Naruto: I'm really not an evil scientist!

For example, he can see some conceptual things, such as the cause and effect entanglements on some people. By observing the cause and effect lines, he can further explore the entanglements of these people's fates and karma.

These are only passive abilities. He can manipulate cause and effect to a certain extent, and even activate an ability called "cause and effect transformation" after meeting some rather demanding conditions.

Once the corresponding conditions are met, using this ability, Hiruko can transfer all the disasters he suffers to people connected to him through causal relationships. This connection is not limited to good or evil, friend or foe; it applies to anyone who has had a direct or indirect connection with Hiruko.

This ability reminded Hiruko of Hidan, that loser who believed in evil gods. He had indeed studied the so-called evil god curses through Hidan, and he also knew how to use the Death Possession Blood technique. Moreover, he had studied blessing, wishing, and having children, as well as various curse abilities, and obtained the method to create Desire Coins. All of these were related to cause and effect.

It seems that his ability to master cause and effect transformation was not without reason; this ability is derived from his foundation as a scientific ninja and his research into the laws of cause and effect.

However, Hiruko cannot use this ability at will right now.

He had just obtained this scientific research achievement called Causal Transformation, a breakthrough ability derived from the fusion experiment of the Otsutsuki bloodline and the Shikotsumyaku bloodline. It still needs further development and control, just like a precision instrument that has just been calibrated, and its parameters still need to be calibrated.

At least for now, this ninja obsessed with ninjutsu research cannot activate the ability out of thin air—his laboratory notebook is filled with hundreds of failed cases.

There are many ways to transfer damage to others, but many of them are cumbersome and demanding. The simplest and most direct way is to obtain the appropriate medium, such as injecting the other person's blood into a specially made rune tube, or weaving a trigger-type ninja tool with hair containing the other person's DNA.

However, this ability, which was labeled as an "SS-level dangerous project" by Hiruzen, can also be used in reverse.

On the holographic projection screen in the laboratory, experimental footage of the calamities suffered by relatives and friends being transferred to white mice was being played—after all, some disasters are fatal to ordinary people, but are nothing to Hiruko, who has been enhanced with multiple tailed beast cells and Hashirama cells.

The reason why Hiruko called this ability insidious is because he discovered on the dissection table that the karma transformed by the ability of cause and effect is very broad, not just referring to harm, but also to many other things, such as the great achievements of the other party.

The principle of karma and retribution, when applied in reverse, can not only transfer the misfortunes of others to oneself, but also usurp the abilities and achievements of others, and even their very existence—this is a more terrifying ability than simple devouring, since even the frequency of the soul can be rewritten through the principle of quantum entanglement.

"This is practically the ninja world's version of a Ponzi scheme." Hiruko pushed up his goggles and wrote down a new hypothesis in his experimental log.

He could easily become a generous old man, leaving behind treasures inscribed with reverse curses or powerful techniques containing spiritual pollution. Anyone who accepts his gifts is essentially forming a karmic bond with him.

The more benefits one receives, the deeper the karmic connection becomes, and Hiruko can use this as a basis to activate his abilities—after all, all gifts bestowed by fate have already been secretly marked with chakra increments.

If you accept gifts from the devil, you must be prepared to have everything taken away by him, unless you are a freeloader like the Ancient One who has eternity as your backing.

The ability to transform karma through cause and effect is truly a matter of using it for good or for evil.

The research ninja in the white lab coat stroked the floating causal line model in the laboratory, lamenting that he was going further and further down the path of demons and evil gods—after all, he didn't consider himself a good person, so there was no possibility of using his abilities for good, which would definitely lead him to become a demon in an instant.

"I'm back, my husband!" Kanroji Mitsuri happily pushed open the door, tossed the groceries to the White Zetsu who was using Wood Release to keep the house in order, and then flew straight into Hiruko's arms, who was adjusting a new type of ninja tool under the cherry blossom tree.

This swordswoman, who was skilled in both breathing techniques and physical combat, was incredibly happy as long as she could be with Hiruko, completely unaware of the half-finished design blueprint for a causal weapon peeking out of her husband's white coat pocket.

"Ha~" Hiruko caught Mitsuri, feeling the soft and warm fragrance in his arms, and couldn't help but come back to his senses.

He chuckled softly, put his arm around Mi Li's waist, and skillfully stroked the acupoints on her hair, pressing them to promote blood circulation as if adjusting a precision instrument.

Meanwhile, Kanroji Mitsuri let out a comfortable sound, happily rubbing against Hiruko's chest, completely unaware that her husband was using his Sharingan to scan the newly wrapped causal threads on her body.

"Mitsuri, did you meet someone strange today?" Hiruko keenly sensed the scent of a strange woman on Kanroji Mitsuri, and the causal worms in the laboratory petri dish also began to stir. "And the newly wrapped causal threads on your body have a very abnormal frequency."

“Husband, I was followed on the street today!” Kanroji Mitsuri said in detail, with cherry blossom petals still stuck to the ends of her hair. “I thought it was some kind of perverted stalker and was worried for a while, but later I found out that the Demon Slayer Corps suspected that it might be a demon investigating them in secret.”

However, seeing Hiruko frown, the kind-hearted girl quickly explained, "But the misunderstanding was cleared up later! Besides, Shinobu is a good person, and I got along very well with her!"

"Is that so?" Hiruko raised an eyebrow, and the holographic projection in the laboratory immediately brought up the information on the Demon Slayer Corps members.

He originally wanted to teach those who were disrupting his research progress a lesson, but since Mitsuri had said so, he decided to let it go for now—after all, directly altering reality could easily leave behind spacetime paradoxes.

However, not harming people doesn't mean that punishment can't be carried out in other ways: if physical harm isn't allowed, then just follow the causal threads wrapped around Mitsuri and use genjutsu ninja tools to give the Demon Slayer Corps members involved in tracking this matter a week of nightmares.

Sometimes mental torment is far more agonizing than physical pain, after all, there were still several experimental subjects lying in Hiruko's laboratory who had become vegetative due to long-term mental pollution.

"Oh, right, Mitsuri." Hiruko pulled a strange weapon out of thin air; it was the Chain Serpent Soft Sword 3.0 version that he had just completed.

"Try it and see if it works well." The sword is shaped like a red snake, with countless thin blades on the sides that are like sewn snake scales. Its material is a bio-metal that combines Hashirama cells and tailed beast chakra, which is both soft and hard, and both strong and flexible.

Although the sword hangs still, a closer look reveals it wriggling slightly, like a python poised to strike—this is a muscle memory simulation system specially designed by Hiruko.

When used, it can be stretched very long when swung out, making it suitable as a whip or a straight sword when all the blades are tightened.

This is the Chilian Sword, also known as the Chain Snake Soft Sword, which was copied by Beiliuhu. Its design is based on the weapon used by Chilian, the assassin of Liusha, the princess of the fallen kingdom in Qin's Moon.

However, this sword is somewhat different from the original: it is made entirely of transparent biological tissue, with fluorescent chakra flowing inside, and it shimmers with a brilliance like jade and agate, making it dazzling and eye-catching—it doesn't look like a murder weapon but rather like a beautiful work of art, after all, Hiruko's aesthetic standard is deadly aesthetics.

"What a beautiful sword!" Kanroji Mitsuri's eyes widened.

Before marrying Hiruko, Mitsuri was just a country girl. After marriage, although she began to practice Ripple Sage and cultivate her Qi, she spent most of her time discussing food with Hiruko—after all, they shared a common love of food.

This was, in fact, the first time Hiruko had ever given her a weapon as a gift.

"Of course!"

Hiruko smiled and said, as the laboratory's robotic arm was assembling a matching scabbard in the air, "This is a Noble Phantasm that I specially made for you. In addition to its gorgeous appearance, it also has some strange abilities."

He gently stroked the sword, activating the hidden rune array.

"For example, this form-transformation device..."

The sword suddenly split into hundreds of thin blades, as thin as cicada wings, and then instantly reformed into a three-section staff. "Moreover, this soft sword can freely extend and retract in length and size. When not in use, it can be hung on the wrist as a bracelet or wrapped around the waist as a belt—after all, you always complained that ordinary scabbards interfered with your dessert-making."

This sword was a small toy he made for Mitsuri, but it was quite technically sophisticated.

It draws on the principles of the Six Paths Treasures regarding the transformation of chakra properties and forms, combines the telescopic function of the Kusanagi Sword with the self-repairing properties of the Executioner's Blade, and even utilizes Hirukona's unique Shikotsumyaku ability—the hilt contains regenerable bone spikes that can protect the user in emergencies.

After all, Hagoromo Otsutsuki was able to create a bunch of Six Paths Treasures with different functions. After analyzing the mysteries of chakra, Hiruko could naturally also create some equipment with strange functions. He wanted to become the founder of the immortal sect in the future. He didn't have to be proficient in alchemy, formations, and weapons, but he had to know at least a little about them.

The reason it was designed in the style of the Crimson Serpent Sword, besides the sentiment of making toys, is mainly because Kanroji Mitsuri herself is very suitable for this kind of weapon.

Although Kanroji Mitsuri's muscle density is eight times that of a normal human in this world, she is not some tough, unyielding woman who can punch anything; instead, she is as flexible as a cat.

Therefore, when Hiruko bestowed chakra upon Mitsuri, he also added a special tailed beast-type chakra—which he created by combining the memory body with descriptions from Japanese mythology—to enable Mitsuri to transform into a cat demon and, when necessary, into an even more charming and alluring catgirl, adding a touch of sensuality.

After all, in the original story, Mitsuri Kanroji's strength was not outstanding among the nine Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, only barely reaching the middle level. On the contrary, her physical flexibility was excellent. Even when she gave special training to her team members, she helped them improve their physical flexibility rather than strength.

In Hiruko's opinion, the Love Pillar Mitsuri Kanroji in the original story is more like a gymnast than a swordsman. The sword she uses is a soft and long type that is wielded like a ribbon, and the sword techniques she uses are all kinds of high-difficulty moves.

Therefore, the Red Serpent Sword, a soft sword made of chains, is the most suitable weapon for Kanroji Mitsuri.

Besides teaching Mitsuri Ripple Sage and supplementing her academic knowledge, Hiruko also teaches her yoga—supposedly to help improve her flexibility, shape her body, and provide mental meditation.

Of course, in addition to these, yoga can also bring Mitsuri and Hiruko a lot of fun in some ways.

"Thank you! My lord!" Kanroji Mitsuri took the Crimson Serpent Sword and happily tried to wield it in the open space.

The soft sword coiled around Miri like a ribbon, and suddenly runes lit up on the blade, forming a chakra barrier to protect the user—this was a defensive system that Hiruko had secretly installed.

A gentle breeze swept by, scattering cherry blossom petals from the branches across the courtyard. These petals mingled and intertwined with Mitsuri Kanroji's sword dance, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

Hiruko lay half-reclined under a cherry blossom tree, a smile playing on his lips, while a holographic projection in the laboratory analyzed the trajectory of Mitsuri's sword dance.

He suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled a hairpin engraved with causal runes from his white coat pocket: "Oh right, this is for you too."

The moment the hairpin touches Mili's hair, a protective shield is automatically generated.

"It can withstand ninjutsu attacks below S-rank—after all, you always accidentally break my laboratory barrier."

As night deepened, the starlight became sparse, and the bright moonlight seemed to dim, becoming softer and more hazy, like a bright yellow street lamp in the quiet night.

"Sister—!!!" The girl's scream, filled with pain and sorrow, shattered the tranquility of the night.

Shinobu Kocho, drenched in sweat, suddenly sat up in bed, her body trembling, a tear still clinging to the corner of her eye, her whole body shrouded in mist—this was a side effect of Nightmare, the causal illusion technique developed by Hiruko.

Chapter 404 The Transparent World

The underwear and bedding that had covered her body were now soaked with sweat and a mixture of tears. As if in a chain reaction, the once quiet night was filled with one painful wail after another, as if a scene of a hundred ghosts crying in the night from mythology had been reenacted.

Most of the members of the Demon Slayer Corps have their own unfortunate experiences. They have either been attacked by demons and are determined to take revenge, or they are marginalized figures in society and pitiful people under the tide of the times.

Therefore, the nightmares that Hiruko brought to them were extremely effective for these people who already had tragic pasts—after all, his illusions directly attacked the traumatic memories at the subconscious level.

One by one, they all broke down and donned masks of pain, their faces contorted in agony, their expressions gradually turning nauseating.

Even the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, is no exception.

Although he did not participate in the stalking, he was still implicated as the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps—after all, Hiruko had deliberately implanted a false memory of the continuation of the family curse into his dream.

Moreover, Biluhu added extra elements to his nightmares: every night he had a different nightmare, ranging from witnessing the massacre of his people to personally experiencing various forms of chronic torture.

For the entire week, the sounds of ghosts wailing and howling could be heard every night.

The Demon Slayer Corps members, plagued by nightmares, all looked haggard, with sunken eyes, withered skin, and tangled, split ends.

On the seventh night since the nightmare began, Kagaya Ubuyashiki once again sat up in a panic on the bed, panting heavily. He had lost his usual calm and elegant demeanor, and his already weak body was now trembling like a leaf.

For the past week, he has been having a series of different nightmares: sometimes he sees all his clansmen turn into ghosts and rush towards him, and sometimes he feels his body tissues slowly rotting but he cannot die.

Although his spirit was not broken, he became listless and dispirited.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, though the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps and a man of immense mental fortitude, is ultimately human, not a god, and is also physically weak and sickly—the continuous high-intensity mental shocks have already taken a toll on his already unhealthy body.

Unbeknownst to him, the bedroom door had been opened, and the cool moonlight streamed into the room, enveloping the panicked Ubuyashiki Kagaya.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki's wife and children, who had been watching over him out of concern, suddenly disappeared—this was an isolation zone created by Hiruko using illusion magic.

The moonlight shimmered, and a handsome, otherworldly man, dressed in a plain white robe, with long, flowing silver hair and an enigmatic rhombus symbol etched on his forehead, descended from the void.

As if it were an illusion, Kagaya Ubuyashiki saw a halo shining with seven-colored neon beams on the back of the man's head, like a majestic god or a compassionate Buddha—this was a holographic projection created by Hiruko using light escaping.

In a flash of inspiration, the halo disappeared, and in Ubuyashiki Kagaya's eyes, the man suddenly changed his appearance, like a great emperor of the underworld, with howling winds and rolling black clouds around him, a lotus pattern like karmic fire burning on his forehead, and ripples spreading in circles in his blue-purple pupils.

Behind him were endless ghostly hands and skeletal remains, and the agonizing wails of countless undead echoed in his ears—this was the hellish scene created by Hiruko using the causal weapon.

Then, all the strange phenomena disappeared, and all that remained was an excessively handsome, simply dressed silver-haired man. Everything before seemed like a hallucination he had imagined.

However, Kagaya Ubuyashiki was well aware of his clan's unique characteristics—their family had a natural resistance to illusions, and what he had just seen could not possibly have been just an illusion.

"Who are you?" Kagaya Ubuyashiki was startled, then suddenly realized something was wrong. "Wait, I... I can see?!" He raised his hand with trembling hands. This was the first time since birth that he had been able to perceive the world without relying on other people's descriptions.

"It's only to restore your sight temporarily, Lord of the Demon Slayer Corps."

"Hiruko said indifferently, while the laboratory equipment was recording Ubuyashiki Kagaya's brainwave changes in the distance, "As for who I am? Haven't you been searching for traces of my servants lately, even disturbing my life?"

He pushed up his goggles, revealing a dangerous smile. "How does a nightmare taste?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki immediately realized that the suffering he and the Demon Slayer Corps members had endured over the past week was all the work of this person.

However, Kagaya Ubuyashiki did not fly into a rage. Instead, he remained calm, forcing himself to his feet despite his weakened state. He walked to Hiruko's side, took a deep breath, and then knelt down in a deep bow, saying, "I am truly sorry for disturbing your normal life! Please forgive those children and do not punish them any further. It is all my fault! If possible, please bestow all the punishment upon me alone."

Is it really that humble?

Kagaya Ubuyashiki's actions were something Hiruko had not anticipated—after all, according to his experimental data, the Demon Slayer Corps leader should be a more principled person.

He was somewhat stunned. The causal insects in the laboratory petri dish suddenly died en masse—this was due to chakra disorder caused by the other party's violent emotional fluctuations.

For a moment, unsure how to respond, Hiruko silently noted in her experimental log: "The effectiveness of causal weapons on individuals of noble character needs to be reassessed..."

He originally thought that Kagaya Ubuyashiki, as the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, would at least have a heated verbal conflict with him, or even rush up and punch him with his last breath.