"Time travel failed? Useless system!"
Hyuga Mirai looked at the system panel, which showed a message: Host's energy too strong, exceeding system's carrying limit.
"I thought your ability was omniscience and omnipotence. This useless system is really disappointing."
Hyuga Mirai complained casually, then started thinking of other methods. He was now essentially the master of a single universe, with one foot stepping into the multiversal level. According to the system panel, he now carried nearly half the power of a universe, and this universe was one of the largest among countless multiverses.
Unless he gave up the Infinity Stones and all his energy, which was impossible.
"Transferring the system to a clone won't work, unless I split my soul in two."
After thinking for a while, Hyuga Mirai also rejected this idea. The system had already merged with his soul. Even if he split his soul, the part that split off would be without the system.
He had been researching dimensional beings recently, even throwing a God Tree seedling into another dimensional space. After this long period of research, Hyuga Mirai finally had some understanding of the existence of dimensions.
Fortunately, he had gone to the Ancient One to learn about dimensional beings and hadn't opened any rashly. Otherwise, there would have been a risk of corruption.
The Chakra God Tree was an existence akin to a dimensional being, but this kind of dimensional being had no preferences, no good or evil, not even its own consciousness, only the instinct to take root and grow. In ancient times, as long as the Otsutsuki clan worshipped the Chakra God Tree, they would receive rewards in return.
Initially, they only needed to offer life-bearing planets as sacrifices to the Chakra God Tree, and the Otsutsuki clan would gain powerful strength and long life. But one day, the Otsutsuki God discovered the flaw in this practice: the more they worshipped the Chakra God Tree, the deeper the Otsutsuki clan would sink, eventually being assimilated into a God Tree, taking root and growing in the universe.
Then the Otsutsuki God changed the way of worshipping the God Tree, from directly worshipping the Chakra God Tree in exchange for power to obtaining God Tree seeds. They would find life-bearing planets themselves and plant the God Trees.
Moreover, the Otsutsuki God improved the method of planting God Trees: when the God Tree matured, sacrificing an Otsutsuki clan member would turn the resulting Chakra Fruit into one most suitable for the Otsutsuki clan to consume, thus basically nullifying the Chakra God Tree's influence over the clan.
And unless one's life form evolved to a certain level, one couldn't even sense the existence of the Chakra God Tree. The Chakra God Tree worshipped on the Otsutsuki homeworld was still not the mother tree, but a subsidiary tree cultivated by the Otsutsuki God.
As for whether the Otsutsuki God was still alive, Hyuga Mirai didn't know. It was too long ago. Although the Otsutsuki God had also gained power by offering life-bearing planets in its early days, it later cut off its connection to the Chakra God Tree, so its whereabouts were unknown.
Hyuga Mirai had seen all this information from the consciousness of the Chakra God Tree, and he could now confirm that the true Chakra God Tree had taken root in this universe. The reason should be that when he connected the two universes, he hadn't taken any dimensional precautions.
Later, planting three God Tree seedlings at once allowed the Chakra God Tree to take root in this universe, to the point where the Ancient One sensed it.
Fortunately, the Chakra God Tree had no consciousness, only instinct.
Hyuga Mirai had been researching dimensional beings for a while. From Yamata no Orochi at the beginning, to some weaker legendary creatures, and finally going to the underworld, unlocking the protection of the New York Sanctum, going to the Dark Dimension to fight Dormammu for a period, and understanding the nature of the Dark Dimension.
With the universe's original energy, Dormammu was helpless against Hyuga Mirai. It also knew that this universe couldn't be invaded, so it wanted to actively cut off its dimensional invasion, but Hyuga Mirai stopped it.
Such a good research material, how could he let it just cut off the connection? Dormammu's strength was neither too high nor too low, and it had invaded more than one universe. Just because it couldn't do anything to Hyuga Mirai didn't mean Hyuga Mirai couldn't do anything to it.
However, he didn't touch the protective passages of the other two Sanctums, only leaving this one. The Ancient One was happy to see this and directly gave the New York Sanctum to Hyuga Mirai.
Dormammu was the most powerful dimensional being the Ancient One had guarded against. Now without the threat of Dormammu, other dimensional beings were nothing.
Ninja World Planet. In the lab, Hyuga Mirai kept thinking about ways to get rid of the Chakra God Tree. He had thought of one, but wasn't sure if it would work.
He didn't plan to give the three Chakra God Trees planted on the Celestial's corpse to Kiyo and the others to use. For increasing lifespan and strength, he could directly use cosmic energy to improve their life forms, so there was no need to use God Tree fruits.
Just as Hyuga Mirai was thinking, Kiyo Hyuga suddenly came to the basement. Seeing Hyuga Mirai, she said, "You spend all day in the lab. Come out with me."
Hyuga Mirai asked doubtfully, "What's happened?"
"The ninja world Federation's stored energy has run out. Compared to those backward energy sources, the Infinity Stones' energy is much more convenient."
Hyuga Mirai asked in surprise, "The cosmic energy I left last time is all used up? It should have lasted a year or two. Why so fast?"
"Lord Tobirama is too impatient. Upgrading energy equipment and exploration are happening simultaneously, so consumption is fast..." Kiyo Hyuga explained, then said, "Now they want to borrow the Infinity Stones again."
"It's best not to. I could actually use the Reality Stone to upgrade the ninja world planet directly to a first-class cosmic civilization. But the people of the ninja world Federation are nothing special. The consequence of reaching the sky in one step is destruction. Apart from a few people, most can't handle such an advanced civilization."
Hyuga Mirai shook his head in refusal and said to Kiyo Hyuga, "Just like Mio. She was born with the Tenseigan, but without any training, even after a few years of practice, she almost hurt others with its power. If everyone in the ninja world Federation had a 'Tenseigan', destruction wouldn't be far off."
"What you say does make sense."
A trace of helplessness appeared on Kiyo Hyuga's pretty face. Then she cautiously asked, "How about just this once?"
Hearing this, Hyuga Mirai immediately asked suspiciously, "Did you make a promise you can't keep? That's why you came to me? You usually never come down here."
"Stop the extra talk. Just say whether you're coming or not."
Kiyo Hyuga, having been found out, kicked Hyuga Mirai in shame and anger. She had made a promise, but she hadn't expected to be lectured like this. Going back like this would definitely be embarrassing.
"Just this once isn't impossible. As long as you tell Senju Tobirama what I just said, he'll definitely understand. Anyway, everyone has long lifespans."
Hyuga Mirai first agreed, then changed the subject and said to Kiyo Hyuga, "But Kiyo, you have to wear white thigh-high stockings and a bunny girl outfit."
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Kiyo Hyuga shouted softly, then struck Hyuga Mirai's stomach with a heavy palm. Her cheeks flushed with shame and anger as she said to him, "Get upstairs quickly."
New York Sanctum. Since the Ancient One had given it to Hyuga Mirai, it had been empty. The magical items originally displayed had all been taken back by Kamar-Taj, though a few cleaning robots were left behind.
Suddenly, a somewhat aged Hulk jumped from another rooftop to the rooftop door of the New York Sanctum. He looked around doubtfully. "Tony is even less reliable than me. What time is this? Didn't Loki attack New York?"
Bruce Banner pushed open the rooftop door and walked inside. He only knew that this was a place of Kamar-Taj, because when he had been sent back to Earth, he had been brought here.
But now it seemed that Tony had sent him to the wrong time.
"Pym particles aren't enough for another jump. If I can't borrow the Time Stone this time, it's completely over. I hope Dr. Strange now can understand me."
But Bruce Banner soon noticed something was wrong. This place seemed very different. And why would a magical sanctuary have robots, something that didn't fit the style?
They were just cleaning robots without combat capability, so they only recorded the intruder and sent the information to 18's sub-AI.
"Where's Strange? Isn't he here?"
"Of course he's not here. This place has been given to me by Kamar-Taj now. Which timeline did you come from?"
A voice suddenly came from behind Bruce Banner. He whirled around and saw an Asian man with azure blue eyes standing behind him, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. He hadn't noticed at all.
Bruce Banner stepped back a few paces and quickly asked, "Who are you? Where's Strange?" But looking closer, he saw that this person seemed to be a virtual projection, yet there were no projection devices around.
Hyuga Mirai answered, "Strange got into a car accident. He just recovered from his injuries a while ago. But his hands weren't crippled by the accident, so he's still a doctor now. If you want to borrow the Time Stone from him, it's impossible.
Alright, I've answered your questions. Now it's your turn to answer mine. Which timeline are you from? Did you travel to this universe to borrow the Infinity Stones? What happened where you're from?"
Bruce Banner was overwhelmed by the barrage of information. He asked, confused, "Are you the new Sorcerer Supreme?"
"No. The Sorcerer Supreme is still the Ancient One. The next Sorcerer Supreme might be the librarian, Wong. When are you going to answer my questions?"
Hyuga Mirai frowned slightly. Did he need to come in person for a soul interrogation?
"My purpose is to borrow the Infinity Stones from Sorcerer Supreme Strange. But it seems there's been some complications. Where is the current Sorcerer Supreme? I need to find him as soon as possible. In our universe, because of Thanos's snap... And hasn't Loki's invasion happened here?"
After listening to Bruce Banner's story, Hyuga Mirai frowned slightly. This was a timeline divergence caused by an anomaly in a time node, creating a parallel world?
Which time node had the problem?
"Sir, can you tell me where the Sorcerer Supreme is? My time is very urgent." Seeing Hyuga Mirai frowning in thought, Bruce Banner reminded him again.
"It's useless for you to go to her. The six Infinity Stones of this universe are with me, but I won't lend them to you. And the future is uncertain. You'd better not gamble on this kind of thing, otherwise you'll cause even more uncertain timelines."
Hyuga Mirai said directly to Bruce Banner. The Time Stone was the embodiment of the universe's original energy, and Bruce Banner was from a parallel universe formed by a timeline divergence. The Ancient One of the past had gambled by lending the Time Stone to Bruce Banner, but if even a small accident occurred, the Time Stone wouldn't come back.
If this universe lost the Time Stone while the parallel universe gained one, the primary and secondary would reverse. Although with Hyuga Mirai's existence, the universe wouldn't collapse, it would definitely weaken.
Because the universe's original energy would have one more outlet, which was something Hyuga Mirai could not allow.
"The Infinity Stones are with you? Sir, are you from a future timeline?"
Before Bruce Banner could finish, Hyuga Mirai's projection disappeared. He quickly looked around but still couldn't find the projection or any communication devices, only a few cleaning robots.
"Ah!"
Bruce Banner, frustrated by his dashed hopes, punched the wall. But Hyuga Mirai had left seals here to maintain the power connecting to the Dark Dimension space, so not only did Bruce Banner not break the wall, but he was also bounced back.
"Dr. Banner, what's happened?"
Steve's voice came through Bruce Banner's earpiece. Not the Steve of this timeline, but the one from his own timeline, who had also come back to get the Infinity Stones.
"Everyone, I've learned some very serious news. I don't know if it's true or false. If it is true, then we can't find the Time Stone here..."
Then Bruce Banner quickly told them about his encounter. After hearing his words, the several people on the other end fell silent. This change was like a hammer, hitting them dizzy.
"Stark, what's going on?"
"I'm checking. But it seems what Banner said is true. There's no Avengers here. It's more the Iron Legion and the Super Seven Team. God, why has the underwear baby become so buff?"
Stark's voice came through the earpiece. The others' hearts sank upon hearing this, and Bruce Banner could hear a hint of panic in Tony Stark's tone.
The quantum time-space jump machine they had painstakingly developed, the remaining Pym particles were few. If they couldn't get the Time Stone this time, they would lose their last chance. And Tony Stark had put in the most effort. Now that they had failed, his self-blame increased.
(End of chapter)