The 8,000 points didn't bring Hinata much joy; instead, it made her frown slightly.
"Mount Myōboku... The Great Toad Sage's prophecy?" she whispered to herself, a trace of thought flashing in her eyes.
She stood up, walked to the window, and looked at her Clones in the courtyard busy cultivating or organizing scrolls.
She had indeed changed some things, such as the Third Hokage surviving and her repelling Orochimaru, but this wasn't out of some grand goal to overturn fate; it was simply because... she felt like it at the time, or it was beneficial to her.
"According to the so-called original fate, the Third Hokage should be dead by now, and I would still be that weak and introverted Hyuga Young Miss."
Tragic and cruel scenes from the original work flashed through her mind. For many in Konoha, her "intrusion" wasn't a bad thing; at least for the Third Hokage and those Ninjas who would have died in the Konoha Crush, it was a stroke of luck.
She shook her head and put Mount Myōboku's warning out of her mind for the time being.
Whether it was prophecy or fate, she didn't care much. She believed more in the Golden Core slowly rotating within her Dantian, the solid improvement brought by every circulation of spiritual energy, and the techniques and Magical Artifacts driven by her spiritual power.
Instead of worrying about ethereal fate, it was better to seize the time to improve herself.
"However, being called a variable by an old fellow who has lived for a thousand years does indirectly confirm my current weight."
This point gave her a subtle sense of accomplishment.
Her attention returned to reality, and she waved her hand to disperse most of her Clones, leaving only ten to continue their daily spiritual energy refinement and organize the Ninjutsu manuals borrowed from the Konoha Library—she needed more knowledge of the Ninja World to assist in researching the "treasures" at hand.
Then, she took out the wooden box she had swiped from Orochimaru's lair from the System space.
It was time to study this world's specialty "products"—Edo Tensei and those cells enough to make the Ninja World go crazy.
Opening the box, three clay jars with "First" and "Second" talismans pasted on them, along with an ancient scroll recording the complete technique, appeared. She didn't touch the cells first, but instead picked up the Edo Tensei scroll and slowly unfurled it.
It contained not only the complete casting methods, hand seal sequences, and Chakra circulation paths recorded by Orochimaru himself, but also his years of insights, improvement attempts, dozens of failure records, and even notes on the impact of different sacrifices and mediums on the technique's effects.
"Using the cells of the deceased or objects carrying strong obsessions as a medium to communicate with the Pure Land and summon the Soul... using a living sacrifice as a vessel, covering it with dust to grant form and power... then using special talismans to forcibly control the will..."
This was the same as what was in the scroll of seals, but Orochimaru had added some of his own stuff and improved a few things.
Admittedly, this technique was truly sinister, but Hinata soon discovered a key flaw.
"It relies too much on the binding force of Chakra, the control efficiency of the talismans is too low, and it can only suppress the Soul without truly taming it. When encountering the deceased with extremely strong wills or overwhelming strength, it's easy for them to break free from control."
When the time comes, Uchiha Madara would just shout, 'Go tell the caster that Forbidden Jutsu should not be used recklessly,' and that would be the end of it.
"What if I use my spiritual energy to drive it?" A thought naturally surfaced.
Her power System was completely different from the Ninja World's Chakra. If used to construct a control System, the results might be worlds apart.
"Even... she might be able to completely discard the prerequisite of a 'living sacrifice' and use only spiritual energy and a medium to construct a more perfect vessel."
Even resurrection might not be impossible.
The more Hinata thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, but she quickly calmed down.
This was by no means easy. The combination of spiritual energy and Ninjutsu was still in the exploration stage, and trying it rashly would only lead to trouble.
"Put it aside for now, and wait until I have a deeper understanding of the technique and my spiritual energy is more stable."
She put the scroll away, her gaze finally falling on the two clay jars with talismans.
A thread of pure spiritual energy turned into a thin silk and cautiously probed into the gap of the "First" jar's seal.
Upon contact, a majestic surge of life energy rushed through the spiritual energy thread.
It was a wild, flourishing power like a primeval forest; even just a small portion of cells was full of vitality.
"No wonder Orochimaru and Uchiha Madara were so desperate for this; this life Origin is indeed terrifying. Can I refine this thing?"
She felt she could, but there was definitely risk. Orochimaru had spent years and still couldn't perfectly control it, even suffering backlashes from the cells multiple times. Though she had spiritual energy to protect her, she didn't dare be careless.
She withdrew her spiritual energy and turned her investigation toward the "Second" jar.
The Second Hokage's cells inside also contained great energy, but they were still inferior compared to Hashirama's.
Hinata resealed the jars and put them back in the box. She glanced at the big dipper seven stars sword floating quietly in her Dantian, nourished by spiritual energy and becoming increasingly radiant, and a plan formed in her mind.
First, slowly tame the cell energy with spiritual energy while deeply studying the basic principles of Edo Tensei; the two would complement each other and perhaps yield twice the result with half the effort.
Getting up, she used the heaven and earth primordial qi pot to boil some water and brewed a pot of tea.
The boiling water, nurtured by the Magical Artifact, had a tea aroma several times richer than usual. It tasted sweet and mellow, sliding down her throat and faintly causing the spiritual energy in her body to flow more smoothly.
Just as she took her second sip of tea, she suddenly felt a gaze.
Hinata's movements paused, her eyes instantly becoming sharp.
She didn't have any extra detection methods, yet relying on a Golden Core Cultivator's keen perception of energy, she captured that Chakra coming toward Konoha from a distance.
It vaguely seemed to be heading in her direction.
"Jiraiya." Hinata understood. The Great Toad Sage's prophecy must have reached his ears as well.
But Hinata didn't care; there was a barrier here anyway. He could do whatever he wanted, but he wouldn't be able to gather any intelligence.
She put away her teacup, sat back on the couch, crossed her legs, and continued her cultivation.
As the night deepened, Hinata was enveloped in a faint silver halo, her aura steady and powerful.
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