Konoha.
Uchiha Clan Land.
In the underground laboratory bathed in bright yellow light, a young boy wearing a white hooded lab coat stood in front of the experiment table, working diligently.
This boy was none other than Hakushi.
The Second Great Ninja War concluded with the war between Konoha and Hidden Sand, and after that, the nations entered a peaceful recovery period.
The borders of the Land of Fire also returned to their previous stability, not suffering any attacks from foreign ninjas.
But that was more than three years ago.
Life over these past three-plus years has been relatively calm.
Since there was no need to go to the battlefield, the time spent in the village increased as he completed missions.
This also meant that the time he could spend on research increased significantly, without the need to run back and forth on the Ninja Realm battlefield, continuously engaging in battles with various enemies.
Compared to his research from over three years ago, his research progress has undoubtedly advanced significantly.
The efficient utilization of Natural Energy means he can focus on rapidly producing forces.
Konoha's powerful force is no longer viewed with the same reverence it was over three years ago, and can now be faced with a calm attitude.
This might be what's called growth.
After all, while he continuously improved, the village of Konoha remained largely unchanged, merely increasing its number of active ninjas and with military expenditures rising year after year.
With the continuous expansion of the ninja scale, neighboring countries' ninja villages likely harbor cautious attitudes toward Konoha.
How long will this peace last? One year from now or two years later, will a new war break out again?
The only certainty is that the time until Hidden Sand's next attack on the Land of Fire will not leave Hakushi waiting for long.
At that time, he can truly leave this extremely boring village.
Although he is reluctant to part with some people and things, departure is a stage that must be experienced in life.
"The human phase is finally complete, next I can try to unlock the caged bird..."
The experiment of replacing chakra with Natural Energy as Life Energy, after more than three years of effort, has now reached a mature stage in technology. Although not with 100% assurance, at least in case of an accident, it can be halted in time to prevent damage to life.
To ensure the success of this experiment, a total of eleven human bodies were used.
The experiment proceeded to such an incredible degree that even Hakushi found it unbelievable, not one of the eleven bodies died, with only one experiencing an accident, but was rescued by Hakushi's advanced medical techniques.
It was as if Natural Energy was inherently capable of replacing chakra as the body's Life Energy.
Although currently unable to decipher the differences between these two, unlocking the caged bird first means there's plenty of time to explore this secret later.
Hakushi walked over to a nearby bookshelf, his eyes scanning the book titles, and he reached out to search.
"I remember it's in..."
As he spoke, there was a disturbance from the floor beside him.
A murky earthen head emerged from the ground, its eye sockets emitting faint golden light, staring at Hakushi.
"Back already? You've worked hard."
Hakushi paused his book search and turned to look at this earthen figure.
This is a 'puppet' he created using Yin Yang Attribute Chakra as the foundation, with Natural Energy as the core, along with some spiritual exploits.
The inspiration for its creation came from Tailed Beasts.
Hakushi named it 'Earth General.'
Now only six months old, it currently possesses just the abilities of free movement within the earth and earth fusion, classifying it as a juvenile.
The help it can currently offer Hakushi is limited to communications connection with subordinates and transferring objects; when it comes to combat... its future looks promising.
The earthen figure continued to stare at Hakushi, seemingly awaiting further commands from Hakushi.
Hakushi let out a slight wry smile, though he successfully and artificially created it, its intelligence is extremely concerning, to the extent of being sluggish and clumsy.
Complex commands and human relations are entirely beyond its current comprehension.
If exact orders are not given, even to creator Hakushi, normal communication with it is impossible.
Thus, the judgment of 'promising future' was given.
"What did they ask you to bring back? Hand it over to me."
Hakushi ordered it.
The earthen figure then ceased its hollow stare-off with Hakushi.
The floor began to squirm, ejecting a letter along with a white humanoid creature.
"What's this?"
Hakushi picked up the letter, but his gaze stayed on the white humanoid creature, his brows furrowed.
The earthen figure remained silent, emitting only a muffled noise before sinking back underground.
Hakushi didn't expect this low-intelligence puppet to offer any proper response, using it purely as a communication tool, it remains relatively competent.
Now, it serves solely as a communication tool.
Hakushi opened the letter to understand the situation.
It mentioned two things simply.
Akatsuki declined recruitment.
The identity of the white humanoid creature lying on the ground is unknown, it was captured while eavesdropping on Akatsuki, and for some reason focused on his subordinate before being subdued and brought here.
"Declined? I was hoping to expand the organization's manpower, oh well, finding others will suffice."