Chapter 91: Your Graduation Thesis Devoured Mine!
If Kenichi had to rank the jutsu in the shinobi world, the top spot would unquestionably go to the Reanimation Jutsu, with the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu right behind it.
His teacher's research into turning death into a revolving door needed no explanation. With enough bodies, you could reincarnate endlessly, which was basically an infinite lifespan. The only drawback was that the soul might be affected after each transfer, but even that could be fixed later.
As for the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, its value was immeasurable. If not for the fact that all the fatigue came crashing back the moment the clones dispersed, it would have been close to perfect.
Right now, seven Kenichis were crammed into a small laboratory, each busy with rice seeds. Some were being discarded. Some were placed into specially prepared petri dishes. Every single one was labeled with a number.
Without shadow clones, this work would have crawled. With them, Kenichi could squeeze far more progress out of the same day.
"Can Yang Release chakra be used to grow plants?" one Kenichi asked without looking up.
"There's no way to truly accelerate growth," another Kenichi replied, tossing the seeds in his hand into the trash. They were already ruined. "Flooding a plant with Yang Release chakra only speeds it up a little, and it damages its vitality badly."
"Then maybe we need Wood Release to accelerate growth," Kenichi said while continuing to mark the labels.
"Don't we already have that person's physique?" a different clone asked, frowning as he set down a seed. "Why can't we use Wood Release?"
Hearing his own voices argue with each other, the real Kenichi pinched the bridge of his nose, half amused and half exhausted.
Why didn't he have Wood Release? He honestly was not sure. He knew it was said to be a combination of Water Release and Earth Release, but if it were truly that simple, Wood Release would have been everywhere a long time ago.
In the current shinobi world, the only ones confirmed to have it were the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Yamato, whose teacher had successfully produced results with.
And even Yamato's Wood Release was nothing like Hashirama's.
"Enough," Kenichi said, sounding helpless. "Since we can't speed up growth, we'll focus on selection and cultivation. Pick the best seeds first, plant them, then observe them together. Rice ripens every six months here, so it won't take too long."
It was strange. Whenever his clones started discussing something, they always ended up arguing like they were competing to win a debate against themselves.
Agricultural science, especially selection and cultivation, demanded time. A lot of time.
Crops took ages to go from seed to harvest, and one or two rounds of selection rarely produced stable traits that carried on cleanly. You had to keep selecting, keep planting, keep waiting for maturity, then do it again.
That was why some agricultural students treasured their crops and livestock like their own children.
Those were not just plants or animals.
They were graduation theses.
And what made it terrifying was how long those theses took. You had to check on them constantly, care for them constantly, or a tragedy could happen.
Your graduation thesis devoured mine.
In the shinobi world, there was no reliable way to accelerate crop growth. Wood Release might do it, but its effectiveness was uncertain, and the First Hokage was dead.
Dead.
Kenichi suddenly stood up.
Right. Dead.
How had he not thought of this earlier?
This was the shinobi world. Since when did death mean someone got to sleep forever?
Impossible.
The First and Second Hokage had been dead for ages, yet his teacher could still drag them back out whenever he felt like it.
In the future, even more Hokage and dead Kage would be hauled back into the world, and the shinobi world would be thrown into massive battles because of it. The idea of resting in peace simply did not apply here.
If his teacher could summon the First Hokage to fight, then Kenichi could summon the First Hokage to contribute to science.
And compared to being forced into combat, Hashirama would probably be even less likely to refuse something that benefited the shinobi world.
Excited, Kenichi rushed out of the lab, already planning to find a living sacrifice for the Reanimation Jutsu. It did not need to be someone overwhelmingly strong.
He just needed someone who could use Wood Release.
But the moment he burst out of the laboratory, he ran straight into his teacher.
Kenichi reacted instantly and dodged.
The kind of clumsy collision where you fall together and somehow end up in a complicated situation belonged in romantic comedy stories.
In real life, if you slammed into your teacher, the most likely outcome was getting stabbed.
He had clearly seen Orochimaru's hand go for a kunai.
"Why are you so impulsive?" Orochimaru frowned as he put the kunai away. For a brief moment, he had thought Kenichi was charging out to prove his strength.
"Teacher, I just had an idea," Kenichi said with an awkward smile. "I got a little carried away."
Orochimaru's expression eased. He understood that feeling well. Inspiration could hit like lightning, and it could make you forget everything else.
"Here are the raw materials you requested," Orochimaru said.
"Thank you, Teacher." Kenichi accepted them quickly. With the materials in hand, everything else could wait.
He gathered all his shadow clones and started assembling the thermobaric bomb at once. Other problems could be discussed after they got the money from Konoha.
With a whole group working together, the efficiency skyrocketed. By the end of the day, Kenichi had successfully assembled a new thermobaric bomb.
He placed it into a sealing scroll with extreme caution.
This could not explode here. If it exploded now, everything would be finished.
Only after it was safely sealed away did Kenichi finally exhale.
Now all he had to do was head to the Land of Frost.
And he needed Sasori with him. With Sasori's Magnet Release acceleration, the bomb's throwing speed would be even higher.
Kenichi could try to manage alone, but there was only one bomb. It was better to be safe.
So he decided to bring Sasori and travel together by hot air balloon.
High altitude bombing still required it, but this time the altitude would be even higher than before.
After contacting Nagato, Kenichi set off.
Konoha had been urging him for days.
The situation in the Land of Frost was clearly not going well for them.
Otherwise, they would not have pressured him this hard.
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