Chapter 167: The diary records not only words but also the passage of time.

The meals at Mito's household were not particularly delicious, but they were notable for their large portions. Even when there were only six people dining, they prepared food for over twenty people.

Whether it was Tsunade, Nawaki, Kushina, or the elderly Mito, their appetites were extraordinary.

Especially Nawaki, it seemed like he wanted to make up for the hunger he experienced on the battlefield, eating ferociously.

Tatsuma also had a substantial appetite. Although his body had recovered, his brain was so active that he consumed much more calories than usual every day, making normal portions of food inadequate to replenish his energy.

The only one with a relatively normal appetite was Minato. However, being a half-grown boy, Minato's appetite was still considerable, though compared to the others, it seemed closer to that of an average person.

Watching as the younger generation finished their food completely, the smile on Mito's face couldn't fade away for a long time. There was nothing that could make her happier than this scene.

The only regret was that there were still too few people.

"Do you have any plans for the next few days?" Mito asked, watching Tatsuma and Minato take the initiative to clean up. Minato looked at Tatsuma, knowing that Tatsuma would be the one to answer this kind of question.

Tatsuma shook his head and replied, "We'll wait for the village's orders. But it will probably take at least two more days. Tomorrow, Sensei and the Jonins will have a meeting, and many arrangements will be decided there."

"Are we still preparing for battle?" Mito inquired. Tatsuma nodded. Currently, all of Konoha's focus was on the war. Many missions had been directly suspended, and without going to the battlefield, there were no other tasks to do.

Tsunade, seeing her grandmother's gradually fading smile, said, "It might not happen so soon. The Wind and Fire countries will definitely need to renegotiate. The Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning are still investigating; the results may not come so quickly."

Upon hearing this, Mito's expression relaxed once again, and she said, "It's better to take some more rest."

Several nodded in agreement. Except for Kushina, who hadn't gone to the battlefield, she was the one among them who wanted to go to the battlefield the most.

After dinner, Tatsuma invited Minato to stay at Tobirama's former residence, but Minato declined, which made Tatsuma somewhat uneasy.

After all, the former residence of a prestigious Forbidden Jutsu Master might have some formidable prohibitions. If something serious happened to him there, it would truly be an unforeseen disaster.

In addition, Mito had ordered someone to repair the house, but as someone who came from the Warring States period, she didn't prioritize electrical circuits. Although the house was cleaned and repaired well, there was no electricity.

Tatsuma borrowed a few candles and cautiously made his way to the bedroom. Since it had just been repaired, many old pieces of furniture had been removed, and new furniture hadn't been brought in yet, so the room was exceptionally spacious.

The room was so spacious that Tatsuma's footsteps echoed. He complained inwardly about why even the moon tonight didn't show its face, being so miserly with its light. Finally, Tatsuma found a place to set the candles.

After quickly lighting them and placing them in different spots to illuminate the entire room, Tatsuma finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But he didn't feel the slightest bit of sleepiness in his heart. So Tatsuma began to survey the bedroom. It was large and lacked modern-style beds; instead, neatly folded futons were arranged on the room's floor.

In addition to this, there was a row of bookshelves against the wall and a desk by the window. Tatsuma raised an eyebrow, acknowledging the habits of Tobirama. No matter where he went, he never forgot these things.

Even though there was a study, they still prepared these items in the bedroom. Tatsuma picked up a candle and walked over to inspect the bookshelf. Many spots were empty, but there were traces of books being placed there before.

Imprints on the lacquered surface and the slight curvature of the shelves all indicated that they had been weighed down by books or scrolls, but now there was only a little left.

Tatsuma casually picked up a scroll and carefully unraveled it, afraid that it might be sealed. However, unlike the study, the scrolls here were not protected. As he unrolled the scroll, the contents recorded inside invigorated Tatsuma.

"Speculations on the Reasons for the Time Constraints of Summoning Beasts."

Reading the title, Tatsuma instinctively wanted to pull out a chair to sit down, but he discovered there was only a desk nailed to the wall, without a matching chair. It was probably broken and discarded.

Tatsuma didn't feel like going to the study either. After all, the corridor was really dark, and the old wooden floorboards would creak softly. It was bearable or even ignorable during the day, but at night, it was particularly grating.

He decided to simply stand in front of the desk and slowly read the contents written by Senju Tobirama.

Senju Tobirama's description of the state of Summoned Beasts after summoning was quite interesting. He used an hourglass and rubber band as analogies. When the hourglass ran out, the flipping hourglass would flick the taut rubber band.

The Summoned Beast tethered by the rubber band would then be pulled back, and the triggering point for the hourglass to flip might be the depletion of chakra by the caster during the summoning, or perhaps some of the contractual conditions triggered during the signing of the Summoning contract.

For instance, when subjected to a lethal attack, the Summoning would prematurely terminate.

Moreover, within the notes, Senju Tobirama also conducted an experiment, which involved signing a Summoning contract with inanimate objects that had time and condition constraints. The conclusion was that it didn't work.

However, the Summoning object he chose was the ocean. The result of the experiment was that the summoned seawater flooded his own house, and he couldn't retract the seawater by canceling the Summoning, resulting in him getting scolded by his father.

Seeing this, Tatsuma suddenly paused. It seemed like the year of this scroll was quite early.

But there was nothing more after that. This speculation and experiment abruptly stopped here, with no follow-up.

"It's like starting a business only for it to collapse midway."

Letting out a sigh, Tatsuma rolled up the scroll again. However, he didn't look disappointed; instead, he became very excited because he had over a dozen scrolls like this.

Taking down a few nearby scrolls, Tatsuma eagerly opened them, hoping to find further research notes.

"Experiment on Re-signing Special Summoning Contracts with Non-living Entities."

Tatsuma's smile faded as he read the title.

"Not giving up, signed with the ocean again, disrupted the banquet where my brother was to inherit the Clan Head position, got scolded by father again. He's still so strong, I still need to work hard."

Looking at the notes that suddenly stopped again, Tatsuma's eye twitched. The content of the first half of the notes excited Tatsuma so much that he wished he could try it himself.

After all, Senju Tobirama seemed to have really discovered a method. But the results of the experiment...

Tatsuma silently rolled up the scroll and opened another.

"Experiment on Summoning the Ocean - Repeatedly."

"Still not giving up. Flooded the house again. Luckily, my brother has Wood Release. Still need to work hard."

"Contract with the Ocean - Part Four (Final Version)."

"Still not giving up, didn't defeat the Uchiha, but choked my brother instead. The despicable Uchiha Madara even took the opportunity to kick my brother. Evil Uchiha! I won't experiment anymore! Might as well use Chakra to make water!"

Senju Tobirama gave up, but Tatsuma didn't. Full of anticipation, he opened the next scroll, but unfortunately, it wasn't the final version. Senju Tobirama had completely ended this series of research.

The following scrolls contained Senju Tobirama's applications of the Summoning Jutsu, such as delayed triggering and testing material transmission between two locations using the Summoning Jutsu seal.

Seeing the speculations towards the end, Tatsuma regained his spirits, but ultimately, the experiments failed, leaving Tatsuma sighing and pondering if there was any way to improve.

As he took out the next scroll to see if Tobirama had found a solution, the research direction changed again.

"Project Ocean Contract - Final Version (Revised)."

"My brother found the Rashomon, which is truly remarkable. Despite being non-living, it can terminate Summonings and recall them. Even after being destroyed, they can be summoned again, completely intact. I must find a way!

Failure, damn Uchiha! As long as they exist, the crisis persists, leaving me unable to focus on research!"

"Reverse Research on the Rashomon - Part Two."

"After testing, regardless of any traces or damages on the Rashomon, when summoning it again, these traces cannot be found. Perhaps this is the key to summoning non-living entities."

"Research on the Rashomon - Part Three."

"My brother's frequency of encountering the detestable Uchiha Madara is increasing. My research time is repeatedly shortened. Truly, the Uchiha are evil!"

"The Rashomon - Part Four."

"I have discovered the secret of the Rashomon. It conceals special techniques that await decryption. The threat from the Uchiha is growing daily; I must make good use of my time."

The scrolls seemed to bear the marks of time. As the experiments progressed, Senju Tobirama's language became more and more like the notes Tatsuma had seen in the study.

Many informalities gradually disappeared, and the language became more formal, resembling that of the stern Second Hokage.

Tatsuma also faintly guessed what the ultimate outcome of this series of research would be, and he couldn't help but become excited. Despite it being midnight, he continued to read the scrolls.

"Summoning - Part Five."

"Through the study of the technique, a Ninjutsu fluctuation has been discovered that has never been recorded or organized before. It awaits decryption. Uchiha Madara's eyes have mutated again. Truly, the evil Uchiha. Such immense power surely has significant side effects. I need to research this as well."

"Summoning - Part Six."

"Initial speculation suggests time and space fluctuations, requiring experimentation. Uchiha Izuna also possesses a similar power, although the appearance is different. Evil Uchiha brothers! But in this battle, both brothers' eyes are bleeding. Could it be a side effect?"

"Summoning - Part Seven."

"It has been confirmed: it is a Space-Time Ninjutsu fluctuation. The Rashomon can return to its original space through Space-Time anchors, while also undergoing repair through the power of time. Truly fascinating power."

"The evil Uchiha brothers did not deactivate their Sharingan during this battle, and both before and after the battle, they only reverted to Three Tomoe. Is it impossible to deactivate, or does it require Three Tomoe to ensure that the side effects are not fully exposed?"

"Summoning - Part Eight."

"Another experiment with the ocean failed. Chakra techniques are difficult to maintain on shapeless flowing water. I need to inscribe them on more stable objects. But even so, what's the use of summoning non-living entities? To mimic the crude jutsu of the Land of Wind's Shamans? But that's not even as good as using sealing scrolls."

"Summoning - Part Nine."

"I found a solution. There's no need to summon non-living entities; they can summon me instead. In this case, the technique needs to be modified. Research concluded. The next study: Space-Time Body Flicker Jutsu. I am about to engage in a major battle with the evil Uchiha. I must figure this out. The Uchiha brothers' vision is severely impaired, which is the best opportunity for the Senju."

At this point, Tatsuma was completely exhilarated. The horizon was tinged with rosy hues, indicating the imminent sunrise. Tatsuma felt no exhaustion from the sleepless night but instead reached out towards the bookshelf once again.

---- 

Check out my Patreon for more advanced chapters up to 50 at patreon.com/HellGolt