Chapter Forty-Nine: Clues

Night had fallen over the Kato clan grounds in the Hidden Leaf Village, and within the bedroom of Kato Mikaze, he was soaking in a bath. But tonight was different; instead of his usual hot soak, he had chosen a bath of cold water.

For a young man, it’s best not to indulge too often in hot baths; a cold bath can do much more to calm youthful restlessness and soothe an agitated body. Too many hot baths are no good.

Kato Mikaze slid lower into the tub, letting the water cover him completely. After holding his breath for a moment, he suddenly sat up, raking both hands through his damp hair from forehead to crown, smoothing it back, and exhaled a long breath.

“Whew…”

He glanced down at himself, finally feeling the heat in his body subside. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the tub, letting his thoughts drift over the events of the past two days.

“In these two days, my relationship with Tsunade has made a real breakthrough. After years of effort, I can finally see the dawn of victory.”

“And tonight… she was so adorable…! No, I can’t let my mind linger on that…”

He opened his eyes, looked down again, and drew a deep breath.

“Tsunade is wonderful, but my strength is still not enough to protect her fully, to give her the world she deserves. Right now, the only ways left for me to rapidly grow stronger are the ninja system—and the New Year’s Plan, the power hidden within the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju…”

“This afternoon in that underground base, my risk wasn’t wasted. There’s a fragment of soul left in my soul space, still glowing green.”

“Based on previous uses of the Soul Nurturing Technique, the chance of an enemy dropping a soul fragment is pitifully low. Was I really just lucky this time? Or is it the good fortune of Tsunade’s ‘death’s kiss’ anti-buff?”

“I did just kiss Tsunade’s forehead. If I absorb that soul fragment soon, will my luck hold? And if a kiss to the forehead isn’t enough, what if I go a step further…?”

“Tsunade, drunk and lying quietly on the bed, looked so cute… Idiot, why did I restrain myself and only kiss her forehead before I left? Why didn’t I…?”

“Enough! I must focus. Tsunade will be mine sooner or later, but after more than twenty years of self-restraint, I can hardly hold on…”

“To obtain the power within Hashirama’s cells, even with the Soul Nurturing Technique as an aid, I’ll likely still need the abilities and strength of the ninja system. But my attribute points are all spent learning medical ninjutsu lately…”

“The New Year’s mission won’t be completed anytime soon, so I can’t count on points from that. I’ll have to earn them from other tasks. But I must still take part in the New Year’s mission.”

“Which means I’ll be dealing more closely with Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru. I’m not afraid of them, but I mustn’t let down my guard.”

“And then there’s my original plan—to research the spiritual secret arts of the Yamanaka clan, the Mind Body Switch Technique, to see if I can compensate for the Soul Nurturing Technique’s shortcomings in absorbing soul memories…”

“And the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique… Ordinary shadow clones are easy enough to learn, but the advanced technique should be recorded in the Scroll of Seals in the Leaf Village. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Danzo Shimura, the elder advisor, probably know as well…”

A thousand tangled threads swirled through Kato Mikaze’s mind as he tried to sort out his contradictions and difficulties, to find order among the chaos.

There were so many tasks urgently demanding his attention.

Even his usually sharp brows furrowed as he opened his eyes, scooped up a handful of cold water, and splashed his face, smoothing out his frown.

The cold water in the tub seemed to have grown even chillier.

“My fire chakra is still at zero in the ninja system. Should I invest some points? At least I’d be able to heat the bathwater when I soak. But I’m still short on attribute points…”

After much deliberation, he finally managed to untangle his thoughts.

As for Tsunade, he would continue nurturing their relationship day by day. Now that they’d made a breakthrough, he should step up his efforts, striving to win her heart and end his lifelong bachelorhood.

His current priority had to be the underground base; after all, he couldn’t afford to show off spectacularly on his first day at work and then start slacking off the next. Even a true layabout wouldn’t dare do that.

Completing his assignments and helping the village cultivate Wood Release ninja was no problem. But Wood Release truly belonged to Tsunade’s grandfather, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Only in his hands was it worthy of the name.

Other Wood Release users? Well, they could build houses quickly and beautifully, perhaps even invent a “Wood Release: Three-Bedroom One-Living-Room Technique.”

For others, Wood Release was little more than what wealthy bathhouse owners from the Land of Hot Water did in the Leaf Village—hiring fire-style ninja to heat the bathwater…

What mattered most in Hashirama’s cells wasn’t the Wood Release itself, but the immense, vibrant life force they contained. That was the true prize.

In the original story, the legendary army of one hundred thousand White Zetsu in the Fourth Great Ninja War was a shadow of this power.

The strength within Hashirama’s cells was like a cheat code wholesaler in the original—perhaps not the greatest, but certainly a manufacturer of cheats.

Now, the Leaf Village was still painstakingly researching Hashirama cell transplants. After more than thirty years and the effort of an entire village, they had yet to succeed even once. Meanwhile, Madara Uchiha had successfully transplanted them decades ago and, with his own overwhelming strength, awakened the Rinnegan. Who knows if, in this timeline, Madara has already awakened the Rinnegan?

Different fates for different people. Madara was undoubtedly talented, but from the Second Hokage’s era to now, there have been many Leaf Village elites whose talents were not inferior to Madara’s.

Does it come down to fate? To the bond between Hashirama and Madara? Or is it a matter of where you place Hashirama’s face—like Madara did, close to his heart?

“Hashirama, time will prove you wrong and me right. I am your true destiny. By placing your face at my heart, we will be together forever…”

It can’t be about placement alone, or what about Danzo Shimura? His was on his right arm…

The thought of grafting another man’s face onto his own body—even if it was Tsunade’s grandfather—was unsettling for Kato Mikaze. Moreover, displaying Hashirama’s face on one’s body was a sign of imperfect fusion—a side effect.

If he ever had no choice but to fuse, it would have to be flawless, without aftereffects.

Out of all these tangled concerns, they all required attribute points from the ninja system. He needed to do more missions, but his attention was constantly being drawn to the underground base.

What he really needed was a clone—a true clone in every sense.

Ordinary clone techniques wouldn’t do. Water clones, earth clones—they were fine for short-term combat, but if they got too far from the original or their chakra ran out, they would dissipate.

Chakra could be split, that wasn’t the problem. The real issue was that these clones required constant attention from the caster, or else they were nothing more than puppets without self-awareness.

They could serve as distractions in battle, but to have a clone that could train independently, act autonomously, and make its own decisions? That was wishful thinking. Not everyone in the ninja world was a sage capable of creating thousands of incarnations.

In the thousand-year history of the ninja world, only about three and a half people could be called sages—the later ones in the story don’t count. There was the Sage of Six Paths and his mother (that’s two), his two sons (each counting as half), and the Sage’s brother (another half), making three and a half people in total.

And even then, there was no record of the Sage of Six Paths being able to create thousands of independent clones, each with its own soul and consciousness.

But what others couldn’t do, Kato Mikaze might be able to achieve. His Soul Nurturing Technique could create soul clones.

These soul clones and the main soul, though primary and secondary, were both essentially Kato Mikaze’s soul. Yet, under the effect of the Soul Nurturing Technique, they possessed independent consciousness.

So, if he combined a soul clone with a shadow clone or similar technique, he might be able to create a true clone with an independent soul.

He had no need for thousands, but one or two such clones would be within his grasp.

That would solve the conflict between working in the underground base and going out on missions to earn attribute points.

It was time to prioritize his research into the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

…

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