"Qingshui, do you think there's a limit to Puppetry?"
Sasori asked Qingshui, his expression serious.
Qingshui shook his head.
"No, there isn't. If there were, the upper limit of Puppetry would be the upper limit of the truths of this world."
"Yes, I think so too. But humans have their own limits. Your personal limit determines the maximum potential Puppetry can achieve in your hands, as well as its development limit. Our lives are finite, our power limited.
To seek infinite truths and the art of Puppetry with finite life and power, do you not feel you're overestimating yourself?
Otherwise, you wouldn't have spent these past few years developing so many things seemingly unrelated to Puppetry, in addition to it.
In fact, now, Puppetry in your hands is merely an important means to supplement your combat power. Even without puppets, you still possess the strength to overpower other Kage.
I can't say whether your current path is correct, but I believe your path has significant reference value for me.
I can't become a second you, nor do I want to. But I think, by learning from your path, I also have a chance to reach your current height."
Simply put, Sasori also wanted to become as strong as Qingshui was now. And finally, he no longer stubbornly clung to Puppetry as before, believing it to be the best, the most beautiful, the most artistic, and thus dedicating himself solely to it. Even learning other Ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu was only for the purpose of researching Puppetry.
Now, Sasori, under the various influences Qingshui had brought, while still holding a love for Puppetry, was finally willing to accept, to a limited extent, things outside of Puppetry.
Because Qingshui's performance in the Great Ninja War over the past year and a half had been simply too powerful, too fierce. He had surpassed any other powerful individual of his generation.
The worship and desire for power have been ingrained in our genes since ancient times, from when our human ancestors, who ate raw meat and drank blood and used stones as weapons, fought countless beasts in the jungle!
Sasori was an artist pursuing the art of Puppetry, and the beauty of violence needs no written or spoken description. It can directly impact one's heart when displayed nakedly through visuals.
This isn't a contradiction, because the beauty of power can often be expressed by imbuing it with meaning and form through art.
Sasori believed that the art of Puppetry was an interpretation of beauty. The stronger a puppet, the more beautiful it was. Ultimately, it was the beauty of strength.
Thus, imperceptibly, Sasori found himself needing to make some changes.
At the very least, if it were him, could he, using only Puppetry, single-handedly take on three Kage-level individuals and suppress two Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, just like Qingshui?
Perhaps in the future, but absolutely not now. Maybe many years later, when he pushed new Puppetry to a sufficiently high level, he could do it, but that would take too much time.
But how strong would Qingshui be by then?
He would have been left far, far behind!
From the selection before entering the Puppet Force, Sasori had always been chasing Qingshui. But as time passed, the gap between him and Qingshui only grew wider.
The first time they fought, Qingshui had to use ingenuity to win against Sasori. Now, Sasori had just touched the threshold of the Kage level, while Qingshui had already almost surpassed that level's scope.
If a few more years passed, wouldn't the gap just keep widening?
Sasori had seen his own limits, but he couldn't see Qingshui's.
If things continued this way, let alone catching up, he might not even be able to see Qingshui's shadow if he just followed behind.
It was time to make a change!
"Then, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki position will be taken by Sasori."
Qingshui finally decided.
Compared to simply gaining another stable Kage-level individual, for the current Sand Village, an opportunity for Sasori to become an existence beyond Kage-level was far more appealing.
Without Qingshui, the Sand Village's current strength would still be significantly behind Konoha, which had about a dozen Kage-level individuals.
In terms of high-level talent, Sand Village had the three elder powerhouses: Chiyo, Ebizo, and the Third Kazekage. The younger generation totaled five, making eight in all, slightly fewer than Konoha.
However, with the addition of two more Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, this numerical disadvantage would disappear. Moreover, Stone Hidden to the north would effectively lose two Kage-level combatants. With this shift, Sand Hidden would certainly face much less pressure when dealing with Stone Hidden in the future.
And once two high-attack, high-durability Tailed Beast Jinchuriki emerged, Sand Village would truly gain an advantage over Konoha in terms of high-end combat power. In this situation, nine Kage-level individuals versus ten Kage-level individuals wasn't that big of a difference; it was better to let Sasori give it a try.
If Sasori truly succeeded, then Konoha would no longer be able to resist the might of Sand Hidden.
"Starting tomorrow, Sasori, you, Baki, and Uzumaki Ayane will come to my lab every day at 4 PM to meet a Shadow Clone for enhanced training in Mind Ninjutsu. Then, summarize your related training experiences. Go notify the other two now.
Because I'm compiling a textbook on Mind Ninjutsu training, the experiences of others practicing it can give me some reference. Mastering Mind Ninjutsu can increase spiritual energy and strengthen resistance to and use of Genjutsu."
"Understood."
Sasori nodded forcefully.
The meeting, which had lasted most of the day, soon concluded.
Pakura stretched, easing her stiff body from sitting for so long, then turned her head to Qingshui.
"It's already dark. Want to grab dinner together? Oh, I forgot you're a Shadow Clone, you can't eat."
"My main body hasn't eaten yet. Take a portion over to him."
Qingshui told Pakura.
"Okay, then I'll get the food. What do you think you'd like right now?"
Pakura's eyes brightened as she spoke to Qingshui.
"The lamb chop rice from that place we ate at last time."
Qingshui told Pakura.
He and a bunch of Shadow Clones had been busy lately; it seemed he hadn't spent enough time with Pakura.
"Alright then! I'll buy it and come find you!"
Pakura gave Qingshui a shallow smile, then turned and walked away with light steps.
Tsk, I should really make more time later. After all, there probably won't be any large-scale wars for the next two years, and with so many Shadow Clones available, some things don't absolutely require my main body. I might as well leave them to the Shadow Clones.
As for what absolutely requires the main body, that would, of course, be the research into Sage Art.
Other than that, there really didn't seem to be anything a Shadow Clone couldn't handle.
Thinking this, Qingshui formed a hand sign, dispelled the Shadow Clone, and synchronized its memories with his main body.
Far away, in the newly built large research institute in Sand Village, Qingshui, the main body, stopped what he was doing and looked at a piece of silver-white metal in front of him, receiving the memories from the Shadow Clone.
This silver-white metal was a newly refined piece of platinum.
Previously, the Avatar in the Marvel Universe, based on the palladium isotope corresponding to the Space Stone, used the Mind Stone to discover the corresponding ruthenium metal isotope. He and Tony Stark then deduced that the other four Infinity Stones also had corresponding platinum-group metal isotopes.
Thus, there were the platinum metal isotope corresponding to the Reality Stone and the rhodium metal isotope corresponding to the Time Stone.
Using these two metal isotopes, corresponding Arc Reactors could also be manufactured.
The Ninja World currently lacked the conditions to build high-configuration particle accelerators for synthesizing isotopes through directed particle bombardment, nor could it yet manufacture Nanobots.
However, Qingshui had fortunately obtained from Stark the method he used in the Middle Eastern cave to chemically deposit hydrogen atoms into these platinum-group metals. This made it relatively easy to produce hydrogen-saturated isotopic metals. If the equipment was up to standard, it could even produce platinum-group metals with almost 100% saturation.
The silver-white metal in front of him was a high-purity natural platinum metal that had undergone further purification.
The Sand Village certainly had the ability to extract rare metals now, but for Qingshui, the easiest to acquire at the moment was platinum, which could exist as a pure element in nature. The former Daimyo of the Land of Wind's treasury contained several artworks made of platinum.
An Arc Reactor made directly from platinum certainly couldn't compare to the second-generation Arc Reactor made from isotopes; the energy density was an order of magnitude lower. However, it was sufficient for an early transition.
At least with ample energy, many problems encountered during subsequent technological advancements could be easily resolved.
After placing a small platinum strip into the newly built equipment, allowing the hydrogen ions separated from electrolyzed water to self-deposit through the device, Qingshui got up and tidied up. He glanced at the several busy Shadow Clones in the room, then awaited Pakura's arrival.
That night.
At Qingshui's home.
After glancing at Pakura, who was sound asleep beside him, Qingshui, shirtless, got out of bed. He picked up a glass of cool boiled water from the bedside table and drank it, then walked out of the bedroom and sat in the living room. From a drawer, he took out a bottle of volatile substance newly synthesized earlier that day.
He had already cracked the molecular structure of the volatile substance from the Nason Sacred Tree's golden branches. With the various technologies Qingshui currently possessed in the Marvel Universe, he didn't even need Tony Stark's brain. He simply used the Time Stone for time acceleration, stubbornly pushing through with time, ruining a pile of equipment, until he finally overcame the difficulty of artificially synthesizing this volatile substance.
Materials science, he knew, required intensive, repeated experiments under the guidance of scientific theory to achieve breakthroughs and yield results.
The artificial synthesis process for this volatile substance was relatively complex, but fortunately, Banner had helped him simplify the process. Although the yield was not high and the cost was very high, the current technology in the Naruto World was already capable of producing this volatile substance.
Qingshui opened the bottle cap, applied the volatile substance, and at the same time, immersed his consciousness in the panel.
[Current Fortune Value: 49.14%]
[Do you wish to spend 20% of your current Fortune Value to synchronize the ability: Demon Slayer Mark?]
[Yes.]
[Current Fortune Value: 29.14%.]
Instantly, Qingshui felt his body heat up, his heart beating rapidly. His mouth involuntarily opened, and he activated his Breathing Style, inhaling a large quantity of air before exhaling.
For a moment, white mist swirled in the living room.
The prerequisite for the Demon Slayer Mark was to cultivate the Breathing Style to its peak, raise body temperature to 39 degrees Celsius, and increase heart rate to 200 beats per second.
A blue flowing cloud pattern, identical to the one on the Demon Slayer World Avatar, quietly appeared at the joint of Qingshui's neck and shoulder.
"After Natural Energy is absorbed by the body, it begins to converge towards the location of the Demon Slayer Mark, and its nature seems to have changed. Is it being filtered? Or is the Demon Slayer Mark refining the Natural Energy to make it more suitable for human use?
The amount of Natural Energy has decreased, but there's very little Natural Energy residue in the air expelled from my body, so it's not filtering. It should be purification, or rather, refining into Natural Energy suitable for humans."
"However, while this high-purity Natural Energy strengthens the body, it also further exploits the body's potential. A body temperature of 39 degrees Celsius and a heart rate of 200 beats per minute—normal humans certainly cannot endure such pressure constantly. No wonder those who activate the Demon Slayer Mark usually have short lifespans."
Qingshui touched the Demon Slayer Mark on his body, feeling his physical condition, and thought to himself.
Fortunately, his Perfect Demonization body could perfectly withstand this burden, and the Demon Slayer Mark could be sealed by Sealing Jutsu, rendering it inactive.
"And next, Reverse Life Triple!"
In an instant, Qingshui's hair and skin turned milky white, and wisps of ethereal, soft, milky white smoke rose from his body.
The main body's foundation was much deeper than that of the Yi Ren World Avatar. While the Avatar was still in the mid-stage of the first layer, the main body had already reached the peak of the first layer, completing the cultivation of skin, flesh, and meridians.
In this state, the body already possessed some of the properties of a "Nascent Soul," allowing it to absorb a limited amount of Natural Energy.
This absorption was not the simple inhalation of the Breathing Style, which temporarily strengthened the body. Instead, it was a high-level integration of Natural Energy with one's own energy, forming Innate Qi.
"My perception of Natural Energy is still a bit strained. I can only feel that in the reverse state, a portion of the Qi's nature is changing, and its intensity has significantly increased. However, the first layer of the reverse state still has low efficiency in absorbing Natural Energy, though Innate Qi has indeed been born within my body.
And indeed, as I suspected, the abnormal phenomena have almost disappeared."
Qingshui looked at his body, which showed no abnormalities other than the Demon Slayer Mark, then went to look in the mirror.
There was no eyeshadow, nor any kind of Sage facial markings.
The Demon Slayer Mark had indeed refined the Natural Energy into a form suitable for humans.
It seemed that next, he would have to research how the Demon Slayer Mark converted Natural Energy into a form suitable for humans.
Perhaps, he could continue to investigate the Three Great Sacred Sites?
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