Chapter 167: Ice Body and Wood Release
The appearance of the Mirror Eye… Genichi couldn't be sure if it was because his Yin nature transformation was different, or if it was a problem with his own physical constitution. Or perhaps both.
But right now, that wasn't particularly important. He had gained another Kekkei Genkai, and a very good one at that. No matter what, it was something to be happy about. However, he still needed to test its abilities more.
Genichi hurriedly sent Kakashi back to the Konoha Hospital and then used the Flying Thunder God to vanish from the village.
Sunagakure.
He appeared suddenly in an empty alley. He briefly sensed the situation in the Kazekage's office, and after confirming that no one was there besides Pakura, he teleported directly over.
Pakura, who was sitting behind her desk looking down at documents, first stiffened, then relaxed. She said with a hint of complaint, "Appearing like that, it's easy to be mistaken for an enemy."
Genichi had no time for flirting. He got straight to the point. "This is business. Show me your Scorch Release."
Pakura was puzzled. She stood up and turned to look at him, then noticed that his eyes were different from before. "Your eyes…"
"A new dōjutsu," he said.
"They look a bit like the Sharingan." With that, she extended her right hand, and a Scorch Release fireball condensed in her palm.
Genichi activated his Mirror Eye again. His body silently transformed into Pakura, and as he raised his hand, he also produced a Scorch Release fireball. This was not surprising. The Water Mirror Technique could even reflect and copy Tailed Beast chakra, and the Water Transformation Technique he had developed could also mimic it.
The key was what happened after the jutsu was dispelled.
But Pakura was incredibly shocked. "You… the Sharingan's copying ability shouldn't be able to copy a Kekkei Genkai, right? Your eyes are stronger than the Sharingan!"
Genichi dispersed the fireball, and his body returned to normal. "Whether it's strong or not doesn't depend on the dōjutsu itself, but on the person." He lowered his eyes, analyzing the chakra information about Scorch Release that he had just recorded. But unlike with the Raikiri, he couldn't use it directly.
But that's not a problem with the dōjutsu, it's a problem with the person… he thought. The secret of Scorch Release is laid out before me, I just can't master it in such a short time. If my own ability was sufficient, then in theory, through the Mirror Eye's mirroring ability, I could quickly copy other people's Kekkei Genkai. Even Kekkei Tōta and Kekkei Mōra could be copied, but that's obviously impossible. My talent isn't that outrageous. It took me more than ten years to comprehend the secrets of the Sharingan. Scorch Release isn't as complex, but it will still take some time. The difficulty of one nature transformation and the difficulty of fusing two to form a new one are on completely different levels.
The test was over. Although it wasn't as strong as he had imagined, the Mirror Eye's ability could still save him countless hours. Without it, for Kekkei Genkai like Dark Release, Shikotsumyaku, and the abilities of the Tailed Beasts, he would first have to research and analyze them, and only then could he try to comprehend and learn them. But now, with the Mirror Eye, it was like with the Sharingan before: the answer was laid out before him. He could skip the research and analysis step and go straight to learning and training.
Deactivating the Mirror Eye, Genichi looked at Pakura, who was now dressed differently. "I still like the old you better."
Having put on the Kazekage's robes, she no longer showed her back.
What a lecherous brat. Pakura grumbled to herself, but she took off the robes, sat back down, and went back to work, not bothering with him.
Genichi stood behind her, admiring her beautiful back. After a while, he silently vanished. When Pakura realized he was gone, she put the Kazekage's robes back on.
The Hidden Leaf Village.
Genichi returned home and continued to test his Mirror Eye. For example, its genjutsu ability was in no way inferior to the Sharingan's. He could also use the Binding God Technique he had developed before. It was clear that the Mirror Eye was still based on the Sharingan; it was a mutation.
His gaze fell on the Sharingan in the glass jar on his desk, and he fell into deep thought. What should he do with this eye? The Mirror Eye was completely his own. Its potential for further evolution was definitely greater than this one's. However, although his bottom line was very flexible, he still felt a bit uneasy about just shelving and abandoning this Sharingan. And it also represented a possibility.
"I'll just have to place it somewhere else…" Genichi looked down at his palms. His palm was an option. Of course, if he really wanted to, he could put it on his arm. But in a place like that, it was useless for anything other than Izanagi.
My palm… he shook his head. Not very suitable either. Then my forehead it is. Anyway, if I need it in the future, I can always transplant it again…
He made his decision. But this was not something to be rushed. Transplanting the Sharingan to his forehead would require creating a new nervous system to connect it. It was no small project. It would be much less trouble to wait for Tsunade to come back and design it together.
Putting this matter aside for the time being, he continued to take stock of his gains. First was genjutsu. He had made considerable progress.
By combining the Five Senses Seal with the sixth sense of the Binding God Technique, he had developed a hard-control genjutsu that sealed all six senses, named "Heaven and Earth Seal." And this was a genjutsu that was cast with the Sharingan, but it didn't require eye contact—only line of sight. After being hit, the target was completely cut off from the outside world and could only be released by an outsider. If they wanted to release it themselves, their spiritual power and chakra strength would have to surpass his. Or, they would need an even more powerful dōjutsu.
Of course, the Mirror Eye could also cast it. He liked this jutsu very much. It was his usual style: domineering and brutal.
In addition to this, the genjutsu development he had envisioned after completing the Five Senses Seal had also borne fruit.
Realm of Truth - True Touch of the Five Senses: creating a real perception on the basis of the five senses being sealed.
Realm of Truth - Shared Truth of the Five Senses: creating a real illusion based on his own five senses, passing off the fake as genuine.
It could be seen that his future self was progressing step by step according to the plan. Furthermore, for the uncompleted third step, his future self had already chosen a name: "Brain in a Vat."
The "Brain in a Vat" was a thought experiment from his past life. A person's brain is removed from their body and placed in a vat of life-sustaining fluid. The nerve endings are connected to a computer, which feeds the brain information to maintain a completely normal illusion. For the person, it seems that people, objects, and the sky still exist; their own movements and bodily sensations can all be inputted.
Genichi wanted to achieve this with genjutsu: to seal the enemy's own various sensory abilities, so that they could not obtain information from the outside world through themselves. All information would be transmitted to their brain by him, the caster.
Looking at the development experience left by his future self, Genichi felt a little strange. In terms of effect, it was actually very similar to the Infinite Tsukuyomi, which wrapped people up like dumplings and pulled their consciousness into a dream world.
"This genjutsu is a bit difficult to develop," he frowned. Artificially weaving an illusion was very easy to create flaws. He had to guide the target's own thoughts, consciousness, and memories. After a moment of thought, he put it aside for now.
That was it for his gains in genjutsu. The further he developed it, the more difficult it became, and the more time it required. Next was his sensory Kekkei Genkai, Heaven's Eye. Its development toward a Kekkei Tōta was not yet complete, but it had progressed quite a bit.
"A Kekkei Tōta is really difficult," he sighed. Not just Heaven's Eye, but his Ice Release Kekkei Tōta was also not complete. And just as he had predicted, with only Wind + Water, -100°C was the limit. Ten years was a long time, but it was also very short.
Fortunately, it wasn't all for naught. The true "Ice Body" technique was finally complete.
Standing on his bedroom floor, his body began to turn to ice. Including his clothes, his hair, his skin, his muscles, everything turned into ice. His entire person, from the inside out, took on a transparent, ice-blue color. This was the elementalized Ice Body, similar to the Hydrification Technique.
In this state, his body's hardness was greater than that of the hardest diamond. Most importantly, even if his body was shattered, as long as a single shard of ice remained, even the size of a fingernail, he could still regenerate. As for being countered by Lightning Release like the Hydrification Technique, that was completely non-existent. To counter the Ice Body, one first needed a high enough temperature to easily melt the -100°C ice.
In his Ice Body state, Genichi thought for a moment and used the Flying Thunder God to arrive at the edge of a lake in the mountains behind Konoha, where he had trained in Ice Release before.
He stepped onto the water, and the lake beneath his feet quickly froze. He clapped his hands together, and the water in the lake immediately swept toward him and coiled around him. In an instant, a fifty-meter-tall ice-blue giant appeared. This ice giant was different from the one he had created in his battle with the Eight-Tails. At that time, he had been standing on the golem's head. But now, the entire giant was his body. It wasn't like the Susanoo, which protected him inside, nor was it like the Wood Golem, where he was outside. It was based on elementalization, an enlargement of his Ice Body.
"It's much easier to control like this, and my movements aren't so slow." Genichi stood in the dry lakebed, raising his feet and hands, very satisfied. Then, with a thought, more arms grew from the giant's armpits. And his eyes, the eyeballs re-fleshed in an instant, and his Mirror Eye opened. In this state, it didn't affect his use of dōjutsu at all.
He then tried to form ice wings, but he couldn't simulate animal wings and make the ice giant fly.
"This is a problem with shape transformation," he frowned to himself. "I'll need to research the Seven-Tails for this." Among the nine Tailed Beasts, only the Seven-Tails could fly.
The hard ice turned back into water. He first dispelled the ice giant form, then the Ice Body. Stepping out of the lake and onto the shore, he clapped his hands together and began to concentrate.
Of his gains from this power-up, only one major one remained.
Wood Release.
Although he had rejected the Hashirama cells before, so he didn't have them in his body, nor did he have the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, his future self, because of the cells, had mastered it. He had the experience of fusing Water + Earth to form Wood. This experience was also left behind, and as it happened, he had mastered both Water and Earth Release. This was also a freebie.
After a moment of concentration, he fused the refined Water and Earth Release chakra in his body. He opened his eyes, and his hand seal changed to the serpent seal.
Wood Release!
Thick vines broke through the ground, growing rapidly like snakes and dragons, reaching a length of over ten meters in the blink of an eye.
Genichi looked at them and smiled. He had mastered another Kekkei Genkai, and this was one he had mastered himself, not from transplanting cells. And he didn't have to bother developing Wood Release ninjutsu; Konoha had them. He felt his sense of security had increased a lot.
He returned home and began to write in a blank scroll, describing the details and his insights on fusing Wood Release, using words and formulas as much as possible. This was also part of his family's legacy. If he took on disciples in the future, he could also teach them and see if it could be passed down from master to student, like Dust Release.
After writing down his insights, he took another blank scroll and continued to write. This time, it was about Magnet Release. He hadn't mastered it yet, but in the future, he had done a very in-depth study of it. He was confident that, barring any accidents, he could complete it within the next year. And what was interesting was that the Cloud-nin Troi's Magnet Release was a fusion of Lightning + Earth, while the One-Tail's and the Fourth Kazekage's was a fusion of Wind + Earth. In the future, he had mainly studied the latter. But now that he had copied Lightning Release from Kakashi, he felt that he must also do an in-depth study of Troi's version. Perhaps he could master a Kekkei Tōta Magnet Release of Lightning + Earth + Wind.
Sigh, too many ideas, not enough brainpower, he sighed, and then felt like he was forgetting something.
After he finished writing, and then the Nine Secrets, it was already dark. He put away the scrolls, placed a seal on them, and then looked at his 'cheat' again.
Hmm?
Suddenly, he saw that the originally gray icon for "Overdraw 100 Years of the Future" on the panel had lit up.
"This is…" He swallowed. He could now overdraw a hundred years. This meant that his lifespan had completely exceeded a hundred years.
Heaven does not fail the diligent, he thought with emotion. All his hard work had not been in vain.
But the information from the panel made him frown slightly. The cooldown time for a hundred-year overdraft was ten years. This meant that if he chose this, he would have to wait ten years, until March 18 of Konoha Year 58, to activate it.
Ten years… the day lily would have withered by then. A hundred years in an instant was certainly amazing, but he also considered that his body was currently in a rapid development and growth period. If he waited ten years, it would be wasted. And if he continued to use his 'cheat' once a year, he could get many freebies during his development period. This was a very important point.
"A hundred years…" Genichi gritted his teeth. "The temptation is very great, but I'll wait." At least until he was over eighteen, or even twenty, or twenty-two, when his body had completely finished developing.
Time, time… Brain, brain! He closed the panel and rubbed his temples. He had to make use of the Mirror Eye's mirroring ability. One head is not as good as many. There were many Kekkei Genkai users in the ninja world. And various geniuses. He had to make use of them all.
"That guy Kakashi, with such good talent, it shouldn't be wasted. He's proficient in Lightning and Earth Release, he can try for Magnet Release. That guy Asuma, Wind and Fire. Scorch Release? I already have that, but maybe he can develop other Kekkei Genkai?"
Genichi had made up his mind. He couldn't be the only one grinding.
He went out to eat. After dinner, he strolled over to the Konoha Hospital.
"Lord Genichi!" a voice stopped him. He turned and a smile appeared on his face. "Nono-senpai."
"Just call me Nono, Lord Genichi," she said with a gentle smile. She didn't want to use that name anymore, but that was the name he had known her by.
Genichi suddenly thought of Kabuto Yakushi. But the Battle of Kikyō Mountain had been different.
"Nono, are you working at the hospital and the orphanage at the same time now?" he asked. He hadn't really looked into it.
"Yes," she said, a little surprised.
"If there are any children at the orphanage who could become ninja, you can send them to the academy," he said.
"This…" she was taken aback. The orphanage had always been Danzō's private territory. The members of Root were mainly from the various secret technique clans, but a portion were also talented orphans he had personally selected and trained, especially war orphans.
Seeing her hesitation, Genichi also realized. "I will deal with Danzō. And for the orphanage's funding, I will personally donate a sum."
"Yes! Thank you, Lord Genichi!" she was delighted and quickly bowed.
He waved his hand and walked away. She watched him leave before turning around. For her, being able to get away from Danzō was the best thing possible. The same went for the orphanage.
On the other side, Genichi was also thinking about the orphanage. He wasn't just meddling. It was that Root itself had no need to exist. Or rather, it should not be independent of the Hokage's system. A mercenary village, a military organization, did not need a system of checks and balances. The Hokage should be the one who controlled all the military power.
He didn't care while Hiruzen was in power, but when Tsunade took over, Root had to return to the Anbu series, not just in name, but in fact.
Besides, for a ninja village, what was most important? Talent. A talent like Minato was worth a thousand, or even more, ordinary chūnin. And that guy Danzō would just waste talent. Turning them into cold, unfeeling killing machines—was that still talent? Their subjective initiative was completely annihilated.
Thinking of these things, he had unconsciously arrived outside Kakashi's hospital room.
(End of Chapter)
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