Chapter 570: Invincibility Also Means Boredom
"Hiruzen, what kind of game are you playing?"
Kenichi walked over to Hiruzen's side and casually dropped into a seat.
Ever since Kenichi had taken away Orochimaru, who had been disguised as the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure had effectively vanished from public view in Konoha.
Naturally, Kenichi understood exactly why.
He had even expected Hiruzen to seize the opportunity and force Sunagakure to pay a heavy price.
Unexpectedly, Hiruzen had done nothing of the sort.
Instead, he had actually allowed the Sunagakure genin to continue participating in the Chunin Exams.
That left Kenichi wondering what the point of abducting Orochimaru had even been.
His gaze swept through the arena.
Soon, he spotted an adult Kabuto standing farther back.
Kabuto wore his usual harmless smile, appearing completely unconcerned about the disappearance of the Kazekage.
However, Kenichi could hear that his heartbeat was slightly too fast.
Clearly, Kabuto was nowhere near as calm as he pretended to be.
"Ahem."
Hiruzen coughed lightly.
"Kenichi, although Konoha currently has someone of your strength here, I still believe that only peace will allow the village to regain its former vitality."
He glanced toward Kenichi but did not explain any further.
Kenichi was absurdly powerful.
That much was undeniable.
The problem was that Hiruzen still did not understand what Kenichi truly wanted.
More importantly, he could not determine whose side Kenichi was actually on.
As long as that uncertainty remained, Hiruzen had no intention of recklessly provoking conflicts with other hidden villages.
For the current Hiruzen, maintaining stability was the highest priority.
Kenichi glanced at him but said nothing.
His research into the time machine would continue gradually.
Once he fully understood the device, he would leave this timeline.
As for what Hiruzen and the others chose to do afterward, Kenichi did not particularly care.
His attention instead shifted toward the battle below.
Naruto had already rushed forward and was fighting Gaara.
Kenichi had little interest in watching what amounted to a fight between rookies.
He was far more interested in seeing how much his own presence had changed this timeline.
Then Naruto broke through Gaara's sand defense with a Rasengan.
Kenichi could not help smiling.
It seemed his arrival really had changed the future.
Gaara was a very typical example of a character who seemed unbeatable early in the story but struggled to keep pace later.
During the Chunin Exams, Gaara had been absurdly strong.
Among genin, there were very few people who could defeat him one on one.
For most opponents, fighting him as a group would have been the only realistic option.
Once Gaara released the One-Tail, his strength became even more outrageous.
If Naruto had not possessed his special ability to reach people through words, combined with the story arranging events in his favor, Gaara would not have been dealt with so easily.
But later, particularly by the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the gap between Gaara and the two outright monsters, Naruto and Sasuke, had become increasingly obvious.
Among the Five Kage, Gaara's individual combat power no longer seemed especially overwhelming.
Still, his abilities remained highly useful in a support role.
"The Rasengan..."
Hiruzen immediately recognized Naruto's technique.
His gaze shifted toward Kenichi.
There was no question where Naruto had learned it.
Kenichi had obviously taught him.
Thinking about that brought another memory to Hiruzen's mind.
During an earlier Chunin Exam match, Hinata had faced her cousin, Neji.
The result had been completely different from what most people expected.
Hinata had activated Sage Mode and thoroughly beaten Neji.
Neji possessed extensive combat experience and was unquestionably formidable among shinobi of his age.
Unfortunately for him, his opponent had been Hinata in Sage Mode.
Her speed and strength had both risen dramatically.
Add in the constant training she received alongside Naruto and Sasuke, and Neji had eventually fallen to the Main House heiress he had always looked down upon.
The expression on his face had been one of complete disbelief.
Hiashi's reaction had been even better.
His eyes had nearly popped out of their sockets.
Remembering Hiashi's expression, as though he had swallowed something foul, caused an amused smile to appear on Hiruzen's face.
Hidden villages and ninja clans had always existed in a strange relationship of mutual dependence and restraint.
Konoha's strength had originally come from the union of numerous powerful clans.
The Senju Clan had eventually dispersed and integrated themselves throughout Konoha, spreading their bloodline into the village population and significantly increasing the likelihood of future generations producing capable shinobi.
The Uchiha and Hyuga Clans had given Konoha tremendous strategic depth.
The same principle applied to the village's other clans, with the main difference being the degree of power each one possessed.
In return, a powerful Konoha also protected and nurtured those clans.
Because of that, the relationship between village and clan had always been complicated.
Hiruzen knew very well that his teacher, the Second Hokage Tobirama, had maintained a policy of balancing and suppressing the influence of the major clans.
That philosophy had influenced Hiruzen as well.
After the destruction of the Uchiha Clan, the largest remaining clan in Konoha was now the Hyuga.
Thanks to the Byakugan, the Hyuga Clan remained one of the village's most important forces.
Naturally, Hiruzen's attention had shifted toward them.
After all, the tallest nail was usually the first one hammered down.
However, the Hyuga Clan's circumstances were unusual.
The Caged Bird Seal firmly controlled the branch family.
As long as Konoha maintained oversight over the Main House, it effectively maintained influence over the entire clan.
That was also why Hiruzen had generally been more tolerant of the Hyuga.
Without the Caged Bird Seal, the fate that had befallen the Uchiha Clan might one day have become the Hyuga Clan's future as well.
Hiruzen knew that Hiashi had long been dissatisfied with Hinata as his eldest daughter.
After Hanabi was born, Hiashi had begun considering grooming his younger daughter as the next clan head instead.
Hiruzen had never interfered.
That was internal Hyuga family business.
Even as Hokage, he could not casually dictate another clan's succession.
But no one had expected Hinata to change so drastically after joining Naruto and Sasuke's team.
Under Kenichi's personal guidance, she had grown at an astonishing rate.
She had even mastered Sage Mode.
At that point, Hiruzen understood that any plan Hiashi might once have had to place the Caged Bird Seal on Hinata was completely impossible.
With Kenichi protecting her, how much courage would Hiashi need to even attempt such a thing?
The last time Kenichi visited the Hyuga compound, he had nearly killed Hiashi.
By now, Hiashi understood perfectly well what kind of monster Kenichi was.
Thinking about how thoroughly Hiashi had been humbled brought another faint smile to Hiruzen's face.
Meanwhile, Kenichi stretched and yawned.
There was almost nothing worth watching anymore.
Gaara was already finished.
Naruto had become extremely strong.
After receiving Kenichi's long-term personal training and learning the Rasengan, Naruto already possessed combat ability firmly within the chunin level.
Against a Gaara who was not using the power of his Tailed Beast, the fight was relatively easy.
Just as Kenichi concluded that everything had been settled, something unexpected happened right on schedule.
Gaara lost control.
The seal broke.
The One-Tail, Shukaku, emerged inside Konoha.
Kenichi remained expressionless.
He even yawned again.
Hiruzen, however, nearly jumped out of his seat.
He had never expected Gaara to release his Tailed Beast during the competition.
His mood immediately sank.
On one hand, this incident would give Konoha ample grounds to demand greater compensation from Sunagakure later.
On the other hand, if Shukaku was not stopped quickly, the destruction to Konoha could become catastrophic.
"Gaara, stop!"
The Sand shinobi immediately descended into chaos.
The most desperate among them were Gaara's own siblings.
They shouted frantically, trying to reach their younger brother.
It was useless.
Shukaku had already emerged.
Sand and dust surged into the air.
Within moments, much of Konoha seemed to be swallowed by a violent sandstorm.
"A Tailed Beast!"
Kakashi's pupils contracted.
The nearby Anbu exchanged grim looks.
Konoha had already suffered through the Nine-Tails attack years ago.
Now another Tailed Beast had appeared inside the village.
Why did disasters of this scale keep happening to Konoha?
Yet not one of them retreated.
Behind them stood the village.
There was nowhere else to run.
Farther away, Kabuto exchanged glances with several Otogakure ninja.
They silently nodded.
They still had no idea why Orochimaru had vanished.
But that no longer mattered.
A Tailed Beast had appeared.
If they failed to exploit such an obvious opportunity, they suspected Orochimaru would punish them severely afterward.
Before Kabuto or the others could make a move, however, something enormous rose from the ground.
A colossal wooden figure towered over the battlefield.
It reached forward and seized Shukaku as though grabbing a small animal.
Then a massive wooden dragon coiled around the One-Tail.
The dragon tightened around Shukaku's body while continuously absorbing its chakra.
Shukaku roared in pain.
It accomplished nothing.
"Who is it?!"
Shukaku's furious voice echoed directly through the area.
"Wood Release?! You dare use this against me?!"
Kenichi found the noise irritating.
His Mangekyo Sharingan slowly rotated.
A layer of Susanoo immediately formed around the colossal wooden figure.
Then a massive blade composed of Susanoo chakra appeared in its hands.
Kenichi swung once.
The blade cleaved through Shukaku in a single strike.
Gaara coughed up blood.
His body collapsed to the ground.
His breathing stopped.
Everyone in the arena froze.
A moment earlier, it had seemed as if an unstoppable disaster was about to destroy Konoha.
Then, in the next instant, the Tailed Beast had been restrained and cut down as easily as livestock.
The abrupt reversal was so extreme that most of the spectators could barely process what they had witnessed.
Kenichi, however, only felt bored.
He looked toward Gaara, whose body was on the verge of death.
After hesitating for a moment, Kenichi reached out and grabbed him.
Then he thrust his hand into Gaara's chest and completely eradicated Shukaku's remaining presence.
With Shukaku's death, Gaara also died.
Kenichi looked down at the corpse and stored it away.
Normally, a Jinchuriki would die once their Tailed Beast was extracted.
There were methods of dealing with that afterward.
Kenichi simply could not be bothered to use one right now.
If Gaara died, then he died.
Kenichi did not particularly care.
Still, he had preserved the body because he intended to give Gaara another chance later.
Kenichi wanted to see what path Gaara would take if he lived without a Tailed Beast inside him.
He was curious.
And since Gaara had originally become one of Naruto's important friends, Kenichi did not mind doing Naruto that small favor.
"...That man is terrifyingly strong."
Hiruzen, who had already prepared himself for battle, stared at Kenichi with a complicated expression.
His lips tightened.
The scene immediately reminded him of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
And of Hashirama's greatest enemy, Madara Uchiha.
Surely Kenichi's strength had already reached their level.
Perhaps he had even surpassed them.
That realization left Hiruzen feeling both delighted and deeply uneasy.
Kenichi's unpredictability was becoming an enormous source of pressure.
If Kenichi had simply been a child who wholeheartedly inherited the Will of Fire, Hiruzen could have proudly declared that Konoha would remain the strongest village in the entire Shinobi World.
As long as Kenichi lived, that title would be almost impossible to take away.
No other hidden village would dare provoke someone like him.
Unfortunately...
Reality was not so convenient.
Kenichi looked at the stunned crowd and felt strangely empty.
Invincibility was certainly satisfying.
Having everyone stare at him in awe was enjoyable for a moment.
But a life without challenge quickly became boring.
It was like playing a single-player game with an invincibility cheat.
At first, turning on the cheat was incredibly fun.
You could crush everything in your path.
Nothing could threaten you.
But once the novelty disappeared, the game lost its purpose.
Eventually, you stopped playing entirely and let it gather dust.
That was exactly how Kenichi felt now.
He might already be invincible within Konoha.
But that kind of invincibility held almost no appeal for him.
Kenichi smiled toward Naruto and the others.
Then he simply left.
His goal was clear.
He wanted to thoroughly understand the time machine as soon as possible.
Then he would leave this timeline and return to his original world.
That was where Kenichi's true battlefield waited.
When Kenichi returned to Amado's laboratory, he found Amado chatting with his daughter, Akebi.
Kenichi was somewhat speechless.
Still, he walked over and patted Amado on the shoulder.
Amado turned around.
The instant he saw Kenichi, his expression brightened and he excitedly grabbed Kenichi's hand.
Kenichi did not waste much time.
He immediately pulled Amado back into the laboratory and resumed their research on the time machine.
Three months passed in what felt like an instant.
During those three months, Kenichi and Amado thoroughly studied the machine's exterior.
Yet they still could not find any method of opening it.
They tried one approach after another.
Nothing worked.
Even Amado eventually became dumbfounded by the device.
Kenichi, however, sank into deeper thought.
It seemed his original theory was probably correct.
The activation condition for the machine was likely connected to the Otsutsuki bloodline.
Meanwhile, the compression and refinement of the cells throughout Kenichi's body had already reached 99.9 percent.
Only a tiny amount remained.
After a few more rounds of refinement, he should be able to complete the entire process.
At that point, Kenichi expected his life level itself to undergo a fundamental transformation.
And once that happened, he would probably gain the qualifications necessary to open the machine.
But Kenichi was no longer satisfied with simply opening it.
That would not truly solve the problem.
Using the machine still meant relying on an external tool.
What if, one day, he encountered an enemy capable of throwing him into another timeline?
What if that happened when he did not have the time machine with him?
Would he simply be trapped again?
Kenichi refused to accept that possibility.
So he reached a new conclusion.
He would continue studying the machine.
But his ultimate goal was no longer merely to activate it.
Kenichi wanted to understand the principles behind it.
He wanted to master time-space travel himself.
....
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