Chapter 333: A Useful Tactic
"No change at all." Kenichi glanced behind him.
A squad of Hidden Sand shinobi was still entangled with the revived dead. The same shinobi who had been overflowing with killing intent just moments ago were now showing obvious discomfort when facing comrades who had long since been buried.
That discomfort showed itself most clearly in their hesitation.
When it came time to strike, they simply could not go all out and completely destroy those reanimated corpses. As a result, the speed at which they cleared them slowed significantly, and that delay bought Kenichi more than enough time to withdraw.
It was only natural.
People in the ninja world generally respected the dead, and Kenichi had specifically chosen the public cemetery of the Hidden Sand Village. Many of those buried there were likely people the Sand shinobi had known in life, so a reaction like this was inevitable.
Still, this was not what Kenichi most wanted to see.
What he wanted to see even more was the fact that those corpses had actually risen. Even if such an operation slightly replenished the Hidden Sand Village's strength, it did not matter.
Because if he could truly master a resurrection ninjutsu on that scale, and do it without paying any price, then in an instant he would become a godlike existence in the ninja world, someone standing on the same level as the Sage of Six Paths.
Even the Sage of Six Paths could not casually revive the dead without any cost. Although Yin Yang Release was as absurdly powerful as a cheat code, there was currently no evidence that the Sage himself could accomplish something like this without paying a price.
And beyond that, such a resurrection ninjutsu would also make Kenichi the single most influential person in this world.
After all, even someone as vile as Black Zetsu still had attachments and things he cared about. Obito had been willing to kill his own teacher and indirectly cause the death of his teacher's wife just to create a world where Rin still existed.
So would other people not have regrets?
Nagato certainly did. His regret was Yahiko.
Although Kenichi still felt that part of the original plot was a little difficult to understand. For example, when Nagato was finally moved by Naruto's Talk no Jutsu and prepared to use Rinne Rebirth, he revived everyone in Konoha but strangely did not revive Yahiko.
Of course, details like that were not especially important right now.
"I thought sacrificing a few small animal souls might improve the technique a little, but it seems it was completely useless." Kenichi sighed.
It seemed using other animal souls as a substitute for human ones was not a workable path.
So what if he used human souls instead?
After all, strictly speaking, Kenichi felt there was indeed a difference between human souls and animal souls. At the very least, human souls in the Pure Land retained their original appearances, and they even seemed capable of freely changing their apparent age and form.
Kenichi fell into thought.
By now, he and Sasori had already left the Hidden Sand Village behind. The two of them were heading back toward the place where Chiyo had pursued them earlier. Deidara and Hikari were still waiting there.
And while running, Kenichi had been thinking about something else as well.
If other people's souls could truly be used as sacrifices, then could he also retrieve the specific souls he needed in the process?
That seemed possible, at least in theory.
But then another question came to mind.
Had the people who invented resurrection ninjutsu never considered this before?
Chiyo's technique was more limited, so perhaps she had never reached that point. But what about Madara? What about Tobirama?
Those two were geniuses of an entirely different class. There was no way they had not thought about something this basic.
"No, Rinne Rebirth may be restricted by the Rinnegan itself, which makes that kind of sacrifice impossible. And as for Edo Tensei, when the Second Hokage created it, he seemed to have designed it more as a human self propelled explosive than a true resurrection technique." Kenichi scratched his head.
Rinne Rebirth was powerful, but it was fundamentally tied to the Rinnegan. Someone without the Rinnegan could not use it, which was why Obito had been needed as an intermediary. And when Obito did use it, Black Zetsu seized control of him and redirected the technique toward Madara, reviving Madara instead.
After that, Obito had only remained barely alive for a short while. Even if his death was delayed, it had only been a matter of time.
As for the Edo Tensei created by Tobirama, it had never originally been intended as a way to bring people back for their own sake. It had been designed to use the dead as endlessly reusable explosive tools, a way to reduce the loss of living manpower in war. Its current form was something Orochimaru had later pushed much farther.
Then Kabuto had improved and spread it again, laying an excellent foundation for cremation culture throughout the ninja world.
So in truth, neither Madara nor Tobirama, despite being such exceptional shinobi, seemed to have explored this direction. It was much like the ninja world's entire tech tree. So advanced in some bizarre ways, yet no one had ever thought to make something as simple as a hot air balloon until he did.
"Then maybe I really can try it," Kenichi muttered. "And according to Mr. Amado's research, clones themselves also possess souls. If that's true…"
He paused.
A very particular image appeared in his mind.
In the Pure Land, the Sage of Six Paths sat surrounded by endless rows of identical faces, while all the other souls had already left, leaving behind only a handful who could not truly be brought back.
The Sage would probably be furious.
Still, Kenichi remained unsure whether that old man could actually interfere with the living world. The Sage of Six Paths had always felt like a strange existence to him, and his actions were hard to read.
"Sasori, Chiyo is your grandmother, right?" Kenichi suddenly asked, glancing at the red haired boy beside him.
These questions could wait until they got back to the lab. The urgent matter right now was still One's Own Life Reincarnation.
After all, all of his ideas were still only hypotheses. Whether any of them would actually work was completely uncertain. And Amado's talent was too valuable. Getting him to work wholeheartedly for him would naturally be best.
"Yes," Sasori said quietly.
He had already removed his mask. There was something pained in his eyes, the look of someone who had been through far too much. Kenichi saw that expression and immediately became unsure how to continue.
He knew something of Sasori's past, but understanding it in a superficial way did not mean he could truly empathize with it. That also meant he had no right to casually tell Sasori to let go.
"If that's the case, then I'll have to think of another method." Kenichi scratched his head.
At that moment, Hikari and Deidara emerged from where they had been hiding and waved happily at them.
Kenichi shook his head.
Forget it. Better to eat first, then think about how to get Chiyo's One's Own Life Reincarnation.
And not long after that, Kenichi suddenly came up with a far simpler solution.
"Yeah, I really was stupid." He slapped his palm lightly. "One's Own Life Reincarnation is listed by the Hidden Sand Village as a forbidden jutsu. If it can be classified as a forbidden jutsu, then that means the village itself must have a record of it. Otherwise, how could they have listed it at all?"
The instant that thought occurred to him, his entire mood improved.
A forbidden technique, by definition, had to exist somewhere within the village's records. Konoha's own Forbidden Scroll contained all sorts of powerful jutsu, and Edo Tensei was one of them.
So why would One's Own Life Reincarnation be any different?
Why did he need to go to Chiyo at all?
Would it not be much simpler to find a way to infiltrate the Kazekage's building in the Hidden Sand Village and steal the record of the jutsu directly?
The more he thought about it, the better it sounded.
And the realization energized him so much that even the speed at which he swam through the sand increased.
"Why is Senior Amamiya swimming in the sand?" Deidara asked curiously while washing dishes nearby.
Beside him, Hikari was tinkering with some strange little object of her own.
"Brother said he's exercising," Hikari replied casually without even looking up. "He seems to be training some taijutsu."
"Taijutsu?" Deidara looked over with admiration. "Senior Amamiya is already that strong, and he's still training. He really is an outstanding person. Hmm."
From Deidara's point of view, he would already be satisfied if he could one day reach even part of Kenichi's artistic level.
And yet Kenichi was still unsatisfied, still searching for ways to become stronger.
That, in Deidara's eyes, only made him seem even more incredible.
On another sand dune nearby, Sasori sat silently in the sand and looked toward the horizon.
That direction led to the Hidden Sand Village.
A place that contained both his pain and his joy.
A place he now avoided almost instinctively.
His gaze was distant, as if he were looking not at the present, but at memories far away.
"Well, that should be enough. I should be able to come out and start preparing now." Kenichi climbed out of the sand with a grunt.
For ordinary people, swimming through desert sand was impossible. But shinobi were not ordinary people. With chakra reinforcing the body, even something absurd like this was still manageable for him, if somewhat tiring.
He planned to infiltrate the Hidden Sand Village as soon as possible and retrieve what he needed. But after the attack he had just launched, the village's alertness would absolutely be at its highest. Slipping in directly would be difficult.
Fortunately, he had already come up with a solution.
"Deidara, didn't Mr. Amado build a new kind of bomb for you earlier?" Kenichi asked with a smile.
His plan this time would require Deidara's help.
A feint.
Simple, but extremely practical.
"Hmm, Senior Amamiya, Mr. Amado made this for me." Deidara awkwardly took something out. "It's very useful, but the only problem is that I still haven't figured out the most powerful way to detonate it yet."
Kenichi took it and looked at it.
Then he froze.
Good heavens.
A tiny four wheeled car.
No, more accurately, it looked like one of those remote controlled self destruct cars from a war game.
"Mr. Amado really is imaginative," Kenichi said, raising an eyebrow.
"So what's the maximum detonation range on this thing?"
If the range was too short, then Deidara himself would be placed in danger.
"Hmm, I tested it already," Deidara said, scratching his head. "At most, it can be detonated from about seven hundred meters away."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
Seven hundred meters.
Near Konoha, that might have been fine. There were forests, terrain, and plenty of places to hide. But around the Hidden Sand Village, there was almost nothing but sand. Even with camouflage, staying hidden there would require quite a lot of luck.
"Kenichi, do you need help?" Sasori asked as he walked over, his expression much calmer than before.
"It would definitely help if you're willing," Kenichi said. "But are you really sure you're alright?"
"I also want to settle some old matters," Sasori replied seriously after taking a deep breath.
Kenichi nodded.
With Sasori's help, things would definitely be much easier.
Which meant the only remaining issue was...
He looked toward Hikari, who was curiously chatting with Deidara. Then she crouched down and poked the tiny self destruct car.
Kenichi instantly understood the expression on Deidara's face.
That was not curiosity.
That was terror.
But before Kenichi could rush forward, the miniature car exploded with a loud boom.
The sand dune was instantly blown open into a crater, and a number of glassy crystal fragments were left gleaming in the sand.
Kenichi stared at it all, his mouth twitching.
Well.
It seemed Hikari truly was not suitable for working together with Deidara after all.
.....
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