Tsunade's hemophobia was only temporarily suppressed by her willpower; upon seeing blood, her limbs would still weaken, and the tragic scenes from the past would flash before her eyes.
However, to save Jiraiya, Tsunade overcame all of this. If this continued, Ling was quite worried that Tsunade might develop the Living Reincarnation Technique even before Chiyo.
Hiruzen Sarutobi allowed Tsunade to conduct these inhumane experiments, as they only sacrificed some bandits and prisoners of war.
Hiruzen Sarutobi only planned to give Tsunade three months, because the truce signed by the Four Great Shinobi Villages was only for three months, and it was even possible that war would break out in less than three months.
The Amegakure could not be without Konoha Ninja, and they had to appear frequently to be discovered by teams from the various Great Shinobi Villages. Therefore, Minato Namikaze, along with a few elite Jonin, wandered around the Land of Rain.
There was also the intention of seeking revenge on Yahiko, but unfortunately, Minato and the other Great Shinobi Villages searched the Land of Rain thoroughly and still did not find Yahiko.
After two months of searching, the various Great Shinobi Villages were becoming increasingly impatient. Just then, rumors spread that Konoha had long since obtained the Rinnegan and was merely stalling for time to adapt to its power.
Once they completely mastered the Rinnegan, it would be time to destroy the other Shinobi Villages. Initially, this information was naturally not taken seriously by the Great Shinobi Villages.
However, as Yahiko's body was never found, suspicion naturally grew. Only Minato suspected that Yahiko might have left the Land of Rain.
In two months, Ling completed the Bloodline Limit transformation of Scorch Release, but the fusion of Ice Release Chakra proved to be quite difficult.
Scorch Release was too dangerous and required precise control, making it much more troublesome than Wood Release and Magnet Release, which is why it took more time.
There was still no progress on the Light-Weight Rock Technique. It was simply too difficult to elevate a single Ninjutsu to that level; it required a flash of inspiration or perfect timing and conditions.
However, in the case of Edo Tensei, a method for enhanced control was developed at the cost of sacrificing the reincarnated person's strength. Now, Old Ghost Tobirama would have no choice but to work for him obediently.
Ling's method was to find a Ninja Academy Student-level Ninja, inject them with White Zetsu Cells, and then use the White Zetsu Cells to construct a control technique.
This way, as long as Ling issued a command, the Edo Tensei user would do their best to complete it, although their physical consciousness would still be retained.
Moreover, Ling could monitor the thoughts of individual Edo Tensei users and see their vision, and could strengthen control at any time to leave them with only instinct, and even control the Edo Tensei user's body herself.
Now, everything was ready, only lacking a lucky sacrifice. This was too simple; whether in the Land of Fire or the Land of Rice Fields.
There were countless bandits with heinous crimes and a little Chakra, so Ling planned to come out of seclusion. If she didn't, Hiruzen Sarutobi would come looking for her.
She took one last look at the Hashirama cells tissue, which was about her size, and sighed, realizing that careful cultivation indeed accelerated progress.
When Ling appeared in her home, Pakura noticed Uchiha Rei's return. Although she was puzzled by Uchiha Rei's frequent hurried appearances and disappearances during this time, she still did not ask.
"You should go wash up. Lunch will be ready soon."
Pakura looked at Uchiha Rei, whose hair was a mess, making her seem a bit disheveled, and pointed to the mirror nearby, reminding Uchiha Rei to pay attention to her appearance.
Ling didn't care at all. She had only not combed her hair for two months; she still frequently washed herself with Water Release's Bathing Technique.
Seeing Ling's unconcerned look, Pakura couldn't stand it anymore. She picked up a wooden comb from the dressing table, pressed Ling to the ground, and began to comb her hair.
Fortunately, although Ling hadn't combed her hair, her good hair quality meant there were no split ends, and it was easily combed out, though the ends were still a bit frizzy.
Pakura smoothed down the unruly strands on Uchiha Rei's head, then picked up a red hair tie and tied up the ends, which finally removed the messy feeling.
"Your hair is almost covering your calves. Doesn't that affect your fighting?"
Pakura got up to bring the food from the kitchen, but her words made Ling realize that her scalp did feel a bit tight.
However, that was a minor issue. With the activation of the Wild Lion's Mane Technique, her hair began to contract, quickly stopping just above her waist.
Actually, Ling wanted to try short hair, but Uchiha Naori suppressed that idea, mainly because as a traditionalist, she had never seen a short-haired Uchiha woman.
Looking at Pakura's extremely virtuous demeanor and the exquisite dishes she prepared, Ling almost didn't want to send Pakura back to Hidden Sand Village.
Although her cooking skills were not bad, the Shadow Clone's service attitude was terrible, often taunting her, which greatly affected the dining experience.
"Currently, only Hidden Cloud Village has no prisoners. If you go to the Kumogakure battlefield, you might be able to quell this war."
Pakura didn't say she wanted to return to Sunagakure; she only shared her insights. However, Ling was well aware of her thoughts; she was always in Cao's camp but her heart was with Han.
"Is that so? What do you think is the cause, or rather, the fundamental cause of war?"
Ling asked while rapidly devouring the food in front of her.
Pakura thought for a moment, "Because the Land of Fire has fertile land and abundant resources, while the other Shinobi Villages are too poor."
As a high-ranking member of Hidden Sand Village, Pakura, though lacking political wisdom, had still absorbed enough to understand some of the real problems.
"Yes and no. Firstly, as you said, the productivity gap among the Five Great Nations is too wide. The Four Great Nations cannot support so many people and must plunder, also to consume more of the population."
Ling casually pointed out the problems existing in the Four Great Nations. The extraordinary profession of Ninja required countless amounts of food, medicine, and other resources.
And cultivating so many Ninja required vast resources. The resources of the various nations were limited, and the number of Ninja was increasing, so it was necessary to consume some resource-wasting Ninja and also to seize some resources.
"Secondly, some high-ranking officials need war to consolidate their positions, eliminate dissidents, and cultivate their own power. All of this requires war to achieve."
Rasa was a very typical example, but his method of eliminating dissidents was too crude.
Pakura was somewhat choked up; she clearly understood that her own situation had this very reason. Was Rasa ostracizing her? She was very certain of it.
"Then will war never cease, and peace never come?"
It was strange; many strong individuals in the Ninja World with their own thoughts longed for peace, but war often did not change due to individual will.
"There is a way to make peace the main theme and war merely an embellishment."
Ling did not directly mention the matter of unification; it was not yet time. She had to wait; this required patience and thorough preparation.
"What way?"
"I can't tell you now. You just need to try your best to survive; you will see that day."
If she were to talk about unification now, it would mean facing the entire world as enemies: the Four Great Shinobi Villages, the various Daimyo, and some Ōtsutsuki old relics.
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