Chapter 384: The Transportation Array
Ishiro's party, escorting Akino Atsumi and a large quantity of supplies, took a considerable amount of time to reach the Land of Snow branch. This was mainly because the ones transporting the materials in the convoy were ordinary people, and their pace was slow.
However, along the way, Ishiro didn't feel bored. He was able to let Little Saiken and Little Chōmei see the world and familiarize his three disciples with high-rank missions.
Although Ishiro had brought the Gedo Statue and all three Tailed Beasts out with him, Son Gokū remained hidden inside the fragment and refused to come out. Only Little Saiken and Little Chōmei would frequently look around the convoy and then report back what they saw to Son Gokū.
This was naturally the first time for Sōkai's trio to come here. They were very curious about this place, which they had heard of many times and had even been added to the books at the Ninja Academy.
Although this wasn't Ishiro's first time here, the last time he had come, this branch was still under construction. This was the first time he had seen the completed facility.
Akino Atsumi went to the basement of the branch's main building to set up her transportation array. Within the branch, Ishiro didn't need to worry too much about her safety.
So, after taking his three disciples on a tour, Ishiro went to the Rainbow Ice Wall alone.
Sure enough, Shinya Matsutani, who he hadn't seen in the branch, was here.
From a distance, Ishiro saw Kohana, who had grown several sizes larger since their last meeting.
This time, Shinya Matsutani was not sleeping. He was writing something at a stone table. Kohana, on the other hand, was bored and wrestling with its own tail. Having gotten this fat, it could no longer bite its own tail.
When Ishiro approached, Kohana was the first to spot him.
"Meow," Kohana called out to Shinya.
Hearing the call, Shinya turned to look. Seeing that it was really Ishiro, he smiled and came forward to greet him. "Master Ishiro, what brings you here?"
Ishiro pointed in the direction of the branch. "Akino Atsumi is going to establish a transportation array at the branch to facilitate communication with the village. I escorted her here and came to see you on the way."
"Looking at you, you've made rapid progress. You're already an elite jonin. I was thinking, if I hadn't pushed you back then and just let you lie around like Kohana, would you have caught up to me by now?"
That's right. After not seeing him for some time, Shinya Matsutani was already an elite jonin. It was truly infuriating to think about; even someone who just slacked off could progress so quickly. His peer, Takumi, who trained and performed missions so diligently, was still just a jonin.
Shinya was long used to this kind of talk from Ishiro. He didn't respond to it, instead saying, "Master Ishiro, I have an idea on how to slowly mobilize the energy underground."
"It's just that my idea requires certain machinery or a puppet master's skills. I wonder if the village has any puppet masters?"
Although natural energy had been constantly seeping out from under the Rainbow Ice Wall, the amount was very small. Shinya's method of using this energy was also very crude; he just absorbed it with very low efficiency through breathing. But this was far from enough; it was not enough for research. Both Shinya and Ishiro were still hoping that this energy would bring a surprise to the village's Sage Art research.
Ishiro scratched his head. "Although the village has obtained some puppets from Sasori of the Red Sand, and the Suna-nin have also given us some puppet master basics, none of it forms a complete system. We don't have a way to train a true puppet master yet."
Shinya was a bit regretful. "I found some documents in the Land of Snow left by the previous Daimyo, Sōsetsu Kazahana, and studied the machine underground. This thing is indeed a one-time energy release device."
"It's just that I'm not good with machines, so I can't modify it. If we don't have a puppet master, finding a few masters in machinery would also work."
Ishiro frowned, unable to think of where to find such talent. He asked in return, "Where did Sōsetsu Kazahana find such a person?"
Shinya shrugged. "The documents don't say. I asked Koyuki Kazahana and Asama Sandayū, but no one knows."
Ishiro was also at a loss. The science and engineering knowledge he had learned in his previous life had been forgotten after so many years.
After thinking for a moment, Ishiro said, "What about the craftsmen of the Land of Iron?"
Shinya guessed, "Probably not. Modifying machines is likely not their specialty. If we designed it and had them build it, that might be possible."
Ishiro said, "Then let's not think in that direction. We are ninja. With a magical thing like chakra, are you afraid we won't have a way?"
Shinya pondered for a moment. "Master Ishiro, why don't you give it a try?"
Ishiro was puzzled. "Me? I haven't even investigated the specific situation down there."
Shinya said, "After all, you know Sage Art, Master Ishiro. The thing down there is somewhat similar to sage chakra. Maybe it can resonate!"
Hearing this, a thought struck Ishiro. "Alright. But what exactly should I do? It's Akino's first time setting up a transportation array, so it probably won't be done in a short while. After it's done, it still needs to be tested. I happen to have some free time."
Shinya said, "Master Ishiro, my idea is this: Sōsetsu Kazahana created a channel with the machine, didn't he? We can use this channel..."
Shinya explained his idea in detail. It seemed that letting him stay here was the right decision. Not only had he been promoted to elite jonin during this time, but he had also put a lot of thought into the research of the underground energy.
After listening to Shinya's description, Ishiro said, "I understand. It's too late today. Let's start tomorrow morning. I also need to make some preparations to enter Sage Mode."
Shinya sighed with some emotion. "Master Ishiro, after all these years, has your Sage Mode still not reached the point where you can enter it on your own in a normal state?"
Ishiro was also helpless. "Yes. Although I feel that my familiarity with Sage Mode and sage chakra has far surpassed when I first entered it, in terms of effect, there has been no real progress."
"I still can't enter Sage Mode in a normal state, and the boost from it is the same as before."
The path Shinya had planned for himself was Sage Mode. Hearing Ishiro's words now, he was also a bit disappointed.
Ishiro patted his shoulder. "You have to have confidence in yourself. You are different. I think that once you successfully enter Sage Mode for the first time, you won't be too far from completely mastering it."
"There is also talent for Sage Art. Your talent is undoubtedly much stronger than ours. My own talent for it is actually very poor, much worse than the Third's and Dango's. The reason I was able to go further than them is because I invested far more time and energy than they did, plus I have much more theoretical research on it than them."
Shinya nodded. He had a good mentality. After a brief moment of dejection, he was fine.
The two chatted for a while longer about the details of tomorrow's investigation, and then Ishiro returned to the branch.
Back at the branch, Ishiro first went to check on Akino's progress. She was still processing various materials with some specialists, still a long way from actually starting to set up the barrier.
So, Ishiro went outside the branch and set up a natural energy seal to use the next morning.
The next day, under the protection of the Anbu, Ishiro entered Sage Mode. Then he went to the Rainbow Ice Wall alone.
Shinya and Kohana were already waiting for him.
Ishiro wasted no words. He nodded at the human and the cat, then began to sense the energy underground according to what Shinya had said the day before.
Shinya's research during this time had been very thorough. Following the method he described, Ishiro used his own sage chakra to make tentative contact with the underground energy and found that there was indeed some reaction. However, their idea of using Ishiro's sage chakra to draw out this energy was not feasible.
But Ishiro did not give up directly. Instead, he changed his strategy and began to compare the differences between the two.
He wouldn't have known if he hadn't compared, but the comparison gave him a shock.
Previously, Shinya had guessed that the natural energy below might be the product of a combination with some ninja's Kekkei Genkai. Ishiro's deduction was Yang Release, because in the original story, after this energy was released, it had changed the ecological environment of a large surrounding area. One could guess from the fact that this energy had spurred the growth of so many plants.
But now, Ishiro's perspective was a bit different. During his research at the ancient shrine, his Yin Release had made considerable progress, reaching the true second stage. So, after his sage chakra made careful contact with the underground energy, Ishiro was surprised to find that not only was there Yang Release chakra in it, but there were also traces of Yin Release.
Yin Release and Yang Release... could it be that I've dug up the corpse of the Sage of Six Paths? Ishiro felt a little panicked. But the Sage had abandoned his body and lived on as a spiritual entity; his physical energy must have been taken with him. After a thousand years, the corpse should have rotted away long ago.
In any case, Ishiro felt that this underground energy was worth carefully sensing.
On the first day, Ishiro made no gains. So on the second day, he called over Little Saiken. There was a risk in absorbing natural energy, and Ishiro had never tried to put on a Tailed Beast chakra cloak and a sage chakra cloak at the same time. He planned to use the Tailed Beast chakra mode to sense the underground energy and compare the differences.
And believe it or not, it had some effect. In the two different states, the feeling the underground energy gave Ishiro was somewhat different.
On the third day, Ishiro created three shadow clones. One used sensory ninjutsu to investigate directly. One used Little Saiken's chakra mode to investigate. One used Little Chōmei's chakra mode to investigate. His main body investigated using Sage Mode.
Ishiro used four different states to distinguish the characteristics of the underground energy, while trying his best to imitate and comprehend it.
After a few days, although Ishiro hadn't made any substantial gains, his understanding of Sage Art had increased considerably. Previously, although he often maintained Sage Mode to increase his body's affinity for sage chakra, having never been in contact with other types of sage chakra, his understanding was quite limited. This period of comprehension had greatly broadened his horizons.
"I really want to see what the sage chakra of the three great sage regions is like. If I could analyze it as carefully as I'm analyzing this underground energy, I estimate my Sage Mode would soon reach a perfect level," Ishiro said to Shinya Matsutani.
However, Shinya was somewhat absent-minded. He seemed to be thinking about something.
Ishiro didn't disturb him but waited quietly.
These past few days, Ishiro had explained his comprehensions to Shinya as best he could every day. Sometimes, when he encountered an experience he couldn't clearly articulate, he would try his best to give examples to help Shinya understand the general feeling.
Having transmigrated for so long, Ishiro deeply understood one truth: in the ninja world, effort was no match for talent. Sometimes, things that he couldn't figure out no matter how hard he thought were solved by those specialized geniuses in a flash of inspiration. This was something Ishiro had discovered in Akino Atsumi, in Kawakita, in Katsumata, and in Qi, the leader of the Lightning Release research team.
So, when it came to natural energy, Ishiro was completely open with Shinya.
Now that his own attempts had run into a problem, and Shinya had fallen into deep thought, this made Ishiro a little expectant.
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