Chapter 48

Ruri went to the Hokage Building and didn't spend much time returning home.

When she came back, Baiseki saw that Ruri was holding a scroll, which she casually threw to him.

"Thanks."

Baiseki didn't fuss and directly caught the scroll.

"Just hurry up and figure out the senjutsu."

"This is indeed a bit difficult, after all, the information on senjutsu is too scarce. Even if I could borrow some references, it would be a great help to my work if I could study the senjutsu system of the three great holy lands."

"Forget it. If you don't have a summoning contract with the three great holy lands, it's hard to find them, let alone obtain senjutsu from there."

"In that case, the Three Sannin are truly blessed ninja."

The rumors about the close ties between the Konoha Three Sannin and the three great holy lands are already well-known.

Not only are they the Hokage's disciples, but they also have the backing of the three great holy lands, which is something ordinary ninja can never hope to achieve in their lifetime.

"But even the Three Sannin haven't been heard to have successfully cultivated senjutsu."

"Of course, I don't know if the senjutsu cultivated by the summoning animals is different from the senjutsu I'm researching, but the fusion of natural energy with ordinary chakra indeed carries a significant risk. It could really be fatal."

Baiseki sat down in the room, took a light sip of tea, and then unfolded the scroll in his hand.

At the beginning of the scroll, the developer and the name of the jutsu were recorded.

Soul Transformation Jutsu.

Developer: The previous Hokage, Senju Tobirama.

According to the records, the Soul Transformation Jutsu is a technique that allows the soul to leave the body and travel regardless of distance to directly kill the enemy.

However, after the soul leaves the body, the spiritual body retains the consciousness of the user, so the applications of this jutsu are very broad. It can be used not only in battle, such as transmitting information, large-scale perception, and even transmitting chakra to allies, all of which the Soul Transformation Jutsu can accomplish.

It must be said that the previous Hokage, Senju Tobirama, who developed this jutsu, is a person worthy of respect.

He is said to have sacrificed himself on the battlefield of the First Great Shinobi War, which is truly a pity.

Baiseki is very much in agreement with many of the ideas of the previous Hokage.

Building the Ninja Academy, establishing the Anbu organization, dividing and suppressing the ninja clans, elevating the status of commoners, and creating various secret techniques and jutsu unique to Konoha... his influence can be seen in politics, science, and military affairs, and he was the pioneer, emulated by various ninja villages in different countries.

The one-country-one-village system was initiated by the Senju and Uchiha clans, but this system was merely a name without substance. If it weren't for the previous Hokage, Senju Tobirama, the so-called ninja village... upon careful consideration, it would be no different from the chaotic landscape of the Warring States era, where ninja clans ruled their own territories.

It wasn't until the previous Hokage took office and implemented a series of groundbreaking reforms that this distorted system of ninja clans ruling the village began to change for the better. By using the commoner class to check the ninja clan class, Konoha finally formed a stable balance, mutually restraining and relying on each other.

The balancing methods are truly admirable.

The only regret is that there was no successor.

With the outbreak of the First Great Shinobi War and the passing of the previous Hokage, Senju Tobirama, even if he had unfulfilled ambitions and ideals, they could only be left to the wind, entrusting the future of the village to the current Third Hokage.

As for the Third Hokage, Baiseki doesn't know much about him, and it might be because the previous Hokage set such a high standard that many people overlook the achievements of the Third Hokage.

After all, many systems were already perfected during the previous Hokage's era, making it difficult for his successors to surpass him. So, we can only wait and see what surprising actions the Third Hokage will take.

After thinking about these things, Baiseki took the scroll of the Soul Transformation Jutsu and returned to the underground laboratory.

He had already injected natural energy into the test subject and needed some time to observe and collect data.

Now it was time to consider the issue of the Caged Bird Seal.

Baiseki had already studied the Caged Bird Seal for some time, but due to the lack of information and the incomplete analysis of the deeper structure of chakra, progress in this area had been stagnant for a long time.

According to Ayane, once the Caged Bird Seal is inscribed, it will follow the person for life and can only be removed at the time of death.

In other words, the Caged Bird Seal can be removed with the condition of 'death.'

So, what kind of 'death' is this?

Physical death or spiritual death?

What characteristics does chakra have in this process?

People are born with chakra, and losing chakra leads to death.

If Ayane is put into a state of chakra depletion and death, will the Caged Bird Seal be removed?

Of course, this death is not real death but a state similar to death, a pseudo-death.

Afterward, chakra can be re-supplied to Ayane to bring her back from the pseudo-death state.

The premise of this experiment is to first verify a hypothesis.

That is, does a person really die after losing chakra?

If a person doesn't necessarily die after losing chakra, then... where does chakra come from?

Why does it become a necessary life activity energy for human survival?

Is the death caused by losing chakra a physical death or a spiritual death?

Can humans enter a very peculiar pseudo-death state after losing chakra and be brought back to life by re-supplying chakra? Is this possible?

If all of these can be confirmed through experiments, then removing the Caged Bird Seal may no longer be a problem.

It would also resolve many of Baiseki's doubts.

Baiseki carefully recorded these speculations in his notebook.

Science, after all, starts with questions, then makes hypotheses, and finally verifies their correctness.

Therefore, the research on soul jutsu is very necessary.

The only problem is that it is a time of war, and he may be called out on missions at any time, leaving no time for experiments here.

◎

Listening to the eerie cries of the test subject on the operating table, writhing in pain, unable to make a sound despite the feeling of their throat being torn apart, only the faint sounds of their struggle on the operating table could be heard.

Baiseki calmly watched the test subject on the operating table, whose body was convulsing and face contorted in pain, with no emotion in his eyes. He skillfully cut a piece of skin from the subject's arm, which had been eroded by natural energy, showing a pale green color, and placed it in a container to observe under a microscope.

Then, he looked at the computer screen, which displayed the heartbeat frequency and the fluctuation values of the natural energy and chakra fusion of the test subject on the operating table.

These test subjects, who initially resisted, had become numb dolls, with no trace of fear in their eyes.

Baiseki felt a bit regretful about this.

He didn't expect that the fusion of natural energy with chakra in the human body would cause such a terrifying mental and physical impact.

Therefore, whenever a test subject showed signs of mental breakdown, he would promptly stop the experiment, give them a sedative, and replace them with another test subject.

This way, they could be reused, saving costs.

Baiseki looked at the other people shivering against the wall and shook his head. Really, these people have no spirit of dedication to science.

If his experiments succeed, these people could instantly transform from ordinary people into those with senjutsu chakra in their bodies, even if they don't know any jutsu, their vitality, strength, speed, and reaction time would all improve qualitatively.

As for longevity, living to a hundred years old should not be a problem.

As for immortality... Baiseki thought to himself, he was getting carried away.

"The research on natural energy is basically complete. The senjutsu chakra needs further data derivation to improve the fusion success rate. Next, I can focus on the Caged Bird Seal..."

Wait a minute!

Baiseki suddenly realized a very serious problem: how could he collect detailed physical data of Ayane in her current state?

He was currently living in the Uchiha clan territory, and Ayane was a Hyuga clan ninja.

If he brought Ayane here and Ruri found out...

A cold sweat trickled down Baiseki's face.

He quickly calculated the probability of his survival if he were discovered.