Chapter 436: Gathering Intelligence Still Requires Radar
Research into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan had entered a stagnant period, and Amamiya Kenichi had no particularly good solution for it.
After all, even with Mr. Amado's cloning technology, it still required enough time before any results could be seen.
"Come back here in about two months," Kenichi muttered as he looked at the now quiet laboratory.
He had borrowed this laboratory from Amado for a period of time.
Fortunately, Amado rarely used the cloning facilities anymore, so Kenichi using these labs could be considered putting them back to work.
Moreover, ever since Amado's daughter had been revived, he did not seem to have made any new research progress in cloning.
"The problem to study then will be whether the rapidly grown cloned eyeballs will be affected after fusion. If they are affected..."
Kenichi glanced at the laboratory.
Several sealed jars were placed there, containing the clones he had produced this time.
Among them, one was special.
That clone would grow normally.
It was a precaution Kenichi had prepared just in case.
Scientific experiments were like this. Some research projects required an extremely long time, often measured in years or even decades. If something went wrong during that period, all the effort poured into the project would be wasted.
That was one of the more torturous aspects of scientific research.
Cloning technology was still relatively tolerable. If it were bacterial or fungal cultivation, even subtle changes in air humidity could cause all previous effort to go down the drain.
For now, Kenichi could only temporarily leave this place.
Amado's nutrient tanks were enough to support the clones' nutritional needs for a month. When replenishment was needed, he could arrange it then.
"Lord Amamiya."
Uchiha Shiori hurried over.
Kenichi glanced at her.
He remembered that he had entrusted Shiori with relaying Yakushi Kabuto's intelligence and handling Rin Nohara's matters.
Kabuto's intelligence was usually one-way, since he often traveled around the ninja world. Whenever he went somewhere else, he needed to report his location first before Shiori could deliver anything to him.
So Shiori appearing now was most likely because of Rin.
"Is it Rin Nohara?" Kenichi narrowed his eyes.
Shiori nodded.
Kenichi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The fish had taken the bait.
"All right. I'll head over in a bit." Kenichi stretched.
Now that the fish had taken the bait, what came next required more meticulous work and preparation.
Only then could Rin deeply believe the lie he intended to weave for her.
Kenichi specifically went to the laboratory where Rin had been revived, changed his clothes, and then wearily pushed open the door.
The moment he opened it, he saw Rin.
She was wearing casual clothes and standing not far from the laboratory entrance, looking uneasy.
It was clear that Rin was very nervous.
At that moment, Rin also noticed Kenichi.
The instant she saw him, she was startled. Then a hint of panic appeared in her eyes. In the next second, she seemed as if she intended to slip back into the laboratory.
"Amamiya... Sir."
Rin's first call was loud and urgent, but then she seemed to hesitate over what title she should use for the person in front of her.
In the end, her voice quickly softened, and she timidly called him "Sir."
"I..." Kenichi's expression was somewhat hesitant.
That hesitation instead made Rin a little bolder.
Yes.
The person in front of her had this kind of personality.
Someone who was not good at expressing himself.
"Mr. Amamiya, may I talk to you?" Rin asked tentatively.
At the same time, she quickly walked over and cleverly blocked the space between Kenichi and the laboratory.
The news and stories she had learned during this time had given Rin a deeper impression of this person.
Even so, she still wanted to ask him herself.
She had many, many questions.
"...All right."
Kenichi's gaze was complicated.
The afternoon sun was covered by clouds.
Rin walked beside Kenichi with her hands behind her back.
They were in the garden. Kenichi, who had initially seemed somewhat uneasy, now appeared a little calmer.
However, his gaze would occasionally fall on her.
Whenever he noticed that she was looking back at him, he would awkwardly turn his head and rub his nose.
"Mr. Amamiya, do you... do you know me?" Rin could not help asking the biggest question in her heart.
She remembered never having met Kenichi.
But the experiment logs and the information she had heard were all very strange.
"I... I once saw you at the hospital, when you were treating the injured. Your smile was beautiful, and your Medical Ninjutsu was excellent," Kenichi said, like a shy young man recounting the beginning of pure feelings.
His slightly reddened face and ears showed Rin the nervousness and shyness of their owner.
Rin nodded in sudden understanding.
As expected, she still could not remember.
But she had indeed been a Medical Ninja, and she had indeed helped some ninja before.
Perhaps it had been then?
She had still been young at the time and could only assist from the side, but she had never expected to be noticed by the young man in front of her.
Watching Rin fall into thought, Kenichi turned his head and looked into the distance with an embarrassed expression.
The most troublesome part had begun.
Kenichi himself was not absolutely confident that he could make Rin stop doubting him or develop feelings for him.
But what he could do was try to guide her in that direction.
It was troublesome.
But also interesting.
"Mr. Amamiya."
Rin silently led Kenichi around the garden several times.
It was clear that she was conflicted.
Kenichi did not rush her.
Along the way, she had asked all kinds of questions, and Kenichi had answered them all.
Now, she finally stopped.
"Wha... what's wrong?" Kenichi did not know what Rin was thinking, but he tried to maintain his emotional stability.
"I... I'm very grateful that you revived me, but I... I don't know... how to..."
Rin spoke with some hesitation, her mind in turmoil.
Although she knew that Kenichi truly liked her, perhaps even loved her deeply, her emotions were too complicated right now.
She did not know how to face Kenichi's feelings.
Just then, before Rin could finish speaking, a warm embrace enveloped her.
Rin stiffened.
Instinctively, she reached out, intending to push the man holding her away.
"I know."
But that steady voice, faintly carrying a trace of tears, made Rin's hand pause.
"Now... now, this is good enough."
Kenichi held her a little tighter.
Rin could hear the man's heartbeat.
It was beating fast.
Restless and unsettled.
Before Rin could think any further, Kenichi let go of her, then turned and quickly left the garden.
His departing figure looked somewhat unsteady.
Rin stood there in a daze, watching him leave, lost in thought.
"So troublesome."
Kenichi returned to the laboratory and rubbed his face.
Although he did not have much dating experience in his previous life, he tried to apply some scenes he had seen in anime to Rin.
He had almost said, "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"
Kenichi did not know what the outcome would be.
After all, he had done everything he could.
The human heart, unless controlled by a parasite, was very difficult to completely manipulate.
Kenichi also had no intention of truly emotionally manipulating Rin.
Although Obito's fall into darkness was related to Rin, it was essentially Uchiha Madara's scheme. Blaming everything on one girl would be wrong.
So Kenichi only intended to guide Rin and let her confess to him at the right time and place.
That would strike Obito and make him reveal more weaknesses in his rage.
"Eh? But if that's the case, couldn't I just use a parasite?" Kenichi suddenly noticed a crucial point.
"No. If I use a parasite and Obito notices something unusual, it won't be as satisfying."
Kenichi shook his head.
Wasn't he spending all this time and effort precisely to drive Obito completely mad?
The ninja world had reached its current state partly because of Obito, but an even larger part was because of Uchiha Madara.
However, some of Obito's actions and behavior during this process were truly incomprehensible.
"I wonder what Konoha is planning. But there doesn't seem to be any special intelligence coming through right now. I also wonder what the other villages are thinking."
Kenichi gazed into the distance, feeling a little nervous.
It was the tension of facing an unknown situation.
The atmosphere in the ninja world was very strange.
Logically speaking, since he had annihilated their allied forces, those villages should have shown some reaction.
Whether posturing openly or secretly forming alliances, at the very least, they should have done something.
But now, the ninja world seemed calm, as if that event had never happened.
The more things were like this, the more uneasy Kenichi became.
In the end, it was because his foundation was too weak.
If he could acquire Kirigakure's intelligence network, perhaps he would not be as clueless as a headless fly right now.
"I did have Kabuto set up an intelligence network and combined it with some ninja from Kirigakure and the Land of Snow, but expanding it quickly is still too difficult..."
Kenichi was somewhat troubled.
If only he had a satellite.
The existence of a satellite would allow him to quickly grasp large-scale military movements in the ninja world.
But a satellite, which had seemed simple enough in his previous life, was hellishly difficult in the ninja world.
Unless Kenichi could complete the system's side quests and obtain the book on manufacturing satellites, crafting one by hand would be extremely difficult.
"Eh? Wait. While creating a satellite from a technological perspective is very difficult, what if I approach it from a Ninjutsu angle? Could I research something?"
Kenichi became a little interested.
But then he thought of another problem.
To create a Ninjutsu capable of achieving a satellite's effect, it first had to have the ability to ascend and fly, overcome the planet's gravity, and also possess the ability to take pictures or share vision.
Combining all of those would be hellishly difficult.
"Can I simplify it?"
Kenichi took out a few sheets of paper.
His requirements for this satellite were not very high. It only needed to gather enough information.
If airships were not yet widespread in the ninja world, then perhaps he could send a Shadow Clone up in an airship and quickly fly around the ninja world to gather intelligence.
"Wait. That doesn't seem impossible..."
Kenichi looked at the ideas he had casually written down, and a bold thought struck him.
It was well known that a Shadow Clone could transmit memories and other information back to the original body when dispelled.
Although a Shadow Clone appeared to be a living person, it was essentially an energy body composed of chakra.
This meant that Shadow Clones did not have some of the traditional survival needs of normal humans, such as breathing, eating, or sleeping.
So, if he created a stone capable of flying rapidly at high altitude, then sent a Shadow Clone up with it and used the Mangekyō Sharingan to observe information on the ground, could it achieve a satellite-like effect?
There would definitely be some issues.
For example, whether the ground could be seen clearly, and whether it would be discovered by other ninja villages.
But undeniably, it had a certain degree of feasibility.
A Shadow Clone could perfectly serve as a camera.
With the enhancement of the Mangekyō, it would even be a high-definition camera.
Even if it was too far from the ground and the objects appeared very small, large-scale personnel movements, such as ninja gatherings, would still be easy to discover.
"In that case, I just need to create a Ninjutsu. A Ninjutsu that can make a stone fly at high speed."
Kenichi spun the pen rapidly in his hand as he continued conceptualizing this idea.
High-speed flight was not difficult.
Making a stone fly was also not difficult.
There were Ninjutsu in the ninja world capable of achieving such things.
But making a stone orbit the ninja world at high altitude and high speed, while maintaining that state for a period of time, was extremely difficult.
Moreover, the ninja world was vast.
Apart from the Land of Water, the other four great nations were not on the same longitude or latitude.
So this "radar" would also need the ability to turn.
"The control problem probably needs to be handed over to... a thruster? But wouldn't that just turn back into technology?"
Kenichi's eyes gradually lost focus.
Creating even a simplified version of a radar truly was not an easy task.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]