Chapter 190: The First Appearance of the Airship
Kenichi silently lit a candle for Hidan in his heart. The guy was genuinely miserable.
Orochimaru had already achieved a kind of immortality and could even swap bodies. Under those conditions, Orochimaru's experiments were measured in centuries.
What did that mean?
It meant that if Orochimaru stayed curious, Hidan could be kept like that for a hundred years, or longer.
In silent darkness, there was nothing. No one to talk to. Nothing to hear. No way to speak. No way to move. Only darkness filling his vision.
What kind of punishment was that?
Maybe Kars drifting in the sky would have something to say about Hidan's situation.
"But does that mean Hidan might eventually give up thinking?" Kenichi glanced at the laboratory door. Orochimaru had gone too far. Aside from the monitoring instruments, there was nothing inside.
Hidan could do nothing. After suffering that kind of torment for so long, it would not be strange if he chose to stop thinking.
"But in the end, what does this so called giving up thinking even mean?" Kenichi asked, genuinely curious.
It sounded hard to grasp at first, but then a possibility surfaced in his mind.
Giving up thinking might simply mean thinking about nothing at all. Emptying the mind completely.
In other words, spacing out.
Time flew when you spaced out. You would not even remember what happened in that instant. If it continued long enough, Hidan really might stop thinking altogether.
"This is too tragic. I'm actually considering offering incense for that guy," Kenichi muttered, shaking his head. What was the point of a life like that? He was basically a stone.
Even so, Kenichi had no intention of going over there to do it. From his understanding of the experiment, if he offered incense, Hidan could probably count how long it burned, and even track which side burned first every time.
"Teacher, could you share the results with me later?" Kenichi asked seriously. He was interested in Orochimaru's experiment too.
If the shinobi world had livestreams, Kenichi might have even installed a night vision camera and broadcast the whole thing twenty four hours a day. It would be boring, sure, but someone would watch it.
He even remembered a video creator he once saw. The guy did nothing but grind an iron rod every day, claiming he would grind it into a needle. Kenichi had left a comment telling him that what he was grinding was probably rebar, and rebar was not turning into a needle.
After all, if rebar could be worn down into needles by stones, it would cause a major upheaval in the rebar industry.
"Okay," Orochimaru replied, as concise as always.
Seeing that, Kenichi did not add anything else. After saying what he needed to say, he left.
Counting the days, it was almost time for Shisui to bring the Uchiha out. But the Eight Tails attack on Konoha had already happened. Kenichi had no idea what Konoha looked like now, or whether it would affect his plan.
"Hopefully my luck improves," Kenichi muttered, rubbing his temples. "Otherwise I don't know how this story is going to develop."
Things were moving differently than he had expected. Thankfully, they had not veered completely off course, but he still could not understand why Obito would waste so much effort controlling the Eight Tails to attack Konoha.
Was it to provoke a war between Konoha and Kumogakure?
But what was the point of that?
Kenichi was curious, but he did not dwell on it. He was not a mind reader. Better to take it step by step and deal with whatever was in front of him.
"How's the airship coming along?"
He looked at the shadow clones working busily nearby.
He had sent them out earlier to build airships. One hundred seventy people was a lot, and if they wanted to evacuate quickly, airships were the cleanest option. Yes, it risked exposing his methods, but the trade was worth it.
If they tried to move by land instead, Konoha would catch up. They would lose people, and some Uchiha would inevitably die.
That was not even the main issue.
The real problem was Shisui. If the evacuation turned into a slaughter, Shisui could easily end up holding a grudge.
So airships were necessary.
When Kenichi asked, one of the shadow clones immediately dispersed.
A surge of memories flooded into Kenichi's mind, and he understood the situation at once.
"The main body is finished, but you haven't assembled it yet?"
Kenichi pressed his fingers to his temples, exhausted, but he still forced himself to move.
He needed to confirm one thing.
Was the airship actually usable?
After boarding, he lifted it quickly into the sky using his flight technique, then began testing stability and safety at high altitude.
The results made him very satisfied.
"It works," Kenichi said, clicking his tongue as he stared at the scenery below. "But I think I understand why nobody in this world ever bothered with simple flight."
If the shinobi world had widespread flight, then barrier systems would need upgrades. Then ninjutsu doctrines would need upgrades. Then the whole structure of the world would need rewriting to stay coherent.
Even Sasuke's escape would end up on a different storyline.
Naruto chasing the Sound Four while they fled in a helicopter, Naruto in a fighter jet, and Sasuke sealed inside a jar on the helicopter?
What was that, some kind of Ace Combat?
Would they be flying space fighters next?
Even without fighter jets and helicopters, if Naruto chased Sasuke in a hot air balloon, the image alone was ridiculous.
After confirming the airship's stability, Kenichi piloted it away from the Land of Rice Fields and headed toward Konoha. To avoid being observed, he raised the altitude again.
The higher he went, the thinner the air became, and the stronger the turbulence grew.
Fortunately, an airship was still an airship. It had protective measures and sealed rooms. Kenichi did not have to worry about stepping out with a brand new hairstyle.
"I hope this goes smoothly," Kenichi murmured, leaning against the reinforced glass and staring down at the tiny town below. His expression was conflicted.
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