Chapter 248: Cutting Lifespan Is Great
Seeing Senju Hashirama so furious, everyone couldn't help but feel moved by the bond between him and Uchiha Madara.
But a question arose in everyone's mind.
Why are you only angry for Madara, and not for Uzumaki Mito?
As expected…
"Then where can we buy such useful water?"
Senju Tobirama muttered to himself, stroking his chin.
"What? Tobirama, what are you planning to do?!"
Senju Hashirama looked at his younger brother with alarm.
He knew very well how hostile Tobirama was toward Madara. Could it be that Tobirama wanted to obtain that water and then do something utterly inhumane to Madara?
No, wait. Madara was already dead.
Even if he were brought back through Impure World Reincarnation, that stuff probably wouldn't work on an Impure World Reincarnation body, would it?
"Brother, you misunderstand. I just got an idea from a detail in the story earlier."
"Water Release… if one uses specially prepared water, it might not be inferior to a Kekkei Genkai."
Tobirama explained calmly.
Hashirama let out a sigh of relief.
But in truth, he hadn't misunderstood at all.
Tobirama simply hadn't finished speaking.
What he had in mind was doing exactly what Kakuzu did in the Infinite Tsukuyomi world, spraying people with the Yin Maiden Water.
As for who he intended to spray, that went without saying.
"I actually know something about this. After I took office, I reviewed a mission report. Not long ago, Kakashi's team went to the Land of Snow. The ninja there could directly use Ice Release."
Tsunade chimed in.
"That shouldn't be possible."
Orochimaru shattered their expectations.
"According to the principle of automatic correction when transferring things into reality, even if that water consumed chakra to be brought into the real world, it would only become Takigakure's ordinary Hero Water."
"Only in the Infinite Tsukuyomi world would it display the opposite properties."
"Mm."
Hashirama stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"I understand what Orochimaru means. It's like that little girl we summoned earlier with Impure World Reincarnation."
"If we took Madara's cells from the Infinite Tsukuyomi world and used them to reincarnate him here, the one who emerged should still be the real Madara, not that perverted furry-obsessed lunatic who likes hypnotizing the Nine-Tails."
"Exactly. Brother, your intelligence always seems to return to normal whenever Madara is involved."
Tobirama nodded.
Orochimaru's reminder was correct.
Earlier, Tobirama had indeed been too absorbed in the story. Because he was so eager to target Uchiha Madara, he had overlooked information that had already been established.
Thinking it through now, it was truly a pity. The Yin Maiden Water couldn't be used after all.
But on second thought, Hero Water wasn't entirely useless.
Hero Water temporarily increased chakra, but at the cost of drastically reducing lifespan.
That temporary chakra boost, if one reversed the effect of Yin Maiden Water, likely operated on the principle of converting lifespan into chakra.
For weak ninja, this was a deadly weapon that traded life for power.
But for powerful ninja with already vast chakra reserves, Hero Water was rather unimpressive.
Perhaps this was why Takigakure in the real world had never been invaded.
After all, the waterfall there was just ordinary water. If someone truly wanted to attack, wouldn't they break in within minutes?
Kumogakure once sent a single person who managed to infiltrate and abduct the Seven-Tails' Jinchūriki. That alone spoke volumes.
So then… What about exploiting Hero Water's side effects?
Would it work on the Ōtsutsuki clan?
What the Ōtsutsuki cared about most was survival—lifespan.
They planted Divine Trees and consumed chakra fruits precisely to convert chakra into immortality.
If one were to spray this water directly at the Ōtsutsuki and make their lifespans plummet…
Wouldn't that be perfect? Killing the body and crushing the spirit.
"After this is over, we should visit Takigakure and obtain some Hero Water for research. Most importantly, we need to test whether the Ōtsutsuki possess any resistance to it."
Tobirama said to Orochimaru.
"Hm? That's an excellent idea."
Orochimaru paused briefly before offering his praise.
Shiromo had once told them a story about the future Nine-Tails Jinchūriki entering Baryon Mode.
Baryon Mode was a state the Nine-Tails developed by simulating nuclear fusion within the sun.
In the story, this mode not only granted power, speed, and perception far beyond the Ōtsutsuki, but every single punch also carried a lifespan-reduction effect.
An Ōtsutsuki capable of fighting for twenty more hours was reduced to mere minutes.
In the end, it secured a strategic victory.
From this perspective, methods that cut lifespan were indeed a necessary means of dealing with the enormous hidden threat lurking within the ninja world—Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
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"You knew Madara wasn't dead?"
Shiromo looked somewhat surprised.
In [Konan]'s story, it had been directly stated that Madara had faked his death after his battle of wits at the Valley of the End.
"Yes. We also know where Nagato's eyes came from."
[Konan] let out a soft sigh.
"…Well, that's actually quite reasonable."
After thinking about it, Shiromo found nothing strange.
Given how much intelligence [Konan] possessed in this world, and how the Akatsuki continuously gathered information to overthrow the absurd furry ninja world, learning about Uchiha Madara was hardly surprising.
"So you're saying Nagato could inherit and wield the Rinnegan to the greatest extent because he's a descendant of Uchiha Madara?"
Shiromo asked.
"Not just Uchiha Madara."
[Konan] shook her head slightly.
"When Uzumaki Mito was still Senju Hashirama's wife, she used the Yin Seal to store part of Hashirama's cells."
"After transforming back into a male, those sealed Hashirama cells were implanted into Uchiha Madara's body, helping him awaken the Rinnegan."
"At the same time, Nagato's mother was born."
Therefore… Nagato is actually the descendant of Uzumaki Mito, Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara."
"..."
Incredible.
Aside from lacking Asura and Indra's chakra, you're practically the true protagonist of this Infinite Tsukuyomi world.
What else could Shiromo even say?
In this world, Nagato's buffs were stacked to the maximum.
"We should head to the next location."
"Mm. Let's move."
Neither of Iwagakure's Tailed Beast Jinchūriki were currently in the village.
The Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han, was similar to Yugito. Though his mastery over the Tailed Beast was slightly weaker, through relentless training he still managed to wield part of its power. He had rendered tremendous service to Iwagakure and was known as the "Steam Ninja."
The Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Rōshi, was on bad terms with Tsuchikage Ōnoki.
He had left the village to live and train alone, maintaining no contact with Iwagakure.
Essentially a rogue ninja who had never been officially declared one.
Shiromo's group's first target was the Four-Tails.
Fortunately, locating the Four-Tails was easy.
It favored volcanic regions—environments rare across the entire ninja world, let alone near Iwagakure.
The Akatsuki had already identified several likely locations. After [Konan] informed Uchiha Hikari, they simply needed to investigate them one by one.
"Please let this one be at least somewhat normal… someone like Fū would be fine."
As Uchiha Hikari searched, she silently offered her prayer.
(End of this chapter)