Chapter 187
It was the first day of the month again. Natsuki had completed his training in Sage Mode at the special laboratory, including combat practice while in Sage Mode.
However, although Natsuki could activate Sage Mode quickly in environments rich in natural energy, under normal conditions it still took him over a minute to enter it, and its duration was about the same as Jiraiya's – only four to five minutes.
The startup time was too long, and the duration too short. It felt a bit impractical.
It could only be used as a trump card.
"But with continued practice, the activation time should shorten, right? One day I might even be able to activate it instantly like Hashirama. Besides, the duration can definitely be improved with training. If I keep practicing daily for a few years, I refuse to believe I can't master it before the Fourth Great Ninja War. After all, Sage Mode can inflict irreversible damage on the Ten-Tails and Six Paths level bodies!"
Natsuki silently added Sage Mode training to his daily routine. As long as he persisted each day, growth was inevitable.
When the time was right, after once again confirming the approximate location of Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand, he used Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) to flash back home. He then prepared three days' worth of food and water before heading straight for the Hokage's office.
Seeing Natsuki, Tsunade smiled happily. "You're back. Looks like the investigation went well."
Natsuki nodded. "This time was a bit troublesome. Perhaps because of Kakuzu and Hidan's deaths, they've become more cautious. But that blond guy with the single ponytail is Tsuchikage Onoki's student. Based on that, it should be easy to investigate. Also, Deidara kept calling his partner 'Scorpion-sama', so I'm boldly guessing it's Sasori of the Red Sand…"
As he spoke, he handed Tsunade the intelligence scroll.
Tsunade glanced through it and nodded in satisfaction. Clearly, she was pleased with the information.
"Good. You completed this mission excellently. This makes three S-rank missions completed. When do you plan to visit the library?"
"Right now!" Natsuki couldn't wait any longer.
"Right now? Fine. I happen to be free, so I'll take you there."
Without delay, Tsunade set aside her work and led Natsuki to the Senju Clan compound. Even though the clan was practically gone, no one dared lay a hand on their grounds. However, because no one lived there anymore, it looked somewhat old and dilapidated. Thinking of the Senju Clan's former glory made one sigh with emotion.
Soon, Tsunade brought Natsuki to a secret chamber. She performed a special set of hand seals to open it, and a heavy, dusty smell rushed out immediately.
Tsunade pointed inside. "Almost all the scrolls are in there. You have three days. Read whatever you want. But be careful when flipping through them – don't damage anything. I'll come get you after three days."
After saying this, she shoved Natsuki inside and resealed the door.
Natsuki waved his hand to disperse the dust in the air, but the ancient musty smell still rushed into his brain, leaving him no choice but to endure it.
It was pitch black all around. He could barely see anything.
"That old hag, seriously. She just locked me in here, and there's not even a light bulb. How am I supposed to read? And what about eating, drinking, and… the bathroom?"
Fortunately, he carried illumination gear with him. He summoned a headlamp and put it on. As for his other needs, he had brought three days' worth of food and water, and unexpectedly there was even a toilet in the chamber. Good, good. If there wasn't, he wouldn't have minded digging a latrine in the corner.
He made a mental note to warn Neji and Sasuke later.
Those two never carried anything with them. They'd definitely suffer in a place like this.
Natsuki began looking around. Thankfully, all the scrolls were labeled, so he didn't have to check each one individually.
As he searched, he found many were records of the Senju Clan's history, some were biographies of Senju heroes, and others contained historical accounts of various clans. The content was vast and ancient – things that could no longer be found in the shinobi world.
Soon, Natsuki located the section for training notes.
Many Senju elders had recorded their cultivation experiences as notes for future generations to study. Now, all these were lying here collecting dust.
Natsuki picked up a scroll and flipped it open. It was from an elder skilled in Raiton (Lightning Release), detailing many techniques and tricks, which benefited Natsuki greatly.
The next was from a water release expert, and the one after that focused on earth release.
Indeed, compared to simple ninjutsu scrolls, these training notes were the true treasures!
So much cultivation experience and technique refinement had been recorded by the elders and stored here, now all to become Natsuki's nourishment!
Without hesitation, he began reading madly. In particular, he paid close attention to notes on chakra nature transformation research, and more crucially, theories on combining different chakra natures to create kekkei genkai (bloodline limits).
Why was Natsuki reading the Senju Clan's library?
Was it purely to learn from the elders' cultivation experiences?
Of course not!
His goal was to find the profound insights of his predecessors and then attempt to combine his various chakra natures to create his own kekkei genkai!
Natsuki was already strong. He knew the White Fang's swordsmanship, the Hachimon Tonkou (Eight Gates Release), and even Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God). He had developed powerful original moves and was a solid Kage-level shinobi, with Super Kage-level in his future as a certainty.
But Natsuki was greedy. He wasn't satisfied. He wanted to become even stronger.
And the best breakthrough was kekkei genkai.
He had his golden finger (cheat ability) that allowed him to enter the special laboratory every first of the month. That was the perfect experimental environment.
What he lacked was knowledge. He didn't truly understand chakra nature, how to fuse different types, or the problems and risks involved.
That was why he had to read the Senju Clan's library!
The Senju Clan was an ancient family, yet only Hashirama possessed Mokuton (Wood Release) kekkei genkai. The others just had large chakra reserves.
During the chaotic Warring States Era, the Senju often suffered against the Uchiha with their Sharingan.
Surely, someone among them had researched kekkei genkai.
And it was those research notes Natsuki needed. He didn't have the time to develop everything from scratch, so he could only stand on the shoulders of his predecessors. With their theories combined with his golden finger for mad experimentation, there was bound to be a chance of success. And once he succeeded, he would soar to new heights, with benefits passing down to his future children.
After all, newly created kekkei genkai would be encoded into his genes as bloodline inheritance.
Whether for himself or his future children, he had to create a kekkei genkai!
Fortunately, Natsuki was lucky. The Senju library contained exactly what he needed, so he showed no restraint and devoured it all.
Besides, he had Senju blood in him too. Wasn't this just reading his own family's books?
(End of Chapter)
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