Xingjulang put down the tea cup in his hand with satisfaction and praised loudly: "It's been a long time since I've tasted such authentic wisteria tea! It's exactly the same as the one brewed by Mrs. Tianyin. It's really nostalgic!"
As he said that, he turned his head and his hot and bright eyes stayed on Yiyong's face, "Yiyong, do you feel the same way?"
Yiyong said that he would get along well with all the resurrected pillars to make up for the regrets of the past.
In Anjuro's view, there is nothing more effective than sincerely praising another person's intentions to achieve this.
So he decided to lend a helping hand and guide Yiyong once...
But what surprised him was that after Yiyong drank the tea, he just nodded calmly: "Maybe."
Anjuro's expression froze for a moment, feeling that he had done something unnecessary.
Not only did Giyong not praise him, but he also looked indifferent. Thinking back to Miss Shinobu's character...
[Sure enough, I shouldn’t have forced Jiyong to evaluate Miss Shinobi’s work without hinting in advance! Now...]
But what surprised him was that Butterfly Ninja actually covered his mouth and laughed indifferently: "You ask him to say it, but he can't tell it. Because Tomioka has never drunk the wisteria tea brewed by Mrs. Tianyin herself.
"
"Why is this?"
Anjuro had never worked at the headquarters with Giyu in the past, so he didn't know this. "Is it because you can't get used to the taste of wisteria?"
"Hey, this is related to an embarrassing incident in Tomioka. Although he may not realize until now, there is something wrong with what he did..."
The Butterfly Ninja's eyes flickered mischievously, and he turned to ask Giyuu: "How is it, do you want me to tell you?"
"I have nothing embarrassing at all."
There was a strong look of doubt in Giyuu's Sharingan eyes, "I don't know what you want to say."
The Butterfly Ninja showed a true expression, "Since you said that, I won't be polite. Purgatory should also want to hear it, right?"
In fact, Anjuro has no intention of inquiring into other people's dark histories.
But he saw with his own eyes that although Yiyong had made progress in expression detection over the years, his ability to read the air was actually regressing.
If Miss Shinobu thought it was an embarrassing incident but Giyuu didn't realize it, then it is indeed time to bring up the old matter again and alert Giyuu, otherwise history will repeat itself sooner or later.
So he nodded, as if he was listening attentively: "I would like to hear the details!"
"Then I'll tell you."
The butterfly ninja sat upright, looking like a storyteller in Kabukicho, "When this happened, I was not a insect pillar, so my sister told me about it.
"It is said that when Tomioka was an ordinary team member, he always followed clues to find traces of ghosts. His tiger was very old and could only follow him everywhere, so he could not report back to the headquarters often. Later, his sister met him by chance.
, only to learn from the complaints of the tigers that Tomioka has killed more than a hundred ghosts. According to the regulations, a swordsman can become a pillar by killing fifty ghosts."
"Have you already achieved such results without becoming a pillar?"
Xingjulang couldn't help but applaud, "It's really amazing! You are a righteous hero!"
Butterfly Ninja nodded with approval and continued: "Anyway, my sister told the lord about this matter, and the lord decided to ask Tomioka to come to the headquarters to complete the appointment ceremony of the water column. Because it was the first time we met, Tomioka's lord
Crow rarely returns to the headquarters to report the situation, so neither the lord nor Mrs. Tianyin know much about him. When Mrs. Tianyin followed the usual practice of serving wisteria tea to the newly appointed Hashira, Tomioka immediately got up and left.
people."
“I can imagine!”
Xing Jurou was not too surprised. For others, this would be a serious faux pas, but for a volunteer, it seems to be normal.
"My lord and Mrs. Tianyin were both young at that time. Something inexplicable happened suddenly, and they were inevitably a little overwhelmed. So they frankly asked Tomioka why he left and whether there was something wrong with the taste of the tea."
When the butterfly ninja said this, his eyes glanced at Yiyong's face: "Tomioka answered like this at the time - 'I won't drink this cup of tea. I'm different from them. I shouldn't come here.'"
"That's it." Xingjulang suddenly understood.
According to Yiyong's always low view of himself, he felt that he was not qualified to be a pillar, so he could not drink this cup of ritual tea with peace of mind like other pillars.
But for the lord and Mrs. Tianyin who met him for the first time, I am afraid that Yiyong's answer will only make them more confused.
"For a long time after that time, the master and his wife thought that Yiyong simply hated the taste of wisteria tea. Every time they met, the wife only gave Yiyong plain water. It was not until more than half a year later that they understood the reality of that statement.
It means, but the habit of pouring white water on the water column has been retained. So from the beginning to the end, Tomioka has not enjoyed exactly the same treatment as other columns."
At this point, Anjuro finally understood Giyuu's "Maybe" comment.
[As expected of Miss Shinobu. For more than three years, Giyuong and I have met every day, and my understanding of Giyuong is still incomparable to hers!]
Butterfly Ninja narrowed his eyes and asked Giyong jokingly: "So, do you now know what you did wrong?"
"Yes." Yiyong nodded deeply and said seriously: "When dealing with people with a higher status than yourself, it would be rude to stand up and leave. I should explain the reasons first and ask for permission before leaving.
Otherwise it will make others uncomfortable."
"..."
Butterfly Ren clasped his hands and squeezed hard. After enduring it for a while, he commented sarcastically: "I've felt it before, Tomioka... you are really good at grasping the key points in other people's words."
Who would have thought that Yiyong actually nodded helpfully and responded politely: "Thank you for saying that, Butterfly."
Flame Pillar and Insect Pillar looked at each other and in unison raised their foreheads and lowered their heads. Only Yiyong was left in the room, sitting peacefully in embarrassment and silence, recalling Butterfly Ninja's "praise" for his way of conducting himself in the world.
After about half a minute, Xingjulang was the first to regain his composure and took the initiative to break the silence: "I suggest that from today on, everyone should address each other by their first names! This will reduce the sense of distance and estrangement!"
After all, Giyuu's surname is no longer Tomioka. In addition, he is a person who easily dwells on the past. Anjuro feels that if Butterfly Shinobi continues to call him like this, he may awaken many negative memories that he has buried for a long time.
Butterfly Ninja thought for a while and nodded: "Just call me by my name."
She recalled her lord's judgment that Giyuu had a "sense of tearing" in his heart. Calling him Tomioka would indeed increase the risk of this feeling of tearing. But calling him Uchiha felt too unfamiliar. Moreover,
In the future, she will inevitably meet Yiyong's family members or tribesmen, and it will always be a bit strange to call them by their last names.
"I can do anything." Yiyong also had no objection.
In this way, the three people reached an agreement on the first matter.
"Okay, now that we've finished the tea and exchanged pleasantries, it's time to get down to business."
The Butterfly Ninja looked solemn, took the map, spread it flat on a short round table made of rolled tree branches, and drew three circles on it with his fingers.
"This is what I asked Yakushi Kabuto and he told me that Orochimaru has three other strongholds in the Kingdom of Water."
"Are there many people who have been captured?" Anjuro gestured on the map with his fingers, as if calculating the distance.
"That's right." Butterfly Ninja nodded: "Those three strongholds are smaller than this one. There are two or three special children in each stronghold, but most of them are 'experiment subjects' captured by Orochimaru.
There are ninjas and ordinary people among them, and Orochimaru's other subordinates are responsible for taking care of them."
"These three places are not far from here."
Anjuro judged: "I can bring them back within a day! The key question is how to place them later."
In addition to the children who have lost their families, the "experimental subjects" who were caught are also a mixed bag.
Some are fugitives who have committed all kinds of crimes, some are farmers from nearby villages, and some are simply ninjas from Kirigakure Village. How to properly screen and arrange these people is also a big problem.
For example, the adults working with the blood children below the hillside were the ones Anjuro had carefully observed and were not prone to hostility towards others, so he brought them out.
As for the remaining people whose conditions are still uncertain, they are still isolated one by one in the prison area on the second floor of the base. There are hundreds of them. Plus the three groups he will bring back soon, the number will not be
Where to go?
"These people can be handed over to the daimyo of the Kingdom of Water and let him find his own way to identify them. The key is still these helpless children."
Butterfly Ninja frowned and said decisively: "They absolutely cannot stay in this country anymore."
"The Fourth Mizukage is dead and the decree has been abolished."
Yiyong said in confusion, "If we find their relatives who may still be alive, maybe we can raise them into adults..."
"It's not that simple."
The butterfly ninja shook his head and interrupted him: "I know what you are thinking, Giyu. You think this is the same as killing the ghost Wu Tsuji and all the ghosts will cease to exist. All the mistakes are the fault of the initiator. As long as the evil is solved
source, everything will slowly get better, right?"
"Yes." Yiyong nodded, "Hasn't the daimyo of the Kingdom of Water always wanted this country to return to normal? Now he has no obstacles."
"It's a very simple idea."
Butterfly Ninja asked: "But have you ever thought about the impact of so many years of cruel policies on this country, many of which are irreversible in a short period of time."
Butterfly Ninja is going to give some examples.
“The reforms in the late Meiji period have proven that no matter how outrageous the policy, there will always be beneficiaries.
"According to what I have learned in the past few days, the Fourth Mizukage persecuted the villages with blood inheritance boundaries, but at the same time he also targeted those blood inheritance families. Although this approach is puzzling, it has given a large number of civilian ninjas more
Opportunities for promotion, and even the privilege of killing first and reporting later.
"Now that he is dead, these beneficiaries are still there, and the conflict between them and the big family that was damaged in the past few years is on the verge of breaking out. The Mist Ninja Village will be using it for a long time to resolve this issue.
Contradictory, the Kingdom of Water is still not at peace. If these children continue to live among the people of the Kingdom of Water, they will either become an outlet for civilian ninjas; or they will be taken away and turned into tools for blood successor ninjas."
Butterfly Ren paused, "Furthermore, the policies of the Fourth Mizukage not only affected the concept of ninjas, but also made the people regard these special children as disaster stars and enemies; on the contrary, these children have experienced this, and it is difficult to
Don’t trust people who are different from them anymore.”
There was a trace of disgust in her tone, "For example, that Yakushi Kabuto cooperated with Orochimaru to destroy the homes of those children, but many of them not only did not hate him, but were very grateful and begged me not to kill him. Can you do this?
Can you figure it out?"
Not to mention Jiyong, even Anjuro raised his eyebrows strangely, feeling a little weird.
"Actually, if you think about it carefully, it's not difficult to understand why they had this idea. The villages destroyed by Orochimaru were either discovered by the Kirigakure ninjas and were about to be destroyed due to the existence of blood inheritance limits; or the villagers were trying to survive.
, intending to attack these children in advance.
"But no matter which one they are, most of these children have experienced the disillusionment of being treated as enemies by their fellow villagers after their bloodline boundaries were exposed. Those who are lucky are hidden at home by their parents and are not allowed to go out to meet people at all; more are unlucky.
was locked up without water or food, and the people in the village were waiting for him to fend for himself. At this time, Orochimaru's psychic beast destroyed their home, but they
I also just completely lost my trust in my parents, family and fellow villagers...
"Afterwards, Kabuto Yakushi appeared as a savior. He promised them food, strength and a future. Even if we exposed the truth and told them it was a trap, some people still hated Kabuto Yakushi and Orochimaru.
They couldn't get up. Because in their opinion, if it hadn't been for this accident, they would probably have died at the hands of their biological parents. Although they can't be said to be grateful, they have 'benefited' from it."
Under the warm sunshine, Butterfly Nin's words make people feel cold all over.
"Can you call the villagers' actions evil? But the policy is there. If these children with blood inheritance limits are not targeted, they will all face the risk of being killed.
"Can you call these children who are grateful to Kabuto Yakushi and Orochimaru without conscience? If those villagers hadn't died, then they would have died, and they would have died in unimaginable despair of being betrayed by their families.
And this is the distortion that Kirigakure's policies have brought to the people. Once the bond of family ties is destroyed, it will never be restored without a generation...
"Can you imagine the consequences of allowing these children to grow up in a place like this?"
"It's really a pity, they are obviously so young..."
Anjuro stood up and looked at the children below who were chopping trees and transporting rocks. They seemed quite happy for the time being.
"But their trust in people has been ruthlessly destroyed! If they are allowed to grow up in this country, they will never experience the kind of warmth that people should fully appreciate, and naturally they will not bring this warmth to others!
Over time, they will become distant, withdrawn, and hard-hearted..."
But immediately, he turned around and said loudly: "But we need to let them understand that even if they get a bloody blow, even if they feel that they have 10,000 reasons to hate the world, even if they think that everyone is their enemy
, or potential enemies, but goodwill, friendship, and family affection in life can still pull them back from the cliff of despair! No matter what kind of predicament they sink into, there must still be light in their hearts!"
"us!"
Anjuro turned his back to the morning sun, patted his chest heavily, and looked at Giyu and Shinobu with infinite hope.
"It's up to us to be their family and friends! To be the ones who can pull them back from the cold abyss! It's up to us to give them a warm home! We are very powerful and have this ability; we also
We are very young and have the energy and patience! As long as we persevere, we will definitely be able to do this!"
"That's right." Butterfly endured the bloodshot cheeks and said with a smile, "That's exactly what I thought."
"At least," Yiyong nodded seriously, "we cannot let them become the same people as those who harmed them. In that case, everything they did before will be meaningless."
The three people reached a consensus again.
"But," Yiyong's voice changed, "after leaving their hometown, where should we take them?"
"In my opinion, this place is very good."
The Butterfly Ninja turned over the map of the Land of Water, and on the back was a map of the Ninja World.
And the place where her finger was pressed was the center of the world.
"According to Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru's bases are all over the ninja world. And this country is located in the center of the continent, and the distance is almost the same no matter where you go. Even if he is really resurrected, it will be much more convenient for us to find him from here. Finally.
The most important thing is that you know this place very well."
Giyuu and Anjuro looked down and expressed their disapproval in unison: "The Land of Rain?"
"Yes. It is unrealistic to take them to settle in a big country. Big countries have their own ninja villages and daimyo. We bring a group of children with blood inheritance limits, and there is a risk of being targeted and exploited. Although the three of us are not
Weak, but the children are not ready yet. If they are raised in a big country, there will be many things to worry about. Moreover, we need to reduce the influence of ninjas on them."
The butterfly ninja took out a stack of folded papers from the pocket of his white coat.
"I searched everywhere last night and found some records of Orochimaru. I noticed that the Daimyo of Rain Country seemed to have ignored state affairs for many years. Although it is in the center of the world, it is a relatively closed country. Except for its geographical and strategic value during wartime
, there are almost no resources worthy of attention, so big countries have little interest in it. The area of this country is comparable to Switzerland, but according to Orochimaru's calculations, it has a population of less than 100,000.
"Considering that he wrote these contents ten years ago, the population of the Land of Rain should be smaller now, and the only Sanshouyu Hanzo that needs to be taken care of is also dead, and the new leader (referring to Xiaonan) and Anjuro are also familiar
.Taken together, this place is most suitable for our self-sufficient life and also suitable for our children to grow up in relative privacy."
Obviously, the butterfly ninja had already made corresponding plans, so he started doing homework last night.
"The Kingdom of Rain does have advantages in terms of geographical location, but it may not be self-sufficient!"
Anjuro had a full understanding of the Land of Rain and put forward the reason for his opposition: "During the Second Ninja War, Sansho Hanzo fought against ninjas from all over the world and released a large amount of poison. Because the battlefield was on a plain where farming could be done.
In the area, the poisonous gas has completely polluted the land, and the crops have been wiped out in the war; while in the dense forests that are less affected by the toxins, there are terrifying beasts and poisonous insects everywhere, which are extremely dangerous and are also unsuitable for human survival!
"For many years, the ninjas led by Hanzo have been the only economic pillar of the Country of Rain. It is precisely because of this that ordinary people are insignificant in the Country of Rain. Now that Hanzo is dead, the Rain Hidden Village has a new leader, but this is still the case
I’m troubled by the situation. The environment in this country is really too bad!”
The Butterfly Ninja didn't care much about this, but grasped a key point: "What do you mean by native crops?"
"A kind of flood-tolerant rice. It is said that it can thrive even if it rains for three months."
Anjuro replied, "It's just that after the rainwater and soil are filled with sanshotoxin, this kind of rice will no longer be able to survive."
There are no surprises for butterflies: "Rice is a self-pollinating crop, so it's not surprising that it evolves too slowly to adapt to new environments."
"Self-pollination?" This is a rare and difficult word. When he repeated it, Anjuro was not even sure whether he could write it correctly.
Although Yiyong did not speak, his blank expression showed that he needed to add some scientific knowledge.
"You don't deal much with drugs and insects, so it's not surprising that you don't understand these. It seems that I need to explain to you what is the evolution of plants and what is self-pollination..."
Butterfly Nin put his finger on his chin and pondered for a while, then suddenly asked: "Do you know about Carrot Legs?"
Giyong and Anjuro nodded at the same time: "It means that human calves are as thick as white radish."
"That's what it means." Butterfly Ninja laughed, "But do you know that in the Heian Era, carrot legs not only did not mean people's legs were thick, but were used to praise other people's legs for being thin and long?"
After thinking about the shape of his favorite radish, Yiyong shook his head: "This gap is too big."
"With the efforts of dozens of generations, nothing is impossible."
The butterfly ninja stretched out two slender fingers and gestured, "It is recorded in the book that most of the white radish in the Heian period was only this thin, and the roots were very long. And the round, white and tender radish we eat is
, is a new variety that people have been breeding for four to five hundred years before it appeared. It was not until the Edo period that it became available everywhere.
"In fact, the principle of breeding is very simple. It is to pick out all the thin radishes with poor appearance, plant only the seeds of those with good appearance, and then let these high-quality radishes pollinate each other, and repeat this process for hundreds of years.
Later, radishes of inferior quality were completely eliminated, leaving only the kind we eat today.
"In other words, through this kind of artificial elimination, we have achieved the evolution and evolution of radish varieties and tamed them into what we want. But the plants we have tamed are far more than just radish, wheat and rice have also been tamed.
in.
"It's just different from radish. The pollination of radish is cross-pollination. Just like your parents combined to give birth to you. Although the three of you are similar, you are essentially different people. As each generation goes by, the differences will become bigger and bigger.
, and changes in the environment will guide this difference, allowing future generations to better adapt to this environment and achieve evolution, and avoid being eliminated by the new environment.
"But rice, a self-pollinated crop, is like a copy of itself, and the difference between generations is very small. Once this kind of crop wants to evolve, it takes much longer than the former, which leads to
Once the environment changes drastically, self-pollinating plants will not have time to evolve and will perish."
Yiyong asked: "You mean, we can grow other cross-pollinated crops in the Rain Country?"
"No, it's not just that. I have a more reliable way, which is to use external forces to make the evolution of crops catch up with the speed of drastic changes in the environment. Look at the apple seed in my hand..."
Butterfly stood up, shoveled the ground behind him, and buried the apple seed into the soil.
Then she knelt down on one knee and folded her hands on the ground, "Now, I use the ability of Wood Release to turn chakra into the nutrients it needs to grow, so that it can grow quickly."
As soon as she finished speaking, a green seedling that swelled when the wind broke out of the ground, quickly enlarged and widened, hardened its soft skin, and became a fruit tree over two meters tall and as thick as an ordinary person's arm.
Immediately afterwards, small pink-white flowers appeared on the branches of the apple, but they fell off in a moment; then its torus expanded rapidly, turning into green fruits in just a few seconds, and finally the fruits quickly turned red.
, turned into an apple the size of a fist.
From planting the seeds to producing new apples, it takes less than 20 seconds.
"20 seconds." Butterfly Ninja stretched out two fingers and said proudly: "I can make a fruit tree go through a generation in 20 seconds. If I repeat this work non-stop for an hour,
This would allow apples to reproduce for 180 generations, which would be 4,320 generations if replaced by 24 hours a day... which is equivalent to 70,000 years of human evolution (taking 18 years as a generation)!"
Hearing this number, both Yiyong and Anjuro couldn't help but get excited.
After 70,000 years of evolution, are we still afraid that we won’t be able to breed crops that are resistant to toxins?
"It feels very hopeful."
At this time, Butterfly Ninja smiled slyly: "But if you really think so, you are wrong."
As she said this, she jumped up and picked an apple from the treetop, then broke it into pieces and said, "Look, is there anything different about this apple?"
Giyuu and Anjuro stared at it for five or six seconds before realizing that the apple in the Butterfly Ninja's hand was different from a normal apple: "There are no seeds!"
"Yes. In most cases, only plants that have experienced pollination will produce seeds. Only with seeds can the next generation of crops be planted. I can use wood escape to force apples to bear fruit, but pollination requires another
Work. Of course I can artificially pollinate, but this way the plant iteration speed will not be very fast. If I plant a hundred of the same crop and add pollination, one generation will be barely enough in one day. If I can use insects to pollinate, things will be better.
It will become very simple, and you can achieve two to three generations a day."
Butterfly Ninja concluded: "In short, the general process is like this.
"In the first step, I plant the seeds of the crops in slightly toxic soil where they can barely survive, and use Wooden Chakra to provide nutrients to make them grow.
“The second step is to carry out cross-pollination artificially or using insects to ensure that the crops can produce seeds.
"The third step is to force the plants to bear fruit before they are killed by soil or rain, and harvest the seeds for replanting. Then this cycle is repeated hundreds of thousands of times, gradually increasing the toxicity of the soil. Generation after generation, it will
There are thousands or even tens of thousands of new varieties, and at least one of them will produce poisonous properties while being safe for consumption.
"By that time, large-scale planting in the Country of Rain will not be a problem. Besides, there are only so many people in a country. We don't need much land in the first place. We should choose the least toxic soil from the beginning.
That’s it…”
"Including the workload of powdering, how long will it take?"
Xingjulang's eyes were already full of confidence.
If crop breeding can be successful, not only will the homeless children of the Water Country have a better life, but the refugees in the Rain Country who can only pick berries and mushrooms will no longer have to live a life of fear.
Find your own value.
[The angel from the Kingdom of Rain will be very happy if he knows about this, right?]
"A conservative estimate would be one to two years."
The butterfly ninja looked at Yiyong, "If there is a way to control insect pollination, it might be faster."
Giyuu responded: "The Aburame clan in Konoha has a secret technique for controlling insects. I can ask, but this is a family skill that people rely on to survive. There is little hope of telling me."
Butterfly Ninja narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Do you think there are any scumbags in this clan who kill innocent people indiscriminately?"
If she had, she could justifiably "rob" this secret technique, and she would consider it as atonement for this clan. After all, those who fought in the Land of Rain had Konoha's share.
"The ninjas of Konoha are relatively peaceful, and it is unknown whether they are."
Yiyong nodded, "But I will check it out when I get back."
"Okay." The Butterfly Ninja nodded, and then looked at Anjuro, "The weather in the Land of Rain and the Land of Water is very humid. When there is heavy fog, there will also be toxins in the fog, which means that the crops here are also resistant to toxicity.
During the recent period, we can collect crops that are unique here, and then use them to cross-breed with crops of the same genus in the Rain Country to see if after hundreds of generations of breeding, there will be better mutant varieties.
."
"Okay, I will definitely pay attention!"
Anjuro said he sincerely praised: "I never expected that a matter that makes even the strongest person in the ninja world (referring to Nagato) helpless can be solved in this way. Shinobi is indeed the brains behind the Demon Slayer Corps."
"Right now, we are still just imagining things. When things are actually done, it will definitely not go as smoothly as we thought."
Butterfly Ninja was a little ashamed of being praised, "Although I hate guys like Orochimaru, he is indeed a talented person and has given me a lot of inspiration. I think it is necessary to learn a lot of the things he left behind.
Learning can save you a lot of detours...
"But what really works," the butterfly ninja turned to look at Yiyong, showing a smile that was truly his own and not a habitual one, "is the carrier of resurrection you chose for me. No matter from which aspect, this body
The physical abilities are perfect for me. Thank you, Yiyong."
[Sure enough, just like Anjuro said, the relationship has been drawn in. 】
Jiyong could tell that the Butterfly Ninja was really happy now.
However, Sasuke said that when his father is happy, that is when he asks to go to the Fire City to watch the newly released movie as a family.
"Since you thank me..."
Yiyong said in a consultative tone, "Can you release Guideng Shuiyue? Although he is not flesh and blood like you and me, it is not good to freeze him like this."
"Sure enough, it's just like what I said."
Butterfly Ninja's eyebrows and eyes curved into crescent shapes, and the meaning in his smile was completely different from a few seconds ago.
"Yiyong, you are really good at reading the atmosphere sometimes."
