Fleeing from Konoha-Chapter 555 - 76: Nagato and the Six Paths

Obtaining the blueprint from the Sky Ninja Fortress, this mission was a complete success and didn’t take much time.

After Ruri and Ayane returned, Hakushi also successfully acquired the fortress blueprints he desired. Additionally, there seemed to be many warship and weapon design plans, which Ayane deemed important, so she brought back all the relevant blueprints and documents.

Glancing over them briefly, Hakushi wasn’t particularly skilled in constructing warships and weapons. However, there are scientists dedicated to researching warships and weapons in the military’s research institute. Hakushi instructed someone to deliver these blueprints and related documents to those scientists who excel in researching warships and weapons, urging them to develop new weapons quickly.

Especially warships, which Hakushi places tremendous importance on.

In future endeavors to explore ocean resources, these warships will play a crucial role in deterring other nations.

As for the other weapon blueprints, they involve the manufacturing methods for bombs and Shuriken Shooters, among other convenient ninja tools.

Even ordinary soldiers equipped with these weapons could pose a certain threat to ninjas. Especially the Shuriken Shooter; by merely pulling the trigger, it can continuously fire shurikens. According to Ruri, who has fought against the Shuriken Shooter, the speed and force of the shurikens it shoots can instantly injure ninjas not adept at Instantaneous Body Jutsu. If used for large-scale attacks, its destructive power is quite considerable.

Overall, this mission can be considered highly fruitful. With these blueprints and documents, it can further enhance the military strength of the Land of Demons. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Of course, Hakushi also did not forget to acquire the unique creature Zero-tailed.

Honestly, the intelligence personnel previously dispatched to monitor the Sky Ninja never discovered the existence of the ’Zero-tail.’ If not for Ruri bringing back the Zero-tail, Hakushi wouldn’t have known that such a power was hidden within the fortress of the Land of the Sky.

According to parts of the Land of the Sky documentation brought back by Ayane, the so-called Zero-tail is a monster composed of Dark Chakra.

It is not artificially made but a naturally formed creature.

When the people of the Land of the Sky discovered the Zero-tail, its power was still very weak. It feeds on human negative emotions like despair and sadness, converting these emotions into its power, transforming them into extremely cold Dark Chakra.

Though not a Tailed Beast, it shares much in common with one.

After understanding the characteristics of the Zero-tail, the Land of the Sky began secretly hunting humans in the Ninja Realm, imprisoning them, and drawing out their despair and sadness for the Zero-tail to consume. Then, over the span of decades, they used the Zero-tail as the core to construct an ingeniously crafted flying fortress.

With the completion of the fortress, the ambitions of the Land of the Sky surged invisibly. During the Second Great Ninja War, they declared war on the Five Great Nations. Maybe due to bad luck, the Land of the Sky’s first target was the strongest Land of Fire in the Ninja Realm, ultimately ending in a crushing defeat under the might of Konoha Village.

The remnants of the Land of the Sky, defeated by Konoha, did not extinguish their ambition to dominate the Ninja Realm. Acknowledging the strength of the Land of Fire and Konoha, they turned from overt to covert, leveraging the chaos of the Third Great Ninja War to continually capture humans into the fortress as sustenance for the Zero-tail, aiming to restore its power.

Had they continued to lie dormant, it might not have taken more than a decade to revive the Zero-tail’s power. Unfortunately, they were even more unlucky this time; during the power restoration process of the Zero-tail, the fortress was completely taken over by Ruri and Ayane. The Zero-tail became a treasure of the Land of Demons. Without the power of the Zero-tail, the fortress of the Land of the Sky turned into a vast garbage dump with no purpose.

It can be said that the power of the Land of the Sky was entirely granted by the Zero-tail.

Hakushi is deeply intrigued by such naturally formed creatures.

Particularly the fact that the Zero-tail absorbs human negative emotions to produce Dark Chakra, strengthening itself, piqued Hakushi’s interest even more.

If the power of the Zero-tail could be thoroughly researched, it might potentially offer significant insights into the study of the Tailed Beasts.

"You’ve both worked hard. Now, we just need to wait for the results to appear."

This action yielded abundant results, but transforming these theoretical gains into tangible power visible to the naked eye will require considerable time for research and manufacturing.

Once these gains are fully absorbed and transformed into visible power, it will undoubtedly astonish the ninjas of the Five Great Nations.

Ruri and Ayane said nothing and quickly left. They have their own matters to attend to.

The office returned to silence. After handling today’s affairs, Hakushi, noticing he still had time, headed to the research lab.

He began conducting research on the Zero-tail.

He aims to apply the power of the Tailed Beasts to clones, thereby further enhancing the power of the clones by another stage.

Initially assuming it would take a long time, after acquiring the Zero-tail and understanding its characteristics, Hakushi is even more confident in his research on the Tailed Beasts.

Of course, he must not forget Uchiha Madara’s corpse, which contains secrets that might not be inferior to the Tailed Beasts and perhaps even exceed them.

Now that matters in the Land of Demons are on track and the subordinates are working enthusiastically, as their leader, he has plenty of free time to fully devote to his research.

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The turmoil in the Ninja Realm has never ceased.

When Konoha and the Hidden Cloud went to war in the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Rain, previously ravaged by war and left in tatters, is now filled with homeless wanderers pitifully begging on the roads.