Ten days later, Shinno returned to the secret cave to continue his research on the flying fortress. Not long after entering, he began to feel unwell—his head was heavy, his vision swam, and a wave of nausea rolled through his stomach.
Am I just overworked? Is my body finally reaching its limit?
As he entered the inner chamber housing the fortress's core, Shinno sat down to rest. However, his condition showed no signs of improvement; if anything, the symptoms intensified.
Worried that his falling ill would cause panic among the Sky Ninja remnants and stall the research on the fortress, Shinno pulled several herbs from his medical pouch and swallowed them raw. After a few moments, he felt a slight reprieve and forced himself to focus on his work.
As the effects of the herbs began to wane, his physical state deteriorated further. His fingers began to tremble so violently that the draft paper in his hand shook.
Suddenly, his gaze froze. His fingers were shaking, but the paper itself was vibrating even harder.
There was an enemy.
Snap!
His eyeballs were instantly pulverized by focused sonic waves. Screaming in agony, Shinno opened his mouth to cry out.
At that exact moment, two figures blurred out of the shadows. With lightning speed, they drove kunai deep into his torso, just below the ribs on either side.
The sudden, brutal assault left Shinno with no room to react. His silent scream died in his throat because the twin kunai had punctured both lungs, causing a traumatic pneumothorax. He couldn't even draw a breath to make a sound.
Just as the waves of intense pain began to register, a third figure emerged from the ground. A Vibration Blade extended from its wrist and plunged into his back, severing the sixth and seventh vertebrae before skewering his heart.
Tetsumaru watched as Shinno's mouth worked soundlessly, the man's eyes filled with a desperate, dying light. Tetsumaru cranked up the frequency of the Vibration Blade, instantly liquefying the man's heart and ending his life.
Rule of Combat Number One: Those who talk too much are the most likely to get flipped.
Abiding by this principle, Tetsumaru hadn't uttered a single word, nor had he given Shinno the chance to speak.
Once he confirmed Shinno had stopped breathing, a second fully-armed Bio-Armor Unit 1 emerged from the earth. From start to finish, the real Tetsumaru hadn't personally appeared; he had ended Shinno using two Insect Clones and one Shadow Clone.
With Shinno dead, Tetsumaru felt a wave of refreshing clarity. Some destitute leader of a ruined village using such a high-tier pseudonym...
Shinno? You think you're worthy of that name? In your dreams.
Aside from Shinno, he also found the Four-Tails, Son Goku, to be an annoying brat. A mere Tailed Beast gorilla didn't deserve that legendary name. Out of a billion worlds, only Kakarot was worthy of it in Tetsumaru's eyes.
Simultaneously, in a hidden bay two hundred kilometers away, ten Shadow Clones led two thousand Scythe-Mantises in a total blockade of the fishing village. What followed was a one-sided slaughter.
The young Sky Ninja aspirants fell beneath the mantis claws. Some were trampled by the giant insects, their bones snapping like dry twigs. Many tried to break out, but they were either cut down on the spot or driven back into the center by the looming swarm.
The village was occupied in minutes. There were no civilians here—only Sky Ninja reserves—and no genuine masters. Tetsumaru encountered zero resistance and completed the purge in record time.
His Shadow Clones packed up everything of value in the village, though aside from a group of captured teenagers, there wasn't much worth taking. Finally, the clones put the village to the torch. Everything—including the bodies of those killed or trampled by the giants—was reduced to ash.
The Sky Ninja were officially extinct. In the future, there would be no Sky Ninja, no Dark Medical Arts, and no Zero-Tails.
While the cleanup at the village was a simple matter of arson, the work on Tetsumaru's end was far more difficult. Shinno's body was easy to dispose of—he just summoned a bug to drag it away—but the massive apparatus in the center of the hall couldn't be moved. Even if it could, Tetsumaru didn't dare touch it. One wrong move and this "mysterious black tech" might turn into a pile of overpriced scrap metal.
Tetsumaru had immense confidence in his own luck—as in, he suspected he had already "overdrawn" his future luck by stumbling onto the Sky Ninja's legacy. He couldn't afford to take any more risks.
Aside from the Ancor Vantian control system, he also had to sort through Shinno's research data. Even if most of it lacked direct scientific value, it might provide a spark of inspiration.
This was the Shinobi World, not the mundane Earth. Many problems were solved through the "I reckon" field of belief rather than fundamental physics. There was no need to obsess over the underlying principles immediately.
Once he reached a higher peak and had the luxury of time, he could look back and study these problems from a position of enlightenment. It would likely be a natural breakthrough then. As long as he could keep moving forward, he wouldn't waste time getting bogged down in the details now.
Since he couldn't move the tech, Tetsumaru decided to establish a new research group on-site. For now, it would be a sub-branch of the Aerospace Plan, focusing on the construction techniques of the flying fortress.
Additionally, this island was 1,400 kilometers away from the nearest Broodmother in the Land of Tea—a total enclave. It needed its own independent defense and production systems.
Therefore, he would build a Broodmother on this island and station a swarm here for protection.
But even more important than defense was camouflage. Total invisibility was a much better safeguard for an enclave lab than a massive army.
However, a project of this scale wasn't something Tetsumaru could decide alone; he had to discuss it with all of himself.
Even if they were the same person, their perspectives differed based on their current tasks. As long as they didn't develop conflicting egos, this was a highly effective way to avoid the trap of "singular thinking."
As for reporting this to Konoha? Out of the question. This was loot he had obtained while "jungling" in the wild. Moreover, the Hokage had long ago declared the Sky Ninja completely annihilated. If he was stupid enough to report this, he'd not only lose the tech but also offend a massive number of people.
Specifically, the dozens of Jonin who had been promoted because of that war, the Sannin who had each shot down a flying fortress, and—most importantly—the Third Hokage himself.
You don't offend the village chief and expect to come out on top.
The only person who might have supported him was Danzo Shimura, who had stayed home doing nothing during that war. But Tetsumaru would rather die than stand on the same side as that man.
Danzo was prone to "black eating black" and backstabbing his own allies. Plus, the man was cursed with terrible luck; Tetsumaru had no intention of letting his own bad luck mingle with Danzo's. That was a recipe for a "Double Disaster."
Tetsumaru's rational side was, as usual, quite reliable. Once he coordinated with the Shadow Clones, the plan was passed and executed. Within a month, the camouflage and defenses of "Sky Island" were complete. He had officially swallowed the Sky Ninja's inheritance, securing the ultimate secrets of flight for himself.
But the Sky Ninja legacy proved difficult to digest. In the months that followed, the clones' research into the fortress's core system yielded almost zero results.
The system was so complex it was borderline incomprehensible. He couldn't even find a place to start.
It was like an F-22 Raptor falling into the hands of a pre-WWI aircraft designer. The technological gap was so vast that the designer wouldn't even recognize the operating principles.
However, that didn't stop Tetsumaru from using its functions. For instance, by channeling chakra into the core, he could negate gravity. A full-power output from Tetsumaru could generate a staggering 800,000 tons of lift.
That amount of lift defied science, but it was reality. Only such a terrifying force could keep a fortress made of solid rock floating in the sky.
This single function made the core system priceless. Building a floating steel fortress around it would be a trivial matter.
But Tetsumaru didn't intend to build a flying city yet. His next target wasn't some country in the Shinobi World, but the moon.
A fortress that couldn't exit the atmosphere was useless for the "Moon War," and the resources required to build it were non-existent. Despite his personal love for the "big toy," he followed his logic and put the idea on the back burner.
While the real Tetsumaru was busy at the enclave, the Shadow Clones in the Land of Tea held the Third General Assembly—the first one held without the Main Body.
"Brothers, we have a crisis on our hands."
"Cut the flowery sophist speech. We're all the same guy; just talk normally."
"Fine. The Mental Health Group analyzed all of the Main Body's behavior data. Our conclusion: the Main Body is sliding uncontrollably toward schizophrenia. And the cause is us—the long-term Shadow Clones."
"...Alright. That is a crisis."
"Did you figure out the cause? Is there a solution other than dispelling us all?"
"We found it. Because we exist for so long, when we return, we bring back more than just knowledge and experience. we bring back distinct emotions and emotional experiences."
"Clones that only exist for a short time have no developed ego; their thoughts are easily absorbed by the Main Body. But our accumulated emotional weight is too great. It's hard to digest, so it persists as an 'alien' presence in his mind."
"Moreover, these emotions are still 'Tetsumaru's' emotions, so his 'Self' doesn't reject them. But these undigested feelings amplify specific thoughts or impulses, preventing them from fading naturally. That's the disease."
"I see. Too many individual thoughts are becoming too powerful, causing a break in continuity. It makes him prone to extreme decisions."
"No wonder this meeting was held without him."
"Yeah. If he got agitated and dispelled us all without thinking of the consequences, he might actually die from the feedback."
"Another symptom is that he's making decisions too easily, losing his sense of priority."
"True. He's opened too many project groups lately. We're being stretched too thin."
"At this rate, he'll have a mental break, and we'll be the first ones to go."
"How do we fix it?"
The clone chairing the meeting held up two fingers. "Two ways. One: we all get ganked. The Main Body takes three years to slowly digest the mental 'clots' and returns to normal."
The hall fell silent. The clones thought about it, and most of them shook their heads. "Unacceptable. It's too passive. The Main Body wouldn't go for it either."
"Then there is only one other way."
"We and the Main Body must reconstruct our worldview. We need a grand ideal to lead our thoughts—a sense of pride in creating a 'wonder' to unify our collective will."
The clones stared blankly. ┌(.Д.)┐
"Are you serious?"
"Look at it this way. In our past lives, when we saw Musk's Starlink plan, what was the first feeling? Impressive, right?"
"Impressive," the clones chorused.
"Did we feel like we could beat it?"
"Hell no," they chorused again.
"But when we saw our Motherland catching turtles in the deep sea and plucking the moon from the sky... when we saw the black jets dominating the heavens and the southern waters diverted to the north... were you proud?"
"Of course!"
"We never had the chance to participate back then. Do you regret it?"
No one answered, but the silence was deafening.
"An ideal carries the spirit; a wonder proves the ideal. Dreams and wonders can unify the thoughts of an entire nation—so why not one man?"
"But that's not enough. we need our own war. A war that carries our dreams. Like the war between the Han and the Xiongnu, or a newborn nation challenging the world's strongest powers."
"Our current will is inherited; it hasn't been tempered. We need to catch up. A war for a common dream can forge a people, recreate a civilization, and certainly re-forge our spirit. We need a war."
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
The clones stopped talking. They just started applauding.
Once the consensus was reached, a clone nearing his expiration date dispelled himself, sending the collective decision to the real Tetsumaru at the enclave.
Awkward. Beyond awkward.
Tetsumaru slammed his head against the ground and groaned. My own clones put me in a time-out, critiqued me, restricted my travel, and now they've officially diagnosed me as a schizophrenic. What the hell is this?
Did I just betray myself?
But soon, he calmed down and fell into deep reflection. They're right. Things haven't been right.
I was reckless against the Mist rogue, but cowardly against Shinno. Why did I just feel embarrassed? Since when did I care about what others thought?
As long as I'm not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to someone else.
Schizophrenics truly don't know they're sick. Thank god I have my 'Self' to criticize me, or I'd be in real trouble.
Three days later, Tetsumaru stood at the highest point of the Broodmother, looking out over the endless purple carpet of the Creep. He felt a surge of pride knowing he had turned a barren peninsula into this.
But what's next?
The Inner World plan? No, that's just building a basement. It's not a dream, and there's no war.
The Tier-1 Swarm plan? No, most of the clones don't feel a part of that.
There is only one plan that fits.
Tetsumaru looked up at the crescent moon. He pulled out a Snail Phone and spoke to every clone on the channel.
"We are focusing all resources on the Lunar Mission. Forget the 'Year 46' timeline; we start now. If the Otsutsuki dare to resist, we'll flatten them in a war of annihilation."
"No problem."
"We can pause everything else except the Katsuyu Avatar project."
"If we truly can't push through, we can just 'nuke' them into submission."
"Moon! Moon! Moon!"
Seeing the consensus, Tetsumaru asked one final question: "So, what's our first step?"
A chorus of Shadow Clones shouted back: "Establish the Fire Country Telecom Company! Become the sole communication provider for the Shinobi World!"
Tetsumaru's brain short-circuited. "Huh?"
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