Overdoing It

Curious as they were, the three of them were not foolish enough to directly ask Yota what extraordinary opportunity he had encountered.

People in the shinobi world valued intelligence to their very bones, so their sensitivity toward information was completely different from that of the Pirate World. A secret belonging to Yota was his alone. If he did not wish to speak of it himself, then if they casually pried into it, they would have no grounds to fault him even if Yota turned hostile.

"Wood Style: Tree World Descent."

Within a hidden forest, Nagato Uzumaki formed hand seals with both hands. Soon, the earth churned, and the trees throughout the entire forest seemed to come alive. Their thick trunks were like enormous pythons, plowing through the ground for several miles around.

"So this is Wood Release?" Nagato slowly lowered his hands. "It truly is a powerful force. Though its destructive power cannot compare to the Rinnegan, it is far more natural to use."

"Of course." Yota smiled and nodded. "My body-modification technology is not something those crude eye-transplant techniques can compare to. You and those Hashirama Cells have now completely fused together, as though you were born with a Sage Body."

Of course, because he lacked Asura’s Chakra and these Hashirama Cells had been cultivated afterward, this Sage Body was certainly of somewhat inferior quality. Still, it was absolutely superior to those others who had transplanted Hashirama Cells.

Combined with Nagato’s Uzumaki Clan physique, if pushed to its limits, his Wood Release could probably reach the level of White Zetsu Yamato in the late stages of battle, when he could use the Wood Human Technique.

After all, he possessed all five basic natures. If he learned senjutsu as well, then even if he could not compare to Hashirama Senju, he would still likely reach the very peak of Kage level.

The fact that Madara Uchiha had chosen Nagato as the host of the Rinnegan already proved his talent. Moreover, living in symbiosis with the Rinnegan for so long had greatly overdrawn Nagato’s body, but it had not been without benefits. Possessing all seven natures, along with a broad, overarching understanding of ninjutsu, was a rich inheritance in itself.

Although Nagato’s strength had declined considerably after losing the Rinnegan, his potential had instead increased greatly. He had also cast off his greatest weakness: his frail body and complete lack of taijutsu.

Among the three categories of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, taijutsu could be said to be the foundation of everything. Top-tier shinobi might not know ninjutsu or genjutsu, but it was almost impossible for them not to know taijutsu.

The occasional exceptions were generally people who had stopped being human altogether, such as Sasori of the Red Sand, who had turned himself into a Human Puppet.

The reason Nagato had previously used the Six Paths of Pain was precisely to compensate for his weakness in taijutsu. Even so, once an opponent discovered where his true body was, even an ordinary jonin could pose a great threat to him.

It could be said that Nagato’s lethality and destructive power in battle had fallen greatly, but his flexibility and survivability had soared. Before, he had been an extreme glass cannon build; now, he was well-rounded.

Nagato and Konan both wore happy expressions, but Jiraiya, standing to one side, had a faint trace of worry on his face.

To put it bluntly, Hashirama Cells in the Naruto World were equivalent to true miracle medicine. Any ordinary person who could successfully fuse with them would absolutely gain combat strength at the jonin level.

Yet Yota had now revealed that he could easily help others perfectly fuse with Hashirama Cells. In other words, as long as the cultivation speed of Hashirama Cells could keep up, Yota could practically mass-produce jonin. Combined with his own formidable combat power, he could quickly establish a force no weaker than, or even stronger than, the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Jiraiya had not forgotten the ambition Yota had once revealed. The stronger Yota became and the more capable he was, the closer he came to fulfilling his ambition of setting the rules.

Jiraiya did not know whether Yota’s ambition would be a good thing for the entire shinobi world, but it definitely would not be good for Konoha. Under such circumstances, it was only natural for Jiraiya to feel worried.

The only thing that allowed Jiraiya to relax slightly was that although Yota was somewhat cynical, at least his values were relatively normal. He was neither a madman who wanted the world plunged into chaos nor a lunatic as fanatically obsessive as Madara Uchiha.

Moreover, although he was now powerful, he had not relied entirely on violence to overturn the existing order. Instead, he was quietly accumulating strength and seeking opportunities, which clearly showed that he was still rational.

Of course, that was good news for the entire world. It meant that even if Yota truly succeeded, the system he implemented would not be too terrible.

But at the same time, it made Yota even more threatening. He was powerful, knew much information about the future, and was cautious and rational by nature. To the current order of the entire world—especially the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the vested interests—he posed an even greater threat.

At this point, the so-called Child of Prophecy had already lost much of its meaning. In Jiraiya’s eyes, Yota was probably more like the Child of Prophecy than the actual Child of Prophecy. So rather than continue searching for that two-year-old Child of Prophecy whose future had already been spoiled, it would be better to keep an eye on Yota directly.

Yota did not care at all about Jiraiya’s worries. If he wanted to watch, then let him watch. There was nothing about Yota that could not be seen.

Still, with Jiraiya around, it would be inconvenient to carry out his future plans. He intended to impersonate Nagato, after all. If Jiraiya stayed by his side, would that not expose everything? How could he fool Obito and Black Zetsu then? So he immediately began driving Jiraiya away.

Jiraiya had no choice. If Yota truly turned hostile, Jiraiya was no match for him, so he could only leave for the time being.

After returning to the underground base and restoring it, Yota transformed into Nagato’s appearance but did not obediently sit on the stone stool. Instead, he slowly trained his body.

Although Yota, who outwardly looked like Nagato, appeared severely disabled, in terms of physical ability alone, Yota could utterly crush everyone in the Naruto World.

"I should set up some anti-space-time barriers here first… Otherwise, it would be troublesome if Obito saw me training… No, if necessary, I can have a Wood Clone disguise itself as me. This body does not need to fight anyway. The Six Paths of Pain will handle all the fighting."

With the Rinnegan—and a modified Rinnegan no different from his original pair—Yota could naturally control the Six Paths of Pain as well. In fact, his control range was greater, more flexible, and required a smaller price.

Nagato needed to insert Chakra Black Receivers into his back to control the Six Paths of Pain, but Yota only needed a very small number of Chakra Black Receivers.

As for the so-called Chakra Black Receivers, they were actually creations of Yin-Yang Release. Yota only needed to wear several rings made from Chakra Black Receiver material on his hands.

"Most importantly, the Rinnegan’s ability to manipulate gravity is simply a perfect match for the Dark-Dark Fruit!"