimate ninjutsu, with special and comprehensive functions, especially in the subtle applications of soul and spirit, covering many aspects.
No matter what, the jutsu set in the fire formation's mind was based on the mental world, so Shiraishi could use the Spirit Transformation Jutsu to find weaknesses and entry points.
"The weakness is here."
Shiraishi quickly untied the white ropes from three stone pillars in sequence.
At the same moment, the stone pillars blocking his path immediately shattered and crumbled around him.
"This way…"
Before he could finish his sentence, a large number of stone pillars with white ropes fell from above, forming a cage-like structure that trapped Shiraishi within.
Cold sweat seeped from Shiraishi's forehead.
"Are there multiple jutsus present? This is a bit troublesome…"
Shiraishi had no choice but to continue searching for an entry point into the jutsu.
However, when he tried to touch these stone pillars to sense them, he found that no matter how much he moved forward, he couldn't reach them.
He was walking, and the distance to the pillars didn't change, but the distance always seemed infinite.
Shiraishi stopped; continuing would only lead to excessive mental exhaustion.
The second layer of the jutsu was clearly more complex than the first.
Shiraishi calmed down and meticulously observed the surrounding stone pillars, hoping to discover something.
After a while, Shiraishi noticed that the arrangement of the stone pillars seemed somewhat familiar.
"This formation is… the Eight Trigrams?"
Shiraishi murmured to himself.
"Infinite and formless, encompassing all things… It seems it will take a lot of time to break it…"
Shiraishi had no choice but to brace himself and slowly search for an exit.
Time slowly passed.
By the time his ethereal spirit body returned to his physical form, Shiraishi saw that it was already nine o'clock at night, and he felt his stomach empty, suffering from extreme hunger.
"Did it really take that long?"
He felt like he hadn't spent much time in Hyuga Kazune's mental world, yet a whole day had passed just like that.
And Kazune, on the operating table, had already rolled his eyes back… though his eyes were already white.
But after opening them, visible blood vessels burst within his pure white eyeballs, drool flowed from the corners of his mouth, and there were traces of violent struggle on the operating table.
On the adjacent experimental table, there was some food that had already grown a bit cold; it must have been brought in by Ruri.
After Shiraishi quickly finished eating, he had the Earth General hand out the plates.
He had gained a lot in Kazune's mental world; after spending a day breaking the second complex jutsu, the path was smooth sailing, and he obtained all of Kazune's memories without hindrance.
Among them, of course, were some unrevealed secrets of the Caged Bird Seal and the Byakugan.
Moreover, by sensing Kazune's body, Shiraishi also understood the difference between the main branch Byakugan and the branch family Byakugan.
The defects present in the branch family Byakugan were not evident in the main branch Byakugan.
And that part of the defect was also related to the Caged Bird Seal.
Thanks to this, Shiraishi found the 'line' that connected the branch family Byakugan to the Caged Bird Seal.
This was somewhat similar to defusing a bomb.
If you cut the wrong wire, it would explode.
"Take him to the Land of Demons; he's no longer useful here.
And take this letter to the Miko of the Land of Demons."
Shiraishi picked up a sealed letter, gave it to the Earth General to carry, and instructed it to wrap Hyuga Kazune's body and transport him to the Land of Demons.
"Next, I need to break the Caged Bird Seal…"
He just happened to have a subject on hand.
On another operating table lay another Hyuga clan ninja—Hyuga Shingo.
He was the Hyuga branch family ninja initially captured by Shiraishi's subordinates.
His purpose was to scout the path for Ayane.
Shiraishi walked to the experimental table and began to prepare the medicine.
His initial method was actually a solution, and he already had a complete and feasible plan.
The reason he investigated Kazune's mental world was merely to confirm this point and to understand the difference between the branch family Byakugan and the main branch Byakugan.
According to Ayane, the branch family Byakugan has a blind spot, and only the main branch Byakugan is flawless, without any blind spots.
The difference between the main branch Byakugan and the branch family Byakugan lies in the Caged Bird Seal.
This defect in the branch family Byakugan was clearly caused by the Caged Bird Seal.
Only by comparing it with the successful case of the main branch Byakugan could Shiraishi accurately pinpoint the 'defect' in the branch family Byakugan and then determine what kind of jutsu and method to use to resolve it.
First, inject natural energy medicine, then extract chakra, after which the Caged Bird Curse Mark will be triggered.
At that moment, it is both the most dangerous time for the Hyuga branch family ninja and also the weakness of the Caged Bird Seal.
The reason for the previous failure was that Shiraishi couldn't pinpoint the location of the 'defect' in the branch family Byakugan; it was a very hidden explosion line.
Only by comparing it with the flawless Byakugan of the main branch could he determine which explosion line it was.
Removing this explosion line was a crucial step in preserving the Byakugan.
But at that time, the experimental subject itself had already died due to chakra loss.
Therefore, this method of breaking the seal still utilized 'death' as a condition for success.
The difference was that this form of death due to chakra loss, in Shiraishi's research, was a special state of 'suspended animation'.
The natural energy initially maintained within the experimental subject's body was a special energy harmonized through many procedures; after death, it would actively supply energy to the life form, ensuring the experimental subject maintained minimal life activities.
This state would last between two and three hours.
Finally, within those two to three hours, the recovery surgery would be completed, allowing the experimental subject to be revived.
All the steps were clear at a glance; Shiraishi meticulously reviewed them more than ten times and simulated them in his mind more than ten times before beginning the surgery on Hyuga Shingo.
The theoretical structure was very complete, with no areas needing further additions.
Now, it was just a matter of seeing how the practical results would turn out.
Failure would only result in death.
Shiraishi stood before Hyuga Shingo and took a deep breath.
"I hope your yearning for freedom can bless you to survive," Shiraishi silently prayed.
He mercilessly injected natural energy into Hyuga Shingo's body and began the surgery.
◎
Darkness.
Pain.
And an imprisoned personality.
When Hyuga Shingo woke up from the darkness again, for some reason, he had a sense of unreality about the whole world, like waking from a long dream.
Was his presence in this world too faint?
He struggled to sit up from the operating table, looking around blankly and helplessly.
The normally cold shelves and experimental tables, as well as the stern smell of disinfectant, no longer bothered him.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
"Am I still alive?"
He fell into a state of thought, and then his head began to ache.
He always felt that his body was very stiff, like a zombie.
"Of course, how does it feel to return from hell?"
A young male voice suddenly came from beside him, startling Shingo.
Shiraishi walked over casually, observing his entire body with a curious smile, as if carefully examining something.
Shingo wanted to jump aside, but his body wouldn't let him.
Not only was he very hungry now, but he also had very little strength throughout his body.
Shiraishi said nothing, only pulled out a mirror and handed it to him.
"?"
"Look at your face."
Shingo took the mirror in his hand; although he was puzzled by Shiraishi's actions, at this moment, there seemed to be no other option but to comply.
He looked at his face in the mirror.
Handsome and young, just a bit pale.
Other than that, it was no different from usual.
What was he supposed to see?
"Didn't you notice?"
"What?"
"Your forehead."
"My forehead?"
What was on his forehead?
Shingo subconsciously didn't want to face it.
Because every time he looked in the mirror, he would ignore his forehead.
For him, the thing on his forehead brought back painful memories from long ago.
But Shiraishi's request made it difficult for him, so he had no choice but to look at his forehead.
He froze.
It was gone.
The mark on his forehead was gone.
There was nothing.
He touched his forehead; it wasn't smeared, it was truly gone.
In a daze, he started to shed tears uncontrollably while looking at himself in the mirror.
For him, there was nothing that could make him weep and mourn more than this.
After the Caged Bird Seal was placed on him when he was six years old, this was the first time in over twenty years that he felt that familiar yet strange sensation.
A taste that surpassed any other existence, making him addicted and unable to extricate himself.
Freedom!