Chapter 598: Did Jiraiya and Jigen Meet?

Chapter 598: Chapter 598: Did Jiraiya and Jigen Meet?

Chapter 598: Did Jiraiya and Jigen Meet?

"And who is this?"

Amado looked at Toneri standing beside Kenichi with a puzzled expression.

Kenichi glanced at Toneri, then waved Amado closer.

Once Amado approached, Kenichi seriously explained Toneri’s current identity and circumstances.

When Amado learned that Toneri was a clone and appeared to have overcome the rapid aging caused by accelerated growth, surprise immediately appeared on his face.

After all, Amado had always been one of the main researchers behind their cloning technology.

Naturally, he understood its shortcomings extremely well.

Yet now Kenichi had brought him a clone who seemed to have overcome one of the technology’s greatest flaws.

That was difficult to believe.

"Strictly speaking, he’s still under observation."

Kenichi looked at Toneri beside him.

"But from what I’ve observed so far, the rapid physical growth and accelerated aging he previously suffered have indeed improved to a certain extent."

"So I think this is worth researching further."

Kenichi believed the main reason Toneri had managed to escape the rapid aging experienced by other accelerated clones was the Tenseigan he had awakened.

Kenichi himself was also preparing to awaken the Tenseigan.

However, he could not be certain whether the same process would create problems in his own body.

Toneri’s experiment had succeeded so far, with no particularly obvious side effects.

But Kenichi’s situation was different.

He already possessed the Rinnegan.

What exactly would happen if he now integrated the power of the Tenseigan into those eyes?

Kenichi did not know.

After all, dojutsu such as the Rinnegan and Tenseigan seemed to possess extremely complicated awakening conditions.

"That’s interesting."

Amado immediately began examining Toneri with obvious curiosity.

"So what do you think is the main reason he managed to avoid accelerated aging?"

Toneri stared back at Amado without expression.

That only made Amado more interested.

Kenichi knew Toneri was not deliberately acting cold.

His emotions were simply unusually weak.

He naturally displayed very little emotional fluctuation.

Kenichi still was not sure whether some part of Toneri’s nervous system had been damaged during his accelerated growth, resulting in this abnormal emotional state.

"I awakened a special dojutsu in Toneri."

Kenichi explained.

"The Tenseigan."

"It’s an eye connected to the Otsutsuki Clan."

"So, to a certain extent, you can think of Toneri as possessing a bloodline closely related to the owner of the blood sample we’re currently researching."

Amado’s eyes widened slightly.

"I didn’t expect the owner of that blood to possess such power."

"That really is incredible."

Kenichi remained calm.

Strictly speaking, Kaguya was not even human.

She was an alien.

For an alien species to possess unusual genetics and equally unusual abilities was hardly shocking anymore.

"Amado."

Kenichi’s expression became serious.

"I’ll leave Toneri with you for now."

"I have another experiment I need to conduct."

"But there’s something you need to pay attention to."

"Anything Toneri does while participating in your experiments or assisting you must be reported to you first."

"If you believe anything he intends to do poses a safety risk, stop him immediately."

Kenichi did not want anything happening to Toneri’s body.

Likewise, he did not want anything happening to Amado.

Amado was an extremely important research partner.

As for Toneri...

Kenichi still had other concerns.

He did not completely trust him yet.

So later, Kenichi planned to have a Shadow Clone use the Mayfly Technique to hide underground and secretly observe Toneri.

If Toneri attempted to harm Amado or use the opportunity to escape the laboratory, Kenichi would know immediately.

"All right."

Amado nodded.

"I understand."

Kenichi looked toward Toneri.

Toneri obediently nodded as well, indicating that he understood the rules.

Only then did Kenichi leave the laboratory.

At the same time, he dismissed one Shadow Clone and created another arrangement, sending a Shadow Clone to use the Mayfly Technique and conceal itself underground.

Its purpose was simple.

Observe Toneri.

Determine whether he intended to betray Kenichi.

Meanwhile, Kenichi himself headed toward another laboratory that was safer and more isolated.

He intended to awaken the Tenseigan there.

Then he would determine whether the Rinnegan and Tenseigan could coexist within the same pair of eyes.

Kenichi had always suspected that they might not.

After all, the Rinnegan itself possessed a higher evolutionary form.

The Rinne Sharingan.

The eye on Kaguya’s forehead was precisely such a dojutsu.

But Kaguya’s other two eyes resembled the Byakugan.

Would someone like Kaguya, who had consumed the chakra fruit of the Divine Tree, truly possess nothing more than ordinary Byakugan?

Kenichi found that unlikely.

In his opinion, Kaguya’s eyes were probably some more advanced form of the Tenseigan.

However, speculation alone was meaningless.

He needed an experiment.

With that thought, Kenichi created several more Shadow Clones.

The clones exchanged glances.

Then, following the same procedure recorded during Toneri’s previous experiment, they began helping Kenichi awaken the Tenseigan.

The entire process went remarkably smoothly.

None of the Shadow Clones were dispelled.

No emergency memories or warnings suddenly returned to Kenichi.

That allowed him to relax considerably.

When the procedure was finally complete, however, Kenichi discovered something strange.

His eyes still looked exactly like the Rinnegan.

"So..."

Kenichi touched the area around his eyes.

"Should I consider this experiment a success or a failure?"

There was no strange sensation.

Nothing felt obviously different.

However, according to Toneri’s previous experience, there had been no abnormal symptoms immediately after his Tenseigan began awakening either.

The pain only appeared later.

Within approximately an hour, Toneri had begun experiencing severe pain in his eyes.

And the initial pain had been extraordinarily intense.

Nearly unbearable.

Kenichi trusted Toneri’s description.

Toneri barely displayed emotion under normal circumstances.

His reactions were consistently subdued.

For someone like that to show obvious distress from the pain meant it must genuinely have been severe.

Kenichi also could not yet rule out the possibility of a conflict between the Rinnegan and Tenseigan.

Further observation was necessary.

"But at least for now..."

Kenichi rubbed his eyes.

"The Tenseigan should have awakened successfully."

The procedure had gone perfectly.

Nothing had deviated from the experimental record.

Although there was no obvious external manifestation yet, Kenichi was confident the awakening itself had succeeded.

What exactly this Tenseigan would become after interacting with his Rinnegan...

That would require time to determine.

"I found something, Kenichi. You..."

A voice suddenly came from below.

Hagoromo emerged directly from the ground.

Kenichi immediately rolled his eyes.

Was the Sage of Six Paths really becoming this casual?

He simply came and went whenever he pleased now.

At this rate, Kenichi seriously needed to develop some kind of material or barrier capable of preventing Hagoromo from freely entering his laboratory.

Fortunately, this was not the laboratory where Kaguya’s consciousness fragment was being kept.

Otherwise, things might have become extremely troublesome.

Hagoromo had a fairly good personality.

He had even personally sealed his own mother when necessary.

But Kenichi had absolutely no idea how Hagoromo would react if he discovered that Kenichi’s current research plan effectively involved trying to become his stepfather.

"What is it?"

Kenichi coughed lightly and looked toward Hagoromo.

For some reason, he now felt strangely awkward whenever he faced the Sage of Six Paths.

He had not done anything to Hagoromo himself.

But he had certainly done something involving Hagoromo’s mother.

Just remembering that fact gave Kenichi an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Hagoromo stared at him.

"Why do I get the feeling that you’re avoiding looking directly at me?"

His expression became suspicious.

"You look as though you’ve done something you shouldn’t have."

"But at the same time, it doesn’t seem like you have."

Hagoromo found Kenichi’s behavior genuinely confusing.

"I think you’re imagining things."

Kenichi coughed again.

He certainly was not going to admit anything.

Hagoromo remained slightly suspicious, but he did not pursue the matter.

Instead, he immediately told Kenichi what he had discovered.

The moment Kenichi realized Hagoromo was here for something serious, his expression changed as well.

Hagoromo did not have many routine responsibilities anymore.

Most of his time was spent gathering information through the Pure Land and occasionally communicating with Black Zetsu to determine whether Isshiki had made any new movements.

So if Hagoromo had personally come here...

Had something happened with Isshiki?

Kenichi immediately became nervous.

Could Isshiki have discovered something?

If Isshiki realized the Shinobi World was secretly preparing against him and decided to flee...

Finding him again would be extraordinarily difficult.

Isshiki was extremely skilled at hiding.

Even Black Zetsu had difficulty locating him.

The last time Black Zetsu found him had largely been because Isshiki was unlucky enough to be accidentally discovered.

Otherwise, tracking him down would have been nearly impossible.

"Recently, I discovered that the person Isshiki is currently using as a vessel, the one called Jigen, appeared in a hot spring town near the border of the Land of Fire."

Hagoromo’s expression became serious.

"And he seems to have made contact with Jiraiya from Konoha."

Kenichi’s mouth twitched.

Jiraiya.

Again?

Why was it always Jiraiya causing him trouble?

Konoha had previously ordered its strongest shinobi to return to the village as soon as possible.

Naturally, the two main targets of that summons had been Jiraiya and Tsunade.

But after remaining in Konoha for a while, Jiraiya had become bored and left again.

Apparently, he was traveling around gathering material for whatever novels he intended to write next.

And somehow...

He had wandered into a hot spring town and coincidentally encountered Jigen.

Kenichi suddenly felt a headache coming on.

If the Shinobi World’s entire plan was ruined because of Jiraiya...

Then Jiraiya really would have to take responsibility for it.

"So did Jigen notice anything?"

Kenichi asked anxiously.

He could not help being nervous.

This concerned every plan they had prepared for the future.

It also affected whether Kenichi would have the opportunity to force Isshiki into revealing more of his hidden abilities.

If Jigen had noticed something unusual, the consequences could be extremely serious.

Still...

When Kenichi thought about Jiraiya himself, he felt there was at least some chance nothing had been exposed.

Jiraiya might act ridiculous at times, but he was far from stupid.

In fact, he was extremely sharp when the situation required it.

"Not yet."

Hagoromo shook his head.

"But I can’t guarantee that will remain the case."

"I think you should come with me immediately."

Even Hagoromo sounded somewhat anxious.

Kenichi did not object.

He immediately followed Hagoromo out of the laboratory.

Their destination was the hot spring town near the border of the Land of Fire.

Traveling there at ordinary speed would take too long.

So Hagoromo taught Kenichi a simple technique related to the Divine Tree that could be used for rapid travel.

Once Kenichi learned it, his movement speed increased considerably.

Then he suddenly stopped.

"No."

Kenichi remembered something.

"Come with me."

He had nearly forgotten about the hot-air balloon he had previously ordered to be built.

....

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