[Senju Tobirama and Orochimaru handed the Experimental Subject on the operating table over to the assistants nearby and left the laboratory. Senju Tobirama was fine, but Orochimaru was different; after conducting consecutive experiments for so long, he was starting to feel fatigued.
Just then, an Anbu wearing an animal mask found Senju Tobirama. Seeing the Anbu's arrival, Senju Tobirama frowned.
"Has the Honkai Energy concentration risen again?" Senju Tobirama guessed the Anbu's purpose instantly.
"Yes, Lord Second. Not only that, the number of Honkai Sickness patients in the village is rising. If this continues... therefore, the Fifth Hokage has asked me to notify both of you to attend a meeting."
Even without seeing his expression, Orochimaru could still hear the undisguised unease in his tone. After all, all signs pointed to the fact that something major was about to happen to New Konoha!
"I understand. We will find a way to deal with this. You may leave now."
After the Anbu left, Senju Tobirama looked at Orochimaru and said, "It looks like your plan for rest is going to fall through again."
"It can't be helped, for the sake of New Konoha." Orochimaru sighed, feeling that if this continued, he would drop dead from overwork.
Soon, the two arrived at the new Hokage Building of New Konoha. Inside the conference room, everyone had already gathered; only the two of them were missing.
"Apologies, we are late." Senju Tobirama walked to his seat without a word, while Orochimaru nodded politely before heading to his own.
"Calling us here suggests the Honkai Energy has already risen to a very dangerous level," Senju Tobirama said after scanning the room.
"Correct. The number of people suffering from Honkai Sickness is still increasing, and traces of Zombies have even appeared within the village. Most importantly, the Honkai Energy is still growing with no sign of weakening. If this continues, the Honkai Energy in the village will approach the levels of Old Konoha," Tsunade said, rubbing her temples to relieve her fatigue.
The mountain of tasks in New Konoha had already left her exhausted, and now this situation had surfaced, preventing her from getting a good night's sleep for days.
"This is not a good signal." Even though he had already speculated as much, Senju Tobirama still found it troublesome.
He had rarely meddled in village affairs, spending his time with Orochimaru in the lab researching Honkai Beasts and how to strengthen the power of ninjas, but he was not entirely ignorant of the changes in the outside world. Precisely because of this, he felt a headache coming on—especially since he was completely in the dark regarding the cause of the sudden spike in Honkai Energy.
"Does this mean we have to migrate again?" Jiraiya didn't know the cause of the Honkai Energy rise, but he knew the current New Konoha was dangerous. The best course of action would be to transfer the civilians first.
"If only it were that simple," Orochimaru spoke up gloomily.
"What do you mean?" Minato Namikaze asked, puzzled.
"Currently, there are undoubtedly only two places in the entire Ninja World with the most Honkai Energy: one is Old Konoha, and the other is the Snowfield of the Land of Snow. These two places share a common point. Do you know what it is?"
As soon as Orochimaru said this, the conference room fell silent. They immediately realized what he was trying to say.
"A Herrscher..." the previously silent Senju Hashirama spoke.
"Exactly," Senju Tobirama nodded. "If the Honkai Energy continues to rise, the level in New Konoha is highly likely to approach or even reach the levels of Old Konoha and the Snowfield of the Land of Snow. If it were just a rise in Honkai Energy, that would be cause for celebration—for us, it would just be another migration. But what if it's not?"]
Senju Hashirama: "What do you mean? Are you saying a Herrscher will be born in New Konoha too?"
Uchiha Izuna: "Oho~ I'm starting to think Uchiha Hoshi is specifically targeting Konoha. Otherwise, why would the third Herrscher be born in New Konoha?"
Senju Tobirama: "Heh~ I admit the First Herrscher's strength is immense, but creating a Herrscher is something a mortal cannot possibly do."
Looking at the Sky Screen, Senju Tobirama also began to suspect Uchiha Hoshi. That girl was too mysterious. If it weren't for the fact that she was an Adopted Daughter of the Uchiha and lacked a Sharingan, he would have thought the thing in the sky was produced by Uchiha Hoshi's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Wait, an Adopted Daughter?
Senju Tobirama: "Uchiha brats, where did you adopt the First Herrscher from?"
This question from Senju Tobirama was something others wanted to know as well. Since she was the First Herrscher, countless people were interested in her background.
Uchiha Suzuri: "..."
Uchiha Tsukika: "..."
The Uchiha couple did not answer. The rest of the Uchiha were also unclear on the matter. They only knew that when Uchiha Suzuri and the others returned from a mission back then, they were already carrying Uchiha Hoshi. As for where she came from, the two of them had never offered an explanation.
["Will a Herrscher truly be born in New Konoha?" Jiraiya spoke bitterly.
The birth of the First Herrscher had caused the entirety of Konoha to be buried with it; only the ninjas had escaped. While the birth of the Second Herrscher occurred on a Snowfield, it had left the entire Snowfield of the Land of Snow crawling with Honkai Beasts. What kind of disaster would the birth of the Third Herrscher bring? No one knew.
"Perhaps things haven't reached the worst stage yet. There is still much we don't understand about Honkai Energy. Besides, our knowledge of Honkai Energy, Honkai Beasts, and Herrschers comes only from fragments of words from the First Herrscher and Second Herrscher. There are too many unknowns; we shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"But what if a Herrscher really is born?"
"..."
For a moment, the entire conference room fell into silence. They knew very little about Honkai and Herrschers, forced to guess based on limited intelligence.
But that was exactly the problem. Because there was so little information, they couldn't be certain if their guesses were accurate. What if they guessed wrong? Would this lead New Konoha to an irrecoverable abyss, or would there only be a minor price to pay? No one could guarantee that.
"In any case, let's prioritize migrating the civilians out of New Konoha. If this continues, the civilians won't be able to hold on."
"Mhm, let's do that."
"..."
Just as everyone was discussing how to migrate the residents of New Konoha, the doors to the conference room were suddenly pushed open.
"Lordships, something has happened!" An Anbu burst through the door, panting heavily.
"The Experimental Subject in the lab has escaped!"
He brought with him a piece of bad news.
"How could the Experimental Subject escape the lab?"
"I don't know, but it seems the Experimental Subject's strength suddenly surged, allowing him to break out of his cage and cause significant destruction!"]