Shinno knelt on the cold stone floor, his forehead striking the ground again and again with dull thuds.
"Please… spare me!"
His voice cracked as he begged, his body trembling uncontrollably. Pride, ambition, dignity—he had discarded all of it without hesitation. As long as he could live, he was willing to do anything.
Seeing this pitiful display, a faint smile appeared on Aomizu's face.
Shinno noticed it instantly.
His heart leapt with hope.
He had always believed that no one could resist the temptation of immortality. No matter how powerful a person was, the fear of death remained the same. As long as one grasped that weakness, victory was assured.
But the next words that left Aomizu's mouth froze Shinno in place.
"If I kill you," Aomizu said calmly, "everything you have will still belong to me. Including your so-called method of immortality."
The world seemed to collapse around him.
At that moment, Shinno realized just how ridiculous he looked.
Like a clown dancing desperately on the edge of a blade.
The intense desire to survive twisted instantly into madness. Fear transformed into vicious resolve.
His eyes turned feral.
Without hesitation, Chakra surged into his right hand, condensing into a sharp, shimmering Chakra Scalpel. With a desperate roar, Shinno lunged forward, stabbing straight toward Aomizu's vital points.
"Then you can go to hell with me!"
Bang!
The attack never landed.
A single flash of steel passed through the air.
Shinno screamed.
His arm spun away, severed cleanly at the shoulder, blood spraying across the stone floor. Before the pain could fully register, Aomizu stepped forward and stomped down hard on Shinno's chest.
Crack!
The impact crushed him into the ground.
Shinno felt as if his internal organs had shattered. A mouthful of blood burst from his lips, splattering across his chin as his face drained of all color.
"No—no—please!"
His voice broke completely.
"I can still be useful! I swear loyalty to you! A Jonin-level combatant is valuable—very valuable!"
Gone was the arrogance. Gone was the fanatic scientist chasing immortality.
All that remained was a man consumed by terror.
Aomizu looked down at him coldly.
Ignoring Shinno's frantic pleas, Aomizu activated the power of the Human Path. Invisible force surged into Shinno's mind, tearing through layers of memory like pages ripped from a book.
Every secret.
Every experiment.
Every Forbidden Jutsu.
When it was finished, Aomizu reached out and extracted Shinno's soul.
The body fell limp.
Completely lifeless.
With Shinno's death, his Medical Forbidden Jutsu were fully acquired.
Body Activation.
Body Regeneration.
The first allowed cells to enter an extremely active state, drastically enhancing physical strength and endurance. It was precisely because of this technique that Shinno had been able to forcibly open the Seventh Gate of Shock.
The second technique was even more terrifying.
No matter how severe the injury, the body could recover at astonishing speed. Even if torn apart, flesh and organs would reorganize and regenerate.
True resurrection through regeneration.
"Powerful," Aomizu murmured, "but flawed."
As a master of Medical Ninjutsu himself, he immediately saw the cost.
The human body had limits.
Even with Chakra enhancing cellular vitality far beyond normal humans, cell division was not infinite. Once that limit was exceeded, death was inevitable.
Unless one abandoned humanity entirely.
"Still," Aomizu thought calmly, "in critical moments, this can save lives."
In addition to these two techniques, Shinno also possessed an incomplete Forbidden Jutsu.
Body Transformation.
According to Shinno's own research, this technique required Body Activation and Body Regeneration as a foundation, combined with the dark Chakra of the Zero-Tails.
Once perfected, it could reverse cellular degradation, achieving instant rejuvenation. Damage would no longer weaken the body—instead, it would strengthen it through regeneration.
An ultimate physique.
This was the reason Shinno had been capable of opening the Eighth Gate of Death in the future without dying.
"Zero-Tails…"
Aomizu absorbed all related knowledge from Shinno's memories.
The Zero-Tails was not a true tailed beast, but a mass of dark Chakra materialized from the negative emotions hidden deep within human hearts—fear, hatred, despair.
If he wished, Aomizu could cultivate it himself.
In the future timeline, Shinno had used an innocent girl named Amaru as a vessel to nurture the Zero-Tails.
Aomizu dismissed the thought immediately.
He would never involve innocent people.
However…
Danzo's face surfaced in his mind.
The so-called "Darkness of the Ninja World."
If anyone was perfectly suited to feed the Zero-Tails, it was Danzo Shimura.
Moreover, the animosity between them was already irreconcilable.
A few days earlier, Yakushi Nono had informed him that Danzo had been moving in secret once again.
He simply didn't know what scheme was being prepared this time.
"This harvest…" Aomizu said softly, "is truly excellent."
Shinno's Forbidden Jutsu alone were priceless.
And that wasn't all.
The Angkor Fortress—the true core of the Sky Ninja Village—now belonged to him.
A massive airborne fortress capable of flight.
Inside it was a super-energy cannon, similar in concept to the Space-Time Chakra Cannon developed by the Hidden Cloud Village in the future.
Using the Zero-Tails as an energy source, a single blast could bore a massive hole straight through a mountain.
Such destructive power was already terrifying.
Additionally, the Sky Ninja Village possessed extremely advanced mechanical technology. Their flying machines were only one example.
Given time, they could even develop modern-style weapons.
Giant warships.
Yet in the Ninja World, such weapons were strangely ineffective.
Aomizu recalled how, in the future, those warships were destroyed effortlessly by the specially cultivated Kikaichū of Shino Aburame.
This was the fundamental problem.
Ninja possessed too many ways to counter scientific weapons.
High investment, low return.
Naturally, technological development stagnated.
Aomizu had no interest in weapon manufacturing.
Ninja themselves were the ultimate weapons.
They grew stronger on their own, possessed initiative, and could be healed by Medical Ninja.
Improving people—not machines—was the true path.
Of course, these were plans for the distant future.
Even Aomizu couldn't accomplish everything alone.
Talent had to be gathered.
Cultivated.
Summoning Technique!
Smoke burst outward.
Pain—Kakuzu appeared, holding a completely black iron box.
This was Aomizu's Chakra transfer device, allowing long-distance control of Pain's bodies.
Thanks to it, Aomizu could exert influence across the entire Ninja World.
With all Sky Ninja eliminated, he couldn't remain here indefinitely.
Pain—Kakuzu was left behind to guard the secret base.
Under Aomizu's control, the device was installed, and all traces of battle were erased.
Everything was handled cleanly.
Taking Shirakumo Randou's corpse, Aomizu prepared to return to Konoha.
Then—
A signal flare pierced the sky.
A Konoha Ninja distress signal.
Aomizu's eyes sharpened.
The direction was unmistakable.
The Land of Waterfalls.
Without hesitation, he vanished.
One Hour Earlier
Yakushi Nono's assessment mission had not been arranged by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
It had been planned in advance by Danzo.
Her task was to infiltrate Takigakure and gather intelligence on the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.
A mission perfectly suited for her.
And she completed it flawlessly.
The "Walking Shrine Maiden" was among the finest intelligence operatives in the Ninja World.
However, during her withdrawal, an unexpected incident occurred.
A group of foreign Ninja infiltrated Takigakure and launched a sudden attack on the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.
But this Jinchūriki was not the young Genin Fu.
Her name was Erika.
A Jonin of Takigakure.
After two years of secluded training, she had already mastered part of the Seven-Tails' power.
The ambush failed spectacularly.
Three attackers were killed instantly.
The battle alerted Takigakure's forces, forcing the remaining attackers to flee.
Unfortunately, Yakushi Nono—who was nearby—was exposed.
Though she escaped thanks to her experience, she soon encountered Hiruko and his four subordinates.
Their goal was clear.
Capture her alive.
Unable to escape, Yakushi Nono fired a distress flare.
A cry for help that pierced the sky.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)