Chapter 367: Adapted Ninjutsu [Tranquil Rain]
"How did it go, Nagato?"
Nagato ended the Projection Jutsu and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Konan looking at him with worry written plainly across her face.
Nagato gave his friend a faint smile.
Konan froze for a moment. It had been a long time since she had seen Nagato smile like that.
"It's nothing," Nagato said, coughing twice. "It's just that the Gedo Statue's presence is making my body weaker and weaker."
As he spoke, he subtly swept his surroundings with the Rinnegan. There was nothing there. Not a single anomaly.
Nagato still found it hard to believe. He fully activated the Rinnegan and let his chakra seep into the ground, searching more carefully, yet he still found nothing. He could sense the insects beneath the earth, but no human presence. No unfamiliar trace. No hidden observer.
It was as if no one had ever been there at all.
But when he thought of what Amamiya Kenichi had told him, an uneasy feeling still rose in his chest.
An enemy who could hide so completely that even he, with the Rinnegan, could not detect a single trace was terrifying. Terrifying enough that he now felt faintly uneasy, half convinced that the man was still lurking nearby.
That made even speaking inconvenient. Everything he had discussed with Amamiya Kenichi had to stay buried in his heart for now. He could only speak freely once the time for open confrontation had truly arrived.
And Amamiya Kenichi had also said...
"Then do you want to..." Konan looked at Nagato hesitantly. The tubes connected to his body were still horrifying to look at, and his condition had been poor for a very long time.
Even though he was still a young man, Nagato's body already resembled that of an old man in his eighties or nineties, perhaps even worse. If not for the sturdy physique of a ninja and the Uzumaki clan's massive chakra reserves, he might not have been able to endure this long.
Nagato shook his head.
He had his own reasons. And now, there was one more.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at the dim Akatsuki base, then silently lowered his head. According to Amamiya Kenichi's plan, the next time that man contacted him would be the moment to stir up a storm that would sweep across the entire ninja world.
"Unification... What a madman."
Nagato licked his dry lips.
To be honest, he had never considered such an idea before. His thoughts had always been centered on gathering all the tailed beasts and using absolute force to force peace upon the nations.
But Amamiya Kenichi's method was clearly more feasible.
Most importantly, he had presented evidence. Evidence every person in the ninja world already knew, and yet strangely, no ambitious person seemed to have ever followed that line of thinking.
"I really want to see how the country you establish will realize that idea..."
Nagato closed his eyes. He needed proper rest, and he also needed to consider how he should deal with the two suspicious individuals Amamiya Kenichi had mentioned.
"But why did that guy take my Rain Tiger at Will?" Nagato frowned slightly. Was Amamiya Kenichi planning to use it to monitor the Land of Snow?
Meanwhile, in the Land of Snow, Amamiya Kenichi stood in front of one of his Shadow Clones and listened as it reported the results of its research during this period.
The whole thing gave him an odd feeling.
It was subtle, but he always felt like a client waiting for a contractor to report results, except that the contractor in front of him was, in a sense, also himself. So was he really just listening to himself report to himself?
No wonder, despite how practical Shadow Clones were, no one in the ninja world ever thought of transforming a Shadow Clone and then doing something ridiculous with it. That would be far too insane. Once the memories returned, wouldn't that awaken some truly strange hobbies?
"Conventional Wood Release can't affect crop seeds at all," the Shadow Clone explained excitedly. "If I force it, wood just bursts out of the seeds and turns into large trees."
Amamiya Kenichi listened very carefully. No matter what, this was still another way to use Wood Release.
"However, after combining it with Sage Mode chakra, I found that this Sage Mode Wood Release..."
The moment he heard that, Amamiya Kenichi's expression turned serious. Could it be that Sage Mode Wood Release actually had the ability to germinate seeds?
"It still doesn't work. Using it on the seeds only makes wood grow."
The Shadow Clone finished speaking, and Amamiya Kenichi immediately rolled his eyes.
So after all that, there had been no progress at all.
And it had said all of that so dramatically too. Truly...
"But I made a new discovery!" the Shadow Clone said excitedly.
It took out several wheat seeds and planted them in the soil, then formed hand seals and used Wood Release.
Amamiya Kenichi stared at the ground.
This time, no wood erupted from beneath the earth.
Instead, faint green sprouts pushed up through the soil where the seeds had been scattered, and they began growing at a visible rate.
Amamiya Kenichi's eyes widened slightly.
Could this technique have actually worked?
But how had this Shadow Clone pulled it off?
After using the jutsu for a while, the wheat grew until it was close to heading, then stopped. The Shadow Clone also ended the hand seals, looking slightly tired.
"This is my latest result," the clone said, rubbing his forehead. "I discovered that when Sage Mode Wood Release is used, it releases a special kind of energy that can stimulate wheat to grow rapidly. But if the jutsu is completed all the way through, Wood Release will still erupt from the ground and destroy the seeds."
Amamiya Kenichi crouched down and examined the wheat in front of him.
It looked extremely healthy. There were no signs of malnutrition, and even the soil where it had been planted appeared normal.
He grabbed a handful of earth and rubbed it between his fingers.
It was ordinary soil.
That meant the energy stimulating the wheat's rapid growth had not come from the earth itself. It had come from the energy released by the Sage Mode Wood Release just now.
Or more precisely, from the fluctuations produced during the jutsu.
"Is it possible that Sage Mode Wood Release releases too much energy, so much that the wheat can't endure it and bursts apart? Like a deficiency that can't handle a sudden overload?" Amamiya Kenichi muttered as an idea formed in his mind.
If Sage Mode Wood Release could accelerate wheat growth, then what if the intensity of the jutsu were reduced to an extremely low level? Could that satisfy the conditions for rapid growth without destroying the seeds?
"I thought of that too," the Shadow Clone said, shaking its head. "But after trying it, I found it didn't work. Even when I used the smallest possible amount, the seeds still couldn't withstand it. They still burst from the Wood Release."
Amamiya Kenichi fell into thought.
The amount of chakra the Shadow Clone had used definitely wasn't high. Even so, the seeds had failed.
But what if there were another way?
As everyone knew, when the Shadow Clone Technique was used, the main body's chakra was divided continuously. The more clones created, the thinner the main body's chakra was spread, and the amount each one received naturally became smaller.
So if he used Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and divided his chakra up to the maximum number his body could tolerate, wouldn't that standardize the chakra amount of every clone to an extremely low level?
Then, if he used Sage Mode Wood Release on a large scale, spreading it out as broadly as possible while keeping it in a "draw but do not release" state, and placed a huge number of seeds beneath that field, then each seed would only bear the tiniest fraction of Sage Mode Wood Release energy.
If that worked, then perhaps he could directly use Sage Mode Wood Release to stimulate large scale germination.
Thinking of this, Amamiya Kenichi decisively dispelled the Shadow Clone before him.
In an instant, a wave of exhaustion slammed into him.
He licked his lips.
Sure enough, all the fatigue accumulated during the Shadow Clone's experiments returned to the main body at once.
"If only I could invent something that prevents fatigue from returning when Shadow Clones disperse..."
Amamiya Kenichi yawned, then forced himself to rest until his body adjusted. After that, he headed to a valley near the capital of the Land of Snow.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
He took a deep breath.
Fortunately, these Shadow Clones didn't need to fight. The moment the jutsu was cast, the chakra in his body began dropping rapidly, thinning again and again. In an instant, even his own presence weakened significantly.
When he looked up again, the space before him was packed so densely with copies of himself that the entire valley seemed filled.
Amamiya Kenichi had reached his limit.
He felt that if he made even more Shadow Clones, his body would simply fail. He still needed a certain amount of chakra just to maintain his basic bodily functions.
"How many did I make this time?" he muttered in surprise as he stared at the valley full of himself.
He truly hadn't expected the number to reach this point.
Naruto had created large numbers of clones later as well, even thousands, but those clones had still retained combat capability. If combat were ignored entirely and the goal was only to divide chakra down to the smallest possible amount, then the number could clearly become even more absurd.
Of course, the exhaustion caused by such a technique was also enormous, and the Shadow Clones obviously knew it too.
So they moved immediately.
In almost no time at all, a broad section of land where cold resistant wheat had already been planted was cleared.
Amamiya Kenichi rapidly formed hand seals.
He began using Sage Mode Wood Release, but the sequence was clearly different from before. The Shadow Clones immediately understood what he was trying to do.
"Will this really work?" one Shadow Clone asked curiously from the side.
[...The experiment began. After creating an enormous number of Shadow Clones, the main body started using Sage Mode Wood Release, adapted from Rain Tiger at Will. Large amounts of Sage Mode Wood Release energy gathered in the sky and transformed into pale green raindrops that slowly fell into the soil.]
"I don't know either," the Shadow Clone responsible for recording said as it shook its head. "I have no idea whether this method is actually feasible. Rain Tiger at Will is supposed to infuse one's chakra into the rain to monitor a target, but I never expected the main body to use it like this."
"But if you think about it carefully, it does seem feasible. After all, this method infuses chakra into the rain itself. The rain cloud is huge, so the chakra gets dispersed much more thinly. Combined with a field this wide, it can be said that the main body has gone all out to dilute the chakra to its limit."
"Tranquility."
Amamiya Kenichi reached out and touched the rain curtain in front of him.
It was a soft drizzle, but when it landed on the body, it created the sensation of being soothed both physically and mentally.
Yet beneath the curtain of rain, the earth remained quiet.
Amamiya Kenichi frowned slightly.
Could it be that even this wouldn't work?
Then, just a moment later, spots of green appeared across the barren snowfield.
Countless sprouts shot up and grew taller at incredible speed.
Amamiya Kenichi's eyes lit up with delight.
In the blink of an eye, the wheat had already grown a great deal. But before it could head, the rain cloud dispersed and the growth slowed once more.
At the same time, various strange plants and weeds also shot up wildly.
Amamiya Kenichi pinched his brow.
So while the jutsu could indeed accelerate crop growth, it also stimulated other plants, especially the weeds, which were now spreading everywhere and even covering the wheat.
"Looks like I still need to weed."
Even so, a smile appeared on his face.
His heart was already full of joy.
He had succeeded.
As long as he kept removing the weeds and then continued using this jutsu so that the wheat could keep developing, head, and eventually mature, then food would no longer be a problem.
Any advanced civilization should never have to worry about food.
The most basic method was hybrid improvement. The next step was gene modification, using genetic programming to increase yield. After that came the question of growth speed.
But in the ninja world, with chakra, Amamiya Kenichi had practically skipped the middle stage entirely and leaped straight to the answer.
"Though that's not exactly the whole story either. After all, I had already crossed the river by feeling for stones before this."
He rubbed his chin.
He had already been working on genetic modification for quite some time. After making painfully slow progress there, he had tried Wood Release on a whim and unexpectedly received a pleasant surprise.
With the joint efforts of all the Shadow Clones, the weeds and miscellaneous plants were cleared out very quickly.
Amamiya Kenichi then dispelled every single clone.
At once, dizziness and exhaustion came crashing down. His vision blackened, his heartbeat accelerated wildly, and for a moment he felt as though his entire body were collapsing.
Fortunately, the sensation faded as quickly as it came.
Soon, it was gone.
Amamiya Kenichi bent over and gasped for breath, one hand pressed against his chest.
This was truly too exhilarating.
No wonder Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was classified as a forbidden technique.
Still, the good news was that the process itself was much simpler now.
He looked at the wheat before him, quickly formed hand seals once more, and filled the entire valley with Shadow Clones again.
Then, without hesitation, he used the newly adapted jutsu once more.
Its name came from Cenarius's ultimate ability.
Tranquility.
"A ninjutsu that brings new life... It really does deserve that name."
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