After parting ways with Kakuzu and the others, Hyuga Shin found a scenic town in the Land of Wind and settled into a spacious inn.
Hyuga Shin went into seclusion again.
This time, he wouldn't come out until he had results!
What Orochimaru had said reminded him that, although the Sage of Six Paths might be trapped in the Pure Land for now, the Three Great Insect Sages could still appear in the Shinobi World!
If the Sage of Six Paths really managed to persuade them, it would put Hyuga Shin at a huge disadvantage.
Fortunately, the Bug Immortals didn't seem inclined to act for the time being. Otherwise, they wouldn't have limited themselves to warning Orochimaru and the others.
Things were getting more and more interesting. What secrets did the Shinobi World conceal that made the Bug Immortals of the Three Great Sage Regions so tolerant and supportive of the Six Paths, that old schemer?
Hyuga Shin believed it wouldn't be long before they slipped up, too.
After sorting through his jumbled thoughts, Hyuga Shin began his research in earnest.
First, he needed to find a way for ordinary ninja to detect the Will of the Six Paths embedded inside them.
Hyuga Shin already had an idea.
Combining his cultivation insights with his understanding of the Chakra system, he had come up with a preliminary, workable hypothesis.
He would combine the cultivation arrays he had created with the spatial rules of this world to create an auxiliary Small Space Barrier, helping ninja detect the hidden Will of the Six Paths.
The main method was to use an array laid out within the Small Space Barrier to draw in some of the Power of Heaven and Earth,
and imbue the souls of the ninja within the barrier with spiritual will, allowing them to perceive the smallest details.
This would let the ninja inside examine themselves with perfect clarity.
That way, they could discover the Will of the Six Paths embedded within them.
If he could refine the method, he might even be able to use the Power of Heaven and Earth to remove the Will of the Six Paths completely.
The Power of Heaven and Earth was, in fact, a higher-level means of harnessing Natural Energy.
And only cultivators who had entered the path through Natural Energy could draw on the Power of Heaven and Earth for their own use.
They also needed exceptional talent.
As a practitioner of the great path of cultivation, Hyuga Shin naturally met the requirements.
But it still wasn't easy!
Hyuga Shin had no trouble wielding the Power of Heaven and Earth. At the Nascent Soul Realm's threshold, he was ridiculously strong!
He had also dabbled in spatial rules, and those weren't too difficult.
The tricky part was using the Power of Heaven and Earth to strengthen spiritual will. The conversion involved was far more complicated.
The last problem was ensuring that the Space Barrier could keep operating over the long term.
That was crucial: it could continually provide the Spark Organization with fresh recruits and support its future ambitions.
Each part on its own wasn't too difficult, but putting them all together was a challenge.
However, Hyuga Shin had made a major breakthrough in figuring out how to install a firewall in the souls of Spark Organization members.
The method was to use Natural Energy or pure Chakra to apply the Method of Sealing to the entire soul space, protecting the soul in its entirety.
This could prevent anyone but the soul's owner from penetrating their spiritual will.
This Method of Sealing was much stronger than ordinary, powerful Sealing Techniques, and it could also be tightly linked to the soul space.
Even the Sage of Six Paths wouldn't be able to break through easily without paying a huge price.
Hyuga Shin had created this method only after digging through countless Sealing Technique texts and soul research materials, then combining them with his own experience.
He had now nearly finished working out the technique and had completed some initial tests. All that remained was to test it on people.
For now, though, this sealing technique was rather complicated, and ordinary ninja had little chance of learning it.
Only geniuses like Orochimaru could be highly confident of mastering it.
It still needed further refinement.
He wanted to make it as accessible as possible.
For more than half a month, Hyuga Shin remained immersed in his research.
He kept thinking about how to use the Power of Heaven and Earth more effectively, how to preserve the Small Space Barrier over the long term, and how to improve the process of creating the sealing firewall.
Throughout the half-month Hyuga Shin spent in seclusion, the war in the Shinobi World continued.
The Sage of Six Paths seemed to have forgotten Hyuga Shin existed, and continued watching his nursery grow in the direction he wanted.
After contacting Hyuga Shin, Orochimaru slowly returned to the Rock Battlefield.
The outcome would be the same either way. What difference did a day or two make?
Would the Sage of Six Paths and the sages of the Three Great Sage Regions really let the Konoha Ninja on the Rock Battlefield be wiped out just because he was a few days late?
If that were the case, Orochimaru would actually feel more at ease. At least he could use himself as a piece to change the whole board.
After learning the dark truth about the Shinobi World, he still had the courage to do that.
Meanwhile, Tsunade, who had gone to the Wet Slime Forest, returned ahead of schedule.
She was worried about Nawaki's safety, so as soon as she returned from the Wet Slime Forest, she hurried back to the Rock Battlefield.
Fortunately, Nawaki had been more obedient this time. He had remembered what his sister and his teacher, Orochimaru, had told him, and stayed put in camp without going anywhere.
And it hadn't been long, so nothing had happened.
As soon as Orochimaru returned to camp and heard that Tsunade was back, he hurried off to find her.
He wanted to ask if the Wet Slime Forest had made the same demand of her.
As expected, Tsunade had also been warned by the Great Slug Sage to stay away from Hyuga Shin.
The Great Slug Sage had also said that something had changed in her body, and cautioned her not to interfere lightly with or alter anyone else's fate!
It had also urged her to follow her own mission and not stray from her path.
It told Tsunade to remember its words, or she would regret it too late!
Tsunade was left rather bewildered.
After hearing her account, Orochimaru knew his guess had been right: the Three Great Sage Regions must have received a warning from the Sage of Six Paths.
It was a warning over the Sannin straying from their intended paths!
Too bad that idiot Jiraiya was so gullible.
The Great Toad Head Sage had probably led him completely astray.
Having confirmed his suspicions through Tsunade, Orochimaru didn't ask any more questions. It was obvious enough.
After Orochimaru returned, the situation on the Rock Battlefield slowed down.
It wasn't because of any particular plan. Orochimaru simply had no interest in this war.
But now he was caught up in it and couldn't get away, so the clever Orochimaru...
gave up.
If it rained, it rained; if a woman wanted to marry, let her. Whatever happened, happened.
Let anyone do what they wanted. He was done playing along!
So he dragged out the war against Iwagakure whenever he could and avoided fighting whenever possible.
He didn't ask much of his subordinates, either. They just had to stay alive. He issued no battle orders.
The entire Leaf Camp fell into a lazy stupor.
This left their strategist, Nara Shikaku, feeling rather helpless.
Iwagakure was puzzled, too, but they couldn't just attack the Leaf Camp. This wasn't a decisive battle.
So when Iwagakure's commander saw Orochimaru slacking off, he followed suit.
The village hadn't issued any orders demanding action, after all. If they could stay safe, who would want to risk their life?
And so, the situation on the Rock Battlefield changed abruptly from conflict to stalemate.
That continued until the two villages issued orders compelling them to fight. But that's a story for later.
Another dozen or so days passed, and Hyuga Shin's research was nearly complete!
This period of seclusion had nearly lasted longer than the time he'd spent with Orochimaru!
"It's been a month. At last, I've made some progress."
Hyuga Shin's research had finally borne fruit. Even he, with his exceptional self-control, could barely contain his joy.
"Looks like Orochimaru and Kakuzu are still safe. I wonder what that old bastard, the Sage of Six Paths, is plotting!"
Hyuga Shin used his spiritual sense to check the messages the four of them had left that day, and his wariness of the Sage of Six Paths rose another notch.
A dog that bites doesn't bark, and killers are often smiling!
Hyuga Shin knew how angry the Sage of Six Paths had been back then, yet now there wasn't a peep from him!
Before entering seclusion, Hyuga Shin had been worried the Six Paths would act by force. After all, he'd guessed wrong last time.
He hadn't expected to be wrong again this time.
"Sage of Six Paths, you old bastard! Don't you dare make me deal with some huge mess!" Hyuga Shin thought, feeling uneasy.
Before you continue