In the afternoon, the Hokage, Tobirama, finished his work and returned to the Senju clan's main residence.
Hashirama had already returned to the capital city half a month ago, so his presence wasn't felt in the home.
At dinner, the entire family gathered, though the number of people was significantly smaller than before, as some had gone to the capital city with Hashirama to develop their careers.
Tobirama was currently eating dinner and chatting with Mito.
"Tobirama, you'll rest at home tomorrow, then depart for the Land of Hot Water front lines the day after, won't you?" Mito asked with some concern.
Tobirama nodded, then replied, "Yes, the last batch of combat forces departed yesterday. Thanks to the Flying Raijin Technique, I can still rest at home for a day to recuperate."
"War has truly come... It feels like it's been a long time since something like this happened," Mito whispered softly, with a hint of melancholy.
Tobirama smiled, then said, "This is inevitable, but I believe this war is also for the sake of the next peace."
"If that were truly the case, that would be wonderful..." Mito also smiled and said.
Then Mito asked, "Oh, right, will Hibari go with you this time? To the Land of Hot Water?"
Tobirama shook his head and replied, "No, that kid just returned from a crucial mission. He and his subordinates might be physically able to endure it, but mentally, they're quite fatigued. Therefore, they won't participate in the war so soon. Instead, they'll serve as a reserve force, recuperating and awaiting orders in the village. If the war goes smoothly at the front, they might not even need to participate at all. However, if the battle becomes a stalemate, they will be conscripted."
"Won't that look bad? Won't there be rumors in the village?" Mito frowned and asked.
As the third-generation prodigy of the Senju clan, if Hibari had nothing to do during wartime, he might indeed be misunderstood. For example, people might think that Tobirama was afraid of something happening to Hibari, so he didn't assign him to the battlefield, providing him with a subtle form of protection.
What would that make him, then? Were other people's lives not as valuable as Hibari's? Was his life more precious than anyone else's?
This was why Mito had such concerns and asked that question.
Tobirama, however, smiled and said, "No, there won't be. What was previously classified information has been declassified these past two days. So, the story of Hibari's squad battling the Kumogakure Gold and Silver Brothers on the Land of Hot Water front lines, and severely wounding Kinkaku, will quickly spread throughout the village. This already proves that Hibari and his team were the vanguard, the first to engage in this war, and they've accumulated enough merits. It's perfectly reasonable for them to return and recuperate."
Mito nodded upon hearing this, visibly relieved. "That's good, then. Since you've arranged everything, I won't say anything more..."
Tobirama nodded, then asked with slight confusion, "By the way, where's that kid Hibari? Why haven't I seen him come for dinner?"
Mito likewise replied that she wasn't sure. "This morning, someone said they saw him go to your research lab, and he hasn't come out since. We sent someone to call him at noon, but there was no response. It was the same just now. I thought that when you used to get absorbed in research, you'd forget to eat and sleep, so I figured Hibari might have made some new discovery and was concentrating. So I didn't disturb him further, thinking that even if he didn't eat or drink for a day, his physical condition should be able to handle it."
Tobirama nodded upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "Perhaps that kid really did make some new discovery... How about this, I'll go check on what he's up to after I finish eating."
Mito also smiled, and then the two of them didn't concern themselves with it further, instead continuing to chat about other topics.
Only after dinner was completely finished did Tobirama leisurely approach the research lab. Seeing that the barrier there was indeed disengaged, which meant someone was inside, he didn't suspect anything, merely assuming Hibari was absorbed in his research within.
He walked up, knocked on the door, and finding no movement or sound, Tobirama frowned slightly. Then, he took out a key and quickly and cleanly opened the door.
The research lab was well-sealed, so no excess aura could be felt from outside. But the moment the door opened, Tobirama was hit by a wave of blood. His face changed, and he quickly stepped inside.
It was pitch dark; not even a single light was on, which made Tobirama feel an even stronger sense of unease. He instinctively flicked on the light, and the scene that greeted his eyes made his heart seize up.
Hibari was completely soaked in foul blood, lying motionless on the ground like a corpse. On the operating table, a disemboweled body lay, with somewhat congealed blood thickly dripping from its edges. The entire scene looked as if some accident had occurred during one of Hibari's forbidden experiments, or perhaps he had been attacked.
Tobirama took a few swift strides forward and pressed a hand to Hibari's neck, finding that Hibari's breathing was steady; he wasn't dead. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. He then used chakra to examine Hibari's body and found nothing particularly strange. Not only that, but he seemed even stronger, especially his bones. Although this simple examination couldn't reveal any specifics, he felt there had been some change.
However, after confirming that Hibari was largely unharmed, Tobirama began to wake the boy.
Tobirama picked up a cup of clear water from the operating table and poured it directly onto Hibari's face.
With the pouring of the water, Hibari reacted. In a moment, he began to cough.
"Cough, cough... Phew..." Hibari instinctively wiped the water from his face with his hand, then groggily opened his eyes. Seeing Tobirama crouching not far in front of him, he asked with some confusion, "Ojiisan?? So early... Hm? The smell of blood... Oh right, wasn't I in the research lab?"
His mind cleared slightly, and Hibari quickly came to his senses. He pushed himself off the ground, preparing to sit up from the dried, foul blood, when two hard, sharp bone spurs instantly grew from his hand, piercing two holes in the ground.
This sight even startled Tobirama, who involuntarily recoiled a step. Then, he asked in surprise, "Hibari, what in the world did you do? This... isn't this the Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai? Shikotsumyaku?"
Hibari was equally dumbfounded at this moment, but he knew a little about the underlying cause, so he wasn't as surprised as Tobirama.
However, he couldn't explain it too clearly, or rather, he simply couldn't explain it. So Hibari quickly said, "I don't know either, Ojiisan. I was originally planning to dissect the corpse of that Kaguya clan member I killed in the Land of Water today. But as soon as I made a cut, he started spurting blood. After I finally dealt with that situation, I just pulled out a small piece of bone fragment from his corpse and passed out..."
As he spoke, Hibari slowly raised his arm, and then the sharp bone spurs slowly retracted back into his palm, as magically as they appeared.
Tobirama watched Hibari's actions, becoming even more certain in his mind: this was indeed the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai!
Realizing this, he didn't delay. He quickly walked to the corpse on the operating table. Without putting on a lab coat or anything, he picked up a scalpel and operated with great fluidity, dismembering the entire corpse in a few swift motions.
This wasn't all. Because of his development of various Kinjutsu, especially the Edo Tensei, Tobirama had personally dissected countless corpses. So his movements were extremely skilled. In no time, he had cleared out every single bone fragment from the corpse.
Then, quickly, on a nearby table, he swiftly pieced together a complete skeleton, with only one rib missing a small section.
Then Tobirama turned to look at Hibari, who was somewhat stunned watching his fluid operation. He said, "Indeed, a piece of bone is missing... It should be the one you picked up. However, from this part of the body, there's nothing special about it; it's just the tip of a rib that broke off and fell."
Hibari nodded in agreement. At that time, he didn't know where the bone he picked up was from. Now that his 'second old man' had pieced it together, he naturally understood.
Stepping forward, Hibari reached out and touched the other bones. The restless sensation had now vanished. It seemed that because he had already gained the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai, these bones were no longer of any use to him.
"I just cut open this corpse and saw a bone fragment near the chest cavity. Thinking that the Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai was in their bones, I reached out to grab it, and then I passed out... But I never imagined this..." Hibari trailed off, unsure how to complete his fabrication.
However, Tobirama didn't suspect anything, because everything was as Hibari said. The scene he saw when he entered was roughly like that.
Tobirama rubbed his chin, then said, "There are simply countless unbelievable things in this world, so it's not entirely unacceptable that some unexpected situation occurred here... Perhaps there's some secret in the Kaguya clan's ribs..."
At this point, Tobirama's gaze shifted to the several tightly wrapped corpses on the floor in the distance. He asked, "Are those also Kaguya clan corpses?"
Hibari quickly nodded and said, "Yes, they all are. I planned to bring them back for research..."
Tobirama's eyes flickered, then he said, "Go, bring one over. I want to see if there's anything unusual about these ribs... Could it be that anyone who touches these ribs gets 'infected' by this Kekkei Genkai?"
Hibari knew the real situation, so he didn't object. Instead, he nodded and quickly complied with Tobirama's instructions.
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