Of course, Hii Kōri didn't actually sleep on the floor.
He didn't need to sleep.
That question had been meant to change the subject, and to take the opportunity to get a little closer to Tsunade.
Clearly, for them, it was still a bit too early.
But he had already stayed, so there was no need to rush.
By now, Shizune had already returned to her room and fallen into a peaceful sleep. The child was always well-behaved and sensible; once an adult told her something—like the importance of sleeping early and waking early—she remembered it.
After Tsunade angrily closed her bedroom door, Hii Kōri was left alone in the living room.
The living room on the first floor was simply furnished; there was no sofa for guests. Of course, Tsunade, who had come here while hiding her tracks, had neither planned to entertain nor had any guests to entertain.
Uninvited "guests" like Hii Kōri were a rarity.
Hii Kōri sat down at the dining table, thinking that for both his future development and his personal growth, it was time to make a systematic plan. He pulled a blank notebook from the scroll on his wrist and began writing.
Among the five elemental releases, his proficiency in Wind and Water was already maxed out, while Earth Release clearly leaned toward the "creation" direction.
Because Scorch Release, learned from Pakura, had caused his offensive output to overflow significantly, his Fire Release wasn't particularly proficient, though it was still better than his Lightning Release.
To be fair, this level of progress already surpassed most jōnin. But whether for synthesizing the seven chakra natures—Yin, Yang, and the five elements—required for Truth-Seeking Balls, or for his concept of the five-element cycle, he needed to improve his proficiency in both Fire and Lightning.
Perhaps because he had always retained a small amount of the One-Tail's chakra, he found Magnet Release—learned from Shukaku—easier to use than Scorch Release.
In fact, in Hii Kōri's view, Magnet Release had a higher ceiling than Scorch Release. He and the Third Kazekage had been continuously exploring Magnet Release techniques beyond Iron Sand.
The energy cores of the autonomous puppets on the production line were the most tangible result of that exploration.
Speaking of which, Rasa's talent for Magnet Release was exceptionally high.
Using the standard density of water—1 gram per cubic centimeter—as a baseline, most types of soil had densities between 1.5 and 2 times that, while rock ranged from 2.5 to 3 times, depending on the type.
Both Water Release and Earth Release relied heavily on physical impact, in which mass played a decisive role.
Setting aside elemental affinities, Earth Release was generally more powerful than Water Release, while Water Release's advantage lay in flexibility and adaptability.
Magnet Release's strength was clearly demonstrated here.
Iron Sand had a density nearly eight times that of water, yet despite its substantial weight, Iron Sand under Magnet Release could achieve flexibility that surpassed even Water Release.
The Divine Dust technique Hii Kōri had developed was essentially Crimson Blood Manipulation: Piercing Blood with compressed plasma replaced by Iron Sand, resulting in a significant improvement in effectiveness.
This was precisely why the Third Kazekage had originally chosen Iron Sand as his primary combat method.
As for the Gold Dust controlled by Rasa, its density was even twenty times that of water.
Although the amount of Gold Dust he could currently control was far less than the Third Kazakage's Iron Sand, he wasn't far behind in flexibility and speed.
Initially, Rasa had chosen Gold Dust simply because the village was short on funds. After Hii Kōri's suggestion, following Sunagakure's characteristic principle of "doing multiple things at once," it was convenient to mine gold while training.
Now, he had become so skilled at manipulating Gold Dust that his ability to reach into an enemy's ninja tool pouch and slice their artery with their own tools was terrifyingly fast. If he were to switch to Iron Sand, it would be like a boss's second phase—his attack speed would multiply many times over.
Iron Sand Shigure Spammer.
As for Hii Kōri's proficiency in Wind and Water Release, Rainbow Release still had considerable room for development. Simply put, aside from the "amount" of chakra—necessary for all ninjutsu—the only metric for Rainbow Release was "precision."
Just like that mysterious amnesiac man's Stand, as long as precision was high enough, almost anything was possible.
Yang Release was still a slow process. With his "full self-healing mode" constantly active, Hii Kōri's training efficiency in this area was among the fastest in the ninja world.
The only issue was the massive energy consumption, but with his continuously optimized energy bars—now upgraded to version 38.Over—he could still manage.
Yin Release was strongly correlated with cursed energy and would naturally increase even if left alone.
He had never been associated with traditional genjutsu, so his Yin Release naturally developed in the direction of "creating something from nothing" and "transformation between reality and illusion."
Taijutsu was strongly correlated with Yang Release, and he had no shortage of techniques. As for weapons, Yūun had been quite damaged by his filial son's Grass Sword, and now it was essentially just a keepsake. He would need to obtain new weapons.
But now that he had recovered Ucchuṣma: Hundred Transformations Sealed Method, finding materials for weapons was no issue.
He could simply build them together with the Shinshi Kiki-zu series puppets.
Barrier techniques had gained many new inspirations thanks to the existence of Hiruko Kage Myōjin.
Then there was the utilization of natural energy and Sage Mode, optimization of cursed energy's nature, attempts at Domain Expansion, and so on…
Overall, Hii Kōri's current overall strength could already be considered "Kage-level." In fact, among the current Five Kage, given his numerous abilities and informational advantages, there were hardly any situations he couldn't handle.
"But that said, being able to win is one thing, but there's no 'qualitative' gap yet…" Hii Kōri's pen pressed heavily into the paper as he murmured with a furrowed brow. "Compared to what we'll face later… is it perhaps not enough?"
Conventional ninjutsu was indeed like a nail clipper against Gundam pilots. And even Gundam pilots didn't fare well against a fully powered Ōtsutsuki.
The ending of the original manga had a deus ex machina quality to it—essentially, the Sage of Six Paths using the two protagonists to reenact a scene of "filial piety" against his mother.
It took a sorcerer to defeat a sorcerer. It took an Ōtsutsuki to defeat an Ōtsutsuki.
It was like a brutal class society in an age of decline.
Judging from the "future" he had seen, if he continued developing step by step, he would likely eventually become a Philosopher King, resolving the outdated structure of the ninja world and dealing with that drooling three-eyed girl after she got out.
But in that future, there was still a landmine like Isshiki Ōtsutsuki lurking, ready to explode at any moment.
Hii Kōri didn't think he had any particular obsession with winning or losing. But in a situation like this—where one wrong move could lead to total defeat—he had no choice but to keep winning.
He didn't want Thanos's 13,999,999/14,000,000 victory. He wanted "1"—a flawless, absolute victory.
"So… the possibility for further advancement lies in those ruins, then…"
Filtering through the memories Rashōmon had transmitted to him, Hii Kōri turned to a new page and began mapping out his subsequent itinerary.
Regardless, he would have to wait until things were settled with Tsunade before setting out.
If being in a hurry helped, he would have been in a hurry long ago.
That remarkably old man, Madara Uchiha, couldn't do much for now. Before Nagato grew up, he still had plenty of time.
Cultivating the next generation, creating allies for himself, simultaneously crushing the entire ninja world, and concentrating resources to face the Ōtsutsuki—that was the priority.
Though, thinking about it, he currently didn't really have anything suitable for Shizune.
Tsunade hadn't yet begun teaching Shizune ninja training—partly due to her pregnancy and poor physical and mental state, and partly because Shizune wasn't yet five, still too young for regular ninja physical training.
But at this stage, it would be appropriate to establish a basic understanding of chakra and ninjutsu, building a theoretical foundation.
If you have a choice, don't become a ninja—that was the principle his birth parents had held.
But the premise of "having a choice" was based on "having the ability to protect oneself." The fate of his original family was the best example.
As someone once said, if you can't even get started, there's no point in talking about performance.
With these thoughts, spirit-thread nerves picked up a pen and began sketching and writing in a new notebook Hii Kōri had produced.
Compiling such an introductory textbook for young children required almost no mental effort for Hii Kōri; he could leave it entirely to the spirit-thread nerves.
Most of his focus was on that damaged mechanical insect.
Unlike when he first encountered it—when looking at this object had stirred uncontrollable turmoil within him—after calming his spirit during this journey, Hii Kōri could now regard this creation of his future self with equanimity.
As a former top cursed tool craftsman in the jujutsu world, imbuing materials with techniques was work he was intimately familiar with. But his own technique was inherently complex; to fully manifest its effects, he needed a sufficiently substantial medium to inscribe the technique upon.
He currently had no idea how to compress his Palm Hatching into a device of this size.
But if he set aside the issue of inscribing techniques and focused solely on miniaturizing mechanical structures to this degree, that was worth attempting.
The grandeur of immense structures symbolizing overwhelming power. The precision of intricate circuits symbolizing perfect accuracy. The beauty of machinery was always found in these two extremes.
Make a prototype first, worry about optimization later. jpg
With this philosophy, Hii Kōri casually pulled out a set of tools and prepared to begin.
As for materials—now that he had recovered Ucchuṣma: Hundred Transformations Sealed Method—he could hardly lack for those.
The night passed without incident.
Perhaps because of the two conversations that afternoon and before bed, Tsunade tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
By the time she finally drifted off and woke up again, the sun was already high in the sky.
Just as she was chiding herself for sleeping in and leaving Shizune to make breakfast, she pushed open the door to find some dry rations to tide over—only to see Shizune sitting at the table, intently reading a notebook, while Hii Kōri sat across from her. On the table was a breakfast covered by a barrier.
His red-and-white hair was tied up in a high ponytail, with a headband keeping stray strands off his forehead.
In his hand was a pair of delicate tweezers. His right eye was narrowed, while his left was pressed against a precision microscope that looked like a miniature tower. He was hunched over, fully focused, working on a tiny crystalline chip so small it was nearly invisible without careful scrutiny.
Seeing him like this, Tsunade—still half-asleep—instinctively quieted her movements.
With her messy hair, she shuffled over to her seat in a way that could only be described as "skulking." Looking at the breakfast sealed within the barrier, she unconsciously shuffled her slippers, wondering how to undo it.
Hearing her shuffling footsteps, Shizune looked up from her notebook and made a tapping gesture.
Tsunade blinked, then lightly tapped the barrier. It shattered.
Congee, eggs, and pickled vegetables—a very ordinary breakfast combination. But surprisingly, even after sitting out, it was still warm.
"The last one to finish does the dishes."
Skillfully securing the final clasp, Hii Kōri looked up. He removed the microscope, casually produced a small bottle of eye drops, applied two drops, and teased Tsunade.
"Fine, I'll do them."
Tsunade retorted grumpily, somewhat defiantly picking up her spoon and gulping down a large mouthful of the perfectly warm congee.
Though during pregnancy she often crved strong flavors, at least breakfast should be light. She understood that.
The warm congee slid into her stomach, bringing a pleasant warmth that revived her spirits somewhat. She ate a bite of pickled vegetables to cut the blandness, and while peeling an egg, she glanced at Hii Kōri and asked casually: "What were you making just now? Puppet parts?"
Hii Kōri didn't answer immediately. He wiped the excess eye drops from the corner of his eye with his fingertip, then snapped his fingers.
The tiny device he had been working on—about the size of a fingernail, made of what looked like crystal—folded its casing and floated up gracefully. It hovered in the sunlight, its outline faint and hazy, surrounded by a halo of diffuse light.
"No. It's a puppet itself."
Hii Kōri finally spoke, explaining with evident satisfaction: "Though at this size, it can't carry any other functions. Besides looking nice, it's essentially useless—just a proof of concept."
As he spoke, over a dozen crystal devices of varying sizes floated out from the gaps in the bookshelves, from the folds of the curtains, from the shadows under the ceiling—from every corner of the room—and settled on the table alongside the one he had just finished.
"Butterflies?" Tsunade looked at the tiny creations shimmering in the light, somewhat surprised. "You... like butterflies?"
"Mm-hmm." Hii Kōri leaned back in his chair, responding with an upward hum. "In my view, butterflies are the creatures that best represent the concepts of 'reincarnation' and 'transformation.'"
Then he launched into an uninterrupted exposition of his views and understanding.
Tsunade sipped her congee in small mouthfuls, not responding, silently watching this man whose eyes seemed to light up as he spoke. She hadn't expected him to have such a "sentimental" side.
Only after finishing her last mouthful and setting down her bowl did she suddenly remark: "You and Orochimaru might have a lot in common."
"Indeed. At least when we were in the Land of Rain, we got along famously."
Hii Kōri raised an eyebrow at this, responding casually as he used spirit-thread nerves to deftly pick up the empty dishes and wash them in the kitchen sink from across the room.
Tsunade blinked, looking toward the sink. "Hey, didn't you say the last one to finish does the dishes?"
"Just joking. Yesterday was one thing, but today's different."
"Hmph."
Catching Hii Kōri's implication, Tsunade scoffed and turned away.
Her gaze fell on Shizune, still absorbed in the notebook. She leaned closer and saw that the notebook contained simple, easy-to-understand illustrated explanations of chakra natures, basic refinement methods, and the human body's chakra pathways.
The handwriting looked fresh—probably written recently.
Tsunade's expression softened unconsciously. After a moment of silence, without turning around, she spoke to Hii Kōri in a tone that, while still awkward, was no longer quite so stiff: "Today… you can rest in my room. There's a desk in there. It'll be more comfortable than hunching over the dining table."
"Alright," he answered, his voice as steady as ever.
"Then thank you for your hospitality, Princess Tsunade."
"Stop calling me that! It's weird."
"Yeah, yeah~"
Hii Kōri raised his hands in surrender.
***
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