Chapter 585: Genjutsu and the Time Machine
Kenichi understood perfectly well that fully deciphering the time machine was never going to be something he could accomplish in a short period.
From the beginning, he had expected the research to become a long-term project.
What he had not expected was that even after all this time, Amado still had not achieved any major breakthroughs.
Kenichi looked at the time machine in front of him, then picked up the experimental log lying beside it and began reading.
Amado's records were extremely thorough.
Nearly every accessible part of the time machine had been examined and documented in detail.
There were still several unresolved problems, but Kenichi did not consider those particularly surprising.
Scientific research naturally required time.
And technology as advanced as a genuine time machine was obviously not something that could be completely understood after a few experiments.
As Kenichi continued reading, an idea gradually formed in his mind.
Perhaps they should focus first on the time machine's energy source.
What exactly powered it?
What kind of energy did it consume when traveling through time?
And what force actually drove the temporal transition?
If Kenichi could completely understand the machine's energy source and operating power, then he felt they would already be much closer to unraveling the entire device.
That thought gave him a little more confidence.
"Kenichi."
Amado looked toward him.
"I think there may still be room to improve your current approach."
"Would you like to try something?"
Kenichi looked at him curiously.
"What kind of improvement?"
Amado had gained several ideas during his recent research.
If those ideas proved correct, they might allow the two of them to study the time machine faster and more efficiently.
That possibility had kept Amado extremely motivated.
If he could truly understand technology at this level, Amado believed his knowledge of scientific ninjutsu would advance to an entirely new stage.
Unfortunately, the technology inside the time machine was so far beyond anything he understood that even now, Amado remained hesitant to dismantle its most important components.
Kenichi himself did not have much better insight.
To him, a time machine had once been nothing more than a theoretical concept.
Now he had a real one sitting in front of him.
Through the Rinnegan, Kenichi could see nearly every internal structure within the device.
He could even perceive a strange blue energy flowing through certain sections.
But what exactly was that blue energy?
His Rinnegan's analytical ability was progressing unusually slowly whenever he tried to examine it.
That made Kenichi wonder whether the Otsutsuki Clan had truly manufactured the time machine through conventional technology.
Perhaps it had been created through some entirely different method.
Maybe one of the so-called gods of the Otsutsuki Clan had personally created it.
After all, although the Otsutsuki were clearly capable of interstellar travel, Kenichi did not think their space-travel technology was necessarily perfect.
There were obvious shortcomings.
At the very least, they did not seem capable of quickly locating specific planets.
Kaguya had caused enormous trouble after coming to the Shinobi World.
Yet even after all this time, the rest of the Otsutsuki Clan still had not precisely located this planet.
When Kenichi searched through his memories, he also realized that the truly powerful Otsutsuki figures he vaguely remembered had not even appeared in the latest parts of Boruto he knew about.
That raised an obvious question.
If the Otsutsuki possessed a civilization advanced enough to travel between stars and even create time machines...
Why could they not easily locate members of their own clan?
Kenichi could think of only one reasonable explanation.
Their technological development was unbalanced.
The Otsutsuki Clan's technology tree might have advanced in an extremely strange direction.
That was not impossible.
The Shinobi World itself was already a perfect example of such development.
Its scientific progression made almost no logical sense.
If the Shinobi World could have such an uneven technology tree, then there was no reason the Otsutsuki could not suffer from the same problem.
"Since you already possess a time machine..."
Amado adjusted his glasses.
"Why don't you travel into the future?"
Kenichi raised an eyebrow.
Amado continued.
"You could find either your future self or my future self and ask about the latest progress on this research."
Kenichi immediately shook his head.
He had considered exactly that possibility before.
If he possessed a time machine capable of reaching the future, then theoretically, the method would be incredibly efficient.
Travel into the future.
Obtain the latest research results.
Return to the present.
Use that information to accelerate the research.
Then travel into the future again and collect the improved results.
Repeat the process indefinitely.
In theory, Kenichi could compress decades or even centuries of research into a single day.
It would be an absurdly efficient method.
"The problem is that this world may operate under very unusual rules."
Kenichi shrugged helplessly.
"Think about it."
"We already possess a time machine."
"If that method really worked, then why haven't our future selves already appeared in front of us and handed over the completed research?"
Amado froze.
Kenichi had already considered this contradiction long ago.
If he could exploit time that easily, there was no reason not to.
His research speed would become ridiculous.
He would no longer need to worry about waiting years for scientific progress.
He could effectively use the accumulated research time of countless future versions of himself across different timelines.
With something like that, even surpassing the Otsutsuki Clan might eventually become possible.
But Kenichi knew there had to be a flaw.
"You mean..."
Amado immediately understood.
He was no fool.
Kenichi nodded.
Exactly.
If future versions of Kenichi and Amado existed along this same timeline, then eventually one of them should have come back.
They should have appeared before their current selves with more advanced research data.
Then those current versions could advance faster and send the information even further backward.
The process should have created a self-reinforcing cycle of technological progress.
Yet nothing like that had happened.
Not once.
So what did that imply?
Amado thought for a moment.
"Could it be that people from different timelines cannot perceive one another?"
"Perhaps they can't even perceive information deliberately left behind by their counterparts?"
Kenichi fell silent.
That possibility was not completely unreasonable.
There was at least some theoretical basis for it.
Unfortunately, it could not be confirmed unless Kenichi deliberately traveled to another timeline and carefully examined the resulting Shinobi World.
Still, as speculation, Amado's idea was worth considering.
"I think there's still a problem with that theory."
Kenichi waved his hand.
"I came here from another world myself."
"If my existence continued normally along the timeline, then this world should look completely different."
Amado listened.
"Even if I couldn't see another version of myself, and even if messages between different versions were impossible to perceive, the history of this world should still resemble the world I came from."
But it did not.
If Kenichi's original timeline had simply continued forward before he arrived here, then Hiruzen should already have been dead.
The entire political structure of the Shinobi World would also have been unrecognizable.
There would not have been several independent hidden villages still standing against each other.
Instead, the world should have contained the enormous unified nation Kenichi had created.
Yet none of that existed here.
This world had developed almost completely independently of him.
Therefore, Kenichi suspected that whenever he traveled to another point in time, he was not simply entering the future or past of his original world.
He was entering an entirely new timeline.
A world that had no previous connection to him.
He could affect a timeline after arriving in it.
But before that moment, it had developed without his existence.
"...When you put it like that, you're right."
Amado nodded thoughtfully.
Then another idea occurred to him.
"Could there be someone special in this world whose existence anchors the timeline?"
"Maybe that person prevents the kind of temporal overlap you're describing."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
He almost wanted to tell Amado that if there was anyone strange enough to interfere with the normal logic of timelines...
It was probably Kenichi himself.
The timeline was not necessarily the abnormal thing.
He was.
"Anyway, let's think of another approach."
Kenichi waved dismissively.
"That method won't work."
There was no point continuing to speculate endlessly.
Relying on his future self to conveniently deliver completed research was clearly unrealistic.
Kenichi would simply have to continue solving the time machine's mysteries the slow way.
Amado did not argue.
He turned back toward the machine and began carefully analyzing several of its components again.
Kenichi watched for a moment.
Then he decided to check on Orochimaru.
...
Orochimaru had not been having a pleasant time lately.
Kenichi kept him imprisoned every day, unable to move freely.
When Kenichi entered the laboratory, he found Orochimaru standing silently within his restraints.
His expression was completely blank.
His overall condition was clearly poor.
For some reason, the sight reminded Kenichi of Hidan.
Back in his original timeline, when Kenichi and his teacher had conducted experiments on Hidan, the immortal cultist had eventually developed almost the exact same dead-eyed expression.
The comparison was almost amusing.
Kenichi walked over and knocked loudly against the iron plate beside Orochimaru.
Clang!
The sharp noise caused Orochimaru's unfocused eyes to regain a little clarity.
His gaze slowly shifted toward Kenichi.
"You're not from this world, are you?"
Orochimaru spoke calmly.
Kenichi raised an eyebrow.
The ninjutsu he had already gathered in his hand remained unused.
Interesting.
Orochimaru had been confined inside this laboratory the entire time.
Logically, he should have known almost nothing about what was happening outside.
Yet now he was saying something like this.
Kenichi became genuinely curious.
How had Orochimaru figured it out?
Could someone have told him?
No...
Toneri?
Aside from the clone formerly known as Number One, Toneri was one of the only people in Kenichi's laboratory who had enough freedom to wander around and potentially come into contact with Orochimaru.
"So?"
Kenichi chuckled.
He reached forward and extracted Orochimaru's soul.
Then he began examining it.
Under Kenichi's Rinnegan, Orochimaru's soul had now fully taken on female characteristics.
The recognizable facial structure remained largely his own, although even those features were gradually becoming softer.
Kenichi studied the result thoughtfully.
Had the transformation truly succeeded?
That was still difficult to determine.
He could observe the physical and spiritual changes, but proving that the transformation had affected Orochimaru at the deeper psychological level required additional testing.
Kenichi thought for a moment.
An idea came to him.
The question was how to implement it.
"You're not from this world."
Orochimaru continued speaking with a faintly mocking tone.
"You came from another one."
"And the Orochimaru from that world was your teacher."
Then pain exploded through him.
"Argh!"
Orochimaru screamed.
Kenichi had deliberately begun stimulating sensitive portions of his soul.
He continuously increased the intensity while simultaneously performing another operation with chakra.
There was no anesthesia.
Orochimaru's body trembled violently under the pain.
Kenichi remained completely calm.
The areas he had chosen to stimulate were specifically selected because they produced stronger pain responses.
Under that kind of spiritual stimulation, Orochimaru's inability to endure was perfectly understandable.
"And..."
Kenichi glanced at the time.
Then he increased the intensity again.
...
"Useless trash."
Kenichi looked down at the seemingly lifeless Orochimaru with disdain.
He casually threw him into a trash container.
Then he carried the container out of the laboratory.
Kenichi traveled to the edge of a cliff.
There, he dumped Orochimaru's body onto the ground.
Without another glance, Kenichi turned and walked away.
After he disappeared...
A small white snake slowly crawled out from Orochimaru's body.
...
Kenichi watched the scene with interest.
The real Orochimaru was still lying directly in front of him.
His eyes were vacant.
He stared blankly at the ceiling.
After being subjected to enough pain and mental exhaustion to leave his thoughts disoriented, Orochimaru had fallen into Kenichi's genjutsu.
With his mind weakened by repeated torment, Orochimaru's resistance to the illusion had dropped dramatically.
Breaking free had become almost impossible.
Kenichi looked directly into Orochimaru's pupils.
He wanted to see what kind of life Orochimaru would choose after the changes Kenichi had made to his soul.
Images began appearing within Orochimaru's gaze.
Everything he was currently experiencing inside the genjutsu unfolded before Kenichi.
In the illusion, Orochimaru escaped.
Afterward, he returned to his research.
Eventually, he captured the illusionary Kenichi.
Then he subjected that version of Kenichi to every experiment and procedure that the real Kenichi had previously inflicted upon Orochimaru.
Only after thoroughly tormenting him did Orochimaru finally kill the illusionary Kenichi.
Then Orochimaru returned to his research.
Kenichi continued watching.
Within the illusion, Orochimaru eventually acquired Sasuke's body through Living Corpse Reincarnation.
He continued developing his techniques and research.
Over time, he became increasingly powerful.
Eventually, Orochimaru rose to become the ruler of the entire Shinobi World.
Even then, his research did not stop.
At one point, he created several clones of Kenichi solely so that he could torment them for amusement.
Kenichi's mouth twitched when he saw that.
This alternate future version of Orochimaru certainly knew how to hold a grudge.
Then the illusion continued.
Eventually, Orochimaru performed Living Corpse Reincarnation again.
This time, he transferred himself into the body of a woman.
And then...
"This is a genjutsu, isn't it?"
Orochimaru suddenly laughed.
"Did I show you what you wanted to see?"
Kenichi sighed.
So he had figured it out after all.
Kenichi had already begun noticing problems earlier, especially during the parts involving Orochimaru's later research.
Genjutsu was powerful.
But it had limitations.
An illusion could not perfectly generate information beyond the caster's own knowledge and cognition.
Once Orochimaru's supposed research began reaching areas Kenichi himself could not convincingly simulate, Kenichi had worried that Orochimaru might notice the flaws.
Apparently, he had.
Worse, Orochimaru had realized it early enough to deliberately continue acting inside the illusion and put on a performance for him.
"But it doesn't matter."
Kenichi remained calm.
"I already obtained the data I needed."
He had seen enough.
Whatever Orochimaru had tried to conceal afterward no longer mattered.
....
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