Uchiha Gate: From Konoha to One Piece

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In the blink of an eye, the night had passed.

While having breakfast at home in the morning, Uchiha Naori noticed something unusual about Kaito.

She asked with a hint of confusion, "Huh? Kaito, have you made another big breakthrough recently? Your aura and temperament seem to have changed quite a bit."

The others, hearing this, turned their attention to Kaito as well, examining him seriously.

"It's true!"

Mikoto's eyes lit up slightly. "But the change isn't very obvious. If you don't observe closely, it's hard to notice."

Tsunade, eating her breakfast, curiously chimed in, "So, what's going on with you?"

She only occasionally came over for breakfast here, enjoying the meal before joining Mikoto and the others for morning training at a base in the Pirate World.

As for her work at the hospital, she left that to her Shadow Clone.

Her training time was non-negotiable.

She still had a lot of potential to grow and hoped to improve her strength as quickly as possible.

With the combined practices of Primal Chakra Refinement and meditation techniques, her chakra reserves, mental strength, and overall capacity were constantly increasing.

She could handle the information feedback from more Shadow Clones simultaneously.

Splitting a few clones every day to handle work and tasks was now a piece of cake for her.

At her current level, without affecting her own state, she could manage up to 20 Shadow Clones, maintaining them for a whole day of study, training, and handling various matters.

A single night's rest was enough to fully recover and start fresh the next day.

And as her strength grew, so would this number.

Swallowing a piece of meat, Kaito replied, "Last night, I tried training the Sage Mode techniques of Mount Myoboku. I made some progress and discoveries, which probably explains the change."

"Huh?"

Tsunade was taken aback. "Sage Mode? You went to Mount Myoboku last night?"

"Nope."

Kaito shook his head. "I practiced at home on my own."

"What?"

Tsunade looked even more astonished. "You succeeded? Isn't this the technique that requires the toad oil from Mount Myoboku? That idiot Jiraiya told me about it before."

"Even Sage Mode training in the Shikkotsu Forest and Ryuchi Cave requires assistance from their respective sages."

The others were just as curious and looked at Kaito with interest.

"I've done some research on this," Kaito said with a serious expression, activating the home's barrier and sharing his findings and experiences from his training the previous night.

"Is that so?"

Hearing this, Uchiha Naori and the others grew solemn.

Naori pressed further, "Can you determine if Mount Myoboku's actions were intentional or not?"

"I can't."

Kaito shook his head. "Not only can't I confirm it, but we also can't ask them directly right now."

"Because if they were intentional, who knows if they'd panic and try to contact the Sage of Six Paths, forcing him to act early?"

"Our current strength is nowhere near enough to face the Sage of Six Paths. So, I plan to proceed cautiously.

"When one of us reaches Six Paths-level strength, then we can confront Mount Myoboku and get to the bottom of it.

"Hopefully, it's unintentional. Otherwise, there will be no reason for Mount Myoboku to continue existing."

This wasn't a joke.

Genetic pollution was no trivial matter.

Who would want to train in something that could turn them into a bug or some other creature, ceasing to be human?

"Your caution is warranted. This matter indeed can't be rushed."

Uchiha Naori nodded in agreement, acknowledging Kaito's prudence.

"Genetic pollution? Is Sage Mode training really that terrifying? Does that mean that idiot Jiraiya is doomed?"

Tsunade's face grew grim. As a top medical ninja, she understood the severity of genetic pollution all too well. The thought made her skin crawl.

"Pretty much. At least, for now, we don't have a way to eliminate genetic pollution."

Kaito nodded. "Of course, I plan to have Orochimaru extract some blood and cell samples from Jiraiya to assess the situation.

"We'll see how bad it is and whether there's a way to reverse it.

"If there is, great. If not, we'll have to find another solution in the future."

He figured that once his medical skills advanced to the next level, finding a solution to this issue would be much easier.

Of course, if Jiraiya's genetic pollution wasn't too severe, his current Three-World (Earth, Ninja, and Pirate worlds) Medical Techniques mastery might already be enough to address it.

The real problem would be if Jiraiya's years of Sage Mode training had deeply altered every cell in his body, fundamentally changing his genetic makeup. That would be a much tougher challenge.

"Hmm."

Tsunade frowned and nodded. "Let's make sure Jiraiya doesn't find out about this.

"At least until you're sure he can fully trust you, it's better to keep him in the dark.

"We can't risk him doing something irrational."

Whether it was confronting Mount Myoboku or betraying the village, neither was an outcome they wanted to see.

"Of course."

Kaito affirmed with a nod.

That had been his plan all along.

"Phew... I'm so glad I couldn't even take the first step back then, unable to connect with nature energy and thus abandoning Sage Mode training.

"Otherwise, wouldn't I be genetically polluted too? If I kept training Sage Mode, would I have turned into a slug?"

The thought sent a shiver down Tsunade's spine, but also filled her with relief.

While she found slugs adorable when they helped her in battle, the idea of becoming one herself was unthinkable. She'd rather die.

The frustration she had felt back then at failing to learn Sage Mode was now a source of immense gratitude.

Everything happens for a reason.

"By the way!"

Suddenly, Tsunade remembered something and turned to Kaito. "Orochimaru, that guy. While he didn't fully train in the Ryuchi Cave's Sage Mode because of the risks—like being eaten by the snake sages if he failed—he did modify his body to enhance his snake-like abilities.

"He even incorporated snake genes into himself to adapt to his snake-style jutsu. Could this have similar consequences as genetic pollution from Sage Mode?"

If so, wouldn't Orochimaru also be doomed?

"This..."

Kaito hesitated after hearing this and replied, "I'm not sure about that. We'd have to examine Orochimaru's genetic structure to know for certain."

"But the possibility isn't low."

"After all, if you observe carefully, Orochimaru's personality and aura have become increasingly cold and snake-like over the years."

"His techniques, especially the Orochimaru Style: Substitution Jutsu, follow that same pattern."

"So saying his genes haven't been polluted by snake traits would be hard to believe."

"Man, this guy's completely insane!"

Kaito was speechless.

As a scientist, shouldn't he know better than to mess with genes like this?

"He's really asking for it!"

Kushina couldn't help but complain.

Mikoto and Minato nodded in agreement.

Right? That guy's reckless beyond belief.

"He probably doesn't even care about that," Tsunade said, shaking her head in exasperation. "You just said it—he's crazy!"

"True enough!"

Kaito chuckled and then added, "I'll go talk to him later and see what he says."

"Oh, and by the way, Tsunade, we might need a blood and cell sample from Jiraiya. Would you mind handling that for us?"

"You could tell him you're researching the effects of senjutsu on cells or something. Just say you're curious about why he seems to be getting younger and want to figure out the secret to extending life. He probably won't suspect you."

If it were anyone else asking, it might not work.

But since it's Tsunade, Jiraiya would likely trust her.

"Fine," Tsunade said with a slightly annoyed expression. She sighed and agreed, though she looked less than thrilled.

Then, with a hint of surprise, she added, "Wait a minute. Did you know that my grandfather's senjutsu wasn't learned from Shikkotsu Forest? I just found this out!"

"I always assumed he learned it there."

"No wonder the Slug Sage was so evasive when I asked her about it before. She wouldn't tell me anything. I guess there's an embarrassing truth she didn't want me to know, huh?"

"Is it because she was worried I'd break the contract or something?"

"That doesn't make sense, though!"

"Given the Slug Sage's laid-back nature, she shouldn't care much about her summoners, right?"

"Not necessarily," Uchiha Naori replied, shaking his head. "If she truly didn't care, why would she create the Shikkotsu Forest summoning contract in the first place?"

"And why would there be a title for the Three Great Summoning Lands?"

"It's obvious she cares to some extent."

"Whether it's to compete with the other two sacred lands or for some other reason, only she knows."

"Once we're strong enough to crush all of them—including the Sage of Six Paths—then we can ask for the full truth. But for now, that's not an option."

After all, no one can guarantee that the Slug Sage or the Snake Sage doesn't have some connection to the Sage of Six Paths.

As beings from the Three Great Summoning Lands, who've lived for over a thousand years and witnessed the Sage of Six Paths' era, anything is possible.

"That's all we can do for now."

Tsunade nodded in agreement, realizing this was another puzzle for the future.

She thought about how her summoning contract prevented her from revealing any sensitive information about Kaito to the Slug Sage.

Thus, the Slug Sage remained unaware of these matters.

"By the way, Kaito, where do you think my grandfather really learned his senjutsu? Did he figure it out on his own? If so, that's an insane level of talent—totally enviable!"

Tsunade looked at Kaito with admiration as she spoke.

If only she had her grandfather's innate talent as a Sage, things would've been so much easier.

Her strength would have been greater, and becoming stronger would've been far less challenging.

"Who knows? That's probably the case. Why don't we just ask him later and find out?"

Kaito shrugged casually.

Since the person in question was around, why not ask directly?

"Wait, let me finalize my contract with the First Hokage before we ask him anything," Kaito added.

"Oh? My grandfather's favorability towards you is maxed out?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised but not completely so.

"Yep!"

Kaito nodded. "It happened yesterday."

"Got it!"

Tsunade nodded knowingly. "In that case, I'll join you when you go see him later. I can help persuade him."

Tsunade was fully in favor of her grandfather forming a contract with Kaito.

It would undoubtedly be beneficial for him.

He might even completely break free from the influence of the Sage of Six Paths.

After all, no one knows for sure if souls resurrected through Edo Tensei are somehow under the control of the Sage of Six Paths or affected by his techniques.

Better safe than sorry.

But once the contract with Kaito is established, such hidden dangers would disappear entirely.

Even the Sage of Six Paths couldn't transcend dimensions or surpass Kaito's unique space-time abilities.

If possible, Tsunade wished her granduncle could form a contract with Kaito too.

However, she knew how difficult that would be.

With her granduncle's prejudice against the Uchiha clan, the only way it could happen was if Kaito led Konoha to unprecedented glory—so much so that his achievements overshadowed his Uchiha lineage.

Only then might her granduncle fully recognize and admire him, raising his favorability enough for a contract.

But Kaito wasn't the type to curry favor or flatter others deliberately.

So the only way was for her granduncle to be passively impressed over time.

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