While begging for mercy, Shinno dropped to his knees without the slightest hesitation, repeatedly kowtowing to the ground.
As long as he could live, he was willing to do anything.
Seeing this pitiful display, a faint smile appeared on Aoshi's face.
Shinno, who had been closely watching Aoshi's reaction, immediately let out a long breath of relief.
He believed Aoshi had been swayed. After all, who could possibly resist the temptation of immortality?
However, Aoshi's next words caused his expression to freeze instantly.
"If I kill you, everything you have will still belong to me—including your so-called method of immortality."
In that moment, Shinno felt like nothing more than a clown. At the same time, his overwhelming desire to survive twisted into malice.
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as chakra surged into his hand, forming a Chakra Scalpel, which he suddenly stabbed toward Aoshi's vital points.
"Then you can go to hell!"
Bang!
Aoshi was naturally not caught off guard. With a single slash, he severed Shinno's arm.
Immediately afterward, he stomped down on Shinno's chest, pinning him firmly to the ground.
The terrifying force made Shinno feel as though his internal organs had shattered. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face draining of all color.
"No—no! Please spare me!"
"I—I can swear loyalty to you! A jōnin-level combatant is definitely useful!"
At this moment, there was no trace of Shinno's former arrogance or ferocity.
His eyes were filled with nothing but terror. He clung desperately to life, exhausting every possible plea.
Ignoring Shinno's final cries, Aoshi activated the Human Path, reading his memories before extracting his soul and killing him completely.
Along with his death, Shinno's Medical Forbidden Jutsu—Cellular Activation and Body Revival Technique—was also obtained by Aoshi.
The former stimulated cellular activity, greatly enhancing physical abilities. Shinno had been able to open the Seventh Gate of Shock precisely because of this technique.
The latter was even more extraordinary. No matter how severe the injury, the body could recover rapidly.
Even if torn apart, it could reorganize, regenerate, and revive.
"Although powerful… It's not without its cost."
Aoshi, who was himself highly proficient in medical ninjutsu, immediately recognized the flaws after fully understanding these Forbidden Jutsu.
They were techniques that consumed one's future. The number of times a human body's cells could divide was fundamentally limited.
Even with chakra—allowing ninjas to far exceed the limits of ordinary people—unlimited division was still impossible.
Once that limit was reached, death would be inevitable. Unless one ceased to be human.
"Still, it has its merits. In critical moments, it can save lives."
In addition to these two Forbidden Jutsu, Shinno also possessed an incomplete Medical Forbidden Jutsu: Body Transformation.
According to his research, this technique required Cellular Activation and Body Revival as a foundation, combined with the dark chakra of the Zero-Tails.
Once perfected, it could reverse cellular transformation, instantly restoring youth.
It could also convert physical damage into regenerative enhancement, achieving the ultimate physical body.
Shinno's ability to open the Eighth Gate of Death in the future without dying stemmed from this Forbidden Jutsu.
"Zero-Tails, huh…" Having absorbed all of Shinno's memories, Aoshi naturally obtained the Zero-Tails technique as well.
If he wished, he could cultivate this so-called Zero-Tails—an entity formed by condensing the immense dark chakra born from the darkness in people's hearts.
In the future, Shinno would succeed by using an innocent girl named Amaru.
But Aoshi would never involve innocent people. He was not someone who would trample everything in pursuit of his goals.
After some thought, perhaps Danzo could be used instead.
After all, he carried the title "Darkness of the Ninja World"—a perfect match for the Zero-Tails.
Moreover, the two already bore deep hostility toward each other.
A few days earlier, Aoshi had learned from Yakushi Nono that Danzo had been making moves behind the scenes.
He simply hadn't yet uncovered what scheme the man was plotting.
"This harvest… really isn't bad at all." Shinno's Forbidden Jutsu alone had already brought Aoshi enormous gains.
Not to mention the Ancor Vantian, the Sky Ninja Village's main fortress—a colossal flying structure.
Inside it was a super energy cannon, similar to the Space-Time Chakra Cannon that the Hidden Cloud Village would develop in the future.
Using the Zero-Tails as an energy source, a single shot could blast a massive hole through a mountain.
Such power was already terrifying. In addition, the Sky Ninja Village possessed extremely advanced mechanical manufacturing technology.
The flying devices used by the Sky Ninjas were one example. In the future, they could even produce modern weapons—such as gigantic warships.
However, before Konoha's ninja, such warships appeared somewhat fragile. They were ultimately destroyed by Kikaichū, cultivated by Shino Aburame.
In truth, this also revealed why the ninja world—despite having powerful scientific systems—never fully developed them.
Ninjas had far too many methods to counter technological weapons.
Heavy investment with minimal returns naturally stifled progress. That said, Aoshi had no intention of pursuing weapon development.
After all, Ninjas themselves were the ultimate weapons.
Not only do ninjas possess strong subjective initiative, striving to cultivate themselves and grow stronger through their own efforts, but when they are injured, they can also rely on medical ninjas for treatment.
Because of this, rather than investing heavily in the development of scientific weapons, it is far more practical to focus on improving people's lives.
Of course, all of this was a matter for the future.
Even if Aoshi possessed the necessary ability, he could not accomplish everything alone.
He would have to proceed step by step—developing steadily, gathering talent, and nurturing capable individuals over time.
Summoning Technique!
A puff of smoke dispersed, and Pain – Kakuzu was summoned before Aoshi. In his hand was an entirely black iron box.
This was Aoshi's chakra transfer device, used for long-distance control. It was precisely because of this device that Aoshi could achieve near worldwide control over Kakuzu.
With all Sky Ninjas dealt with, Aoshi had no intention of remaining here indefinitely. Thus, Pain – Kakuzu was left behind to guard Aoshi's secret base.
Next, under Aoshi's control, Pain – Kakuzu placed the transfer device in position while also cleaning up all traces of battle outside the fortress.
Before long, everything that needed to be handled was completed.
Taking Hayakawa's corpse with him, Aoshi prepared to return to Konoha. But at that moment, a signal flare streaking into the sky caught his attention.
That was a Konoha ninja's distress signal. And its direction was unmistakable—the Land of Waterfalls, adjacent to this region.
Without any hesitation, Aoshi immediately rushed toward the source of the signal.
---
One Hour Earlier
Yakushi Nono's assessment mission had not been personally decided by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Instead, it had been arranged in advance by Danzo. Her task was to infiltrate Takigakure and gather intelligence on the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.
Such a mission was perfectly suited to Yakushi Nono. And she completed it exceptionally well.
After all, she was known as "The Wandering Nun"—a top-tier intelligence operative.
However, just as she obtained the intelligence and prepared to withdraw, an unexpected incident occurred.
A group of foreign ninjas infiltrated Takigakure and suddenly launched an attack on the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.
But the current Seven-Tails Jinchūriki—Erika—was not the young Genin Fu from the original timeline who would later participate in the Chūnin Exams in Sunagakure.
Although she had not been a Jinchūriki for long, Erika was already a jōnin of Takigakure.
Moreover, after two years of secluded training, she had already mastered a portion of the Seven-Tails' power.
As a result, she was not easily ambushed. Instead, she killed three of the attackers on the spot.
The intense commotion immediately alerted other Takigakure ninjas, forcing the remaining attackers to retreat at once.
However, this chaos also caused Nono—who was nearby at the time—to be exposed.
She was promptly pursued by Takigakure's ninja forces.
Since she was not their primary target, Nono relied on her extensive espionage experience to escape successfully.
But shortly after leaving Takigakure, she encountered Hiruko and his four-man group.
Their objective on this trip was clear—To capture her alive.
From the very beginning, Hiruko had never intended to confront Aoshi directly. Even with hired helpers, he believed the risk of failure was far too great.
And he could not afford that kind of loss.
Thus, Hiruko chose to target Nono first, intending to use her as leverage against Aoshi.
He had already determined that although Aoshi was powerful, he cared deeply about his comrades.
In Hiruko's eyes, that compassion was a weakness.
"Hiruko… are you defecting from Konoha?" Nono naturally recognized him.
He had visited the Konoha Orphanage a few days earlier, and the two had met once. At the time, she had thought he was a kind man, generously donating to the orphanage.
Now it seemed that he had been targeting her since then. The so-called donation had merely been a pretext to approach her.
Facing Nono's accusation, Hiruko smiled faintly. "Don't be so harsh. How could I possibly defect from Konoha?"
"Didn't I come over the moment I saw you were in danger?" As he spoke, Hiruko stepped forward and extended a hand toward her.
"Come, Nono. Leave with me. If we stick together, we'll be safer."
Nono didn't believe a single word. Leaving aside how Hiruko knew she was on a mission in the Land of Waterfalls—
The three people beside him were clearly not Konoha ninjas, but bounty hunters from the black market.
With a cold sneer, Nono did not hesitate and launched an attack.
Seeing this, Kaoru immediately complained. "I told you we should've acted directly. Why waste time talking?"
Before she even finished speaking, Kaoru charged forward. Yagata and Rat quickly followed to assist.
As an elite operative of Root, Nono was by no means weak. But the enemy held a clear numerical advantage—and among them were Hiruko and Kaoru, both jōnin.
Two fists could not match four hands. Before long, Nono was injured and forced at a disadvantage.
Even after using a smoke bomb to escape, she was quickly caught up to by Hiruko and his group.
Hiruko had already placed a tracking method on her.
Realizing she could no longer shake them off, Nono had no choice but to fire a distress signal flare.