Lost New Friend

Reason and emotion alike rebelled against using such an evil technique, but his responsibility as Hokage forced him to consider every possibility.

"No. It's too far-fetched to think about that now, and too dangerous."

He immediately suppressed the somewhat premature thought.

"The foremost condition is absolute control.

"This technique is still incomplete, with enormous flaws and risks.

"And who could research it?

"Who could delve into such a dangerous field while still keeping a clear mind and the right purpose?"

His gaze drifted involuntarily toward the window, as though it could pierce the night and see the six-year-old child who had just lost his parents—Orochimaru, a child of extraordinary talent.

The future Orochimaru would undoubtedly be the most gifted person, and the one most likely to perfect this technique.

But he had also been the classic example in the original timeline of abusing it and straying down the wrong path.

What if... what if I could guide him successfully, directing his brilliance and curiosity about the essence of life toward a more positive, more restrained path?

What if I could lay a solid foundation of beliefs for him, making him understand the boundaries and responsibilities of power?

Then, at some distant point in the future, if Konoha truly faced a catastrophic threat on the level of Madara Uchiha...

A strictly controlled, pure-purpose, fully supervised "limited application research into Impure World Reincarnation" might... become a final, reluctant trump card?

The idea was dangerous, practically playing with fire.

But considering Madara Uchiha's existence, completely abandoning a method that might possess strategic deterrent value also seemed shortsighted.

"The key lies in people and systems."

Nangō Kumoi sorted through his thoughts, and his eyes sharpened once more.

"First, this technique absolutely cannot be allowed to fall into anyone's hands at this stage, especially not Senior Brother Danzo or anyone with malicious intentions.

"It must be classified as a top-secret seal beyond S-rank. Only the Hokage may know its complete storage location and method of opening.

"Second, Orochimaru's training and guidance must become one of the highest priorities. Not only must his abilities be cultivated, but also his values and sense of belonging to the village.

"This will be a long-term and arduous task.

"Finally, an extremely stringent system of oversight must be established for the research and application of taboo techniques like this.

"In theory, it would even require joint authorization and continuous monitoring by the Council of Elders, the Hokage, and a designated ethics committee.

"To ensure that any related research is conducted only under the most extreme, transparent conditions and for the purest purposes."

He reread the section on Impure World Reincarnation several times, engraving its dangers and his teacher's warnings deeply into his mind before carefully closing the scroll.

"For now, it isn't a weapon. It is a 'danger zone' requiring the highest level of vigilance."

Nangō Kumoi put it away and added extra seals.

"Let the future be dealt with in the future.

"At least during the early years of my term, its only fate will be to remain tightly locked away.

"And when the future truly requires us to assess whether it should be activated...

"I hope Konoha will already possess a sufficiently healthy environment, reliable executors, and unbreakable restraints to wield this double-edged sword, one that may harm its wielder even more than its target."

After properly storing the "Book of Seals," Nangō Kumoi let out a long breath.

Tonight's reading had given him a fuller understanding of power, while also showing him the shadows lurking farther ahead and the difficult choices to come.

Perhaps fighting an enemy like Madara Uchiha could not rely solely on building under the sunlight.

But he firmly believed that the stronger their construction beneath the sunlight became, the more confidence they would have when facing those difficult choices in the darkness, the fewer helpless compromises they would need to make, and the more likely they would be to find a path other than "fighting evil with evil."

He blew out the lamp and let moonlight spill into the study.

The road ahead was long. There was a homeland to build, abysses to guard against, and the "fire of genius" that needed careful nurturing and guidance—a fire that might illuminate the path ahead, or burn everything to ashes.

Just as Nangō Kumoi drifted into sleep amid Konoha's night, the scene was entirely different in a strange, fragmented pocket of time and space far from the Land of Fire, perhaps even beyond the conventional coordinates of the Ninja World.

There was no clear boundary between sky and earth here, only countless floating fragments of space like shards from a shattered mirror, reflecting dim, ghostly light from an unknown source.

The environment was terrifyingly silent, broken only by the occasional soundless ripple of space passing through view.

Upon a relatively stable pale-gray floating fragment, roughly the size of a room, a figure sat quietly in meditation.

He had a sleek blue body. His pointed ears trembled faintly, as though catching the slightest fluctuations in space. A nimble, long tail curled around his side, and the golden ring at its tip glowed somewhat dimly.

His head bore a simple yet exquisite helmet-like ornament, with a deep-blue gemstone set in front of his forehead, flickering along with his slow breaths.

It was Cassius, the comrade who had been separated from Ray and Gaia.

He slowly opened his eyes. His blue pupils held obvious exhaustion and pain that had not yet fully faded.

He lowered his gaze to his arms and body, where faint marks resembling energy burns remained. They were wounds left by passing through the temporal-spatial turbulence and fighting the Dark God of War Alliance.

"Cough..." He coughed lightly, drawing on the remnants of his innate power, which was utterly incompatible with the free-floating energy of this world, to slowly and steadily repair his injuries.

The process was far slower than it had been in his original world. He likewise could not directly absorb or use this world's fundamental energy—natural energy and chakra—and could only rely on his own core to recover slowly.

In the silence, his thoughts drifted afar.

"Blake... I wonder where you ended up, and whether you're safe."

He murmured to himself, his voice full of concern for that quiet but absolutely dependable comrade.

The Dark God of War Alliance's ambush and the eruption of temporal-spatial turbulence had both come too suddenly. They had been caught completely off guard, swept into it in haste, and utterly separated.

"I wonder how Ray and the others are doing?"

Thinking of his other three companions, a deeper worry flashed through Cassius's eyes.

In this utterly unfamiliar world, where the laws of energy were so different, being scattered meant enormous risk.

"I can't sense their energy fluctuations... either they're extremely far away, or..."

He forced himself to stop entertaining such thoughts.

"Or they're like me. Their energy has been severely depleted, forcing them into dormancy or concealment."

"I have to recover my strength first."

Cassius clenched his fist, feeling the power within him slowly gathering.

"Only after I recover enough strength can I leave this rift between spaces, truly enter this new world, investigate it, and search for them.

"Ray and the others... with their abilities, as long as they haven't fallen into a hopeless situation, they should be able to protect themselves.

"Blake excels at stealth and concealment. His chances of survival are not low either."