Konoha was ultimately not destroyed.
Even though the Sage of Six Paths had meticulously planned this attack. From Hashirama's assault, to his defeat and capture, to Tobirama personally conducting research. He had calculated everything, predicting both Aoba's and Tobirama's psychological tendencies.
Aoba, like Tobirama, was curious about how Hashirama had been corrupted. Bringing him into the lab for research was an inevitable decision. And at that time, Tobirama was the absolute core of Konoha's research division.
He knew nearly everything about the facility's defensive systems. Many of those systems were ones he personally improved or designed. Once Tobirama was under control, the entire research facility became completely defenseless against the Sage of Six Paths.
That old schemer had over a thousand years to prepare, he did not waste it. He didn't try to destroy Konoha's commercial districts or heavily populated areas. In fact, the research facility was located in an extremely remote area of Konoha.
It had been deliberately built in isolation to prevent potential disasters from uncontrolled experiments.
And yet, the Sage of Six Paths still chose to target this place.
Why?
Because he had sensed how dangerous this research facility truly was.
The experiments being conducted here were slowly uncovering the very nature of chakra. Tracing the origins of Senju, Uchiha, and even the Ōtsutsuki clan itself.
Although the research hadn't yet reached a point where it could threaten him. The sheer potential and momentum behind it terrified him.
Aoba's two greatest threats to the Sage of Six Paths was ending war and pushing for unification, and rapid scientific advancement, which was unraveling the fundamental truths of the Shinobi World.
The first one was the most dangerous.
But if Aoba died and Konoha fell, that threat would naturally disappear.
The research facility, however, was a different matter.
By now, everyone in Konoha had realized the overwhelming benefits brought by the research division.
With such immense interests at stake, even if Aoba was gone,someone else would inevitably continue pushing forward.
That was why the Sage of Six Paths targeted the research facility first.
Destroying it was the first step in erasing Aoba's influence on the world.
But then, an explosion shook the land, not inside the research facility.
Instead, it happened dozens of kilometers away.
A massive shockwave, like a small nuclear blast, flattened an entire forest.
But Konoha remained completely unharmed.
A few minutes earlier, the moment Hashirama's body began emitting violent chakra fluctuations,
Aoba activated the facility's ultimate emergency protocol, a hidden, large-scale Flying Thunder God Formation.
This was a highly advanced space-time jutsu requiring three ninjas with a basic grasp of spatial manipulation. But who couldn't individually master the Flying Thunder God Technique.
In early Konoha, this jutsu was never fully developed or valued.
Aoba had always found this ridiculous.
He had to admit, Hiruzen Sarutobi was one of the biggest failures of the previous Hokages.
Even if this technique required three users, it was still a space-time jutsu.
In an era where high mobility and individual combat power reigned supreme, this technique was practically a god-tier ability for small-scale conflicts and tactical missions.
And yet, instead of developing it further, Hiruzen had deliberately ignored it, all to weaken the Fourth Hokage's legacy.
Apart from Minato's three personal guards, no one had ever been systematically trained in it.
After Aoba took over, he immediately prioritized the development of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The Flying Thunder God Formation had undergone more than ten iterations in the research facility.
And so, when the crisis occurred, yes, the failsafes in the chakra core implanted in Hashirama had been neutralized.
Yes, the security protocols had been dismantled.
Yes, the Sage of Six Paths had planned for all of that.
But no one knew that the entire laboratory had been built upon a massive Flying Thunder God Formation.
Aoba had never planned on defusing the bomb inside the research facility.
Instead, his plan had always been, when the danger appeared… He would teleport the entire lab somewhere else.
If you would like to read more...
The novel has be completed (Chp. 362) on the patreon -> SaintXI