Chapter 342: Only a Step Between a Madman and a Genius
"Mr. Amado... are you planning to...?" Kenichi asked, uncertainty flickering across his face.
The idea was simply too insane. Even he was not sure he would dare do something like that himself.
So he truly could not tell whether Amado was thinking along the same line.
"As you know, my young friend Amamiya, people in our field obtain the most accurate conclusions when we experience certain things for ourselves," Amado said calmly.
Yet his eyes shone with an unusual light.
Kenichi fell silent.
He understood now, more or less, what Amado meant, and that realization filled his gaze with a trace of admiration.
After all, anyone capable of making that kind of decision was either a genius or a madman.
And there is often only a single step between a genius and a madman.
Many geniuses are only called madmen because they failed. The ones who succeed are hailed as geniuses. The ones who do not are all dismissed as lunatics.
Kenichi did not know which category the man before him belonged to.
But in his heart, he leaned toward the former.
Amado was a genius.
A mad, fearless genius.
"Mr. Amado, are you planning to go to the Pure Land yourself?" Kenichi asked as he looked at him thoughtfully.
Even though he had already guessed the answer, he still wanted to hear it confirmed aloud. The idea was simply too unbelievable.
Going to the Pure Land was not like traveling overseas. It was not even like traveling into outer space.
Traveling abroad only required money and a visa.
Traveling into space only required even more money.
But going to the Pure Land...
It had to be said, it was an incredibly cheap travel project.
The only problem was that it usually came with a one way ticket.
"Yes," Amado replied without hesitation. "I intend to personally cast the technique and revive my daughter, Akebi. After the revival succeeds, I will go to the Pure Land myself."
He paused, then continued in a level tone.
"After that, I will have to trouble you, my young friend Amamiya. Use Edo Tensei on me. I want to research why it fails."
Kenichi licked his lips.
He had thought before that Amado was the same kind of person as himself and Orochimaru, someone willing to devote a great deal to science.
But now he realized Amado was even crazier than he had imagined.
The man was planning to learn One's Own Life Reincarnation, revive his daughter with it, then use the opportunity to personally descend into the Pure Land and uncover its secrets, and afterward have Kenichi bring him back with Edo Tensei.
It was madness.
And yet, it was also courage in its purest form.
If it were Kenichi, he knew he would not dare.
After all, death was still death. Unless he were absolutely certain he could be revived, he would never willingly place himself in that kind of danger.
What if the one he trusted changed his mind?
What if that person died before bringing him back?
What if something unforeseen happened in the Pure Land itself?
There were simply too many risks.
"I understand," Kenichi said at last. "But when do you want me to use Edo Tensei on you?"
The way he addressed Amado had already changed without him realizing it.
This old man truly deserved that respect.
"Immediately," Amado answered after a moment of thought. "As soon as I die, summon me back. Then release the technique. Seven days later, use Edo Tensei on me again. I want to compare the difference."
Kenichi did not object.
If it happened immediately, Amado would be able to clearly feel the moment his soul returned to the Pure Land. Then, after seven days, he could gain a deeper understanding of what the Pure Land was like.
"I will absolutely help you complete this research, Mr. Amado," Kenichi said, his voice firm.
He was already starting to feel excited.
There was almost no proper research on the Pure Land anywhere in the Ninja World. Most of what existed was tied to Edo Tensei and nothing more.
He and Orochimaru were both the sort who constantly walked the edge between life and death, but even they had never truly crossed that line.
Amado, however, was about to push the door open himself and peer directly into the secrets beyond.
"Perhaps the Pure Land really does affect the soul in some way..." Kenichi murmured, rubbing his chin. "After my teacher was revived, he changed in some ways. But that alone proves nothing, since Madara also changed after coming back."
"That is fine," Amado said simply. "I still have a few living sacrifices left."
He sounded so decisive that Kenichi could only stare for a second before nodding.
Apparently, the man intended to begin right now.
Soon, a living sacrifice was brought into the room.
Its eyes were vacant and lifeless. A line of drool hung from the corner of its mouth as it followed Amado around like a puppet.
Kenichi gave it an extra look.
"This is a new anesthetic I developed," Amado explained when he noticed Kenichi's curiosity. "It strips the subject of will, but leaves basic motor functions intact."
At the moment, Amado was already reviewing the details of One's Own Life Reincarnation in his mind, preparing for what came next.
"An excellent piece of research," Kenichi said sincerely.
Amado really was a treasure vault. Every time Kenichi learned something new about him, he discovered yet another hidden weapon in the man's arsenal.
Originally, Kenichi had planned to return to the Land of Snow as soon as possible, finish mastering Wood Release, and then begin researching how to accelerate crop growth.
If that succeeded, it would be a truly shocking breakthrough.
But with Amado so eager to begin this experiment immediately, there was no way Kenichi would refuse. He also wanted every scrap of data that could be gathered from One's Own Life Reincarnation and from the Pure Land itself.
Before long, Akebi was called back as well.
She walked in quietly.
Hikari came with her too, waving happily the moment she saw Kenichi.
He glanced over and froze for a second.
Hikari's hair had been styled into twin tails, and she was wearing clothes he had not seen before. Most likely, Akebi had picked them out for her.
The result was unexpectedly adorable.
"Hikari, could you wait in Akebi neechan's room for a while?" Kenichi said with a smile as he ruffled her hair.
The experiment was about to begin, and he had no intention of letting Hikari watch.
"Okay," Hikari answered immediately.
She did not ask questions, did not pout, and did not cling to him.
Watching her leave so obediently, Kenichi could not help scratching his head. This girl's personality really was likable. It was much better than the kind who would cross their arms and say they would not listen no matter what.
"Then I'll trouble you," Amado said.
He had already laid Akebi down on the sofa.
Akebi did so naturally, without the slightest resistance. By now, she had gone through more than enough experiments at her father's hands to be used to this kind of thing.
So she had no idea what was about to happen.
"Mm," Kenichi replied.
He picked up a glass dish nearby. Resting inside it was a tiny bit of flesh and blood, a piece of skin Amado had just cut from his own finger.
That would serve as material for Edo Tensei later.
Kenichi also finished his preparations. Once everything was ready, he created a Shadow Clone and had it begin recording the experiment.
This was an invaluable experiment. Every detail had to be documented. Anything less would be disrespectful to Amado.
[Today is a special day. Humanity, living humanity, has finally begun direct research into the Pure Land. Regardless of the final outcome, this experiment is destined to be epoch making.]
Amado brought his hands together in a seal.
A ball of light appeared between his palms.
It radiated a strange warmth, and just looking at it made one feel as if they were standing in sunlight.
Almost immediately, sweat began pouring down Amado's face.
[The activation of One's Own Life Reincarnation places an enormous burden on the user's vitality and chakra. Mr. Amado already appears too strained to speak normally.]
Kenichi watched closely.
In his eyes, Amado's aura visibly weakened.
Then the ball of light began to merge into Akebi's body.
Akebi had been conscious a moment ago, but as the light sank into her, her eyes slowly closed, and a peaceful expression appeared on her face, as if she had just sunk into a warm bath.
[One's Own Life Reincarnation does not seem to cause pain to the target. On the contrary, it appears to produce a strong sense of comfort.]
Kenichi recorded that too.
Then Amado finally spoke, his voice drained and shaky.
"So tired... It feels like I've been doing experiments for half a month without sleep..."
Kenichi's Shadow Clone wrote it down immediately.
"My body feels heavy," Amado continued. "My heart is beating very fast. I can barely hear anything outside now... all I can hear is my own heartbeat..."
The intervals between his words were growing longer. His voice was sinking deeper and deeper into exhaustion.
Kenichi stepped forward and quickly performed a basic examination.
The numbers made his expression change.
Amado's heart rate had climbed to five hundred beats per minute.
That number was absurd.
Any doctor who saw it would probably scream.
At the same time, Amado's body temperature had begun to drop.
"I..."
The light in his hands vanished.
Then he collapsed.
His heartbeat flatlined instantly.
All signs of life disappeared.
[At the twenty third second after One's Own Life Reincarnation began, Mr. Amado was confirmed dead. Cardiac arrest. Biological death.]
Kenichi recorded the result without delay.
Almost the same instant Amado died, Kenichi completed the final step of Edo Tensei.
The living sacrifice's face immediately shifted and twisted until it became Amado's.
Cracks spread over the skin, but its eyes did not open right away.
Kenichi did not waste time on him.
Instead, he rushed straight to Akebi and attached a body monitor to her.
Changes were already happening.
Her breathing was growing steady. Her heartbeat had normalized. When Kenichi pressed a hand to her forehead, he found that her body temperature was rising fast.
The dead coldness that had clung to her before was gone.
[The One's Own Life Reincarnation experiment has succeeded. Akebi appears to have been genuinely revived.]
[The Edo Tensei residue on her body is beginning to peel away, exposing natural skin beneath.]
Kenichi's eyes lit up.
This was the first time One's Own Life Reincarnation had ever been used in conjunction with Edo Tensei.
Its scientific value was immeasurable.
Just as he had guessed, One's Own Life Reincarnation could produce an effect similar to Rinne Rebirth and forcibly break an Edo Tensei subject free from the technique, restoring them directly to life.
But that also created an entirely new question.
What about the body of the original living sacrifice?
Did Akebi's present body contain part of that sacrifice?
Had her genetic information been affected?
Or had the body been reconstructed outright through One's Own Life Reincarnation?
Did that mean the sacrifice's body had been rewritten on the spot into Akebi's genetic structure?
And if so, did that prove the soul held such overwhelming authority over the body?
In an instant, a flood of new questions erupted in Kenichi's mind.
"I..."
At last, Amado opened his eyes as well.
He had returned to the world of the living again, at least temporarily, and the first thing he saw was Kenichi's Shadow Clone standing beside him.
"Your Edo Tensei revival was delayed by roughly one minute," the clone said politely. "Did something happen, Mr. Amado?"
It had been timing everything from the start, and that delay was real.
It was not normal.
Normally, Edo Tensei did involve a slight delay between activation and the subject fully returning. The same thing had happened when Orochimaru summoned the First and Second Hokage during the Konoha Crush.
But that had not been a full minute.
"I... don't know how to describe it," Amado said, his brows tightly drawn together.
He still looked deeply uncomfortable.
"It felt as if I had suddenly been thrown into an extremely harsh environment," he said slowly. "The air there... was suffocating."
.....
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