The next moment, the entire world shifted, with that point as its center.
The dark, terrifying environment vanished, replaced by a vast meadow and a gentle breeze.
The smell of earth and green plants filled her nose, making Tsunade's heart tremble. She looked up in a daze, confused by her surroundings.
Though her face was still streaked with tears and her eyes were red, the miraculous sight before her had stopped her sorrow.
Then, a joyful shout rang out.
"Sister!"
Tsunade's pupils contracted, and she immediately turned her head toward the source of the voice, seeing Nawaki happily waving and running toward her.
At that moment, Nawaki no longer had the transparent, ghostly body from before. Instead, he now had a solid, real body.
At least, in this world, it was indistinguishable from a physical body.
Clearly, the previous body in the game was just a projection, and Nawaki's real body had been in the mental network world. That was why he had said "see you later" earlier.
Now, they were truly meeting.
Then, Nawaki ran up to Tsunade and hugged her. Tsunade stared blankly at him, her expression lost, unable to distinguish between reality and Genjutsu.
"Nawaki? Am I... am I dead? Is this the pure land?"
Tsunade thought of a possibility, her expression growing even more confused.
It was impossible for Tsunade not to think this way. After all, just a moment ago, she believed her younger brother had already passed on, and the next moment, he reappeared with his surroundings completely changed. She couldn't avoid thinking this way.
Nawaki, who was happy, heard Tsunade's words and looked at her in confusion before saying, "No, sister, this isn't the Pure Land. My soul hasn't returned to the Pure Land. Right now, we're in a special genjutsu world. Orochimaru-sensei said this place was created by Kai. I was directly summoned here by Kai from the Pure Land!"
Tsunade: "Orochimaru? Kai? You mean... Uchiha Kai?"
"Mm-mm!" Nawaki nodded continuously to confirm.
Just at that moment, Uchiha Kai appeared, and Orochimaru followed shortly after.
Clearly, Uchiha Kai had temporarily left to inform Orochimaru to enter the 'genjutsu world.'
Now, everyone had arrived. Under Tsunade's confused gaze, Orochimaru spoke and began explaining the entire situation to her.
After finishing, Orochimaru smiled, his lips curling up. "Although when Kai explained the treatment plan to me, I thought it was a bit absurd, the truth proved he was right. Tsunade, congratulations, you no longer have to suffer from hemophobia."
"..." Tsunade fell silent as she tried to digest the information she just heard.
After a long pause, her expression was neutral, and she softly said, "So, the one calling my name earlier was really you, Nawaki? And all the stuff about you being captured, that was fake?"
Her voice was soft, without much emotion.
However, when Nawaki heard this, his body instinctively shivered, and he began to tremble, swallowing hard. He subconsciously wanted to turn and run.
But, Nawaki was too slow. Soon, he felt the suffocating love from his sister—yes, suffocating, not as a metaphor. Tsunade immediately caught him in a cross-lock.
Even though she didn't use much force, Nawaki felt like he couldn't breathe. This heavy love brought tears to his eyes. It was truly suffocating love.
Of course, Tsunade would never truly let her little brother be in danger. After giving him a little punishment, she let him go, then gently hugged the trembling Nawaki and whispered:
"Idiot, from now on, don't lie to your sister anymore."
Nawaki was stunned for a moment after hearing that, then awkwardly said, "I won't, sis. I only did that to help you, you know? It's fine, don't worry! Even though I can't leave right now, I can still stay in this Genjutsu world!"
"If you have time, you can come visit me anytime!"
He was eager to share his future plans, but this wasn't something Nawaki decided on his own; it was a plan given to him by Uchiha Kai.
After all, Nawaki couldn't leave the mental network world. Even if he could project his consciousness into other people's Genjutsu games, it was still just a projection. He was still a spirit existing in the mental network world.
In more sci-fi terms, Nawaki was essentially an alternative digital life form.
To make it a bit more playful, you could think of Nawaki as a sort of digital pet.
As for Tsunade, although she wasn't initially chosen to access Uchiha Kai's mental network, the original plan was quickly discarded when Nawaki was involved.
With Nawaki, Tsunade could become an absolute ally.
And once Nawaki's experiment was successful, Uchiha Kai's mental network world would eventually keep adding new "residents."
After all, with the ability to call back the dead, even though it has a one-month cooldown after each use, it essentially meant that once a month, a dead person could be summoned into the mental network world.
Think about how many people have already died in the ninja world. If those deceased could be summoned, what kind of help would it bring to Uchiha Kai?
Yes, I'm talking about you, the naturally evil old Senju Tobirama. You thought I, Uchiha Kai, would let you off?
No, you're destined to be one of my loyal workers, just you wait!
As for Senju Tobirama's hatred toward the Uchiha clan, it's unlikely that he'd be of much help…
Tsk tsk tsk, how little do you understand the attraction of the Great Library to someone like Senju Tobirama?
This master of forbidden jutsu in the ninja world, even if his pursuit of knowledge isn't as pathological as Orochimaru's, it's not far off. Could he resist the temptation of the Great Library?
Besides, even if this inherently evil Senju Tobirama could resist the Great Library's allure and choose to fight Uchiha Kai, Uchiha Kai could easily throw Senju Tobirama back into the Pure Land—at most, he would be kicked out of the mental network's vast world, and then the bug with his abilities would fix itself, sending his soul back to the Pure Land.
Of course, these are just thoughts for now. How to proceed depends on the situation.
However, Orochimaru's eyes were already burning with enthusiasm. He looked at Uchiha Kai and smiled, saying, "Kai, the results are quite successful. Both in terms of Tsunade's treatment and allowing Nawaki to remain in this world."
"So, are there any other restrictions on this method of calling and preserving the dead? I mean, besides Nawaki, could others be summoned this way?"
Uchiha Kai understood what Orochimaru meant: "You're talking about your idol, the Second Hokage, right? Sure, as long as my mental strength can bear the pressure from having the dead remain here, I can continuously repeat the process of leaving Nawaki behind."
"However, this method of summoning the dead can only be used once a month. If you want to summon someone else, you'll have to wait until next month."
After hearing this, Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully, not regretful at all. In fact, he found it perfectly reasonable.
After all, in Orochimaru's view, Uchiha Kai's methods were truly beyond the norm, completely overturning his understanding.
Such a powerful ability should naturally have some limitations.
However…
Subconsciously, he glanced at this vast Genjutsu world. Orochimaru's lips curled into a smile, his eyes filled with anticipation.
It seemed that this world's greatest scientist had already foreseen the flourishing of this second world.
Many geniuses who had appeared throughout history would come here to study and research, creating miraculous things and bringing them back to the ninja world, sparking an unprecedented transformation.
Such things, this brand-new wind full of unknowns, were simply too enticing for Orochimaru to resist.
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