A slightly dilapidated house—this was Takuya's residence.
Theoretically, the ninja profession's earning capacity was not low; even the simplest missions offered considerable compensation.
As a Special Jonin, even if Takuya couldn't afford the most luxurious mansions, he shouldn't have been living in such a run-down small house.
This was indeed the case; Takuya simply didn't have high standards for housing, needing only basic residential functionality.
Sure enough, the room had everything necessary, yet it exuded a sense of simplicity and lacked any sign of domestic life, as if the owner did not reside there often.
This was also true. Takuya spent most of his non-war time outside of Konoha completing missions, so he naturally didn't return home often.
Even when he did return, he would only stay in one room researching Sealing Jutsu, so signs of human habitation were indeed sparse.
Takuya walked over and sat down at the desk, his fingers tapping slowly and deliberately on the surface as he pondered his next plan of action.
'Stealing' the Chimera Technique was imperative; it was the only chance he had to turn his fate around with his extremely ordinary body and talent.
But what about after the theft?
He needed to master it in an extremely short time, completing the fusion at least before Rin Nohara was captured by the Kirigakure, thus solving his biggest weakness: the issue of his Chakra capacity.
He just didn't know how complete the Chimera Technique's formula was. It probably hadn't reached the stage of fusing five bodies, but the formula for fusing one or two bodies must have been completed, perhaps even three.
The initial research into a technique's formula is always the most troublesome, and even if the subsequent stages weren't fully perfected, Takuya was confident he could complete them.
As for the bodies to be used for fusion? They were naturally already prepared; his twenty-seven years hadn't been wasted.
Where were they kept? Naturally, not inside Konoha. His experimental base wouldn't be placed inside Konoha waiting to be discovered like Hiruko's!
With that, Takuya picked up the Sealing Scroll on the desk and began scrutinizing it, contemplating any possible modifications.
That night.
Takuya put down the scroll and looked at Hiruko's experimental base, which remained completely silent. Even Kakashi's side showed no activity, making him feel a little anxious.
Had he misremembered? This section in the original work was quite vague: Hiruko was discovered almost immediately upon learning that Kakashi had obtained the Sharingan, and then the Sannin expelled him together.
"That shouldn't be right..."
Takuya frowned. Did Hiruko brand Kakashi with the Puppet Curse after being expelled?
It must be noted that when Hiruko branded Kakashi with the Puppet Curse, Kakashi clearly still had the two tomoe Sharingan. This means it definitely happened after the Kannabi Bridge battle and before Rin Nohara was captured.
"Could it be that Hiruko returned to Konoha after being expelled..."
Takuya frowned, considering this possibility. Then he recalled the scene in the original work where Itachi Uchiha entered Konoha directly with Kisame, and he suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Don't dismiss it, given Konoha's tendency to never change its Barrier password, this was truly possible!
Fortunately, although he hadn't seen Hiruko leave, he also hadn't seen the Sannin, so the plan hadn't failed yet.
If the possibility he had just thought of were true, then the plan would need to change.
Hiruko being able to escape the Sannin could basically be attributed to them showing mercy due to their shared history, but the necessary actions still had to be taken. Hiruko would inevitably be injured; the only question was the severity of the wounds.
Regardless, he could only make his move against Hiruko at this specific time. Otherwise, if Hiruko went into hiding to search for Kekkei Genkai corpses, finding him again would be too difficult.
To be honest, Takuya didn't want to engage Hiruko. Not because of anything else, but because even without using the Chimera Technique yet, Hiruko's strength should have reached Jonin level; he was merely inferior to the Sannin.
The fact that he could easily brand Kakashi with the Puppet Curse, even if Kakashi's Jonin rank was accelerated due to wartime, still showed that Hiruko's strength was considerable. For him, a Special Jonin, to take on Hiruko was not a safe bet.
If he could intercept Hiruko, that wouldn't be the worst outcome. The worst outcome would be completely losing the opportunity to intercept him, forcing him to rely solely on his own research if he still wanted to change his natural talent.
In fact, he had considered researching it himself before, but on one hand, he wasn't guaranteed to succeed, and on the other, he had other techniques he needed to study. After all, his experimental base wasn't in Konoha, and he was working alone, so he couldn't have too many research focuses.
Since the Chimera Technique was recorded as existing in the original work, he naturally wanted to acquire the ready-made formula and focus his attention on another technique instead.
Takuya took a deep breath and tapped his forehead with his finger, slowly calming himself down.
Wait a little longer. The Sannin hadn't appeared yet. Things hadn't reached the worst possible outcome; he still had a chance.
And so, filled with anxiety, Takuya waited until the evening of the third day. Then he opened his bloodshot eyes, which were filled with delight.
Because Hiruko had finally emerged from the experimental base, and his direction of movement was exactly where Kakashi currently was!
Takuya breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up and began to move. Even now, he absolutely could not become careless and allow the night patrol ninja to discover his presence. He definitely did not want to be watched by those above him right now.
Soon, Takuya arrived at Hiruko's experimental base. Following the exact method Hiruko had used to enter, which he had previously observed, he proceeded into the interior of the experimental base without error.
Once inside the experimental base, this area was beyond what his crows could observe. After all, he was worried that Hiruko might discover the crows, so he never dared to let them get too close.
However, he wasn't without methods.
"Water Release: Restoration Technique!"
Takuya formed hand signs, channeling the Chakra within his body.
That's right, it was Water Release. Takuya's Chakra nature was Water plus Earth, a very common attribute, completely lacking the protagonist-level Wind and Lightning.
The Water attribute was acceptable; after all, Konoha had the Water Release master, the Second Hokage, so he wouldn't lack Ninjutsu later. But the Earth Release was troublesome; useful Earth Release Ninjutsu like the Light Weight Rock Technique and Added Weight Rock Technique were only mastered by Iwa Ninja.
As for the Earth plus Water Kekkei Genkai, Wood Release? How could that be? Aside from Hashirama cells, no one else had ever mastered Wood Release. Therefore, Wood Release must have its own special characteristics, perhaps only achievable by the First Hokage's Kekkei Genkai.
However, Takuya didn't worry too much about these things. As long as he possessed the Chimera Technique, he would eventually acquire other attributes; there was no rush.
During this time, he had researched quite a few Ninjutsu for this purpose, such as the previous Clairvoyance Technique.
And the Water Release: Restoration Technique he was using now was... below Takuya's feet, a thin layer of liquid began to flow rapidly, quickly covering the ground ahead. Within this liquid, many footprints emerged, some entering and some exiting.
Takuya naturally focused on the clearest set, which were the footprints left by Hiruko when he had just departed.
Following those fresh footprints, Takuya quickly moved into the interior of the experimental base.
Soon, the view opened up. What greeted his eyes were countless corpses, some exposed and others submerged in solution within culture tanks.
Takuya sniffed the putrid odor filling the air and couldn't help but frown. This Hiruko was too sloppy. His experimental base was much cleaner than this, and the difference was huge.
The corpses here at Hiruko's were mainly animal bodies, while his own... were mainly the bodies of targets he had personally killed during missions.
However, this was not the time to comment on these things. Reaching this point meant it was mostly safe. Traps were mostly confined to the corridors; this was the experimental area, and mechanisms were generally not deliberately installed here.
In fact, Takuya hadn't found any traps in the previous corridor, unlike his own setup which included a host of lethal mechanisms, poisons, acid, and so on. But thinking about it, it made sense: in the original work, the Sannin had already reached the interior of the experimental base before Hiruko even noticed them.
Therefore, the Sannin's unimpeded access was partly due to their strength, and partly because Hiruko probably truly hadn't set up traps or pitfalls.
Even if he had set them up, he hadn't installed any alarms. If this were his experimental base, he would know immediately if someone had invaded, even if only one mechanism was triggered or bypassed.
But now was not the time to criticize Hiruko. His gaze quickly scanned the experimental base, and soon he found a large pile of experimental records stored nearby.
Takuya felt a slight headache coming on. It seemed he would have to organize these experimental records later to find what he needed.
Sighing, he began to act. He retrieved the scroll he had prepared, unsealed it, and instantly a large number of blank scrolls appeared.
Then, Takuya opened Hiruko's experimental records. He didn't have time to read all of them inside the other man's experimental base, so he had long ago researched a Ninjutsu for this purpose.
"Water Release: Ink Copy Technique."
Countless clear drops of water covered Hiruko's experimental records. Eventually, this water adhered entirely to the text of the records. Afterward, Takuya took the new scroll he had prepared; the water seemed to find its new target and merged into the scroll in Takuya's hand.
Finally, countless characters quickly appeared on this scroll, the handwriting identical to that left on Hiruko's experimental records!
Looking at the scroll in his hand, Takuya smiled contentedly, and then quickly completed the duplication of all the experimental records, one by one.
By the time the last one was duplicated, he could barely suppress the urge to burst out laughing.
But now was not the time, especially not here.
Finally, Takuya reined in his smile. He inspected every corner of the laboratory, including Hiruko's bedroom, making sure no experimental records had been missed. Then, he stretched.
He then formed hand signs and used the Clairvoyance Technique once more, discovering that Hiruko had succeeded and was already on his way back.
Takuya wasn't worried about encountering Hiruko, because while entering was complicated, leaving was far less so.
By now, he had reset all the experimental records, and his footprints overlapped with the other man's. The only real change was a slight increase in humidity within the base due to his extensive use of Water Release.
However, this was only a minor change in humidity, difficult for anyone to notice. Furthermore, Hiruko himself didn't seem to pay much attention to details, and having just succeeded, he was likely extremely excited, making him even less likely to notice this subtle change.
Takuya had no malicious desire to deliberately leave any traces for the other man to find and start suspecting things.
Unlike some who might play dangerously, leaving just moments before Hiruko returned, Takuya had already completed communication with his Summoned beast.
In that somewhat dilapidated room, a crow slowly used its small body to unroll a very large scroll. A technique formula was inscribed upon this scroll.
"Summoning Technique!"