Speaking of being trustworthy, the subordinates in the Akatsuki were undoubtedly the combat forces Shinji could trust most. And excluding those who had already reached the Six Paths level, there were a total of four people left in the Akatsuki: Haku, Yakumo, Ryuzetsu, and Chino.
"Those four..."
Shinji frowned slightly.
Haku, Yakumo, Ryuzetsu, and Chino were all Bloodline Limit shinobi, considered to have deep foundations among ordinary shinobi.
But compared to those who had already become Six Paths level, the potential of these few had almost reached its limit.
For example, Haku, he now mastered Ice Release, was skilled in Senjutsu and Breathing Style, had awakened the Mark, and comprehended the Transparent World; coordinating that with the Kusanagi Sword bestowed upon him by Shinji, he could even handle a berserk experimental subject whose strength approached the Six Paths level.
If placed in the shinobi world ten years ago, he would definitely be an existence that would make even the Five Kage tremble with fear.
But in this current era of massive combat power expansion, where Kage level are less than dogs and Six Paths walk everywhere, he truly could not be considered that strong.
The situation for Yakumo was similar; like Haku, she had reached the High Kage level and seemed only one step away from the Six Paths level, but her potential was basically exhausted; unless there were extra Chakra Fruits, otherwise, it would be difficult to cross this chasm between Kage level and Six Paths level!
As for Ryuzetsu and Chino, the two of them were a notch weaker than Haku and Yakumo, being at the Kage level, and their gap from the Six Paths level was even greater.
Tap tap tap
Fingers tapped lightly on the table as Shinji's brain operated at high speed.
There were quite a few methods to increase strength at the moment; the Research Institute had developed several, such as transplanting First Hokage's cells and so on.
Yakumo herself had already been transplanted with First Hokage's cells, so at most she could be transplanted with some of Karin's cells or Naruto's cells to complete the Sage Body of the Uzumaki Clan.
Haku had not been transplanted, so he could be transplanted with First Hokage's cells and Uzumaki Clan cells at the same time.
But even so, it would only let the two of them complete the Sage Body; relying on this point alone, wanting to break through to the Six Paths level was unrealistic. Because Asura Otsutsuki, who inherited the Sage Body from the Sage of Six Paths, only barely reached the level of the Six Paths level.
"If strength isn't enough, the environment can compensate..."
As if thinking of something, Shinji's eyes lit up.
The Sorcerer Supremes of the Hexagon World, if taken individually, were not enough to be Six Paths level, but if they had the support of a Mage Tower and the mage corps under them, the Sorcerer Supremes could exert Six Paths level strength, and this point gave Shinji inspiration.
Even if Haku and Yakumo were transplanted with various cells to complete the Sage Body, the two of them would still be a bit short of the Six Paths level in terms of raw strength, but if Shinji created a special environment for them that could amplify their strength, they might be able to take that step and reach the Six Paths level within a specific environment.
Haku was an Ice Release shinobi; in snowy regions, his strength could increase by a large margin out of thin air, but this was still not enough, because an ordinary snow and ice environment could only reduce Haku's chakra consumption when using Ice Release ninjutsu; after all, Ice Release was only a type of Bloodline Limit, which was fine for dealing with ordinary shinobi, but for dealing with stronger existences, it would be difficult.
Therefore, Shinji had to design a more special environment to allow Haku to use the environment to step into the Six Paths level.
It was the same for Yakumo; her Koryugan was an upgraded version of the Ketsuryugan and could control blood, so Shinji needed to create an environment similar to a blood pool for Yakumo to push the power of the Koryugan to the extreme; only then would it be possible for Yakumo to use the power of the environment to step into the Six Paths level.
Conceiving these environments would take time, so Shinji first notified Amado to arrange cell transplant surgeries for Haku and Yakumo, to first complete their Sage Bodies.
...
After giving the instructions, Shinji walked to the deepest part of his laboratory and stood in front of that row of large nutrient tanks.
The clones in this row of nutrient tanks were special clones that Shinji had secretly collected from the cell tissues of Naruto and Hinata, extracting the genetic material from them to cultivate, with the purpose of creating Boruto Uzumaki in advance.
Looking at the clones in the nutrient tanks one by one, Shinji found that the appearance of these clones was indeed somewhat like the Boruto Uzumaki from the original timeline, only compared to Boruto Uzumaki, these clones appeared more tender, looking to be only seven or eight years old.
These clones stimulated by nutrient solution actually could not be considered living beings; if one had to say, they could only be considered sets of living organs, because they did not have a soul, which is the most important part of a life. Once they left the nutrient tanks, they would not last long before dying.
Watching them, Shinji suddenly shook his head and laughed.
To think that he could produce the Jougan just with these clones, thinking back now, he was indeed a bit too naive. But now he was already a Kekkei Shinra; as long as there was enough chakra information, guiding chakra to breed a pair of Jougan was not a difficult task.
Taking all the clones out of the nutrient tanks and bringing them to the laboratory, Shinji began cultivating the Jougan.
Completing the Jougan was Shinji's current priority.
He was indeed a Kekkei Shinra now, capable of exerting techniques comparable to Shinjutsu with every movement, but these techniques could not yet be counted as true Shinjutsu.
Therefore, he now needed to create the first Shinjutsu that belonged uniquely to him.
And he already possessed the Blue Rinnegan representing the "past," as well as the Six Magatama Rinnegan representing the "present"; as long as he completed the Jougan representing the "future," he would be equivalent to mastering the past, present, and future of the time side.
Based on this point, he could create a Shinjutsu unique to him, a kind of Shinjutsu that could be useful even when facing a Kekkei Shinra or even a Hegemon!
Therefore, manufacturing the Jougan was a very important link.
After getting ready, Shinji looked at the dozen or so clones lying on the surgical tables in front of him and silently activated Jikibi, connecting these dozen or so clones to himself.
With the connection of Jikibi, the states of these clones were displayed before Shinji's eyes at a glance; he immediately used Wazunagi to perform chakra guidance according to the characteristics of each clone, formulating the appropriate chakra to stimulate the clones' brains and optic nerves.
This kind of operation, which appeared simply incredible to others, was nothing more than common practice for the current Shinji.
Not long after, one clone had a reaction, snapping its eyes open and revealing pupils that had already turned into Byakugan.
"A Byakugan, huh..."
Shinji shook his head, not minding, and continued to stimulate the other clones.
Soon, another clone had a reaction, but this time it did not open its eyes; instead, its brain exploded with a
Pop
Shinji frowned slightly but did not stop, continuing to activate Wazunagi.