A Sage's Pursuit of Power

The Konoha Research Institute had grown significantly in size.

The Chakra Cloak had been developed to its fifth generation. Although it had not yet been universally adopted, the compatibility rate for civilian ninjas had increased several times over. The gap between them and bloodline ninjas was quickly narrowing.

At this pace, within two generations, the gap should be completely closed, allowing the full-scale rollout of the Chakra Cloak.

Currently, Sakura had taken full charge of the Chakra Cloak's development. As a research assistant for the first generation and a user herself, no one in Konoha, apart from Aoba, was more familiar with this field than Sakura.

Meanwhile, Tobirama was tasked with deeper research.

The previous studies on Black Zetsu's body tissue had been temporarily shelved due to a lack of progress.

Aoba's research into the fusion of Mangekyō Sharingan had also been halted, as it was clear the Sage of Six Paths had interfered, preventing success.

As a result, Aoba assigned Tobirama a new research topic: The Pure Land.

As the developer of the Edo Tensei, Tobirama believed no one understood the technique better than he did. However, he was surprised to learn that Aoba's focus wasn't on the technique itself but on the realm of the deceased.

"Any progress?" Aoba asked Tobirama in the laboratory.

"A bit, but nowhere near enough. I've questioned at least twenty ninjas resurrected by Edo Tensei, and their descriptions of the Pure Land are... inconsistent."

Tobirama looked troubled, clearly baffled by the results.

Although he had experienced death, he had been sealed in the belly of the Shinigami, never setting foot in the Pure Land.

The descriptions from those brought back through Edo Tensei were wildly varied:

Some said the Pure Land was a void where they wandered aimlessly until the summoning jutsu restored their consciousness.

Others described it as a place of darkness, where they struggled until the summoning brought them light.

Still others claimed to have no memory at all, only realizing they had died upon being summoned.

The accounts were diverse, with no definitive answer even after hearing dozens of versions.

Still, Aoba showed no intention of giving up. He instructed Tobirama to continue experimenting and recording all the information, hoping to sift through the data to find what they needed.

Yet Tobirama still didn't understand what exactly Aoba was looking for.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself," Aoba admitted. "Put simply, I'm searching for something... discordant."

"Discordant?"

"Exactly. The Pure Land of the ninja world is clearly off. Life and death are natural processes. After death, life should either dissipate entirely or enter reincarnation. Why are they lingering in the Pure Land?"

"And why not?"

To Aoba's surprise, Tobirama didn't immediately agree with him but instead found his question odd.

Aoba paused, realizing Tobirama hadn't considered this issue because his understanding of death differed. In Aoba's previous life, there were no definitive answers about the afterlife. Theories revolved around disappearance or reincarnation, but none included lingering indefinitely in one realm.

Even concepts like hell involved punishment followed by reincarnation.

In the ninja world, however, the idea of lingering in the Pure Land after death was taken for granted.

This lack of information created a fundamental difference in perspective between Tobirama and Aoba.

Aoba rephrased his argument.

"Think of it this way: if the dead all remain in the Pure Land, shouldn't its population grow endlessly over thousands of years?

Based on this logic, how large would the Pure Land have to be? If the ninja world continues to exist and civilization endures, the population of the Pure Land will only increase. The simplest question is: how large must the Pure Land be to accommodate so many people? And what happens if it runs out of space?"

"..." Tobirama stared at Aoba with a strange expression after hearing this.

"Why do you think about such odd things? Is this even a question humans should ponder?"

"Normally, no. But now I have to."

"...Is it to deal with him?"

"Yes, and there's no need to avoid the topic. Honestly, I believe he doesn't fully control the ninja world. More directly, he likely relies on the reincarnations of Asura and Indra to gather information about the ninja world."

"...I'm sorry, but I can't remain as calm as you when discussing him. Are you certain my brother isn't coming back?"

"I'm 99.9% sure."

"...Get out of my lab. I need to get back to work."

Aoba was unceremoniously thrown out but didn't take offense. He understood the emotions of Tobirama and Tsunade.

After all, this was Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi, who had once subdued the entire ninja world by himself. For him to disappear without a trace, possibly losing his sense of self, was already a monumental blow. That they hadn't had a complete breakdown was remarkable.

When Aoba returned to the training grounds, Hinata and Neji had already awakened and were discussing their experiences.

"How was it? Any breakthroughs?"

"Yes, sensei. I've started to sense subtle changes at the muscular level and identified some hidden injuries from past training. With this newfound perception, we can perfectly control our training intensity while maintaining a full understanding of our physical condition.

This allows us to train and improve in ways that are always optimal for us."

"An excellent summary, but it's still just the surface. You need to go deeper... Down to your bones, organs, and even individual cells."

Though neither of them understood why they needed to reach such an extreme level, they trusted their teacher and committed to pursuing his instructions.

Aoba chose not to explain for now, as the reasoning was complex.

At its most basic level, Aoba wanted to uncover the secrets of the Byakugan. While the Hyūga clan was unaware, Aoba knew that the Byakugan could be fused, a technique mastered by the descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki on the moon.

Aoba intended to study the Byakugan's structure in detail to uncover this method, hoping it might inspire breakthroughs in his own Sharingan fusion research.

On a deeper level, Neji and Hinata were being groomed as critical assets for Aoba's future plans.

As for the future Hinata... well, after many revisions, the sketches were starting to align with the vision... Barely.

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Currently on Chapter 304 - Three Questions