"You don't need to be too sad, really. You have a good disciple too. Sure, he killed you once, but he was only inheriting the fine traditions of your lineage. The Third Hokage sent the Second Hokage off to die, you personally saw the Third Hokage off, and he merely planned to see you off at the end of your life."
Damn!!
Orochimaru at this age was nowhere near as shamelessly indifferent to outside judgment as he would be in the future. The Cold Lord of this period still cared somewhat about his reputation...
So,
he forced out a cold, sinister rebuttal,
"I haven't done those things yet."
Emotion Points from Orochimaru +25
...Fine! Orochimaru! Your mouth was pretty hard too.
"Sasuke Uchiha, one of the future twin saviors of the shinobi world, Fugaku Uchiha's second son, the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' eldest son's Chakra. In the future, he would master Six Paths Yin Power, possess a Six Tomoe Rinnegan surpassing the Tomoe Mangekyo Sharingan, wield the Nine Tailed Beasts like portable chargers, and casually destroy a small nation with a single Indra's Arrow. Didn't that fill you with heartfelt pride?"
Six Paths Yin Power.
The reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' eldest son's Chakra.
Tomoe Mangekyo Sharingan.
Six Tomoe Rinnegan...
Orochimaru began trembling uncontrollably. He had thought he already stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world, that there were few secrets in the entire world of shinobi left unknown to him. Yet everything Shirou Emiya had suddenly revealed seemed to be telling him that he was merely a frog at the bottom of a well—and one smugly delighted with himself while trapped there.
It hurt! It hurt so much!
He could admit his weakness, but he was unwilling to accept his own ignorance and stupidity...
"I want them..."
Orochimaru lowered his eyes. Then, a voice carrying a hint of pathological fervor suddenly emerged from his throat.
"Everything you spoke of... I want all of it."
"Six Paths power, the Rinnegan, the Tomoe Mangekyo, Sage Mode... I want every single one of them!"
"Lord Emiya, since you know everything about the future... could you allow me to obtain all of this for you, master all of it, and present it to you in its entirety?"
"Now that's much more polite."
Shirou Emiya smiled. Strictly speaking, there were not many talented people in the shinobi world. This Cold Lord counted as one, the late Second Hokage counted as another, and in the other villages, Sasori of the Red Sands—assuming he had been born—and Himiko—assuming she had not defected—made two more.
As for the rest,
they were merely mediocre bones who could only play with ninjutsu and possessed no talent for invention or creation. They were hardly worth mentioning.
If the God of Shinobi had not possessed the Chakra of Asura Reincarnation, he would not have been able to reach the summit either.
And once the power of the Ōtsutsuki Clan was thoroughly researched, what God of Shinobi or Ninja Asura? They could all be mass-produced. Everyone could pilot mechs into the starry cosmos, and then wouldn't it be wonderful to form parties and farm the Ōtsutsuki Clan?
Especially now that the power of the Path had established an "anchor" here. Acts of exploring new things in the future would accumulate until, one day, they transformed into tangible gains and pushed open that Imaginary Gate of "Trailblaze."
"Orochimaru, you are a talent. And now... the shinobi world has yet to notice that a new power has already begun taking root among you."
"Explore 'new things,' continuously thirst for 'new possibilities,' and study 'new knowledge'..."
"When that time comes, the doors of 'Trailblaze' will open before you, and an invitation to a broader world will fall into your hands."
"In that vast universe, there will be great beings who can govern the endless changes of life across an entire star system with a single thought. There will be recordkeepers who preserve every variable in an entire world and recreate the old world at the moment of its end. There will be ravagers who destroy everything, reduce all civilizations to zero, and plunge the universe into slumbering solitude..."
"Orochimaru, do not let this tiny shinobi world bind you. Release your talents. Release your imagination. I will look forward to welcoming you aboard a train in the future."
"I will definitely go!!! I will definitely live up to your expectations!!"
Emotion Points from Orochimaru +99
Good, good, good! Orochimaru! Brother knew he hadn't misjudged you!
You did well! You did damn well!!
This was more like it.
"Yin Release? No, this was matter created from reality, not something that would dissipate once it lost Chakra support."
Having personally witnessed a laboratory being created out of thin air, Orochimaru's heart was once again shaken beyond control.
After Mei inspected the laboratory's various facilities, she accepted it with great satisfaction.
"All that remains is to transfer the data over."
"This time, Vill-V may need to help with a small matter. If she steals Flame-Chaser's highest clearance once, we can retrieve many precious observation materials and research data. Leaving them in the hands of those Flame-Chaser politicians would be far too wasteful."
"You're really going all out, Doctor."
"Since I have already decided to betray them, why not be more thorough? The fact that I didn't have Vill-V erase all the data directly already counts as extraordinary mercy on my part."
"As expected of you. Still, I can handle something this minor too, as long as you commission me."
"A commission! I absolutely have to commission you!"
You have received a new commission!
Wonderful!
Mr. Emiya liked this decisive, swift style. Whatever needed doing, execution was immediately pushed to the limit. Efficiency mattered, and pragmatism was carried through from start to finish. Working with someone like this, Shirou did not need to worry at all about the research institute's productivity. Even earning points felt satisfying.
"Oh, right. It would be best to arrange an arson incident at the First Research Institute, so that Blanca and I can disappear from there permanently. It would also keep Flame-Chaser's people from causing trouble for Elysia and Kevin."
"There's no need to make it so troublesome. Flame-Chaser's foundation is fairly solid. Once you master Chakra, you can directly use the Sharingan to control all of Flame-Chaser's upper management. At that point, the resources of the entire world can be put to use for you."
"That sounds good. Fine, then I'll deal with those people a little longer. During this period, I'll have to trouble you with traveling back and forth between this world and the other one."
"Oh, right. Take me back to Flame-Chaser today. I made an appointment with Mei... That child has an exceptionally sharp perception of the quantum field and is also one of the team members I selected. Unfortunately, the First Research Institute cannot provide a suitable environment for the quantum field she studies, and Flame-Chaser's senior leadership has always been suppressing her."
"Suppressing her? Why?"
"Seniority."
Upon hearing that, Shirou was momentarily speechless. What a plain and unadorned reason. Yet it was reasonable too. Once one entered an environment packed with major figures, ranking people by seniority seemed almost like an unwritten joke.
If they had merely been old scholars focused solely on academia, that would have been one thing. But given the nature of an organization like Flame-Chaser, there would inevitably be scum from academic factions pointing fingers, carving up territory, and allocating resources.
"Research into the quantum field cannot be converted into tangible research output in the short term. Before we completely conquer the 'genes' of ninja, that child can serve as my assistant for a while and accumulate experience. Once this project is complete and we return to Flame-Chaser, she can stand on her own and establish a department of her own."
"You've really put a lot of thought into her."
"I simply hate seeing mediocre people waste the time of talented people. Those with ambition are one thing, but unfortunately, most mediocrities come to resent the difficulty of climbing upward, and that resentment turns into oppression, exclusion, and targeting of those with talent."
"The most vicious thing in this world... is the human heart."
"That is why I detest the current Flame-Chaser. It... disgusts me."
Uncertain flickers of light flashed in her eyes as she recalled how, in childhood, her family had treated her as a monster and rejected her because of the intelligence she had shown from an early age...
By the time she had grown into who she was now, she had seen too many mediocre, useless people. Wasting their own time was one thing, but the crucial part was that they also liked wasting everyone else's time. That was why she could no longer stand fools, idiots, and morons. Whenever she saw them, she wanted nothing more than to dissect them all as laboratory mice.
"Then turn it into what you want it to be."
Shirou smiled.
"Back when I used to get into heated online arguments with people, there was always this stock response: 'If you're so capable, then you do it.' And I would think... if I could do it, then I really would."
"So, Doctor, when you have the ability to do something, be brave and do it. You have your brother here as an ally now. If you don't seize this chance to vent properly, are you going to regret missing out on this later in a few years?"
Regret it in a few years?
The moment Mei heard that, she felt her blood pressure rise. Thinking about it carefully, it was true. She had endured those bastards for so long. If she simply went back and swept them out like trash, wouldn't that be letting them off too easily?
Damn it, those parasites had disgusted so many people in the institute. If she did not thoroughly squeeze out every last bit of their remaining value, how could that possibly repay the suffering she had endured?
"You're right. I will turn it... into something I like."
A dark yet alluring smile began to appear at the corner of the doctor's lips. Just as she would later acquire some of a serpent's habits after merging with Shesha, she was already displaying a trace of that snake-like gloom and venomous ruthlessness at this moment.
Now this was more like it.
Before, she had completely given off the image of a motherly figure. Mr. Emiya had even felt that the product did not match the advertisement.
Seeing that smile now, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Then shall we go?"
"Not yet. What did you mean by 'Trailblaze' when you spoke to that snake earlier?"
"The Doctor is interested too?"
"Naturally. During our earlier conversation, I heard several terms. That so-called 'Trailblaze' is the god worshipped by you Nameless, correct?"
"Yes and no. 'Trailblaze' is fundamentally a philosophical concept. Doctor, you have heard of Superstring Theory, haven't you? Suppose 'philosophy' is an 'Imaginary Space' that cannot be normally observed. Then Aeons are the 'highest authorities' governing the dimensionality of a single philosophical concept. Though they fall far short of the omniscience and omnipotence boasted of by primitive indigenous myths on many planets, merely lowering their gaze is enough to trigger Imaginary tides capable of effortlessly overturning a planet. Even their aftereffects could easily destroy a planet and affect an entire star system."
"And the concept of 'Trailblaze' applies to any situation involving 'opening up a new map.' When the train's members came to this world, the Path of Trailblaze obtained a beacon. And now that I have brought Navigator here, 'Trailblaze' has already begun taking root, waiting for someone in this world to push open the Path of Trailblaze."
"I see. Gods of philosophical concepts truly are far more outrageous than ordinary natural gods or earth mother gods from mythology... By your reasoning, once you appeared in our world, 'Trailblaze' should have extended here as well?"
"No. The planet you inhabit... has been in the same universe as us from the very beginning. But the Paths have been sealed off... You most likely cannot defeat Honkai through a Path."
"Sealed off? By whom?"
"An entity known as the Cocoon of Finality."
For the time being, the Naruto content would only last these few chapters. It might occasionally be brought up later, but there would not be any continuous stretches longer than five or six chapters.
I had always suspected that pink fatty was an alien!
"As I said earlier, Earth is obscured by the Imaginary Tide Belt. To this day, the Solar System has not been observed by any Aeon, which has prevented the power of the Paths from naturally entering the Solar System. And there is another crucial thing blocking the possibility of the Paths fully opening their Imaginary Gate to you. It is the true source of the Honkai phenomenon: the 'Cocoon of Finality.' Its exact origins are unknown, though it is suspected to be a product of a higher-dimensional civilization. Its purpose is to create kin capable of adapting to Honkai Energy, just as they can."
"Before Earth, Venus and Mars had long since been embraced by Honkai, but both failed. Mars had already sealed the consciousnesses of all life into a data space, and its entire civilization was barely surviving within that space, beyond Honkai's reach."
"If you wish to overcome the Cocoon of Finality, the simplest solution is to possess a vessel capable of accepting the Authority of the Herrscher of the End. Furthermore, after accepting the power of Finality, that vessel must firmly choose to stand with Earth and humanity."
Kiana's ultimate outcome in the Later Civilization was considered a fairly qualified "graduation solution" to the trial of Honkai: using herself as a medium to receive all of Finality's power, then ultimately severing the processed Imaginary Internal Energy sent by the Cocoon of Finality to every planet in the Solar System.
"After our civilization fails, would other civilizations—or our future civilization—use this solution?"
Mei narrowed her slender eyes slightly. This sort of gloomy femme fatale sometimes possessed a breathtaking beauty. Although the unavoidable ravages of age had diminished her charm somewhat, they did not affect her unique and dangerous beauty in the slightest.
Hmm...
Bullying a gloomy bad woman like this in return would definitely feel amazing!
Several ways of playing cards flashed through Mr. Emiya's mind in an instant, yet his expression remained unchanged as he replied with a smile.
"That's right. Kevin will have a child cultivated through genetic engineering in the future, inheriting the bloodline of his Flame Chaser genes and carrying it into the civilization of the second era. The Kaslana family will become one of the three great families of Europe in the new civilization, the 'Knight family.' Meanwhile, some of the original humans will inherit Elysia's power of symmetry deficiency, gaining Holy Blood capable of neutralizing Honkai. They will become one of the three great families, the 'Saintesses.' And after combining the powers of these two groups with the Herrscher Core of the new era's Herrscher of the Void, a perfect vessel will be born."
"It will possess both the genes of Kevin's future 'Brahma Chimera,' granting extraordinary adaptation to Honkai Energy, and the symmetry-deficiency genes of the Saintess lineage originating from Elysia, the Human Herrscher, allowing it to neutralize Honkai. It will also be cultivated anew through the vessel of the deceased Herrscher of the Void... Doctor, at her peak, that Herrscher of the Void from the new era fused six Herrscher Cores. When all those coincidences came together, the perfect vessel was born."
"...A Herrscher who fused six Cores as the vessel?"
Mei murmured softly, dangerous thoughts beginning to emerge in her heart. If a multi-Core Herrscher were artificially cultivated, could she be controlled?
No, it should be said that they first had to cultivate the first Herrscher capable of standing on humanity's side.
"Symmetry deficiency... the result of non-equivalent exchange? Elysia, so she became a Herrscher in the future?"
"Is it possible that she was always a Herrscher?"
"...I see, that makes sense! I had always suspected that pink fatty was an alien. The case is finally solved!"
A rare expression of delight appeared on Mei's face.
"I finally have a reason to tie that woman to my operating table."
"She was a Herrscher born from one error in hundreds of millions within the Cocoon of Finality. Her true name should be the Herrscher of Origin, the first Herrscher closest to the Herrscher of the End, and the source from which future Herrschers could gain self-awareness."
"That woman should let the Herrschers of this era gain self-awareness!"
"She does not understand her own power. Besides, she ultimately chose to die at Kevin's hands, and she did indeed pass hope on to the next era."
Listening to Shirou's words, Mei bit her lip, her eyes filled with unwillingness. She did not truly want to target Elysia. She was simply dissatisfied... dissatisfied with the ending Shirou had described for their story.
Although she always voiced great dissatisfaction with Elysia, deep down, she unexpectedly treasured that strange friendship. She had noticed Elysia's abnormalities long ago, yet she had never truly considered uncovering her secrets.
However,
the ending of this story would actually require them to sit by and watch Elysia die. Wouldn't that make all of them utterly useless failures?
Before you continue