Tobirama, the Hokage, finally packed his bags two days later and set off for the battlefield, a place both familiar and strange, which he hadn't experienced in many years.
Standing before the Hokage Residence, Hibari softly murmured as he watched a single snowflake gently fall to the ground, "Flying Raijin Technique, it truly is convenient..."
One second before, Tobirama's figure was still here, but now he was probably a thousand li away. The Ninja World's fastest technique wasn't famous for nothing.
Naturally, Hibari wasn't the only one seeing off the Hokage; many people came. Kagami stood beside Hibari, and upon hearing Hibari's words, he chuckled, "What, jealous? Didn't I hear Hokage-sama say he left you all the analysis related to the Flying Raijin Technique? You were busy with missions before, so that's understandable, but now you can learn it, right?"
Hibari grinned, saying, "The front lines are heating up. The village's top shinobi have all gone to the battlefield. The Academy is temporarily closed too, so that guy Hiyoko doesn't have to pretend to go to school anymore. What do you think he's doing now?"
As Hibari's words fell, Hitenn, standing nearby, softly said, "From my perspective, Hiyoko is probably studying the Flying Raijin Technique, isn't he?"
"Hm, pretty much, and also the Yin Seal and so on..." Hibari nodded with a chuckle.
He was finally free now, so many piled-up matters could be addressed, such as learning Ninjutsu like the Flying Raijin Technique.
"I'm really envious of you, Hibari. The Flying Raijin Technique... Hokage-sama's signature jutsu..." Kagami said with a laugh.
"Envious of what? If an ordinary shinobi from a regular family said that, I'd believe it, but you two, forget it. Your Uchiha clan has who knows how many Ninjutsu at its disposal, and Hitenn's Hyūga clan even has its own secret techniques. I'm envious of you two..." Hibari also chuckled.
"Hahahaha, I was just saying," Kagami said, laughing heartily.
After a slight pause, Kagami continued, "Since Hiyoko is learning those things, do you have nothing to do? Sakumo said he wants to teach us hunting techniques. I think I'm free recently, so I'm planning to go check it out. It's good to have an extra skill. If I really retire in the future, I can even be a hunter... Are you coming?"
Hibari glanced at Kagami, then said, "Forget it. I'm not as idle as you guys. I still have a lot to do, and Hiyoko isn't enough help. You go check it out yourself. I'm heading back now..."
"You're not that old, but you're busy all the time. What are you going back to do?" Kagami asked with some confusion after hearing Hibari's words.
"Not to mention there's still a lot to arrange with the Mitsumine Group, I also have a gap I haven't filled yet... I'm going back to fill it," Hibari said, glancing at Kagami somewhat helplessly.
Hitenn also asked curiously, "Deputy Commander, I really don't see any gaps in your abilities. What are you going to fill?"
"Summoning Jutsu!" Hibari said firmly.
After a slight pause, he continued, "Although I occasionally use Summoning Jutsu for certain things, it hasn't had much benefit in assisting my combat until now. While we're currently on leave, if the front lines become critical, we could be deployed to the battlefield again at any time. So, before that, I want to 'perfect' my Summoning Jutsu."
"Finding a suitable summoned beast isn't that simple. What, do you have a target?" Kagami asked again, very curious.
Hibari chuckled, then said, "Not exactly a target, but if there's no target, I'll create one! Hahaha, I won't tell you too much. I'm heading back first..."
After speaking, Hibari didn't linger. He waved goodbye to Hitenn and Kagami, then tightened the collar of his sable-fur coat and walked decisively toward the Senju clan's main residence.
Watching Hibari's receding figure, Kagami rubbed his chin and mused, "I'm really curious. Does even a Summoning Jutsu need to be so secretive?"
"The Deputy Commander always manages to do unexpected things. There will be many more opportunities to fight alongside him in the future; you'll get to see it then. I also have some matters to attend to at home, so I'll be leaving first," Hitenn nodded to Kagami and said softly.
Kagami smiled, his lips curling into a teasing grin. "Ah, I know, it's about your cousin, right? Hahahaha, go on, go on. Settle down and build a career."
Hitenn's face uncharacteristically flushed a little. He didn't offer any explanation, just nodded somewhat hastily, and quickly left.
Kagami watched this scene, knowing he had probably hit the nail on the head again. He smiled, then also didn't linger, heading towards the Hatake clan's compound. It seemed he was truly going to learn some hunting techniques from Sakumo.
Not long after, Hibari returned to the Senju clan's main residence. Tsunade was currently idle at home due to school holidays. Speaking of which, it seemed she was about to graduate. Most likely, once the war ended, the first batch of students from the Academy would 'graduate' too.
However, Hibari didn't seem to have any intention of going to tease her. Instead, the moment he entered the door, he went straight towards the laboratory.
He hadn't been deceiving Kagami and the others earlier. Hibari had indeed returned to 'perfect' his Summoning Jutsu. Years ago, Hibari had always wanted to find a powerful summoned beast for himself, even setting his sights on the Enma family from Hiruzen's household, but for various reasons, it had eventually fallen through.
Hibari didn't think much of ordinary summoned beasts, but the three legendary training areas weren't easy to find. Moreover, he had hardly had any free time, being in a period of rapid power growth, and constantly busy with matters concerning the Mitsumine Group and the Anbu. It was impossible for him to travel around looking for places like Ryūchi Cave or Mount Myōboku.
Therefore, Hibari temporarily decided to put aside the matter of the three legendary training areas and research on his own, to see if he could 'create' three summoned beasts that suited his liking.
That's right, he would create them himself. As the saying goes, 'If there's no target, create a target and go for it!' If he didn't have a powerful summoned beast at hand, wouldn't creating one himself solve the problem?
His thinking was that clear, his logic that organized!
Before this, Hibari hadn't not thought about these things, but while it sounded simple, creating them wasn't that easy. And when he (Hiyoko) began to learn the Edo Tensei Jutsu from his grandfather, an immature idea had been constantly forming in his mind.
Creating living beings was certainly beyond his current skill level, unless it involved body modification. Otherwise, when it came to things involving the realms of 'life and death,' Hibari truly couldn't handle them.
But creating inanimate objects had far fewer restrictions. The Edo Tensei Jutsu had given Hibari a bold inspiration: to research whether he could 'change professions' and become a 'necromancer.'
That's right, the summoned beasts Hibari wanted to research were 'the dead.' Edo Tensei itself was a Jutsu that researched the dead. In this regard, Tobirama had left countless valuable materials for Hibari. Therefore, using this Jutsu to research a Summoning Jutsu that summoned the dead to fight was actually very possible, as this was, after all, one of the core concepts of Edo Tensei.
What Hibari needed to do was simplify it and also 'modify' it to see if he could create powerful 'dead summoned beasts.' If not, then winning by sheer numbers was still a very viable idea.
Now that the First Great Ninja War had already broken out, he could find time to collect corpses on the battlefield. He could at least assemble a team of 'skeletons' or 'zombie squads.'
Of course, the prerequisite was that Hibari had to research this Jutsu. And to research this Jutsu, he needed some suitable materials. As for these materials, Hibari had already found the best ones... the corpses of the Kaguya clan!
What was the Kaguya clan most famous for? Their notoriously hard bones, and their ability to infinitely proliferate their own bones due to their Kekkei Genkai. Thus, in Hibari's eyes, these were the best materials for creating 'skeleton summoned beasts'!
If he could somehow retain their Kekkei Genkai abilities... not completely, but even partially, then perhaps he could create a powerful giant skeleton beast to serve as his 'summoned beast' for a transitional period. Later, when more suitable ones came along, he could switch them out, couldn't he?
Thinking of this, Hibari became even more excited. He rubbed his hands together, exhaled a cold breath, and reached out to open the laboratory door. Then, he took down the large scroll hanging on the wall, unrolled it on the ground, and unsealed it. The five wrapped corpses once again appeared on the floor.
Hibari didn't immediately go to unwrap the shrouds. After all, these corpses had already been 'dismembered' by his grandfather, and their bones had been 'extracted.'
However, this was also a good thing. After all, the most important thing about the Kaguya clan was their bones; the rest of the flesh wasn't of much concern. This also saved Hibari a step in the process.
He placed the corpses aside, then reached for a book on the Edo Tensei Jutsu from the bookshelf and began to flip through it.
Strictly speaking, Edo Tensei was an incomplete Jutsu, but that didn't mean it wasn't successful.
It simply didn't meet Tobirama's expectations.
Tobirama had indeed used this Jutsu to reanimate the dead, but he wasn't satisfied with aspects like their intellect or strength. Afterward, he lost his obsession with it and didn't continue to perfect it.
If Hibari hadn't intervened here, it might truly have had to wait for that kid Orochimaru to 'take over' later, and only then did the Jutsu truly begin to shine.
But Hibari didn't need those things now. It was enough that the Jutsu had once been 'successful.' The Edo Tensei Jutsu had many powerful aspects, but for Hibari, one key point was that it could reanimate the dead using a 'living sacrifice,' and the reanimation's 'time period' could be chosen by the user.
That's right. For example, when Itachi Uchiha was later reanimated, he still had his Sharingan even though he had given it to his younger brother Sasuke. And Nagato, whose Rinnegan had been 'reclaimed,' still had them after 'revival.'
This was about choosing a specific period. The Edo Tensei Jutsu could achieve this!
And coincidentally, Hibari also needed this step!
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