Living Corpse Reincarnation and Sage Mode

"Lord Danzō, this way."

Through the intricate underground passages, two Konoha Ninja led the way.

Following behind, Shimura Danzō walked at an unhurried, steady pace, like that of... well, an important figure. Although his stern face made it difficult to convey an air of superiority, he was indeed a significant figure in Konoha.

After walking a distance and turning a corner, a corpse appeared before them. Another squad of Root ninja stood guard here.

A corpse is just a corpse; normally, there would be nothing surprising about it, but this particular corpse was special...

Well, it was exceptionally mangled.

"When was it discovered?" Danzō glanced at the bloodstains on the ground and asked.

"This morning. I discovered he hadn't returned on time, so I followed his patrol route to search, and then I found this corpse... He died last night. He must have been killed instantly by some special method," one of the Root ninja said.

"The enemy left here quickly. This brutal killing effect probably wasn't intentional; the jutsu he used is of this type... However, I have no clue about a ninjutsu with this level of destructive cutting power. It seems this matter requires a thorough investigation," Danzō said, looking at the dense cutting marks covering the walls, floor, and ceiling, reaching a fairly accurate conclusion.

Yuhara had been quite nervous at the time. To ensure the enemy was eliminated, he had been a bit heavy-handed when acting. Otherwise, this dead Root ninja wouldn't have been cut into so many pieces.

"It's quite difficult to obtain information directly about the moment of death..." another Root ninja said with some difficulty.

Wanting to know what happened when the deceased died? Sorry, it was physically impossible because his head had been almost turned into mashed tofu, the kind with all sorts of meat chunks and seasonings added.

"Anything else unusual?"

"This underground facility, which was previously cleared out by the Anbu, had one of its walls opened yesterday in a certain room. However, we have no way of knowing what the other party took away."

"Then we'll start the investigation by looking into Orochimaru's subordinates, those related to this underground facility, and the Konoha ninja who participated in the cleanup operation," Danzō said.

There was nothing to say about this. Since the primary objective of the person who appeared here yesterday was to take something from the base, that person was undoubtedly related to this place.

However, a correct judgment didn't necessarily mean the operation would proceed smoothly. One ninja reminded him, "Lord Danzō, this was previously Orochimaru's secret research facility, and afterward, it was handed over to the Hokage's direct Anbu... The investigation might encounter some inconveniences."

"Don't worry. Someone is dead, Hiruzen will cooperate," Danzō said, completely unconcerned about potential obstacles.

His words seemed to imply: "Even though I'm not the Hokage, Konoha is practically my family's."

Whispering Stream Trail.

Although a brutal murder had unfortunately occurred last night, Yuhara judged that it would be difficult for Konoha to pinpoint the culprit's true identity. Of course, as the saying goes, "He who has a clear conscience fears no ghosts." Whether Konoha could catch the culprit in time was irrelevant to Yuhara, so he confidently came to this place he had always used for training.

As a combatant, Yuhara's attack power and defense were both quite good. However, high attack power didn't mean he could break through everything; "absolute defense" was merely an exaggerated description. In reality, it could be considered that his attack and defense power were data points that were forcefully stacked up. His abilities had greatly improved in a short period, but this didn't mean his overall quality as a ninja had greatly improved.

With his current abilities, Yuhara couldn't deal with truly powerful individuals, so he had to continue strengthening himself.

After joining the battlefield a few times, Yuhara could clearly feel his shortcomings... Chakra. This was the common weakness of all ordinary ninja.

Although the shortcomings were easy to find, what about the methods to improve them?

Yuhara decided to take stock of what he had.

First were the Six Paths Tools he had recovered from the Land of Rice. The Hōrin Kagami, Shichiseiken, and Kōtanuki were meant to be used together. The Kōtanuki was a very powerful sealing container, theoretically on the same level as the Amber Jar currently held by Kumogakure, though their usage methods differed.

The Hōrin Kagami could materialize abstract concepts, and then the Shichiseiken could sever them... To be honest, Yuhara felt these three items were not suitable for use in immediate combat.

As for the Banjō Senshi, it was undoubtedly a powerful offensive tool, yet Yuhara had never used it. Using it consumed an enormous amount of Chakra, which felt like putting the cart before the horse... If Yuhara had that much Chakra, would he really need to resort to using something like the Banjō Senshi?

So, after a brief inventory, it was clear that despite the immense power of the Six Paths Tools, Yuhara couldn't use any of them for the time being.

Then there was the mysterious scroll Yuhara had "picked up" from somewhere last night. Setting aside the information about Orochimaru, there were two sections concerning jutsu: the research results of "Living Corpse Reincarnation" and the design concepts for "Cursed Seal."

Perhaps Hotaru had stayed by Orochimaru's side for a long time, or perhaps her espionage skills were exceptional. In any case, she managed to obtain these things... To put it bluntly, it was no wonder Orochimaru wanted her dead.

Yuhara naturally couldn't use Living Corpse Reincarnation, but the related content was extremely advanced, making one have to admire Orochimaru's madness... Living Corpse Reincarnation was not a simple forbidden jutsu of extracting the caster's Chakra or spirit and then taking over a new body; otherwise, it would be too simplistic.

In fact, it was a conversion ritual that transformed all of a person's original Chakra and consciousness into a unified special energy information form, and then this "unified form" would take over a new body.

In other words, this jutsu was not a simple spiritual transfer; it was actually a complex process of conversion-transfer-reverse conversion.

Yuhara thought for a moment and understood this explanation. Because during Orochimaru's reincarnation, besides his original body and his current body, there was also the "true form" of the "White Phosphorus Snake," which perfectly matched the content recorded on the scroll.

After reading the contents of the scroll, Yuhara nodded in admiration of Orochimaru's talent, then carefully re-sealed the scroll and put it away... Living Corpse Reincarnation was powerful, but utterly useless to him.

Next, Yuhara looked at the next scroll. A method to rapidly enhance strength... was this truly the only way?

The Cursed Seal and the method of using Nature Energy. This was the most clear path laid out before Yuhara.