Analyzing the Ninja World Starting from Konoha

"Senior Duan, you're quite surprised, aren't you?"

Aoba waved his hand, took the sand back, and asked Duan with a smile.

Duan remained silent, simply watching Qingye and waiting for his answer, as he was also very curious as to why Qingye's physical body could continue to move and even defend itself after the spirit body emerged.

He accompanied Aoba almost the entire time as she improved the Spirit Transformation Technique, so even if the technique was modified, he shouldn't possess this ability.

in case……

If he had that ability back then, he wouldn't have...

Aoba smiled slightly and gave the answer he had been preparing for a long time.

"That's another me, or rather, my younger brother!"

Aoba pointed to his heart and began to give the chip a "reasonable" explanation: "The medical explanation is called 'ghost twin syndrome'."

"younger brother?"

Kato was somewhat dazed.

"Missing twin syndrome?"

"Oh, sorry, that's a medical term. Simply put, it's similar to 'schizophrenia' or 'dissociative identity disorder'."

"During the gestation of life, an extremely rare phenomenon occurs: when twins are conceived in the mother's womb, the stronger embryo will absorb the weaker one. In most cases, the weaker one will disappear completely, but in very rare cases, some of its tissues, or even... a part of its spiritual imprint, will remain in the body of the stronger one."

This explanation is the most reasonable one he has created by combining his previous life's concept of "chimera" with the idealistic forces of this world.

"That's my situation. During my embryonic development, I absorbed my unborn younger brother, and his mental imprint became my alter ego. He has no emotions, no independent consciousness, and is more like a... pure calculation and analysis tool."

Aoba pointed to his head.

"When I'm studying and thinking, he subconsciously helps me analyze and think. But when I use the spiritification technique and my soul leaves my body, he appears and takes over my body. However, he doesn't have an independent consciousness; he only has simple instincts left, so he will automatically retaliate when stimulated by external forces."

These words contained a huge amount of information and completely stunned Kato Dan.

Multiple personality disorder?

No, this sounds even stranger than dual personality disorder.

This explanation... while somewhat outrageous, isn't entirely illogical.

Otherwise, how can we explain this illogical scene before us?

All sorts of strange things happen in the ninja world; dual personality or even multiple personality disorder is not uncommon.

It is not uncommon for ninjas who have been fighting on the edge of life and death for a long time to suffer from schizophrenia.

He himself had invaded a ninja with a dual personality during a spiritual battle, but those were splits of consciousness; in essence, they were still the same person. Aoba's case was more like two souls sharing one body.

In fact, this situation also exists in the original anime. When Ino Yamanaka fought Sakura, her Mind Turn consciousness invasion was repelled by Sakura's alter ego.

In their spiritual exchanges, he could sense Aoba's sincerity. Although Aoba's thinking was somewhat unconventional, he was indeed kind-hearted.

Everyone has their own secrets, right?

As long as this secret doesn't harm Konoha or betray one's comrades, it doesn't matter.

With that thought in mind, Kato Dan felt relieved.

"What an enviable talent."

He exclaimed sincerely.

"Perhaps."

Aoba shrugged noncommittally. "Anyway, the biggest weakness has been resolved."

Kato Dan looked at Aoba, a hint of relief appearing on his cracked face. "If it were you, perhaps you could truly make the Spirit Transformation Technique shine with a different kind of brilliance."

The problem that had been troubling the Kato family was solved in this way.

Although it cannot be copied, it is still a possible approach.

He believed that with Aoba's wisdom, further improvements would surely solve the weakness of the physical body.

"Now that you have mastered the art of spirit transformation, my task is complete."

Kato Dan tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemingly looking through the room towards the outside, in the direction of the Hokage Rock, with a hint of lingering affection in his eyes.

But he knew that for the dead to linger in the mortal world for an extended period was a desecration of the laws of nature.

Moreover, the quality of the offering for this body was so poor that it was barely able to support his soul.

"Take me back, Aoba-kun."

Aoba nodded, without making any pretentious attempts to persuade him to stay.

He put his hands together in prayer position.

"seal up!"

Black runes appeared out of thin air on the floor, and the wooden coffin rose from the ground once more, slowly engulfing the figure.

Just as the coffin lid was about to close, Kato Dan's voice drifted out faintly.

"Don't forget our promise... If the future really changes, remember to wake me up."

"rest assured."

Aoba watched as the coffin lid closed completely, then slowly sank into the ground until the ground returned to its flat state.

"At that time, I will bring Lady Tsunade with me to see you."

After doing all this, he waved his hand to disperse the sand and the barrier, and the courtyard returned to tranquility.

The art of spiritification is in hand.

Now he has another card to play.

……

The escalating friction with Iwa ninja along the border came to an abrupt halt.

The entire ninja world once again fell into an eerie peace.

It was like the deathly silence before a storm, so oppressive it was suffocating.

The atmosphere in the village did not ease as a result; instead, it became even more tense.

The higher-ups clearly sensed the strong smell of gunpowder in the air; war could break out at any moment.

A large number of ninjas were deployed to the border to reinforce defenses.

Yuhi Shinku was also dispatched to the border of the Land of Hot Springs, which borders the Land of Lightning.

Before leaving, Aoba handed a scroll to Yuhi Shinku.

"Uncle Zhen Hong, this is a wound medicine I made myself. It works better than those on the market. I also have some other supplies that should be helpful to you."

Shinku didn't refuse; she simply patted Aoba on the shoulder, her eyes filled with satisfaction.

The kid from back then seems to be able to stand on his own now, so he can leave in peace.

"Take good care of Hong."

"Don't worry, uncle."

As Aoba watched Shinku's departing figure, although she knew that Uncle Shinku would be alright, she still felt a little heavy-hearted.

A large number of ninjas were sent to the border to defend the area, which made the streets of the village much quieter.

The Konoha Hospital where Aoba worked became almost deserted.

The wards, which used to be overcrowded with patients due to various training accidents and mission injuries, are now mostly empty.

Although there are fewer patients, there are still plenty of things to do.

Various medical supplies need to be inventoried and allocated, and large quantities of herbs and hemostatic bandages need to be packed and prepared in advance to be sent to the front line. Everyone seems to be busier than usual.

Although we're usually busy, we can still steal a moment to get together and whisper and gossip. But now everyone is busy with something, so we don't have time to chat.

Ms. Yumiko is so busy that she's practically running around on her feet; her dark circles are almost as bad as a panda's.

However, Aoba's life was relatively "leisurely".

With Professor Ueno's protection and his own superb medical skills, he was assigned a "technical job"—extracting high-concentration drug essences in the laboratory.

……