Chapter 458: Ninja Way Origins Research Society’s Founding Ceremony (Part 3)

"The association’s purpose has never been to shut itself away and discuss only Konoha’s affairs. The Sage of Six Paths’ original aspiration was directed toward all students of Ninja Creed, not toward any single village or any single nation. Whether a great nation or a small one, as long as you are willing to sit down and explore this new path together, the doors of the association will always remain open."

"As for your other questions, Yahiko, before I answer them, let me ask you one question first. What do you think is the Village Hidden in the Rain’s most fundamental problem?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Yahiko replied, "Naturally, it’s the endless rain."

"Then why?" Shinichi asked.

"Why does it rain in the Village Hidden in the Rain all year long?"

Yahiko opened his mouth, only to stop abruptly.

Why? Did that even need asking?

The Village Hidden in the Rain was the Village Hidden in the Rain. If it didn’t rain all year long, could it still be called the Village Hidden in the Rain?

Ever since he was born, it had always rained upon that land. In fact, it had rained ever since his father was born, and even since his grandfather was born, the rain had never stopped.

Neither he nor anyone else in the Village Hidden in the Rain had ever thought to ask such a question, just as people never asked why the sun rose or why the tides came in.

Wasn’t the Village Hidden in the Rain simply... Like this?

He stood there, his mouth opening and closing slightly, unable to utter a single word for a long time. Beside him, his three companions also furrowed their brows; they did not know the answer either.

"So you’ve never thought about why it keeps raining in the Village Hidden in the Rain?" Shinichi asked calmly.

After remaining silent for a long time, Yahiko finally spoke.

"Then, Shinichi-sama... Do you know?"

Without realizing it, he had begun using an honorific.

"I don’t."

Shinichi shook his head and answered frankly.

"Without investigation, one has no right to speak. I have never set foot in the Village Hidden in the Rain. I have never seen your mountains and rivers with my own eyes, nor have I personally experienced what your rain is truly like. Without understanding any of that, I cannot give you an answer."

"Perhaps one day in the future I will personally travel to the Village Hidden in the Rain and see it for myself. But the war has not yet ended, and as a ninja of Konoha, I must defend my nation and my village. So that day must wait. Until then, all I can offer you is one suggestion and two promises."

"My suggestion is this: if you wish to solve the Village Hidden in the Rain’s most fundamental problem, then the first step is to determine why it rains there all year long. I suggest investigating its geography, climate, wind patterns, and even its history. Was this land always like it is now, or did it once possess a different climate? Only after identifying the root of the problem can you begin developing solutions that specifically address it."

"When that time comes, it may still be extremely difficult, and it may require a very long time. But at least you will have a direction toward which you can strive, instead of continuing as you are now, forever treating the rain as something inevitable and remaining trapped where you stand."

Yahiko did not argue. He simply nodded and listened in silence.

"As for the two promises."

Shinichi continued, "Before the Village Hidden in the Rain truly resolves its fundamental problem, first, I myself will personally travel there in the future, see its mountains, rivers, wind, and rain with my own eyes, and then search for the answer together with you."

At that point, Shinichi suddenly stopped. He did not continue. Instead, he shifted his gaze away from Yahiko and looked once more at everyone below the stage.

"Regarding the exploration of chakra’s diverse applications beyond killing, everyone may have all sorts of questions. My companions in the association and I have prepared quite a number of things over the past few days that we wanted to show you. But after thinking it over..."

"... In the end, we decided to show you only this one thing."

He reached into his robes and took out a stalk of rice.

Its stem was long and slender, its grains plump and densely packed along the panicle, shimmering with a warm golden hue beneath the sunlight.

Rice?

A wave of subdued commotion immediately spread through the audience as everyone looked at one another in confusion.

They simply could not understand why Shinichi Higashino had chosen to produce something as ordinary as a stalk of rice at the founding ceremony of the association, a gathering that had drawn the attention of all of Konoha and even most of the Shinobi World.

"I imagine many of you are wondering why I brought out such an ordinary-looking stalk of rice. What does it have to do with the diversified applications of chakra?"

Standing on the stage, Shinichi slowly swept his gaze across the audience, and after a brief pause, he uttered words that stunned everyone present.

"What if I told you that the rice in my hand yields 30% to 50% more grain than ordinary rice under the same land and climate conditions, and that under certain circumstances, its yield can even exceed twice that of conventional rice? And what if I also told you that this isn’t a one-off anomaly, but a stable variety that can be cultivated on a large scale and reliably pass on its traits?"

The moment those words fell, the entire audience was shaken.

An increase of 30% to 50%? Even double the original yield? And not just a single exceptional case, but a stable variety that could be mass-produced? How was that even possible?

In the audience, the Fire Daimyo’s chief butler, Sosho, leaned forward slightly, while the third Hokage subconsciously lowered the pipe from his lips, his eyes fixed on the rice stalk in the young man’s hand.

Could Shinichi’s recent trip out of the village to survey the fields throughout the Land of Fire have been for this?

That had to be it.

It was right before the autumn harvest, the ideal time to search for unusual rice varieties, but how had Shinichi managed to find these special rice plants in that endless sea of paddies?

Through sensory perception?

Could sensory perception really accomplish something like this?

And where had he obtained such a large batch of identical rice seeds?

Surely he hadn’t found every single one by sensing them one plant at a time in the fields?

But there hadn’t been enough time to breed them either, and it had only been a month.

For a moment, countless questions flooded the third Hokage’s mind. Even he, the professor of Ninjutsu, couldn’t make sense of it.

Similar questions also arose in the minds of the medical master Tsunade and the biological genius Orochimaru.

Tsunade thought it over for a while, but after failing to figure it out, simply gave up and turned her attention back to her student on the stage, who stood there holding the rice stalk as though he himself were glowing.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, curled the corners of his lips slightly, and the meaning in his golden snake-like eyes deepened even further.