"Lord Danzo, this way."
Through the maze-like underground passageways, two Konoha Ninja led the way.
Shimura Danzō followed behind at an unhurried pace, walking neither fast nor slow, like... well, like some kind of big shot. His dour face made it difficult for him to project the bearing of a man in high office, but he really was a big shot in Konoha.
After walking a ways and turning a corner, they found a corpse lying ahead of them. Another group of Root Ninja stood guard there.
A corpse was just a corpse. In theory, there was nothing surprising about one. But the corpse before them was rather unusual...
Well, unusually shredded.
"When was he found?" Danzo glanced at the bloodstains on the ground and asked.
"This morning. When I noticed he hadn't returned on time, I searched along his patrol route for the mission, and then I found this corpse... He died sometime last night. He should have been killed instantly by some kind of special method." One of the Root Ninja spoke.
"The enemy left this place quickly. The brutal result of the killing probably wasn't intentional; the technique he used simply worked that way... But I have no idea what kind of cutting technique could possess such power. It seems we'll need to investigate this thoroughly." Looking at the dense cutting marks covering the walls, floor, and ceiling, Danzo reached a fairly precise conclusion.
Yuhara had been rather tense at the time. To make sure he eliminated his enemy, he had gone a little overboard when he attacked. Otherwise, this Root Organization ninja wouldn't have been cut into so many pieces.
"Obtaining information directly from the moment of death will be somewhat difficult..." another Root Ninja said awkwardly.
Want to know what happened when the dead man died? Sorry, that wasn't physically possible. His head had practically been turned into brain mush—complete with various diced bits of meat as seasoning.
"Anything else unusual?"
"A wall in one of the rooms of this underground facility, which had previously been cleared out by the Anbu, was opened yesterday. But we have no way of knowing what exactly the other party took."
"Then investigate from these angles: Orochimaru's subordinates, those connected to this underground facility, and the Konoha Ninja who participated in the cleanup operation," Danzo said.
There wasn't much else to say. Since the main purpose of whoever had appeared here yesterday had been to take something from the base, that person was undoubtedly connected to this place.
But a correct judgment didn't necessarily mean the investigation would proceed smoothly. One ninja reminded him, "Lord Danzo, this used to be Orochimaru's secret research facility, and afterward it was handed over to the Hokage's direct Anbu... The investigation may be somewhat inconvenient."
"Don't worry. Someone died. Sarutobi will cooperate." Danzo didn't care in the slightest about any resistance they might encounter.
The way he put it seemed to imply something like this—I may not be the Hokage, but Konoha is basically my family's property.
Whispering Stream Trail.
Although a brutal murder had unfortunately occurred last night, Yuhara judged that Konoha would have a hard time identifying the killer's true identity. Of course, "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear," and whether Konoha could catch the killer in time had nothing to do with him. So he boldly came to this place he had always used for training.
As a combatant, Yuhara currently had excellent attack and defense. But high attack power didn't mean he could pierce through everything, and "absolute defense" was merely an exaggerated description. In truth, his attack and defense could be viewed as stats forcibly piled up. His abilities had improved tremendously in a short period, but that didn't mean his qualities as a ninja had improved to the same degree.
With his current strength, Yuhara couldn't deal with true powerhouses. So he had to continue increasing his strength.
After joining the battlefield several times, Yuhara had clearly sensed where his shortcomings lay... Chakra. That was the common weakness of all ordinary ninja.
His weakness was easy enough to identify, but how could he improve it?
Yuhara decided to take stock of what he had.
First were the Six Paths Tools he had recovered in the Land of Rice. Hōrin Kagami, Shichiseiken, and Kōtanuki were meant to be used together. Kōtanuki was an extremely powerful sealing container, theoretically on the same level as the Amber Purifying Pot currently held by Kumogakure, though the methods of using them differed.
Hōrin Kagami could give tangible form to abstract concepts, after which Shichiseiken could sever them... To be honest, Yuhara felt that these three items weren't suitable for use in instant combat.
As for Banjō Senshi, it was naturally an offensive ninja tool of tremendous power. However, Yuhara hadn't used it even once. Using it consumed a colossal amount of Chakra, which put the cart before the horse... If Yuhara had that much Chakra, would he really need to use something like Banjō Senshi?
Thus, after a brief inventory, it became clear that although the Six Paths Tools were incredibly powerful, Yuhara currently couldn't use any of them.
Then there was the mysterious scroll Yuhara had "picked up" from who knew where last night. Setting aside the various intelligence reports on Orochimaru, it contained two things related to techniques... the research findings on Living Corpse Reincarnation and the design principles behind the Cursed Seal.
Perhaps Hotaru had already been at Orochimaru's side for a long time. Perhaps her abilities as a spy were exceptionally impressive. In any case, she had managed to obtain these things... To put it bluntly, no wonder Orochimaru wanted to kill her.
Yuhara obviously couldn't use Living Corpse Reincarnation, but its related content was extremely advanced, making one admire Orochimaru's madness... Living Corpse Reincarnation certainly wasn't a simple Forbidden Technique that extracted the caster's Chakra or spirit before seizing a new body. Otherwise, it would be far too simple.
In reality, it was a conversion ritual that transformed all of a person's original Chakra and mental consciousness into a special, unified mixture of energy and information, after which that "unity" was used to seize a new body.
In other words, the technique wasn't simply a transfer of the spirit. It was actually a complex process of conversion, transfer, and reverse conversion.
After thinking it over for a moment, Yuhara understood the explanation. During Orochimaru's reincarnation, aside from his original body and his current body, he also possessed the "true form" of a "White-Scaled Serpent." That corresponded perfectly with what was recorded on the scroll.
After reading the scroll's contents, Yuhara nodded to express his deep admiration for Orochimaru's talent. Then he resealed the scroll and put it away... Living Corpse Reincarnation was impressive, but utterly useless to him.
Next, Yuhara looked at the other scroll. A method to rapidly increase his strength... So this really was the only option left?
The Cursed Seal and the method of using Nature Energy. This was the clearest path laid out before Yuhara.
Before you continue