Uchiha Yoru smiled. He could sense the almost undisguised worry and fear in Senju Tobirama's words.
So he asked, "Second Lord, do you have any requests?"
"As you know, when I received the Hashirama Crystal earlier, I said that I owed you. So please rest assured. As long as your request isn't too excessive, I'll agree to it."
Tobirama hesitated briefly before taking a deep breath and saying, "My elder brother and I have few lingering attachments. Konoha is the only thing we are truly concerned about."
"I hope that, within the limits of your abilities, you will protect Konoha. Don't allow it to be destroyed, and don't allow it to decline."
Without the slightest hesitation, Yoru smiled and agreed.
"Alright."
Tobirama could tell that Yoru's answer came from the heart, and he finally felt considerably more relieved.
Of course, he would never be completely at ease.
The Second Hokage was so suspicious that he couldn't even place complete trust in himself. It was fundamentally impossible for him to trust Uchiha Yoru without reservation.
In the vast shinobi world, there was only one person whom Senju Tobirama trusted completely—his elder brother, Senju Hashirama.
Senju Hashirama's strength was unrivaled throughout the shinobi world. His will alone determined the direction of the entire era.
When he wanted peace, the Five Great Shinobi Villages would never dare start a war.
When he believed that equally distributing the Tailed Beasts would create a balance of power, the Tailed Beasts lost the freedom to live in the wild forever.
Senju Hashirama was the strongest, so he would never be forced into submission by circumstances.
More importantly, Hashirama possessed a clear and transparent heart. He was someone who remained consistent in his beliefs and whose thoughts could be understood at a glance.
Tobirama knew every one of his elder brother's thoughts perfectly, so naturally, he could place complete trust in him.
Even so, Tobirama already had a very favorable impression of Uchiha Yoru.
Therefore, Senju Tobirama took out a thick stack of records and began sharing the latest results of his research with Yoru.
Through a single experiment, he had accomplished two research objectives.
After entering the human body, a Wood Release Crystal would completely dissociate into chakra without leaving behind even the slightest trace of physical matter.
Therefore, the true nature of a Wood Release Crystal was materialized Wood Release chakra. The name Uchiha Yoru had given it was extremely accurate.
However, how chakra became materialized and how it formed a stable crystalline structure were questions beyond Senju Tobirama's understanding.
He helplessly told Yoru, "Regarding the two questions you proposed, I have absolutely no ideas whatsoever. You'll have to research them yourself."
Yoru replied irritably, "Second Lord, isn't it simply that you have no interest in them?"
Tobirama laughed awkwardly.
"Hahaha, I really am more interested in practical applications. What could be more boring than digging all the way down to the fundamental principles?"
It was still the same old truth.
Researching unknown fields depended entirely on personal initiative. It could only be driven by temptation and interest. Trying to force someone would produce the exact opposite result every single time.
Yoru was helpless.
As long as Tobirama had no interest in the deeper principles, there was absolutely no way to force him to research them.
He could only let the matter go.
After all, Yoru himself was also a pragmatist. As long as something could be used, that was good enough.
The only reason he had raised those two questions was because of habits carried over from his previous life.
Only after achieving breakthroughs in fundamental science could applied technology follow with breakthroughs of its own.
But after thinking about it carefully, that was because Blue Planet's technological level had already surpassed the realm of conventional physics. It had entered the microscopic domain—a field completely contrary to common sense.
Only then had fundamental research been required to lead the way, with applied technology following behind.
Before Old Einstein came up with the theory of relativity, however, applied technology had instead guided fundamental research for thousands of years.
The current shinobi world didn't need to dig down to the roots of every question to maintain its rapid progress.
In any case, Senju Tobirama had an unlimited amount of time.
He could continue researching by himself. One day, when his technology could no longer advance, he would voluntarily enter the field of fundamental research.
Uchiha Yoru also had plenty of time.
He possessed enough patience to slowly wait for the result he desired.
Thus, he smiled and asked, "Then what were the results of your research on my body?"
Senju Tobirama's expression turned solemn.
He said seriously, "Uchiha brat, after more than a hundred experiments, I have completely confirmed one thing."
"You are different from every other ninja in the shinobi world."
"Your body's tolerance for chakra is unbelievably high. The amount of chakra released by the Wood Release Crystal was enormous and possessed absolute destructive power, yet you endured it without the slightest difficulty."
"It's almost as though chakra doesn't interact with your body at all, and your body is merely a storage container."
"Yet you can clearly refine and control chakra."
"It's truly incomprehensible."
After hearing Tobirama's words, Yoru's heart, which had risen into his throat, finally settled back into his stomach.
Good. Even Senju Tobirama's direct experiments couldn't discover the natural energy within my meridians. My disguise has been successful. From now on, I can do certain things without holding back.
However, Tobirama's next words left Yoru profoundly shocked.
"Additionally, through comparison, I discovered that the chakra inside your body is also different."
Senju Tobirama took out the Hashirama Crystal and continued, "Aside from a very small portion, the chakra within your body reacts more like the chakra in this crystal belonging to my elder brother."
Yoru frowned.
"Can you explain exactly where the abnormality manifests?"
Tobirama said with difficulty, "It's difficult for me to describe the difference in words. I can only use an analogy."
"If all chakra possesses a common center toward which it is drawn, then your chakra and my elder brother's chakra are instead directed toward yourselves."
Uchiha Yoru sucked in a sharp breath.
He knew of one particular fact.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had once declared that all chakra belonged to her.
And Kaguya had indeed proven it.
She had forcibly stripped everyone of their chakra and reclaimed it for herself, using her actions to demonstrate that her words were true.
The chakra of Uchiha Yoru and Senju Hashirama was distinctly different.
Did this mean that, due to various circumstances, their chakra no longer belonged to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?
No wonder that even after Yoru had completely finished establishing his foundation—especially after nurturing Wood Release chakra—something inside him had continued to undergo a slow correction.
It appeared that this process was erasing the ownership embedded within his chakra, changing it from belonging to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya to belonging to himself.
Cultivators value life, seeking only absolute refinement and purity.
The ancients had truly not deceived him.
So Foundation Establishment still possessed one final step: cleansing the foreign energies within oneself.
Since he regarded chakra as part of his own being, he naturally had to erase all abnormalities within it.
Yoru immediately thought of the large amount of Wood Release Crystals he had consumed during the recent experiments.
Had that increased the amount of chakra he needed to erase?
Fortunately, the experiments had ended early.
Because Yoru could fully understand him, Tobirama explained everything in great detail.
Furthermore, Yoru's occasional questions continuously inspired Tobirama, causing their conversation to continue for a very long time.
It lasted until a fragment of Edo Tensei matter fell from Tobirama's face.
The fragment didn't automatically return to repair his body. Instead, it fell directly onto the table and rapidly disintegrated into dust beneath their gazes.
Yoru asked, "Second Lord, did you modify the Impure World Reincarnation yourself?"
Tobirama nodded.
"Yes. Previously, the Edo Tensei body began shedding fragments far too early. It was extremely irritating, so I made a few more improvements."
"I extended its usable lifespan by several days, and it no longer sheds fragments prematurely."
Yoru said sadly, "But in exchange, once it starts shedding fragments, it means your time is already up."
A smile suddenly blossomed across Tobirama's normally cold face.
"My time being up is perfect. I can return to the Pure Land and have a proper rest."
"Ever since you summoned me with the Impure World Reincarnation, I haven't rested at all."
"Aside from the few days when I went to find Tsunade, I've worked day and night without stopping."
"I've worked even harder after dying than I ever did while alive."
"Fortunately, I've more or less completed the work you assigned me. You can research the remaining details yourself."
Yoru also laughed.
"Hehehe. You won't get to rest for long."
"I'll summon you again to work very soon."
"You're already dead anyway. No matter how exhausted you become, you can't die again."
Tobirama's expression changed from fright.
He growled in a low voice, "Uchiha brat, you can't treat me like this! What do you take this old man for?"
"Can't you at least let the dead rest in peace?"
If he were truly and repeatedly summoned through the Impure World Reincarnation, only to be driven by his sense of responsibility and forced to work tirelessly day and night, it would undoubtedly be torture even worse than hell.
Yoru grinned.
"You're already dead, so this isn't for you to decide."
"It's up to me, the living person."
"We'll meet again very soon."
Tobirama could tell that Yoru was genuinely joking, so he relaxed and gave a cold snort.
"Next time, prepare the best possible body for me. Understood?"
Yoru raised his thumb.
"Rest assured, Second Lord. Next time, I'll definitely allow you to recover your peak combat strength."
"I won't disappoint you."
However, before Senju Tobirama could finish hearing those words, his entire body suddenly collapsed.
In merely half a second, he turned into a pile of fine dust.
Even that dust continued dispersing into the air, soon revealing the dried, mummified goat at its core.
The goat used as a sacrifice was also extremely strange.
Whenever Senju Tobirama's soul appeared within the Edo Tensei body, the goat would completely disappear.
Throughout the period in which the Edo Tensei body functioned normally, no matter how thoroughly it was shattered, the goat couldn't be found.
Only when the Impure World Reincarnation ended and the Edo Tensei body collapsed would it automatically reappear.
Perhaps the goat wasn't merely a sacrifice.
Perhaps it was also collateral for the soul, replacing the summoned soul in the Pure Land in order to deceive the laws of life and death.
Who knew?
Even Senju Tobirama, the creator of the Impure World Reincarnation, couldn't understand the precise reason.
Uchiha Yoru silently cleaned up the goat's corpse and the remaining Edo Tensei waste before sealing the room.
For some time to come, he wouldn't summon the Second Hokage again.
Yoru's premonition regarding the Winter Solstice was growing increasingly powerful.
That day would mark the most crucial step on his path, and he needed to prepare for it with complete concentration.
During the coming period, every action he took might involve several of his greatest secrets.
He absolutely couldn't allow Senju Tobirama to witness them.
Otherwise, only heaven knew what kind of thoughts Tobirama might develop.
Uchiha Yoru had already made up his mind.
When the Winter Solstice arrived, he would leave Konoha and find a truly uninhabited region where he could complete this step entirely alone.
He didn't even intend to bring Miwa Masayo.
It wasn't because he didn't trust his Dao Companion.
He was simply afraid that the danger might spread to her.
During his final two breakthroughs of the Foundation Establishment Realm, Uchiha Yoru had faced catastrophes of earth-shattering proportions.
For the most crucial step of all, he absolutely refused to believe there would be no danger.
In Yoru's mind, the scale of this event would likely be even greater.
All kinds of calamities might descend in the form of magnificent natural disasters, making it impossible to estimate a safe distance.
Therefore, Miwa Masayo couldn't be allowed to observe.
Over the next several days, Uchiha Yoru performed only a single limb-regeneration operation.
He spent the remainder of his time examining himself internally, searching for the mechanism that erased chakra's original ownership, attempting to understand and control the process.
Unfortunately, although he could clearly sense that the erasure continued without stopping, his search produced no results whatsoever.
On December 14th, he finally suspended this work and began preparing with all his strength, ensuring that his condition remained at its absolute peak.
For this reason, he even instructed Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Ayumi not to disturb him for the time being.
However, fate clearly had no intention of allowing him to pass through this trial smoothly.
A request that was extremely difficult to refuse appeared before him.
On the 16th, the ninja whose arrival Uchiha Yoru least expected suddenly appeared before him.
It was Ying of the Yuki Clan, who had departed two full months ago without sending back a single piece of news.
The Ice Release ninja who had suddenly appeared looked clean and composed. His movements were calm and unhurried.
However, the anxiety in his eyes couldn't be concealed.
Yoru asked, "You were gone for so long without sending me any messages. Did handling your clan's affairs not go smoothly?"
"Yes."
Ying knelt properly and softly explained, "The affairs of the Yuki Clan have become extremely troublesome."
"The Fourth Mizukage has made the Yuki Clan a target for extermination."
"The foolish Hōzuki and Kaguya clans actually believed the Fourth Mizukage's lies."
"More than half of Kirigakure joined forces to surround and annihilate the Yuki Clan."
Yoru asked, "An entire village surrounding and annihilating a single clan is an overwhelming force that cannot be resisted. How did you respond?"
Ying answered indifferently, "I abandoned all the ninja of the clan and allowed them to fight Kirigakure's forces."
"Using their resistance as cover, I secretly escaped with the clan's children and women."
Yoru was stunned for a long while before finally commenting, "There was nothing wrong with your strategy. It was the method most likely to preserve the Yuki Clan's bloodline."
"But you should have taken only the children."
"Women are easily controlled by their emotions. Once emotion overwhelms them, they can take utterly incomprehensible actions that easily lead to devastating consequences."
Ying lowered his head, his voice filled with intense regret.
"Lord Yoru, you are correct. I made a mistake."
"Four women disobeyed my prohibition and secretly escaped to search for their husbands."
"Their husbands had clearly already died heroically in battle, yet they believed the Kirigakure ninja's lie that everyone would be spared as long as they guided them."
"They led the Kirigakure ninja directly to the Yuki Clan's secret refuge."
Hearing this, Yoru was rather surprised.
Ying's tone didn't contain much sorrow. Instead, it was filled with exhaustion and helplessness.
Clearly, he had survived the crisis.
Curious, Yoru asked, "How did you evade the Kirigakure ninja's surprise attack?"
Ying explained, "It was thanks to the Edo Tensei body you bestowed upon me."
"I don't require any rest whatsoever, so I was able to spread frost across a sufficiently vast area and discover the approaching Kirigakure ninja in advance."
"Furthermore, the Edo Tensei body greatly increased my combat strength."
"Those Kirigakure ninja were also eager to claim the credit. They gathered only twenty-five ninja before rushing over to seize the achievement."
"So I killed all of them."
"Afterward, I executed the four women who had guided them there and abandoned several other women who believed I was too ruthless."
"Then I took the children and continued hiding from place to place…"
Yoru frowned.
"What? After all this time, Kirigakure still hasn't abandoned the pursuit?"
"No…"
"You can no longer continue hiding?"
Ying crossed his hands on the floor and bowed deeply.
His voice was filled with grief.
"I am terribly sorry. Although I tried my hardest to resolve the problem myself, I am now completely out of options."
"My clansmen have also reached the end of their resources."
"We must receive your help."
Uchiha Yoru found himself in an extremely difficult position.
He asked, "Since you were able to leave them and come to Konoha to find me, the Yuki Clan clearly hasn't reached its final moment yet."
"Can't you wait a few more days?"
"Even five days?"
Ying bowed again, lowering himself naturally into the most humble dogeza posture.
He pleaded desperately, "We truly cannot wait any longer."
"The craftsmen of the Hōzuki Clan used the bones of our clansmen to manufacture special ninja tools capable of sensing the Yuki Clan's bloodline within a certain range."
"Although I misled the Kirigakure ninja before leaving, they will inevitably discover the problem."
"The children cannot remain hidden for ten more days."
"Please."
"You promised me."
Uchiha Yoru nearly cursed aloud.
Of course, he had promised Ying that he would protect his clansmen.
But he had always assumed the matter could wait.
He had intended to wait until the turmoil surrounding the clan's extermination had passed before traveling to the Land of Water and searching for scattered Yuki Clan orphans, such as someone like Haku's mother.
He would take those survivors away from the dangerous Land of Water, find a village in the Land of Fire where they could settle, and thereby fulfill the condition of protecting the Yuki Clan from extinction.
Who could have known that this Edo Tensei clan head would be so capable?
Amid such chaos, he had actually organized a mass evacuation of women and children, brought all of them out of Kirigakure, and escaped from the Land of Water.
Without those four disastrous women, his mission could already have been considered a complete success.
But precisely because everything had gone too smoothly, the women developed wishful thinking.
Then emotion overwhelmed their reason, causing them to expose the clan's secret refuge.
Because Ying had gathered and rescued all the women and children together, he had now given the enemy an opportunity to wipe out the entire Yuki Clan in a single strike.
The situation was truly perilous.
And for Uchiha Yoru, it was equally dangerous.
Risking his own life for the sake of one excellent researcher was far too poor a bargain.
Only a few seconds earlier, he had even begun considering simply abandoning Ying.
After all, Ying wasn't the only intelligent genius in the world.
Uchiha Yoru had already tricked Senju Tobirama into working for him.
Ying was no longer as important as he had once imagined.
But his intuition stopped him.
Uchiha Yoru's intuition told him that he had to fulfill his promise.
Otherwise, he would undoubtedly die on the Winter Solstice.
He released a deep sigh and asked, "Where did you hide the children of the Yuki Clan?"
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