Sunagakure entered an era of unprecedented prosperity and peace. The oases expanded, the population flourished, and talents emerged in abundance. Powerful military strength and a thriving economy formed two sturdy wings. Yet Shaye, standing at the crest of this era, did not lose himself in his current achievements. His gaze had long since turned toward a more distant future—and the deeper reaches of his own power.
Although the completed Freedom Gundam possessed strength nearly at the peak of Kage Level, even briefly suppressing Tailed Beasts with senjutsu, Shaye knew that much of it relied on an external tool—the steel giant that embodied Sunagakure's greatest technology. His own abilities—Magnet Release, Wind and Earth Release, Puppet Technique, Medical Ninjutsu, and Sealing Technique—had certainly reached an extraordinary realm. Even his body, nourished for years by the Natural Energy Body Refining Furnace, was approaching that of a Sage Body, and his chakra reserves were vast and boundless.
But he seemed to have touched upon an invisible bottleneck. Magnet Release was powerful because it controlled Iron Sand and Gold Dust, combining offense and defense across a broad range. Yet against certain extremely bizarre techniques or techniques composed purely of energy, it still proved inadequate. Sage Mode was powerful, but it required either the Gundam Core or intensely focused meditation. He could not integrate it into every one of his own techniques as naturally as moving a limb.
He needed a more fundamental elevation of power, one that came from himself and took him to a higher level. A power that could completely surpass Kekkei Genkai and touch upon the origin of ninjutsu.
Late at night, in Shaye's private laboratory on the top floor of the research department.
The enormous workbench was covered with densely packed scrolls and data blueprints. To one side floated a complex