Stealing a Corpse

Ever since successfully extracting chakra, unraveling the mysteries of the Senju, and planning out his own path and that of his clan, Nawaki had devoted himself entirely to training.

Because less than a decade had passed since the end of the First Shinobi World War, and every Kage of the major hidden villages—save for the Kazekage—had fallen in battle, the state of the nations remained incredibly tense, with frequent skirmishes breaking out along the borders. Within Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō had been locked in a power struggle for the position of Hokage for several years. Ultimately, Hiruzen emerged victorious as the Third Hokage, while Danzō, the leader of the militant faction who had failed to seize power, led his subordinates into the shadows to establish the Root organization.

Only a few years into Hiruzen's tenure, although the Hokage's faction held the advantage in Konoha, the village was suffering from a generational gap in its ninja ranks. Many of the older generation had been lost in the First Shinobi World War, others had been taken by Danzō, and the new generation had yet to fully mature. This left Hiruzen with a shortage of reliable manpower, forcing Tsunade and her two teammates—despite being Jonin—to take on B-rank missions, keeping them extremely busy. After celebrating Nawaki's birthday, the three-man squad had returned to their life of missions.

As the jinchūriki of Konoha and the leader of the Barrier Team, Mito was also responsible for managing the Senju clan for Nawaki, keeping her occupied as well. Nawaki did not want to add to the burden of this grandmother who, despite her youthful appearance, was actually quite aged; he knew she was burning through the last of her life force.

Thus, he requested the key to the Senju clan's secret chamber, where their ninjutsu scrolls were stored, to study on his own. Mito, trusting this precocious, genius grandson of hers, saw no danger in him studying alone, as the Senju compound was in the heart of Konoha and guarded by many clansmen. She gave him free rein, teaching him sealing techniques during her spare time each evening. Mito herself was not particularly skilled in ninjutsu and had little to offer him, but based on his progress in sealing arts, she surmised that with his talent and intellect, he would be able to master ninjutsu on his own.

The Senju clan's collection of ninjutsu came as a massive surprise to Nawaki. Not only were there scrolls for all five elemental affinities at every level, but the Scroll of Sealing—containing the First's Wood Release and the forbidden techniques created by the Second—was also among them! How could Tobirama Senju, who had exhausted his every effort to lay out a grand design for the Senju clan, not leave his own and his brother's techniques to the family? The Second Hokage had died unexpectedly in an ambush, and Hiruzen had only been appointed in a moment of crisis; it was impossible for the Second to have handed over the Scroll of Sealing to him in advance. In the original story, the reason Hiruzen possessed the scroll was likely because, after the Second Shinobi World War and the extinction of the Senju clan following Nawaki's death, a heartbroken Tsunade had handed it over to him.

The Scroll of Sealing was still held by Mito on behalf of the Senju clan, and as the young clan head, Nawaki was naturally free to peruse it. The moment he first entered the secret chamber, he used the system to scan and record every single ninjutsu and forbidden technique, never needing to enter the chamber again. He had actually wanted to destroy the Scroll of Sealing to keep all those forbidden techniques for himself, but realizing the severe consequences of such an act, he ultimately abandoned the idea.

During this period, unable to suppress his inner thoughts, Nawaki used the pretext of paying his respects to visit the memorial stone of Hashirama Senju.

Through his previous genetic analysis, Nawaki had learned that Orochimaru had already begun modifying his own body, incorporating snake genes; thus, Nawaki concluded that he had already embarked on the path of pursuing immortality.

In the original story, Orochimaru had stolen Hashirama's corpse during the Third Shinobi World War, removing all his internal organs and preserving them in vessels.

The First's cells were so full of vitality that his physical body had not decayed even after many years of death. During the battle at the Valley of the End, he had exhausted his spirit and life force while suffering grave injuries, using secret arts to delay his death until shortly after returning to Konoha.

Nawaki was not entirely certain when Orochimaru had stolen the body, but because it involved the Wood Release bloodline, he had to go and see for himself.

Upon arriving, a scan from the Wish Power System revealed that the First's body was still lying in the coffin, and he finally let out a sigh of relief. However, he dared not act rashly to steal the corpse, as he had already drawn Hiruzen's attention, and he did not know if the Third was secretly observing him.

System, can you use Wish Power to remotely store the First's corpse into the space? Nawaki stood before the memorial stone, his face filled with sorrow while he silently chanted in his heart.

"Since the target is a soulless corpse, it meets the criteria. You may spend 1,000 points of Wish Power to store it in the Tree Seed Space."

Hearing the system's affirmative answer, Nawaki's heart hammered. Will it cause any commotion? Will someone discover it?

"Spending 1,000 points of Wish Power will distort reality and causality without any fluctuations. It cannot be detected by any life form below the Sage level."

Having received a clear reply from the system once more, Nawaki knew he had nothing to worry about; even Kaguya Otsutsuki and the Sage of Six Paths had not reached the level of manipulating causality. "Spend 1,000 points of Wish Power to store the corpse in the space."

"Understood! The corpse has been successfully collected!"

Upon receiving the system's notification, Nawaki put away his sorrow and, with an "inspired" look, spoke to the memorial stone: "Grandfather, rest assured. I, Nawaki, will definitely protect the village for you! I'm going to train now, I'll come visit you again!"

Nawaki's performance was not in vain; shortly after, he received a system notification that he had gained Wish Power. Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed observing him.

Grandfather Hashirama, you'll forgive me, right? Falling into my hands is better than being dismembered by Orochimaru, Nawaki thought silently as he turned to leave.

If not for his lack of Wish Power, he would have loved to forge a fake corpse to put back in the coffin. He wondered what kind of expression Orochimaru would have when he dug up the coffin and found the First's body had rotted away? Though, his expression should be quite spectacular when he found the coffin empty as well, right?

After returning to his room, Nawaki couldn't wait to ask the system: "System, have you analyzed the Wood Release bloodline template? If I want to exchange for it, how much Wish Power do I need?"

"Reporting to the host: to have the system directly exchange for the Wood Release bloodline, it requires 1 million points of Wish Power."

"What? Why so much? I've already obtained the Asura bloodline; shouldn't exchanging for the Wood Release bloodline be very cheap?"

"The Wood Release bloodline is a fused chakra bloodline. It requires altering your genetic cells so that your body can fully adapt to Wood Release chakra to ensure your body does not become wood. It is a high-level bloodline completely different from the Asura bloodline, and it only reaches its full potential when combined with it. To exchange for Hashirama Senju's bloodline would normally cost 101 million points of Wish Power. Since the host possesses the Asura bloodline, you only need to spend 1 million to obtain the perfect bloodline."