"Winter was truly full of troubles..."
Toji walked down the road home, sighing inwardly.
Tobirama Senju was like this, and Uchiha Chiri was like this too. One after another, they came to him to speak of their own ninja ways.
As if he were some enlightened Buddha.
Confiding in him was tantamount to worshipping their own wishes; praying to him seemed as though it could truly safeguard lasting peace.
Unfortunately, Toji knew better than anyone that peace was an illusion.
Even Naruto, who would possess the Talk-no-Jutsu in the future, only gained a brief period of peace after countless casualties in the Fourth Shinobi World War and the defeat of their common extraterrestrial enemy.
Invincible within the Shinobi World, enemies would come from the heavens.
War and conflict would never cease.
If Hashirama and Madara of this era could reconcile, perhaps they truly could achieve it. But under the fated struggle of "brothers reincarnated," such a fantasy could never become reality.
Toji wanted nothing else.
He sought only the power to surpass the limits of shinobi with a mortal body.
Toji recalled his conversation with Uchiha Chiri.
He suddenly caught a piece of information he had overlooked for the moment: the Land of Rice Fields.
The Land of Rice Fields possessed an inherited tradition of Sound Release secret techniques. It would later be consolidated by Orochimaru, who would establish Otogakure.
The Sound Release secret techniques were secondary to him.
What truly interested him was that the source of the Sage Transformation Curse Mark, Jugo, seemed to have lived around the Land of Rice Fields.
Jugo could not possibly have lived in this era.
But if he traced things further back, the ancestors of Jugo's clan had likely also been active on the lands of the Land of Rice Fields.
This might be an opportunity.
Placing a piece on the board at will would cost him nothing, yet it might bring enormous returns someday in the future.
His subordinates only needed to carry out orders. As the one controlling the overall situation from behind the scenes, Toji had far more to consider.
"At the next contact, approve some operational funds for Uchiha Yan and have her establish a long-term, stable base in the Land of Rice Fields."
"Besides transporting human materials, her second task is to locate the clan of 'Libra Jugo.'"
The last day of the month.
As time passed, the number of secret-technique research projects on Toji's hands increased.
[Earth Grudge Parasite], [Impure World Reincarnation].
As for developing the Curse Mark, he temporarily set it aside.
He planned to continue once Matsumoto Kazuka had an epiphany, or once Uchiha Yan sent back news regarding the "Libra Clan."
Since he did not know the name of Jugo's clan, Toji had temporarily designated it "Libra."
Whichever side made progress first, research into the Curse Mark would become twice as effective with half the effort.
Toji only knew how to dump pressure onto others, while he himself could not bear even the slightest pressure.
Toji only knew how to throw every bit of pressure onto others, yet he himself could not withstand the slightest fraction of it.
After preparing everything, he entered the underground laboratory once more.
Inside the laboratory, the one-eyed man still wore a fierce expression. His remaining eye stared fixedly at the beaked mask on Toji's face.
Toji paid him no heed and unhurriedly made preparations for the experiment.
According to his plan, a single experimental subject would be enough for two uses—
First, he would use [Earth Grudge Fear] to parasitize him and activate the parasitic technique. Once he was on the verge of death, Toji would use him as a sacrifice to activate [Impure World Reincarnation], with the vessel being the scar-faced man who had died in the first experiment.
Making full use of everything was one of Toji's virtues.
Having learned from the failure of his previous experiment, Toji made two preparations this time.
And those so-called two preparations meant casting the Mystical Palm Technique with both hands at once.
More than ten Earth Grudge Fear Threads split from his palms. While casting the Mystical Palm Technique, they precisely pierced vital points throughout the one-eyed man's body, ready to administer emergency treatment at any moment.
"Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Parasite!"
Toji released Earth Grudge Fear again. Black tentacles silently coiled around the one-eyed man's heart. This time, he was especially cautious, slowly injecting chakra into the man's body drop by drop and gradually eating away at his control over his body.
"Dance."
Toji called out.
Gradually, the one-eyed man's gaze became vacant, but his body began to move smoothly, its motions no different from an ordinary person's.
There were many secret techniques in the Shinobi World that could control a body, the typical example being the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch Technique.
But the greatest difference between Earth Grudge Parasite and such techniques was—
The former directly controlled the target on a physical level and almost ignored distance; the latter could easily fail against someone with powerful mental strength or willpower, and even if it succeeded, the target might break free by force.
But Earth Grudge Parasite was different.
Unless the target possessed the monstrously powerful vitality of the Senju or Uzumaki Clan, once parasitized, there was almost no possibility of breaking free.
The one-eyed man's survival time easily exceeded the thirty seconds of Experimental Subject Number One.
The tension in Toji's heart gradually eased. He controlled the one-eyed man's body to refine chakra, then shouted in a low voice:
"Fire Release: Fire Bullet!"
The one-eyed man opened his mouth and spat out a small fireball.
He did not know the technique himself, but under Toji's control, the ninjutsu was easily released through his mouth.
The scorching Fire Bullet struck the ground, instantly burning a patch of it black.
"Did it work?"
Just as Toji thought he had succeeded, an accident still occurred.
The one-eyed man's body began to convulse.
Toji immediately activated the Mystical Palm Technique, continuously pouring medical chakra into his body, but the one-eyed man's life still declined irreversibly.
Toji looked at the data recorded by the instruments nearby. Combining it with the feedback from the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles, he finally realized where the problem lay.
Chakra was a mixed product of spiritual energy and physical energy. It could only be temporarily refined and could not be stored for long.
At present, his Earth Grudge Fear could only draw physical energy and could not make up for the lack of spiritual energy. If the parasitized person did not cooperate, he could not refine chakra.
Where was the core of a shinobi's spiritual energy?
Toji's first thought was the brain, but after a moment's consideration, he rejected that conclusion.
The answer should still be the heart.
Sasori of the Red Sands had turned his entire body, even his brain, into a puppet, yet he could still retain his self-awareness. The key was the chakra core in his chest.
Toji let out a long breath. "The heart really is fascinating."
Even though this experiment had still ended in failure, Toji felt more at ease instead.
He had found the direction for his research.
What he needed to do next was further improve Earth Grudge Fear's control precision, extending its physical domination into the spiritual dimension. By using the tentacles to directly squeeze spiritual energy from the heart, regardless of whether the host's soul was willing, it would be completely reduced to his battle puppet.
Earth Grudge Fear was equivalent to an extension of Toji's body. After parasitizing a target, chakra connections would allow him to share the host's five senses.
By then, he could not only use the host's body to cast his own ninjutsu, but also directly use the ninjutsu the host itself had mastered.
A different kind of Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu was thus born ahead of time.
However, the prerequisite for parasitization was that Earth Grudge Fear had to be implanted into the target's body in a stable state. This also meant that under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for him to parasitize shinobi stronger than himself.
"I can have the host drink Hero's Water and launch a suicidal attack on the target."
"Once the enemy goes through endless hardship and finally kills the host, I'll revive it with Impure World Reincarnation for a second round."
"Ninjutsu Kaisen, huh..."
Before you continue