The half-month-long joint Chunin Exam was about to officially commence. The State Lord of the Land of Fire and Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, was scheduled to make her formal appearance before the assembled ninja from various villages in half an hour. However, it was evident that her attention was no longer primarily focused on these matters.
This wasn't to say the joint exam had lost its importance. Rather, the event was controllable, proceeding step-by-step according to the predetermined plan. Tsunade no longer needed to expend mental energy on it; from here on, she simply had to perform her role well.
The greater pressure she felt stemmed from the unknown threat looming on the horizon. She needed to devise methods to steadily enhance Konoha's strength. With a powerful enemy lurking hidden in the shadows, no amount of preparation seemed sufficient, no matter how thorough.
After considerable thought, Tsunade still felt the most crucial action to take now was reforming Konoha's educational institutions. This was the most orthodox and effective way to increase the strength of Konoha's shinobi… The sluggish ninja education style of the original Ninja Academy was simply no longer suitable for the times.
Jiraiya stood silently to the side. To ensure the current joint exam proceeded without incident, he, one of the Sannin, would remain in Shadow Leaf City for the duration, serving as a stabilizing presence. However, his thoughts mirrored Tsunade's; his true worry lay with the unknown threat.
Furthermore, Jiraiya was more focused on Orochimaru's situation than Tsunade was.
"At this point," Jiraiya began, "it's no longer surprising that Orochimaru has become a member of an unknown hostile organization and might take action against Konoha. He has already walked down an evil path. Orochimaru knows Konoha intimately, and his abilities are bizarre. We cannot ignore the threat he poses or underestimate the potential destruction he could cause."
"What is surprising," he continued, "is that the current Orochimaru has at least embarked on the path of learning Sage Art. During my previous battle with him, he was already capable of commanding natural energy. Subsequently, I contacted the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku. According to his description, there is indeed a White Snake Sage residing in Ryuchi Cave who has also mastered Sage Art…"
Tsunade shot Jiraiya a sideways glance, cutting off his rambling with a single sentence. "Jiraiya, Orochimaru is no longer important."
Compared to the Rinnegan, Orochimaru truly wasn't important. Was Jiraiya focusing on Orochimaru perhaps missing the forest for the trees? Orochimaru was an enemy, not a friend. The next time they encountered him, the course was simple: fight and finish the job. Jiraiya standing here, hemming and hawing with a lengthy explanation—wasn't it just a sign of his own unresolved feelings? The actual informational content of his speech was pitifully low. He could have simply stated that Orochimaru was mastering Sage Art.
Honestly, Tsunade mused, sometimes terms like "naggy" or "overly sentimental" were more aptly applied to men. Consider a couple that breaks up: the woman might make a clean, rational break, while the man might still be weeping and lamenting the loss… Wasn't Jiraiya exhibiting a similar tendency right now?
And he hadn't even technically broken up with Orochimaru.
Habara held a small, tightly sealed glass vial in his hand. At the bottom rested a small amount of crimson blood. It hadn't coagulated but flowed according to the principles of fluid dynamics, swirling with the movement of Habara's hand. He didn't know if this would prove useful, but he collected it first anyway.
He didn't bother joining the bustle surrounding the joint Chunin Exam. For the foreseeable future, he needed to maintain a low profile in public. This was partly to align with his "imposter" persona; a fake couldn't make frequent appearances. Additionally, the defeat at Nagato's hands had instilled a significant sense of frustration in Habara; he was currently in a period of psychological reconstruction.
Regarding the overall improvement of Konoha's strength, Habara's immediate focus was on Daigo. Daigo needed to evolve towards a more complete form of chakra-based life. Setting aside the potential benefits this would bring to the three major systems she managed, her own resilience against risks would be greatly enhanced. Regardless, even if achieving one hundred percent self-sustaining chakra production wasn't feasible, she should at least possess the ability to produce her own chakra. Only then would Daigo represent a true return to life, a complete "resurrection."
This initiative could be dubbed the "Daigo Chakra Lifeform Completion Project." Currently, Habara was waiting for Orochimaru to fulfill his promise and promptly transmit the relevant intelligence (about Shinno).
The other aspect concerned the improvement of Habara's own strength. Regarding his fundamental stats, although he could enter Sage Mode, he was temporarily unsure how to upgrade further. However, this didn't mean his combat power had reached its absolute limit. Even if his core essence remained unchanged, simply altering the methods by which he employed his techniques could still increase a ninja's combat effectiveness.
Habara was scribbling on a piece of paper, preparing to design a new "ninjutsu."
An hour later, he remained in this state—sometimes lost in deep thought, sometimes putting pen to paper. This eventually piqued the interest of the office's other occupant… Tenzo had returned to Shadow Leaf and now understood what had transpired with Habara. He didn't complain about his own recent period of exhausting effort; regardless, Habara being alive meant his contributions hadn't been in vain.
"Habara, what are you working on?" Tenzo asked, somewhat curious. He was actually slightly worried Habara might be plotting another scheme to take down a national leader.
"Just designing a new technique," Habara replied. "In the previous battle, if we compared total chakra volume, I definitely wasn't inferior to the enemy. If we compared the lethality of individual jutsu, mine was certainly higher. But if we compared the sheer scale and power of our techniques, the gap between us was immense. Simply put, the enemy's instantaneous chakra output absolutely crushed mine. That's precisely what I need to improve."
To put it bluntly, Habara lacked a ninjutsu as straightforwardly devastating as Shinra Tensei. Seeing Tenzo approach, he simply took out the diagram he had drawn and began to explain.
Tenzo glanced at the complex structural design and immediately felt a bit dizzy. Was this supposed to be an offensive ninjutsu? Didn't it look more like some kind of sealing technique?
Regardless, Habara's astonishing thought processes always commanded admiration.
"I'm preparing to design a Physics Holy Sword," Habara stated.
"Physics… Holy Sword?" Tenzo looked at the layered, roughly spherical design, unable to discern anything resembling a blade.
Habara pointed to the very center with his pencil and began a simple explanation. "The small sphere at the absolute center of this design is an ultra-high-density Sage Art chakra energy ball. Although it's only about the size of an egg, the energy contained within is destructive. The next layer out consists of the most unstable type of chakra—you can think of it as the chakra used to form an extremely unstable Tailed Beast Ball. Let's tentatively call this unstable chakra 'Chakra-239'. The layer outside that is high-density Nine-Tails chakra; let's tentatively call that 'Chakra-238'. Following that is a layer forming an aluminum sphere. Outside the aluminum layer are more than ten smaller Tailed Beast Balls of two different types. Finally, the outermost layer is a steel shell encasing the entire technique."
"The two types of Tailed Beast Balls within the steel shell I've classified as rapidly detonating 'fast Tailed Beast Balls' and later-exploding 'slow Tailed Beast Balls'. When the technique activates, the fast Tailed Beast Balls detonate first. The resulting shockwave then detonates the slow Tailed Beast Balls. These Tailed Beast Balls exploding in different stages—fast then slow—will generate an immensely powerful concave shockwave. These shockwaves will transmit through the aluminum sphere towards Chakra-238 and Chakra-239. Ultimately, the pressure, exceeding critical mass, will directly crush the innermost high-density Sage Art chakra…"
"The Sage Art chakra ball will instantly release massive amounts of radiation. This radiation will strike the outer Chakra-239, causing it to undergo continuous fission. Simultaneously, the outermost Chakra-238 layer will reflect the Sage Art chakra radiation back inwards. Thus, a cycle of fission—impact—fission begins, multiplying infinitely like descendants reproducing for endless generations. When the fission reaction reaches criticality, it will unleash an unimaginable impact of energy outwards…"
It had to be said, the description truly did sound like a Physics Holy Sword.
"Do you know the famous quote one should utter at this point?" Habara asked again.
"Wh-what?" Tenzo was actually somewhat stunned by now. Could this thing even be called ninjutsu? "Art is an explosion."
Of course, it was ninjutsu. It was even freaking basic ninjutsu (requiring no hand seals).
"…If this counts as ninjutsu, what should its name be?"
Tenzo just felt that, theoretically, ninjutsu shouldn't look like this.
"Implosion-Type Supercritical Fission Spiral Tailed Beast Ball? Too complex. Let's just call it 'Heavenly Falls'. It sounds concise, and it also conveys the mood—purifying the heart, sublimating the soul, carbonizing the body."
Habara thought for a moment. He felt that the next time he fought Nagato, it would be best to select a suitable island as the battlefield.