Biochemical experimentation… It wasn't an unfamiliar subject. Orochimaru had once mentioned similar ideas, but Naruto had firmly rejected them.
Biological research must be gradual, controlled—and bio-human modification was absolutely forbidden.
Because it was inhumane.
Orochimaru had argued that experimenting on White Zetsu would yield immense results, but Naruto still refused. In the end, it would still involve using "people," artificial or not. Pandora's Box could not be opened—not again.
And now…
The hidden figure monitoring events from the shadows watched the intruders appear on the surveillance screen—and his expression twisted in shock.
"Why is it these two?! Damn it!"
"Begin the transfer immediately! That's the former God of Shinobi, and Jiraiya of the Sannin!"
They already knew shinobi had been probing near the mountain, but the current experiment was at a critical stage. Most of the data had been transferred already. They had originally planned full evacuation within a few days.
But no one expected that the ones to arrive early would be Senju Hashirama himself.
It was absurd—like releasing a harmless children's game only for the world's top professional player to walk in, instantly exposing its flaws and trivial difficulty.
If they were attracting this level of attention, would the Uzumaki Empire soon send Naruto himself to dismantle the remaining bases?
The man in charge was an Outer Kara member, with only a mid-tier standing within Kara. What elevated him to that position was his expertise in biochemical modification.
But discovery now threatened everything.
Thankfully, the core data had already been extracted. The only regret was that Jiraiya had ruined the final stage of the current experiment.
Had it succeeded, his status would have skyrocketed—perhaps even earning him a place as an Inner Kara member, trusted personally by the master.
His name was Katsumura Yota—a man who had been drawn in by Jigen's overwhelming strength and inscrutable power. He longed to become the deadliest weapon in the master's arsenal.
Yota sneered, pressed a concealed switch, and turned to leave.
In a dimly lit chamber deep within the base, a massive silhouette stirred.
A five-meter-tall, heavily muscled man, bound by thick chakra-forged chains, opened his eyes. Fiery red hair hung over an expression devoid of emotion.
The chains rattled.
Then—slowly—they began to loosen.
He rose to his full height and stepped toward the door.
BOOM!!!
The reinforced door was kicked open, metal bending like paper. Several guards rushed toward the sound—only for a giant hand to clamp around one man's neck.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The lifeless body was tossed aside like refuse.
The towering figure walked forward, trembling with something like anticipation.
Only battle and power could stir the remnants of his chaotic mind.
"Wood Release: Thorny Riot Kill!"
Countless wooden spikes erupted from the ground, sweeping through the corridor and impaling the surrounding cannon fodder. Even the three-meter-tall mutant Jiraiya had been fighting was instantly pierced through—resembling a giant, twitching porcupine.
This time, the monster stayed down.
Jiraiya and Senju Hashirama had tested him earlier. Minor wounds healed instantly. Major wounds regenerated slowly. The only method to kill him was to strike multiple vital points simultaneously, leaving no time for recovery.
A creature like this—even a Five Kage would struggle. With physical resilience at the Kage level and regenerative abilities rivaling tailed beasts, he was a walking disaster.
"What's going on here?" Hashirama demanded, turning to Jiraiya.
He had only seen fragments of the base and needed a clearer picture.
Jiraiya's expression darkened.
"I don't know everything. But the base started evacuating the moment they noticed us. We just got here too early for them to finish."
"But I did get the name of the one in charge…"
He exhaled deeply.
"Katsumura Yota. Chairman of a biotechnology corporation. I didn't expect him to be a Kara member… running secret biochemical experiments. He deserves to die."
"Unfortunately, the detailed data is gone—transferred before we arrived."
Jiraiya then told Hashirama everything he had witnessed.
More than Hashirama, he had seen the true horrors:
• human–ninja-beast hybrids,
• dead infants,
• genetically altered shinobi,
• malformed bodies in tanks,
• and the ongoing experiment he sabotaged.
He hadn't expected surveillance to be so tight in the core area. One brief appearance on camera was enough.
And so… the entire base had moved to erase its traces.
Because in this part of the facility, during experiments, no one normally moved around, the area had been eerily silent.
"I found the data room earlier," Jiraiya said, "and there were a few incomplete experimental logs. But the rest was gone. They've clearly transferred everything in advance."
The two traced the routes they had explored. Most of the staff had been concentrated in the earlier experimental sector—an area mostly abandoned but structurally intact.
That alone proved this place could have served as a backup base if it hadn't been exposed.
Just then, a sharp instinctive warning shot through Jiraiya's mind.
BOOM!!!
A section of the wall exploded violently. Dust and debris filled the air. The ceiling here was over ten meters high, and a massive silhouette could be seen moving behind the haze.
Hashirama and Jiraiya instantly moved aside—the attack was far too crude to threaten them.
A bestial roar tore through the smoke, deep and guttural, forcing both men to frown.
Then—
A huge arm blasted out of the dust, striking with terrifying force.
The wall behind Jiraiya shattered into rubble.
The creature stepped forward, finally coming into view.
Red hair.
Five meters tall.
Grotesquely expanded musculature.
Scars worked across every inch of skin.
A thick, grey-black vest straining against his bulk.
And eyes—eyes filled with nothing but brutality and madness.
This was the Asura Katsumura Yota mentioned.
To Yota, this "Asura" was already a semi-failed product.
But for him, it was still a perfect tool—to test combat data against Senju Hashirama.
"…Is this an Uzumaki clansman?"
Jiraiya's voice carried disbelief.
He looked toward the First Hokage.
Hashirama's expression was icy—frigid enough to silence the air.
The fury radiating from him was unmistakable.
Mito's clan… turned into this.
Of course he was enraged.
In the past, after the Uzumaki Clan's fall, a small number of survivors had scattered across the ninja world.
This monster must have been one of them.
Jiraiya clenched his jaw. To encounter an Uzumaki survivor here—only to find him twisted into a weapon—filled him with disgust.
The creature's Chakra flared, and Jiraiya's face hardened.
His presence… had surpassed the Five Kage level.
Barely stable, but undeniably reaching the threshold of a Super Kage.
Mentally, however, he was nowhere near stable. His consciousness seemed shattered—Jiraiya had already tested Genjutsu on him earlier.
Completely ineffective.
There was no clarity left in his mind—only a void filled with battle-lust and slaughter.
He had already gone mad.
Damn Kara… to perform such inhumane experiments!