Thinking about it carefully, Kenichi Amamiya had to admit:
even if he wanted to recruit Deidara, right now that kid was probably barely old enough to chew clay, let alone blow up mountains.
Too early. Way too early.
He sighed and shelved the idea—for now.
Besides, if we're talking about "recruiting talent"...
A different face floated up in his mind.
A boy he'd glimpsed once near the Root's sphere of influence.
Thin frame, glasses, quiet presence, moving like a shadow in Danzō's orbit.
He'd looked a lot like Yakushi Kabuto.
Kenichi shook his head.
Even if that was Kabuto, he's already under Danzō's thumb. With that old fox watching, there's no way I can just "borrow" him. One step at a time…
"—How are the experiment logs coming along?"
Orochimaru's low voice cut cleanly through his thoughts.
Kenichi immediately straightened and handed over the notebook he'd been scribbling in all day. Orochimaru flipped through it, scanning line after line. After a while, he gave a small, satisfied nod.
Only then did Kenichi let himself relax, exhaling quietly as he followed his teacher out of the underground base.
Konoha above ground was… calm.
Ever since the end of the Third Great Ninja War and Minato's inauguration as Fourth Hokage, the village had settled into a rare period of relative peace. The Yellow Flash's battlefield exploits spoke for themselves, and the Third, though retired, was still very much alive and far from powerless.
With one in the seat and one behind the scenes, Konoha's deterrent force was at an all-time high.
Even the muscle-brained Raikage hadn't shown any obvious intention of picking a fight.
"Although being targeted by Obito might actually be worse than having the Raikage as an enemy…" Kenichi muttered, rubbing his chin.
Young men whose brains got hijacked by emotion were more dangerous than any village.
If Obito had just… talked. Asked questions. Checked the facts instead of sprinting straight into world-destroying emo mode… the entire plot of Naruto would be completely different.
The image of that swirling space-time eye surfaced in his mind.
Kamui… I want that so badly.
A Mangekyō ability that could warp space itself, ignore almost all physical attacks, and provide an independent pocket dimension with a massive interior.
If he had Kamui?
Forget renting a basement. He'd build his own laboratory inside the Kamui dimension—a sealed, private, untraceable research paradise.
Shady experiments? Corpse storage? Dangerous prototypes? All safely tucked away in another space.
Perfect.
Too bad Mangekyō abilities are manifestations of the user's strongest desire at their moment of awakening. You don't "choose" Kamui. You get whatever the universe coughs up.
And honestly, Kenichi wasn't entirely sure he could even awaken a Mangekyō in the first place.
"Obito's eye is Mangekyō, and it awakened Kamui. Kakashi's eye is also Kamui. Theoretically, if you study both sets in detail, the results should be identical…"
He bought two skewers of mitarashi dango from a nearby stall while thinking, took a bite of one, and nodded in satisfaction.
Sweet, chewy, and slightly charred.
He lifted the second skewer to his mouth—
—and froze.
A strong stare was drilling into the side of his head.
Ninja were sensitive to killing intent and gazes; Kenichi instinctively turned to look.
A tiny figure stood a short distance away.
A young boy, eyes wide, lips pressed together, quietly staring at the dango in Kenichi's hand.
The Uchiha fan symbol was emblazoned clearly on his clothes.
"…Want some?" Kenichi asked, amused.
The kid hesitated, then gave a tiny, honest nod.
A second later, as if suddenly remembering something, he shook his head frantically instead.
Kenichi couldn't help it—he almost laughed.
So which is it, kid?
He still held the second skewer out. After a moment of internal struggle, the boy timidly accepted it and bowed his head.
"…Thank you."
"Itachi, what are you doing out here?"
An anxious voice called from behind him.
Another Uchiha appeared in a blur, landing beside the boy and putting a hand on his shoulder. The newcomer spared Kenichi a quick, measuring glance.
Kenichi kept his expression exactly what it should be when teasing children: gentle, harmless, slightly silly.
Inside, though, he was genuinely surprised.
So this little one is Uchiha Itachi. The future clan-slayer…
And the man next to him…
Kenichi's gaze flicked up, his mind supplying the name almost immediately.
Uchiha Shisui.
Genius among geniuses.
The man whose Mangekyō held one of the most broken jutsu in existence—Kotoamatsukami.
If there was such a thing as a "strategic-tier genjutsu," that was it.
"I noticed he was staring at my dango," Kenichi explained with a light smile, lifting his half-eaten skewer. "So I gave him one."
Shisui's expression softened slightly, but the caution in his eyes didn't vanish. After thanking Kenichi politely, he led Itachi away.
A short distance from the stall, though, Shisui stopped.
His fingers flashed through a few subtle signs, chakra shifting. He examined the dango Itachi held with a discreet technique, checking for poison or hidden tricks.
Only when he confirmed it was harmless did he let himself relax.
Kenichi watched them go with a faint, wry smile.
Running into Shisui and Itachi in the middle of town… Konoha really is peaceful right now.
Thanks to Minato, the Uchiha's situation had eased a little. The Fourth might be wary, but he wasn't like Danzō—that man treated the clan like a tumor that needed excising.
Shisui, though… Shisui was the real loss, in Kenichi's opinion.
If Kotoamatsukami had been used on Danzō instead…
Not to force him into being a loyal dog, just to shift his attitude. A tweak. Turn his paranoia down, make him more cooperative with the Uchiha instead of hostile.
With that single change, the entire path toward the clan's revolt might have vanished. No coup. No forced massacre. No self-imposed exile for Itachi.
No gaping wound that festered in Sasuke for years.
"Kotoamatsukami…" Kenichi licked his lips unconsciously.
"That's one I'd really like to have…"
A genjutsu that could rewrite someone's will without them even realizing it, with effects so subtle and deep they thought it was their own decision.
On a battlefield, in politics, in covert operations—it was the kind of technique that could quietly reshape the world.
He shook his head and forced his thoughts back down.
Too early, too far-fetched. One thing at a time, Kenichi. First, survive. Then, dominate the ninja world. Then, dissect the Ōtsutsuki and steal their tech.
He pictured sleek, alien ships and advanced devices.
As far as he was concerned, the real prize wasn't their chakra—it was their technology.
If he could tear apart their flying constructs, reverse-engineer their systems, and combine them with chakra science…
The entire world would be dragged into a new era.
And if everything went according to plan, he wouldn't need Naruto's kid to risk his life as "fuel" for some cosmic drama. Kenichi himself would happily turn the Ōtsutsuki into reusable energy resources.
One step at a time, though.
He finished his dinner, swung by a bookstore to check whether Icha Icha Paradise had hit the shelves yet (it hadn't), and then headed toward a very familiar place:
Orochimaru's current lab.
It was time to test something much more important.
To answer a question that had been gnawing at him ever since he'd inherited Hashirama's Sage Body.
Can I actually summon the First Hokage?
More specifically: could he use Impure World Reincarnation, under Orochimaru's supervision, to bring out a weakened, controllable Hashirama?
If the answer was yes—and if he could safely dismiss the summoning whenever he wanted—then his next step was clear.
He'd learn senjutsu directly from the source.
No gambling with the White Snake Sage and its human-eating tests.
No chasing after Jiraiya or Tsunade.
He already had the body.
He just needed the manual.
"Sensei," Kenichi said when he finally found Orochimaru amidst the smell of disinfectant and blood, "there's something I'd like to try—with your protection."
He held the Edo Tensei scroll a little tighter.
If this worked, then from today onward, he wouldn't just be a researcher dabbling in forbidden techniques.
He'd be a true necromancer of Konoha.
And his path toward Sage Mode would finally begin.