Chapter 107: Is Chakra Fusion a Fusion of Particles or a Fusion of Quanta?
"Chakra should be a kind of energy too." Kenichi leaned back, eyes half narrowed in thought. "If it exists in the form of particles… then is fusion ninjutsu just different particles interlocking and moving in some special pattern?"
Chakra was an unusually strange energy. The ninja world had studied it, used it, and built an entire civilization around it, yet their understanding of chakra's essence still felt shallow.
It was like people being able to reach the moon, yet knowing almost nothing about the deepest trenches in the ocean.
Kenichi shook his head. That was not the problem in front of him.
Right now, he needed a way to make thermobaric explosives hold chakra, then test whether his container idea was even feasible. If it worked, he could move on to testing its power.
But the materials he needed were not out there.
So he had to return to the laboratory.
Kenichi remembered that his teacher's lab had the talisman paper used to make explosive tags.
The paper for explosive tags was not just any white sheet. It had specific requirements. Otherwise, it could not withstand the power sealed inside, especially the force of Fire Release.
Kenichi had considered using a metal that could conduct and contain chakra, but the price was brutal. Using talisman paper would be the best option if it could hold what he wanted.
Explosive tags were expensive for two reasons.
First, sealing a Fire Release technique inside demanded extremely precise chakra control.
Second, the talisman paper itself was a specialty material. It was not limited to explosive tags either. Talismans with other functions often used the same kind of specially made paper.
Kenichi wanted to try sealing Sage Chakra into it.
If he could do that, the whole plan would become simple. He could create a trigger device, activate three tags at once, and simulate a triple attribute detonation without forcing the chakra to truly fuse.
"But Naruto and Jiraiya never did anything like this…" Kenichi sighed.
Naruto spent most of his time grinding the Rasengan, but his talent was still undeniable. And Jiraiya never figured out anything like Sage Mode talismans either.
That alone suggested the success rate was not high. If the paper could not withstand Sage Chakra, then the moment he poured it in, it would detonate like an offended piece of stationery.
Still, the ninja world did not even have hot air balloons. Kenichi felt it was worth trying. If everyone only did what was already proven, nothing new would ever exist.
"Obito… the war is over."
At that moment, far away in Konoha, Kakashi sat quietly before two graves, the resting places of Obito and Rin Nohara.
He had a habit of coming here from time to time.
He talked about recent events, about missions, about things he would never say anywhere else. He knew the dead could not answer, but speaking out loud was the only way he could ease the storm of emotions in his chest.
What Kakashi did not know was that, in the seemingly empty cemetery, someone really was listening.
That person was Obito.
"What's going on…?" In the past, Obito would have at least mocked Kakashi's hypocrisy in his head. But now, he stared at Kakashi with a blank expression.
He saw the three tomoe Sharingan in Kakashi's eye, the eye he had given him.
Yet this time, something felt wrong.
Those eyes did not seem like the eye he had given Kakashi.
They sat correctly in Kakashi's socket, and they were clearly a three tomoe Sharingan. Still, Obito's instincts kept screaming that something was off.
"What is it?" Black Zetsu asked, his tone casual.
He had not wanted to come, but Obito's temperament made him uneasy. He followed along as a precaution.
If Obito saw too much of Konoha, if familiar places softened his resolve, he might abandon the plan. That could not be allowed. Both Zetsu's plan and Madara's plan required Obito to keep moving forward.
"Nothing." Obito shook his head.
His feelings toward Kakashi were complicated, tangled with old memories and old debt. But the moment Rin's death surfaced in his mind, resentment surged so fiercely it almost blurred his vision.
Obito turned his head away. "How is it going with the Fourth Mizukage?"
"That one has a good relationship with the Three Tails," Black Zetsu said, letting out a low, sinister laugh. "We can wait. The Blood Mist policy has already created a lot of dissatisfaction."
It was not that they could not control the Fourth Mizukage and the tailed beast inside him right now. It was simply troublesome. Far better to sit back and collect the harvest when the time was ripe.
Obito nodded.
He gave Kakashi one last deep look, then followed Zetsu into the shadows.
He did not understand what was going on with Kakashi's Sharingan, but suspicion had taken root. He would investigate later.
Yes, he had once wanted Kakashi to keep that eye. That had been his choice.
But that did not mean he could accept the idea of someone else taking his eye away and replacing it with another.
Back in the Land of Rice Fields, Kenichi knew none of this.
He was lying back in a chair, eyes unfocused, mind turning like gears.
The explosive tag experiment had failed.
Not partially, not ambiguously. It failed cleanly and decisively.
The moment Sage Chakra entered the tag, it detonated.
If Kenichi had not reacted fast enough, another piece of laboratory equipment would have been blown apart.
"This is troublesome…" Kenichi exhaled slowly. "So it really won't work. That means we have to use a metal that can conduct and contain chakra."
And that meant higher costs.
Worse, development costs would keep climbing, because even Kenichi was not sure this path would succeed. Failures were inevitable, and failures meant losses.
Kenichi looked toward his shadow clones. They were still busy with various research tasks, moving with practiced efficiency.
He forced himself to sit up, pulled his thoughts together, and called one of the clones over.
Even though his teacher was not present, Kenichi still had work of his own, and that included supervising progress.
His teacher had already asked Nagato to pass him a message.
That meant the construction team his teacher bought from the black market had arrived. The team was handed over to Kenichi, and he was expected to choose the laboratory site and oversee construction himself.
His teacher had no intention of stepping in.
"Isn't this a bit too distant for teacher and student?" Kenichi shook his head, clicking his tongue. "He's being way too formal."
But he could not exactly walk up and declare, Your lab is my lab from now on. That would be strange in a way that even he could not justify.
Still, this was his first time selecting a site, so after a moment of hesitation, Kenichi decided to handle it personally.
He went out and quickly found the construction team his teacher had mentioned.
There were exactly fifty workers.
Four ninjas stood beside them as escorts, watching with the calm alertness of professionals.
Kenichi scratched his head and walked over.
"Hello," the ninja in front said with a friendly smile. "We're from the Hidden Construction Company."
As usual, dawn had arrived right on schedule.
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