Chapter 147: Evidence
In the face of absolute power, dignity and resistance become meaningless.
Your thoughts can be read, your actions corrected, your movements suppressed. Even the signals of your nerves and the activity of your cells can be manipulated at will.
In such a situation, if the other party still chooses to communicate, that is nothing but kindness. You do not even have the right to question them. From thought to body, from culture to structure, everything has already collapsed. There is no foothold left to resist.
It is like standing before a being from another dimension.
Unbelievable, unacceptable. Even calling it "shocking" felt far too weak.
Konoha was, after all, once the greatest ninja village. Even in its current decline, it remained a behemoth in the ninja world. The idea that some unknown rogue could stroll into the village, beat the Hokage and flatten its elites sounded like something only overdramatic novels would dare to write.
Yet in the eyes of the Konoha ninja now, the tall brown haired man standing with one hand in his pocket was exactly that, a creature from another world.
"Humans often fall into an arrogant illusion because of their own abilities," Aizen said softly. "The more confident they are in their strength, the more convinced they become that their theories cannot be mistaken."
"Coincidentally, the true peak of arrogance is not when one has truly mastered a discipline. It is when one has only just begun to understand it. A shallow grasp, no further progress, the illusion that a single glance reveals the entire picture, that is what breeds overwhelming confidence and contempt, both for others and for oneself."
"But reality is not so merciful. Any research requires time and repeated verification. Ninjas have never seriously tested the systems they rely on. Even knowing that someone like the Sage of Six Paths once existed, no one truly tried to approach his level. They only comfort themselves that such a person might have existed, and that such a person is a legend."
"You do not have the courage to step into that legend. That is what disappoints me most."
"However, I do have that courage. So from where you stand, I must look as mysterious as the Sage of Six Paths. Yet I am very aware that I still only have a superficial understanding of chakra and its applications."
The plaza fell silent.
The ninjas stared at the man who spoke so calmly, their hearts a tangled mess.
Everyone understood lofty principles. Who did not want to improve themselves? Who did not want to reach the summit? The problem was simple, some people simply could not do it.
Even in this so called era of peace, all the conflicts destined to occur were still unfolding beneath the surface. Everyone remained on edge. The development of new ninjutsu was particularly pronounced, because there was no time to verify anything properly.
You might think, this theory might be useful, and in the very next moment you could die. What would be the point? Even if you wanted to spread your discovery, who would stand still and let you test it? Children were already being sent to the front lines. Any large scale experiment would require time no one had.
Even Orochimaru, the most passionate experimenter in the ninja world, a long time advocate of progress and technology, only had a handful of people he could actually experiment on. There was no complete testing framework. He could only keep sticking in another needle and gambling on the outcome. Without a stable environment, how could anyone pursue or even glimpse the true essence of chakra?
Most importantly, was it not absurd that a mysterious intruder who had just attacked Konoha now stood in the middle of the village lecturing them about scientific research?
Among all the ninjas present, only Kakashi still retained just enough freedom to try yelling at everyone to stop. Unfortunately, he had collapsed face first into the ground.
If he tried to speak now, he would only eat more dust. The other ninjas could only look at each other, not daring to interrupt Aizen.
As for Tsunade, who as Hokage was theoretically the highest authority here, she ignored her battered state completely and lowered her head, sinking into deep thought.
She had long passed the age where a moment of exposure could make her bashful. In terms of actual age she was nearly sixty. No matter how young her body looked, her mentality was appropriate for that age. She felt no trace of embarrassment. Instead, she instinctively hunted for the hidden implications in Aizen's words.
The initial mention of Dan had stabbed directly into her deepest scars, but Tsunade was still Hokage, the commander of a village. She forced herself past the emotional blow and began to analyze. The more she pieced together, the more terrifying the conclusion became.
Kakashi was not the type to spout nonsense, and she knew that well.
On top of that, there was the strength Aizen had just displayed, his terrifying understanding of chakra, and his unsettling familiarity with Konoha's secrets.
Might Guy's report floated up in her memory. Aizen had stayed in Kakashi's house for a long time, talking about Guy's father, Might Dai. Even inside Konoha, many people knew nothing about Dai's existence. For other villages, that kind of information was close to a military secret.
The Eight Inner Gates Formation itself was already a forbidden technique that almost no one truly understood. Yet this man had talked casually about opening the Gate of Death. Combined with his strange way of addressing her and Kakashi's behavior, Tsunade's pupils slowly constricted.
"...Are you from the future?" she asked quietly. "Or from the past?"
"To be precise, I am from a past that is different from yours," Aizen replied. "I came here to see just how different this world is from my own."
Confronted with Tsunade's guarded eyes, Aizen smiled gently and spoke without hesitation.
"I am not without feelings for Konoha. I lived here for twenty years. It was where I pursued some of my ambitions, where I compiled my theories. A very useful tool. There are not many places like Konoha where I can fully utilize my abilities."
"You were a Konoha ninja once," Tsunade pressed. "Then why?"
"If we had let Kakashi speak to you under normal circumstances, you would already understand my thoughts," Aizen said. "But because of Guy's actions, everything unfolded in a rather awkward way."
His tone was mild, without a hint of blame, just a statement of fact.
The ninjas pinned to the ground, their faces pressed against the scorched tiles, understood that fact very clearly. They had been completely powerless against Aizen. In the end, all they could do was push their Hokage forward to gather information.
And the information they received sounded like a legend come to life.
"Well then," Aizen said at last, "since you do not trust me, I will create an environment more suitable for conversation."
He smiled faintly and slowly drew the seemingly decorative sword from his waist.
It was not the sort of divine weapon people imagined. No blinding glow, no ostentatious ornamentation. It was a plain, unremarkable blade. Yet in Aizen's hand, that was impossible.
In full view of the assembled ninjas, he casually tossed the sword. Instead of tracing a simple arc and clattering onto the ground, it hung in midair, restrained by some invisible force, and then slowly sank down, point first.
Only, it did not pierce the flagstones so much as sink into their shadow.
The tip entered the ground almost lazily, and the surrounding shadows seemed to ripple as if someone had dropped a stone into a still pond.
Under the shocked gaze of every ninja present, the world seemed to tilt. The sky and familiar buildings of Konoha bled away into black and white silhouettes.
Beneath their feet, the rough gravel surface faded into smooth stone.
Around them, a towering palace complex rose, stark white walls and immaculate tiles glowing under a soft, unfamiliar light. The architecture was clearly inspired by an old style of palaces, dignified and cold, yet precise.
In only a few seconds, the ordinary sword had vanished fully beneath the ground.
Then, just as strangely, the blade reappeared, sliding back out with its point aimed toward the sky, until the entire weapon returned to Aizen's hand. He sheathed it in a single smooth motion.
The Konoha ninjas could only stare at the new world that had unfolded around them without a single hand seal.
What chilled them even more was that, in some subtle way, they could still feel Konoha.
As if, by following the shadows at the edge of their vision and a certain faint intuition, they could push through and step back under Konoha's sunlight at any moment.
Instead they now stood in a palace bathed in a different light, like some hidden sanctuary built for ninja. The dissonance was so intense that several of them gagged from dizziness.
Aizen snapped his fingers.
The unseen restraints vanished. The pressure pinning them to the ground dissolved as if it had never existed.
"This is Konoha's shadow," Aizen said calmly, "and also the Seireitei that I created."
He looked around with quiet satisfaction.
"Although this is not the first time I have built something like this, it was almost destroyed once. Seeing it restored by my own hand does move me a little."
He watched their expressions shift from fear to awe and allowed his smile to soften.
"Consider this my gift, an Invisible Garden. As long as you have courage in your heart, and the resolve to lift the veil and search for the truth, you can reach this garden through the shadows of Konoha."
"There are thirteen division barracks here," he continued. "You can find whatever you need. Clothing that suits you is also prepared."
"Living here is theoretically much healthier than in Konoha. The air and other environmental factors have been adjusted manually. I cannot control the flow of time directly through chakra perception, but in theory, studying and living here is far more efficient. All the buildings are a fusion of chakra and natural energy. You can treat them as solidified energy."
"In other words, you can fight as recklessly as you like here, and as long as you follow the templates I have marked, you can repair yourselves by adjusting chakra and energy. Consider it a small present from me to Konoha."
Silence.
The breeze that passed through the courtyard was pleasantly warm, carrying the clean scent of water and stone. Under that gentle wind, several hardened ninjas suddenly felt their noses sting.
Why did you not say that earlier?
If you wanted to be our benefactor, you could have just said so. Why did we have to beat each other half to death first?
Looking at the sturdy walls and beautiful gardens around them, while their backs still burned from contact with molten earth moments ago, several Konoha ninjas felt speechless irritation and a strange urge to laugh. Not from pain, but from being moved.
What were they fighting for? Had they not struggled, bled, and survived all this time for the sake of one thing, to live better lives in this world?
An Invisible Garden, a world that only those who believed could enter. A feat even the legendary Sage of Six Paths had never replicated, at least not in any record that Kakashi and Tsunade knew.
Both of them stood frozen, like cats suddenly dropped into an unfamiliar universe.
Might Guy was different. He had worn that same dazzled expression from the moment Aizen opened his mouth.
After Aizen told them they could go and change their clothes and heal, it took the ninjas several long moments to remember how to move. Only then did they begin to help each other limp toward the nearest barracks.
"Oh, right," Aizen added casually. "There is a special chakra hot spring in the courtyard. If you soak in it, these injuries caused by interference from unnatural energy can be healed in a matter of tens of minutes. However, it is best not to soak for too long. If you stay in too long, your internal chakra will start to fuse with the external environment. Dissociation will occur."
"In other words, your flesh and blood will start producing thoughts of their own."
The courtyard fell quiet again.
"...Also, Tsunade senpai," Aizen turned to her, "please go to the Fourth Division Captain's office. Your uniform and clothing should be there. If your Yin Seal theory is the same here as in my world, the size should not differ much from your current one."
"...Thanks," Tsunade managed.
"You are welcome. It was just a misunderstanding in communication," Aizen said. "Now that it is resolved, I will wait for you in the Sixth Division Captain's office. Come find me after you have finished treating your injuries and made your decision about negotiations."
In the next instant, he disappeared from everyone's sight.
Even Kakashi, with his Mangekyou Sharingan and exceptional dynamic vision, could not catch how Aizen left.
That alone proved that he had been telling the truth from the very beginning.
He had never come here to start a war. He had simply wanted to talk.
Once that fact sank in, the atmosphere became painfully awkward.
Viewed from any angle, the Hidden Leaf's attempt to surround and subdue him, only to get beaten down and then rewarded with treatment and a palace, was humiliating.
Yet within Aizen's words, Tsunade caught something that made her heart tighten.
The way he phrased certain things made her suspect that this was not a brand new world, but a restored copy of an existing one. That distinction was enormous.
If this had been pure creation, it would have emerged from nothing. Instead, Aizen had told her directly to head for the Fourth Division, and to look for specific features prepared for her. That strongly suggested that he had left something behind, something designed to convince her of his story. To push her toward accepting that another world truly existed.
"Whatever his objective is," Tsunade muttered, "it is right to heal first and then talk."
She looked over the battered ninjas in front of her and, after a moment of thought, finally issued her first order in this new world.
"All ninjas are to enter the division barracks in teams of three," she said. "Receive medical treatment and rest. After that, stay on standby and wait for my summons. Aside from that, you are free to explore. That is all. Dismissed."
"Yes!"
Once the brief order had been given, Tsunade could no longer suppress the confusion and tension boiling inside her. She headed straight to the Fourth Division's barracks.
The moment she stepped inside, an odd sense of familiarity washed over her.
The barracks were not as solemn and intimidating as she had imagined the headquarters of a medical division should be. Instead, they were arranged in a way that somehow eased the pressure in her chest.
After a quick circuit through the corridor, Tsunade's instincts pulled her toward a particular room. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw the plaque.
Captain's Office.
Her heart sank.
Inside, she almost felt suffocated.
Every detail of the room, from the dice and dice cup casually tossed into a cabinet, to the Senju clan emblem placed in a position of quiet honor, was arranged in a way that perfectly matched her own habits.
It was like walking into a room she herself had just stepped out of.
On the desk, at the very center, lay a sheaf of neatly stacked documents. The black ink on white paper stood out sharply. The handwriting was unmistakable.
It was hers.
The title, however, was something she had never seen.
"Reference for the Improved Theory of the Hundred Healings Technique"
Theoretical publication date: Konoha Year 46
Author: Tsunade, Captain of the Fourth Division
"..."
But that was not what made her hands tremble.
Her gaze dropped to the lower part of the page.
There, beneath her name, were two more.
Co authors: Orochimaru, Kato Dan
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