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The following month after the start of the Second Shinobi War was fruitful for Ryoichi. He began researching various gene samples he had acquired. With the war ongoing, he had many test subjects to choose from.
Ryoichi had many children be they orphans or from clans snatched out by his forces, taken for testing these genes. He conducted practical research, observing how each gene reacted to different DNA.
By the end of these few months, he had gathered enough results to strengthen the DNA of the Senju to a level just below that of Hashirama.
Now, all new-gen Senju had the potential to become low-tier Super Kage. This alone was a huge breakthrough, but if that were all, Ryoichi would have been disappointed in himself.
Ryoichi not only succeeded in gene strengthening but also discovered potential paths to the true immortality he desired. Though calling them "true immortality" would be a stretch they were more like longevity, since he could still be killed.
The path he found involved using his Kekkai Genkai to create a potion that would make his cells immune to time degradation. Once the effects of time were removed from the equation, he would no longer age or die of old age.
Of course, such a solution wasn't without flaws. Without time affecting his cells, he would be incapable of becoming physically stronger. As for spiritual degradation that was another can of worms entirely.
This path that Ryoichi discovered didn't grant his soul immunity to time degradation. That meant that over time, his psyche would grow weary from the passage of endless time, and he might lose the will to live something Ryoichi believed wouldn't be a problem, considering he knew what came after death but still this method has one too many flaw.
Another method Ryoichi found for immortality involved binding himself to the universe itself, making him immortal as long as the universe remained intact. However, this method had its own issues chief among them the possibility of his soul being sublimated to the the universe. something that terrified him as much as death.
The third method Ryoichi uncovered was to convert himself into an energetic being. Such beings are immortal as long as they don't run out of energy. But this, too, came with downsides namely the inability to grow without absorbing energy from other beings.
The Ōtsutsuki themselves are beings made of chakra: a type of energy. This is why they hunt for chakra from outside sources rather than training to increase it naturally.
While researching energetic beings, Ryoichi's thoughts drifted to conceptual beings from Marvel and DC comics. Once that idea took root, Ryoichi began exploring various theories and possibilities for becoming one.
Once he became invested in the topic, he realized that it might actually be possible to become a conceptual being. In fact, he theorized that a few such beings already existed in this universe.
The Ōtsutsuki Patriarch, the Dragon Sage, and the Kōritenshi Patriarch were all conceptual beings though not complete ones.
What concepts did they embody? Chakra and natural energy. As for Kōritenshi, he was somewhat clever. He likely used the Pureworld and absorbed its energy to become a conceptual being of either death or reincarnation. However, since these laws exist on a multiversal scale, his concept was flawed especially considering there are many conceptual beings already aligned with those laws.
The reason why the Ōtsutsuki Patriarch and the Dragon Sage's concepts were flawed is that they became conceptual beings unknowingly.
They were simply lucky to be the first users of their respective energies, and after absorbing too much, they became representative of those energies. However, both energies only exist on a universal level, as they are confined to this universe.
Once Ryoichi reached this conclusion, he began researching how he could become a conceptual being himself. Before long, he discovered a method: destroying pocket dimensions and absorbing the pure essence of time and space at the moment of their destruction.
Ryoichi concluded that doing so would increase his affinity with time and space. If he continued this path, his body would also begin evolving to match his ever-increasing affinity. of course his body would first need few adjusment to absorb such energies, mainly a better adaptibilty and evolution trait.
Ryoichi also considered absorbing energy directly from the timestream, but his Haki warned him against it. Later, he pondered why he sensed such danger and concluded that absorbing only from the timestream would cause an imbalance between time and space.
With a clear goal in mind, Ryoichi dove back into his research.
While Ryoichi immersed himself in his studies, interesting changes began to occur across the Elemental Nations.
First, the war forced many countries into accelerated development. The pressure of war made people more innovative. Technology began to bloom at an unprecedented pace even technology unrelated to warfare began to appear. One pioneer was Yukigakure, which developed steam engines that led to the creation of trains.
Seeing the potential, Mirai bought the rights to produce the trains at a very high price. Although Akihara's technological development surpassed that of Yukigakure, they had never thought of creating trains. Still, recognizing the potential, Mirai purchased the rights and quickly proposed the idea to all Kages and Daimyō.
At first, no one wanted them to build train tracks connecting every nation especially while the Second Shinobi War was ongoing. But when Mirai began throwing her weight around, they had no choice but to agree though not before making alterations to the railway tracks connecting their own villages.
And so the world entered a strange period. On one side, war raged on, while on the other, metal tracks were being laid at superhuman speeds by Akihara's shinobi.
The war itself settled into an uncertain rhythm. It had already lasted longer than in the original timeline, as the Great Villages were better stocked thanks to Akihara's grain and their loot from the Uzumaki clan, who had increased their seal production many times over to compete with Akihara.
The Five Great Villages were better prepared than in the original version, and this preparedness made them more wary of one another.
This wariness caused them to act more cautiously and slowly. Attacks that would normally launch in days were stretched to weeks, as they carefully planned and strategized to counter each other's moves.
All of this caused the war to last years longer than it should have.
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An: sorry for late update I had to attend a funeral