Escape from Konoha.

◎

After parting ways with Xiao, the five of them descended the mountain along the circular road.

The five remained silent on the way. Although they had already anticipated that Xiao's people were unlikely to join their organization, they still felt a great deal of regret.

They also wanted to change the country, but passion alone cannot accomplish anything.

Moreover, simply making the country peaceful is far from enough.

Peace is only the foundation of development.

Xiao's power is too fragile.

Hopefully, they'll be hammered by reality and understand this principle.

They have done more than enough to help us.

"They will probably distribute most of the supplies to the people of the Rain Kingdom."

One person spoke, breaking the silence.

"Ah, a momentary act of charity can't change anything. What will happen next year if we get through this year? They haven't realized what's truly needed to change this country. Instead of patching up the shortcomings of the current Rain Country, what they need is to calm down and learn, to awaken the numb hearts of the Rain Country's people, rather than indulging in momentary charity and pity."

The insect-man exhaled and delivered his merciless verdict.

“A country that lives on the pity and charity of others will not become rich and strong; it will only become weaker and weaker, and its people will become weaker and weaker. Their vision and their limits have reached this point.”

The group walked and talked.

Suddenly, one of them stopped abruptly, punched the rock wall next to him, and with a scream, a bizarre humanoid creature, its entire body seemingly covered in white paint, was violently pulled out of the wall and choked tightly by his throat.

"You bastard, you actually managed to find me—"

The white humanoid creature stared in utter astonishment at the ninja who had dragged it out of the rock wall and choked it with lightning speed.

Before he could finish speaking, his throat was crushed with a snap, and he died.

"what is this?"

"Who knew that the guy who'd been listening to us... no, listening to Akatsuki, was he Akatsuki's enemy?"

The male ninja who dragged the white creature out of the rock wall was also not entirely sure of the strange humanoid creature's identity.

"Judging from its appearance, it's not a normal human. A modified human? It's similar to some of the doctor's modified creatures, but this life force is much stronger than that of ordinary people, and it remains in the body even after death..."

The insect-man squatted down, his gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny.

“Take it back to the doctor; he’s always been interested in these bizarre creatures that seem to be modifying humans.”

The insect man's opinion was agreed upon by the other four.

Just then, the ground in front of them suddenly rose up, forming a protrusion that looked like a human head, with a pair of dark, black eyes that resembled black holes.

A pale golden light, not dazzling, emanated from the eye of the black hole.

Its sticky mouth and head were made of mud, and it made deep, resonant sounds.

The five people did not show fear upon seeing the even more bizarre earth creature. Instead, they knelt down on one knee and bowed to it.

Its exposed head is only a part of a complete organism.

The insect-man smiled and said to the clay figure before him, "Long time no see, General Earth. May I ask if the doctor has any new instructions?"

Chapter 74 Graduation and Jonin

Leaf.

Uchiha clan.

Inside the underground laboratory, bathed in bright yellow light, a young man wearing a white hooded lab coat stood at the lab table, working diligently.

This boy was Shiraishi.

The Second Shinobi World War ended with the war between Konoha and Sunagakure. After that, all the countries entered a period of peaceful development and recovery.

The borders of the Land of Fire have returned to their previous stability and have not been attacked by foreign ninjas.

However, that happened more than three years ago.

Life has been relatively uneventful for the past three years.

Since they don't need to go to the battlefield, they spend more time in the village after completing their missions.

This also means that he has much more time to spend on research, instead of constantly traveling back and forth on the battlefield of the ninja world and fighting against various enemies.

Compared to his research more than three years ago, his research progress is undoubtedly much more advanced.

Natural energy, Sage Mode, Tailed Beast Chakra, including the use of Yin and Yang Release, are all things that could not be compared to what they were three years ago.

The efficient use of natural energy means that he can launch targeted mass troop buildups.

Unlike three years ago, when he still felt a sense of awe towards Konoha's immense power, he could now approach it with a more indifferent attitude.

Perhaps this is what they call growing up.

After all, while he was making continuous progress, Konoha remained largely unchanged, except for an increase in the number of active ninjas and a year-on-year increase in military spending.

As the number of ninjas continues to grow, it's estimated that the ninja villages in neighboring countries have developed a sense of apprehension towards Konoha.

How long will this peace last? Will it last a year, or two, before a new war breaks out again?

The only certainty is that the time before Sunagakure's next attack on the Land of Fire will not keep Shiraishi waiting too long.

At that time, he could finally escape this incredibly boring village.

Although it's hard to let go of some people and things, parting is a necessary stage in life.

"The human body stage is finally complete. Next, we can try to untie the caged bird..."

The experiment of replacing chakra with natural energy as life energy has been progressing well after more than three years of effort. The technology is now quite mature. While we cannot say that we are 100% certain, we can at least stop the experiment in time if an accident occurs, so as not to harm lives.

In order for this experiment to succeed, a total of eleven human bodies were used.

The experiment went so smoothly that even Shiraishi found it unbelievable. None of the eleven human subjects died. Only one person experienced an accident, but Shiraishi managed to save him with his superb medical skills.

This is similar to how natural energy can replace chakra as the life energy of the human body.

Although the difference between the two cannot be determined at present, it is not too late to explore this secret later once the mystery of the caged bird can be solved.

Shiraishi walked to the bookshelf next to him, his eyes scanning the titles of the books, and reached out to browse through them.

"I remember it was in..."

As he spoke, the floor next to him began to move.

The head of a clay figure with dark, eye-hole-like features emerged from the ground, emitting a pale golden light from its eye sockets, and stared at the white stone.

"Are you back? You've had a long journey."

Shiraishi stopped looking for the book and turned to look at the clay figure.

This is a 'doll' that I created using Yin-Yang attribute chakra as a foundation, natural energy as a core, and some wonderful uses of the soul.

The inspiration for its creation came from the tailed beasts.

Bai Shi named it 'General Tu'.

Because it is only six months old, it currently only has the ability to move freely on the ground and merge with the ground, and is considered an juvenile.

Currently, the only help he can offer Shiraishi is to communicate with his subordinates and deliver items. As for combat... well, the future is promising.

The clay figure stared at the white stone, seemingly waiting for its next command.

Shiraishi gave a wry smile. Although he had successfully created it artificially, its intelligence was quite worrying; it could be described as dull and clumsy.

The commands and interpersonal relationships are too complex for it to comprehend in its current state.

Without giving it precise commands, even the creator, Shiroshi, would be unable to communicate with it normally.

That's why it was given the assessment of "promising future".

"What did they ask you to bring back? Give it to me."

Shiraishi gave him the order.

The clay figure then ended its utterly empty stare at the white stone.

The floor began to writhe, and a letter and a white humanoid creature emerged from it.

"what is this?"

Shiraishi picked up the letter, but his gaze fell on the white humanoid creature, and he frowned.

The mud figure said nothing, but made a dull thud and disappeared underground.

Shiraishi didn't expect this low-intelligence doll to give any decent response; it was quite competent as a communication tool.

Now he's just a tool for communication.

Shiraishi opened the letter and began to learn what had happened.

Only two things were briefly mentioned above.

Xiao refused the offer.

The white humanoid creature lying on the ground is of unknown identity. While listening to Xiao, it for some reason targeted his subordinates, was then subdued, and finally brought here.

"They rejected it? I was originally planning to expand the organization's manpower, but oh well, it's the same as finding someone else."

Xiao's refusal was understandable, and Baishi didn't feel any regret about it.

There are just too many people we can recruit. After all, the cultivation limit for natural energy is very low. Even disabled people with prosthetics can be used as combat power, it's just a matter of how strong or weak they are.

However, with the foundation of being a ninja, and the enhancement of natural energy, their strength will be greater than that of ordinary people.

The bigger problem is the unidentified corpse in front of us.

"This sensation, and this life energy... what is it?"

Shiraishi stared at the white creature's corpse with a strange expression, not referring to it as 'human,' but rather as 'thing.'

Its internal structure was so simple that... Shiraishi thought it was just a conscious shell.

It felt cold to the touch, like a corpse, yet somehow different.

A living dead?