The guards couldn't pinpoint when the anomaly began. By the time they realized something was wrong, the situation was already out of control.
According to their reports, the incident originated in the top-secret laboratory, the one where Tobirama had been researching the captured Hashirama.
Not long after the experiment began, everyone inside the lab started acting strangely.
By the time the security team noticed, it was already too late. The affected individuals suddenly turned violent, killing an entire security squad and causing widespread destruction in the lab.
Many researchers were slaughtered, equipment was damaged, and the entire research facility fell into chaos.
The worst part? The ones responsible for the attack weren't ordinary intruders, they were the lab's top researchers.
The security personnel hesitated to use lethal force against them and instead tried to subdue them.
Although the researchers lacked combat skills, each of them was essentially fully equipped with cutting-edge gear: chakra-enhanced protective suits, sensory augmentation devices, emergency life-support injections... Everything.
Aoba had always been highly concerned about the safety of the research team, providing them with the best equipment available.
This made it difficult for the security personnel to take them down quickly.
Hearing this, Aoba immediately understood what had happened.
When Hashirama was defeated and brought to the lab for research by Tobirama, it had been a trap.
Something had been planted in Hashirama, designed to destroy the research facility from within.
This was yet another indication of how much of a threat Aoba's research facility posed to the Sage of Six Paths.
This facility was nothing like the Root or Anbu research departments of the past. Aoba wasn't just relying on ninja, he had also recruited a vast number of civilians as researchers.
Civilians couldn't participate in chakra-based research, but when it came to biological studies, they were just as capable as anyone else.
Every ninja required years of training to become combat-ready, leaving them little time for research.
But civilians, without the distraction of combat training, could dedicate all their efforts to learning and scientific advancement, and the results were beginning to show.
It wasn't just Aoba himself that the Sage of Six Paths feared.
He feared the spread of Aoba's ideas.
He wanted eternal war in the Shinobi World. But if Konoha continued to develop like this, even if Aoba disappeared, in just a few years, the entire Shinobi World would be unified under Konoha.
However, as Aoba arrived at the research facility, he quickly noticed something was off.
While high-level researchers were rampaging and destroying everything, Tobirama and Hashirama were nowhere to be seen.
"Tobirama-sama hasn't left the lab since the incident began," a guard reported.
Aoba nodded. At that moment, he could sense an immense surge of chakra from deep within the lab.
He could already guess what had happened to Tobirama.
Every high-level research lab in the facility had an independent chakra core as a power source.
The one used in this lab was the most advanced of them all.
This power core had been developed using Hashirama Cells, White Zetsu Cells, and over a dozen iterations of refinements resulting in an extremely stable chakra energy system.
But Aoba, as the original designer, knew something very well, its stability was conditional.
With the right knowledge of its inner workings, someone with Tobirama's expertise could destabilize it.
And the energy contained in one of these top-tier chakra cores?
By real-world standards, if fully detonated, it could release energy equivalent to a small nuclear bomb.
However, the core was designed for sustained energy output, making an instantaneous full detonation nearly impossible. Chakra buildup took time.
Even so, if it went out of control, it could still turn the entire research facility, and half of Konoha, into a massive Mokuton forest.
"Subdue all the infected researchers and evacuate the entire facility," Aoba ordered calmly.
Then, dismissing all security personnel, he walked alone toward the lab.
Ninja were efficient. Within minutes, the entire research facility was completely evacuated.
By then, Aoba had already stepped into the heart of the laboratory.
Inside, Tobirama sat in a chair, as if he had been expecting Aoba all along.
"You're here," Tobirama said, his voice eerily calm.
Aoba's gaze was cold.
"I wonder… how should I address you now? Tobirama? Sage of Six Paths? Or should I say, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki?"
Tobirama, or rather, the entity controlling him smirked slightly.
"Under normal circumstances, I should be surprised that you know my true name," he said. "But at this point, it doesn't really matter. I've come to expect the unexpected from you."
"Young man, let's talk. Why are you so determined to oppose me?"
"With your abilities, no matter how the world changes, you could always live comfortably. So why walk this path of destruction?"
Aoba chuckled.
"Maybe that's the difference between me and everyone else. To be honest, I never really thought about why."
"But if you insist on an answer, I'll give you one."
"You, Hagoromo, have no right to manipulate everyone's fate. You don't deserve it."
Aoba had despised the Sage of Six Paths for a long time.
Look at everything he had done to the Shinobi World, what had actually changed?
War was worse than ever. Division was worse than ever. Death was more widespread than ever.
The nobles were still nobles.The shinobi were still killers.The commoners were still cattle, no, even worse. Just expendable resources.
And that whole "I spread chakra to bring love and understanding between people" excuse?
Utter bullshit.
How could anyone believe that nonsense?
Since the dawn of chakra, there hadn't been a single day without war.
Love? Understanding? Where?
What the Sage of Six Paths did was like this, imagine two people fighting barehanded.
Then, he shows up and gives one a knife, the other a sword and then tells them: "Now stop fighting. Learn to love and understand each other."
Was he insane?
No.
He just wasn't human.
"Heh… for centuries, I've controlled the education of this world," Hagoromo said.
"I made sure everyone believed that the Shinobi World's status quo was the natural order of things. Yet despite that you, a single anomaly, still appeared."
"Your original world… must have been incredibly powerful."
It was clear now that Hagoromo understood, Aoba wasn't from this world either.
"What a pity, young man," Hagoromo sighed.
"You are truly exceptional. Easily one of the most brilliant minds I have encountered in a thousand years. Hashirama was a fool. Madara was an idiot. Compared to you, neither of them were even worth mentioning... But this is where it ends."
Hagoromo's expression darkened. "Young man, you are chasing something that does not belong to you. I take no pleasure in this. But you've left me no other choice."
If you would like to read more...
The novel has be completed (Chp. 362) on the patreon, check it out! -> SaintXI