Time passed slowly, and the glass-like brilliance in his eyes grew brighter and brighter before eventually settling into calmness.
A ninety percent or higher level of certainty.
As products of Wood Style power externalized, these trees already possessed a degree of independent survival capability within their cellular structures; they no longer required a continuous external supply of chakra to survive.
Instead, they had already established self-sustaining ecological cycles within nature.
As long as the cut branches were healthy, properly treated, and planted under suitable conditions, the chances of them taking root and growing were extremely high.
Furthermore, he now possessed the cultivation-oriented talent, Cultivation Lord.
He could sense the life state of every plant, accurately determine which branch segments were most suitable for propagation, what soil and moisture ratios were required, and within which temperature range rooting would occur most easily.
More importantly, plants personally cultivated by him would themselves receive the blessing of a certain extraordinary power, much like how his Gourmet talent enhanced the dishes he prepared.
Shinichi withdrew the hand resting on the tree trunk and walked toward a slightly open clearing within the forest. His gaze swept across the towering ancient trees, all born from Wood Style power, and then he raised a hand.
As the wind nature chakra surged forth, more than a dozen carefully selected branches fell into his grasp.
Each cut was smooth, and each branch possessed suitable length and full, healthy buds.
Everyone had been selected from different trees and represented the most vigorous one-year-old growth available.
After storing the branches away, Shinichi's figure flashed and disappeared from the spot.
......
A short while later, deep within the Forest of Death, there was a region of decaying woodland that seemed never to receive sunlight, and the terrain was low and perpetually flooded; layer upon layer of dead branches and fallen leaves had accumulated over the years.
Stepping on them felt like walking across old cotton soaked in water.
The air was filled with the smell of mold, and rotting logs scattered across the ground were covered with colonies of fungi in various colors.
Shinichi slowly entered the area.
Originally, after obtaining the branches from the trees made by the first Hokage, he had intended to return directly, but while passing by this place, a strange stirring suddenly arose within his heart.
The moment that feeling emerged, Shinichi immediately understood.
Once again, he had become heaven's favorite child; thus, he stopped and followed the faint pull inward.
"Hm? Were these trees also creations of the first Hokage's Wood Style?"
His gaze swept across the scattered rotten logs, and very quickly, he recognized their origins.
They, too, were remnants of the first Hokage's Wood Style creations; however, unlike the vibrant forest he had previously discovered elsewhere within the Forest of Death, this place lacked sufficient sunlight year-round and suffered constant flooding due to its low elevation.
The trees had long since decayed, leaving only rotting logs and rich layers of humus, yet precisely because of this dark, damp, isolated environment, the decaying woodland had become a paradise for another form of life.
Since Fortune Sight had led him here, there had to be something useful hidden among these rotten logs.
Thinking of this, Shinichi steadied his mind and fully expanded the special perception granted by the Cultivation Lord.
In an instant, every rotten log, every fungal patch, and every inch of soil saturated with decay transformed into tiny points of faint light within his perception.
Very quickly, in one corner of the region, a small patch of life force displayed characteristics completely different from everything around it.
Beneath layers of decaying branches and leaves on the surface, the microbial communities in that area seemed to be repelled by an invisible barrier, creating an almost vacuum-like zone.
Following that faint sensation, Shinichi brushed aside layers of leaves and dead wood.
At the junction between soil and decayed timber, he finally found the source of the unusual life force.
It was a small gray-green fungal colony attached to rotting bark, and its surface was covered with fine fuzz.
Under the dim moonlight, it emitted an extremely faint bluish-green hue.
At first glance, it appeared entirely unremarkable, no different from ordinary wood mold, yet, through the keen perception granted by Cultivation Lord, Shinichi sensed an abnormality surrounding the colony.
The dead leaves and rotten wood nearby were densely covered with all kinds of fungi, yet at a certain distance from this gray-green colony, there was a distinct circular blank zone.
Only beyond that empty ring did the territories of other fungi begin.
The empty circle resembled a clearly defined boundary line.
No bacterial or fungal colonies could cross it, as though they instinctively feared approaching.
Or rather… those that approached had already been killed.
Hm!? This is an… inhibition zone!?
Seeing this, Shinichi raised an eyebrow.
Originally, the first thing he had planned to develop was sulfonamide drugs, yet unexpectedly, the first thing he encountered was penicillin.
Or more accurately, something similar to penicillium; however, after thinking about it, this was actually even better.
His previous life and current life were ultimately two entirely different worlds.
Human constitutions differed, and the symbiotic relationships between microorganisms and hosts had evolved along completely different paths.
If he simply recreated medicines from his previous life on a one-to-one basis, they might not produce the same effects on the ninjas and civilians of this world, and they might even produce entirely different pharmacological reactions.
But this was different; this fungal strain had evolved naturally within this world's environment, and it had already formed unique balances through countless years of coexistence and competition with the bacteria, fungi, and various life forms of this world.
Using it to combat the pathogenic bacteria responsible for wound infections and suppuration here was, from a pharmacological standpoint, actually more reliable.
Besides, the ninjas got sick too, and even someone like him could not claim complete immunity to every illness.
Colds, fevers, and other minor ailments would still come when they came, apart from gods who had transcended mortal flesh entirely, as long as one still possessed a body of flesh and blood, one could not escape the invasion of pathogens.
With that thought, Shinichi immediately got to work.
...
Several hours later.
After entrusting the cultivation of the branches and the preliminary culturing of the penicillium-like fungal strain to his Shadow Clones, Shinichi returned home.
Sitting at his desk, he spread out a blank sheet of paper, then he picked up his pen and began writing.
[Application for the establishment of the Ninja Way Origins Research Society to Hokage-sama: Since the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War, all Five Great Ninja Villages have become engulfed in conflict. Countless ninjas have fought and died upon the battlefield, staining the earth with blood and bringing suffering to all living beings.]
[Witnessing such tragedies, this subordinate cannot help but repeatedly ask: Why do we ninjas exist in this world? What is the true essence of a ninja? Tracing matters back to their source, the way of the ninja began with the establishment of Ninja Creed by the Sage of Six Paths.]
[According to ancient records, when the Sage of Six Paths, founder of Ninja Creed, first created the doctrine through his great wisdom and boundless compassion, the mission he bestowed upon us was to use chakra as a bond connecting the hearts of people. His hope was that through such connections, conflicts could be resolved and peace would be established.]