After lunch, Uchiha Rei, who had eaten the Scorching Release Mutton prepared by Pakura, couldn't wait to unseal the Edo Tensei scroll and began to criticize Senju Tobirama's 'naturally evil' masterpiece.
The opening section discussed the Pure Land and Tobirama's conjectures about it. Although Tobirama couldn't observe the Pure Land by sensing natural pulsations through Sage Mode like Second Body, he still managed to research some things by studying human deaths and observing souls.
"Hmph! The naturally evil Tobirama, how many people did he have to kill to research this? Hashirama, who didn't know Tobirama was researching this, was also an idiot."
Second Body first criticized, then seriously studied Senju Tobirama's theories on the Pure Land and souls, which she had to admit were well-reasoned and evidence-based.
Tobirama believed that a Ninja's soul was a mass of Chakra, recording the memories and emotions of the deceased, and this Chakra was not one of the seven known Chakra natures.
He believed the Pure Land was a special space filled with high-density, infinite Chakra, which allowed souls to exist there indefinitely.
Second Body then saw Tobirama's theory on the connection between the physical body and the soul. However, Tobirama only described the manifestation of this connection.
He didn't explain how to strengthen this connection, only how to establish it. He believed that the Chakra of the physical body and the soul were of the same nature, naturally connected.
By using some remains of the deceased, one could summon the soul from the Pure Land as a medium, but this only allowed the deceased's soul to appear for a short time.
To make the deceased's soul remain for a longer period, Tobirama combined a part of the deceased's body with soil to form the deceased's likeness. This body could then confine the soul for an extended duration.
However, maintaining this Ninjutsu required the user to continuously pour Chakra into it to sustain the Edo Tensei's existence. Tobirama found it too impractical.
He believed that too little of the deceased's body was used. Even when he mixed the entire physical body of a deceased person with soil to create the Edo Tensei, there was still no change.
He understood that the deceased's remains only served to connect with the soul, and to maintain the Edo Tensei indefinitely, a Chakra source had to be supplied.
So, he came up with a method to envelop living people as sacrifices within the Edo Tensei body during its construction, allowing them to merge with the soil.
This would result in the sacrifice being in a state of near-death, yet unable to die as long as the Edo Tensei Ninjutsu wasn't dispelled. Their souls would become a signal receiver.
Chakra, drawn in through the sacrifice's soul, would be injected into the Ninjutsu, thereby maintaining the Edo Tensei Ninjutsu permanently, and the Edo Tensei would also possess nearly infinite Chakra.
"Truly the naturally evil Tobirama. To develop such an inhumane Ninjutsu, but he's certainly good at exploiting loopholes."
Using sacrifices to maintain the Ninjutsu, using the souls of the deceased to draw in the endless Chakra of the Pure Land, and controlling the Edo Tensei through the Ninjutsu – it had some merit.
Edo Tensei itself wasn't difficult, but controlling the Edo Tensei was somewhat challenging. The stronger the chosen sacrifice, the more power the Edo Tensei could unleash, but also the harder it was to control.
However, Second Body currently didn't need the Edo Tensei's power; she only needed Tobirama to maintain a certain level of strength to help her with her research.
Therefore, even the lowest configuration of Edo Tensei wasn't difficult. Second Body spent an entire day and barely mastered the Ninjutsu, though the success rate was probably quite low.
Second Body planned to dig up Tobirama's grave. The Third Hokage would never have imagined that Uchiha Rei, having just obtained the Edo Tensei scroll today, would go grave-digging tonight.
"Hehehehe!" Second Body stood with her hands on her hips, laughing triumphantly. That's how cunning Uchiha Rei was.
However, to be safe, Second Body left a Rabbit Escape Shadow Clone with half of her Chakra at home, and it was best to go out and wander around to avoid suspicion.
The Rabbit Escape Shadow Clone wasn't like a regular Shadow Clone that would dissipate after receiving a certain amount of damage. As long as it didn't directly take a Ninjutsu, Second Body wasn't afraid of being exposed.
For a smooth grave-digging operation, Second Body even personally crafted a compass out of gold and brass. Tools like the Luoyang shovel were all readily available.
"Naturally evil Tobirama, here I come! Hehehehe!" Second Body used Orochimaru's Earth Release ability to pass through dozens of meters underground from Konoha, heading towards the Senju ancestral graves.
If the Uchiha ancestral graves were near the Naka River, then the Senju ancestral graves were in a forest on the far left of the Senju Clan territory, near the barrier.
However, both the Uchiha and Senju ancestral graves were protected by a large number of various barriers, most of which were crafted by Uzumaki Mito.
After all, she died the latest, didn't she? Second Body was determined to dig up Senju Tobirama's grave, she just wondered what interesting barriers she would encounter.
The Senju Clan's ancestral graves were very well hidden. Many towering ancient trees grew here, and needless to say, these ancient trees were planted by Hashirama.
Even now, some Wood Release Chakra remained within them, and Second Body also discovered that these ancient trees formed part of the barrier, with many nodes set within the trees.
Second Body sensed the dense, intertwined barriers underground. Moving one thread could affect the whole system, making it incredibly difficult to enter these graves without destroying the barriers.
"So how did Orochimaru manage to dig up Senju Tobirama's grave? Hmm? No, Konoha had already researched Hashirama cells. So, perhaps Hashirama's grave was the breakthrough point."
"If, after Uzumaki Mito's death, Konoha, in order to research Hashirama cells, collaborated with the Senju Clan to recreate Wood Release, they would definitely have opened a breach there."
Second Body began to sense barriers that were somewhat disconnected from the others. The skill of later generations was definitely not as high as Uzumaki Mito's. These people must have used brute force to obtain Hashirama cells.
"Would the Senju Clan's full-clan research into Hashirama cells to recreate Wood Release lead to a decline in talent? One must know that the Senju Clan was the best experimental material."
"And to recreate Wood Release, the Senju Clan must have paid a huge price, perhaps this is also the reason for the Senju Clan's disappearance."
"Ise Udon and Moegi can both use Grass Release, a weakened form of Wood Release. Perhaps their parents were survivors of the Senju Clan's full-clan Wood Release experiment back then, but ultimately, only a handful survived."
Second Body quickly found a gap that was clearly different from the other tightly sealed barriers, but inside this gap, there were many graves clustered together.
"These must be the failed experiments from back then, which led to the decline of a great clan and made Konoha regard the research of Hashirama cells as a taboo."
Second Body guessed that many people died in that insane full-clan experiment back then, definitely to the point of extinction, but unfortunately, they only managed to create the neither-fish-nor-fowl, useless Grass Release.
Second Body found that the seal on this gap had been reinforced, likely a work by Uzumaki Kushina, but even reinforced, it couldn't compare to Uzumaki Mito's.
Second Body searched for weak nodes, injecting some Sage Ninjutsu-condensed sealing runes into them, disabling parts of the barrier and opening a gap.
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