Experimental Progress

The conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure ultimately failed to escalate.

Aoba did not know how all this had ended in the original history. But this time, the fact that he had cut off one of the Raikage's fingers was definitely an important factor.

The Raikage needed time to adapt to fighting with three fingers. Although Konoha was weak, a dying camel was still bigger than a horse. Kumogakure could not simply push it around.

A month later, Kumogakure officially withdrew its troops from the border. Konoha, too, gained the "peace" it wanted.

Naturally, the Land of Hot Water was the most relieved. It was caught between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. Kumogakure's troop buildup along the border had essentially meant stationing an army on its territory. On top of that, the Land of Hot Water had to supply military provisions. It had been crushed beneath the burden, worse off than Korea was now.

However, that clash still sparked enormous debate. Most notably, Aoba's name as the wielder of the Wind-Chasing Sword finally spread throughout Konoha.

He had faced the Raikage head-on without falling behind, even cutting off one of the Raikage's fingers and gaining the advantage. For a time, Aoba had become a pillar among Konoha's new generation of ninja.

He was called the second White Fang of Konoha.

In truth, Jiraiya and Danzo had originally overshadowed Aoba. But Jiraiya's decision to let the Raikage go in the end brought Aoba back into the spotlight, forcefully making his presence known once more.

As a result, his reputation inevitably spread.

The main reason was that Aoba's actions this time were completely different from the controversy surrounding White Fang back then. He had faced the Raikage in direct battle. Whether in terms of public sentiment or political correctness, there was nothing to criticize.

Even Danzo could not find fault with him.

More importantly, after that battle, Danzo developed an "appreciation for talent." He tried several times to recruit Aoba into Root, but Aoba refused every time.

Perhaps Aoba's displayed combat strength had been a little too high. Or perhaps Aoba was clearly not the sort of fool White Fang had been.

Danzo acted very cautiously this time. He did not immediately move against Aoba.

During this period, the Third Hokage was the one who felt the most uncomfortable. Although he had already explained his decision to let the Raikage go.

It was nothing more than saying that the village was in difficult times, that it cherished peace, and that it did not want its own ninja to die.

But how should one put it? Explanations given afterward were far less impactful than witnessing it firsthand that day.

If not for the considerable prestige he had accumulated over his years in office, that incident would probably have gotten him cursed to hell and back.

Fortunately, after being left to cool down for a while, Konoha's people had gradually begun to forget about that incident.

After all, people were forgetful.

Konoha, the underground laboratory beneath Aoba's home.

Aoba spat out a burst of flame, burning the writhing, proliferating mass before him—half flesh and blood, half plant—to ashes.

"The seventy-ninth Hashirama Cell fusion experiment has failed."

Yumi recorded the result at his side.

"Are you really going to transplant that thing into your own body? It looks so dangerous."

Aoba's previous project had involved fusing his own cells with Hashirama's cells. But without question, his cells would be instantly consumed. Then the remaining cells would begin proliferating madly.

He had tried all kinds of methods to assist the fusion. But in the end, the results had all been much the same.

"It seems that relying on biological methods alone to achieve this fusion is basically impossible."

"But you used Chakra as an aid too. That failed as well."

In fact, Aoba had not merely used Chakra as an aid. He had used Yang Release Chakra as a balancing agent.

His original thought had been that, since Hashirama possessed a natural Sage Body, he should have been compatible with Yang Release Chakra. Perhaps Yang Release Chakra would have an effect. Yet after injecting Yang Release Chakra, Hashirama Cells became even more active, directly turning into a half-flesh, half-plant monster.

Aoba did not possess Chakra of every nature.

However, in this world, lacking a certain nature did not actually mean one could not use ninjutsu of that nature.

With training, one could independently convert Chakra into a certain nature and thereby perform ninjutsu.

It was just that ninja were a high-agility profession. Converting Chakra first and casting a technique afterward basically made it useless in actual combat.

Thus, not possessing a certain nature did not mean one absolutely could not use Chakra of that nature. It merely meant one could not use that type of ninjutsu in battle.

Aoba did not possess Yang Release Chakra. But in the laboratory, he could still conduct similar experiments.

So far, he had tried stimulating the cells with Chakra of every nature. But none had achieved the desired effect.

Aoba felt somewhat helpless. Hashirama Cells were a cheat in this world. But who could use such a cheat still depended on luck, as well as the arrangements of certain people.

Just as Aoba was preparing to end the day's experiment, he suddenly thought of a new direction.

Besides Chakra, there was another type of energy he had not tried yet: Natural Energy.

"Prepare the eightieth experiment."

Yumi never objected to his decisions. She immediately began preparing. Though she was not a ninja, she had learned quite a bit of specialized knowledge from Aoba. She handled all kinds of preparations and support work with practiced ease.

Aoba drew a small amount of his own blood, then added Hashirama's cells once again.

This time, Aoba abandoned every biological neutralizing agent. Hashirama's cells were simply too dominant. Most biological neutralizing agents would become their nutrients.

So this time, Aoba directly injected Natural Energy and observed the results.

At first, Hashirama's cells still rapidly became active and began consuming Aoba's cells. But this time, Aoba's cells contained Natural Energy. Their consumption did not proceed so smoothly.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary cells would turn directly into stone upon coming into contact with Natural Energy. But Hashirama himself possessed a Sage Body. His cells could naturally adapt to Natural Energy. Therefore, the entire process was far gentler than in the previous experiments.

Unfortunately, this state did not last long. Once the Natural Energy was depleted, the previous mad proliferation appeared again.

After burning the specimen to ashes once more, Aoba was not discouraged. Instead, he felt somewhat excited. This experiment had finally produced something different.

Although Natural Energy had not helped him complete the experiment, it had clearly had an effect. Before White Zetsu was acquired, this was already the best experimental result possible.

After the experiment ended, Karin's shout came from upstairs.

"Mom! Mom! Where are you? I'm starving!"