On top of everything else, the Chimera Technique experiments to fuse a second bloodline still weren't fully under control.
As expected, fusing a second bloodline was far harder than fusing the first.
And by the time he reached the fifth…
He would probably have to do what Kagerō had done—find the right place and the right moment.
But a solar eclipse?
Too harsh a requirement.
He would need to modify Chimera Technique's conditions.
For now, both his experiments and chakra training had to pause.
Because he'd been away from Konoha for too long.
He never used a fixed time for each mission—he deliberately varied it, avoiding patterns others could detect.
But this trip had reached the time limit he'd planned.
Returning was mandatory.
Gen Takuya looked at the meteor in his hand, then sealed it into a scroll.
There was no urgency in forcing the Demonic Statue arm to reach a "Tailed Beast" form yet.
He could take the meteor back to Konoha and continue training.
Completing Star chakra activation would significantly boost his combat power.
He scanned the underground base.
It was enormous.
And with White Zetsu's infiltration abilities, he had to assume someone might slip in.
Fortunately, this wasn't the Fourth Great Ninja War.
White Zetsu couldn't afford to throw tens of thousands at the field.
At most, it would be dozens… maybe a few hundred.
Gen Takuya was oddly thankful.
Thankful it was White Zetsu—
And not Black Zetsu.
If it were Black Zetsu, no amount of caution would be enough.
That thing had deceived the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Black Zetsu was only one.
Obito was only one.
What a blessing.
One could trick a god.
The other's ability could ignore barrier-type sealing techniques entirely.
Both were nightmares.
Now, Gen Takuya decided to upgrade the experimental base's sealing system—using his strengthened chakra to rebuild it.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Four or five clones appeared, exchanged glances, and split up.
The clones reinforced the seals along the base's walls.
Gen Takuya moved to the perimeter and rebuilt the outer barrier.
This barrier wasn't meant to block entry.
It was meant to notify.
The instant chakra crossed it, the barrier would trigger a Summoning Technique—alerting Gen Takuya in Konoha that a chakra-bearing creature had entered.
Did it matter if the intruder wasn't White Zetsu?
No.
Anything that crossed the line needed to be treated as a threat.
He'd already cleared the area of chakra-bearing wildlife.
The creatures that remained were ordinary animals without chakra.
If they crossed the barrier, it wouldn't trigger anything.
That was why, so far, he'd never been forcibly summoned back from Konoha by an alarm.
In truth, even if he had to summon once or twice, it wouldn't draw much attention.
Konoha shinobi used summoning all the time.
He was the one being summoned, which was unusual—but as long as it wasn't frequent, no one would connect the dots.
If the barrier ever summoned him back, his first step would be identifying the intruder.
If it was a random shinobi who wandered in—
Kill them.
But if it was White Zetsu—
Then he would abandon the base immediately.
Most of the critical equipment inside already carried sealing formulas for rapid relocation.
He'd prepared a full set of contingency plans.
If possible, he hoped he'd never need to use them.
As for whether the barrier could detect White Zetsu…
Gen Takuya wasn't worried.
No matter how well White Zetsu hid its presence, entering this base required Earth Release—
Which meant chakra use.
And chakra meant an alarm.
After completing the upgrade, Gen Takuya put on his mask and left via Summoning Technique.
…
"Has anything major happened recently?" Gen Takuya asked, sipping tea at the table.
The one beside him—his subordinate—lowered his head, eyes fixed on Gen Takuya's feet. Even with the mask removed, he didn't dare look up.
Even if he did, he'd see only blurred images—and suffer the torment of the "Life-and-Death Talisman."
"Reporting, sir," the man said quickly. "There's one thing we've heard—apparently the war between the great villages has ended."
Gen Takuya nodded, pleased by the man's sense.
He tossed him a reward.
The news reminded him.
If he counted the timeline, it made sense.
This was the end of the Third Great Ninja War.
Which meant…
Even though Nagato's group had been deceived and Yahiko had died—
Their original goal had still been reached.
Hanzo had baited them with the promise of using the Akatsuki to propose peace negotiations to the great nations.
Now the war had ended.
Peace had come—
Just not because of the Akatsuki.
Gen Takuya shook his head.
Nagato's group had been too limited in perspective.
They saw the Land of Rain being torn apart—
But they hadn't realized the great nations were bleeding dry as well.
Even without any proposal, this war couldn't have lasted much longer.
That blind spot led them straight into Hanzo and Shimura Danzō's trap.
Yahiko died.
That was the tragedy of war—
The tragedy of small nations and their shinobi.
Gen Takuya only felt a passing sigh.
If they hadn't fallen for it, he would've found it troublesome.
Who else was going to summon the Demonic Statue for him?
If Nagato had been given time to recover…
Taking a fragment from him would've been far harder.
Gen Takuya considered what came after the Third War.
One thing was clear:
After the war, Namikaze Minato became the Fourth Hokage.
Maybe Konoha was already circulating stories of Minato's battlefield brilliance—building momentum.
If so, his return was perfectly timed.
As for what Minato did after becoming Hokage…
Gen Takuya couldn't recall any major events.
Only the Nine-Tails incident later—when Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died.
It wasn't hard to understand.
The war had just ended.
Every village would be recovering.
No major conflicts was normal.
For Gen Takuya, this was ideal.
He could digest everything he'd accumulated.
Body conditioning to raise chakra.
Ninjutsu refinement.
Sealing techniques.
Chimera Technique research.
Second bloodline fusion.
Plans for awakening the Sharingan after integrating Uchiha blood…
The list was endless.
After muttering a heartfelt There's way too damn much, Gen Takuya stood and headed toward Konoha.
Next—
He would welcome Konoha's new Hokage.
Namikaze Minato.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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