Some encounters begin quietly… yet change the course of a life.
The clone turned to Tsunade and said calmly,
"Kakuzu himself claimed that he and the Earth Grudge Fear technique have completely fused together. If someone wants to obtain that technique… the only way is through his corpse."
"Tsunade, you could try examining it."
Tsunade frowned immediately.
"You want a technique that is vile?"
The clone shook his head.
"I have no interest in turning into some stitched-up monster."
"But ninjutsu itself has no concept of good or evil."
"What matters is who uses it—and for what purpose."
"If it's used to protect Konoha… then why shouldn't it be used?"
Tsunade's brows slowly relaxed.
Jiraiya looked at him with clear admiration.
Orochimaru, however, watched with flickering interest.
"Such detailed knowledge about Kakuzu… A-kun, don't tell me you're the one who killed him?"
Tsunade blurted out instinctively,
"That's impossible!"
The clone was just about to make a grand show of it—
When suddenly—
Poof!
He exploded into a cloud of smoke.
Jiraiya turned toward Orochimaru.
"You really think he could deal with someone like Kakuzu?"
Tsunade also looked over.
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"Among the people we know in Root… only Danzo should possess the strength to deal with Kakuzu."
"But the intelligence he had was extremely detailed…"
The implication hung clearly in the air.
Even so, Tsunade and Jiraiya still found it hard to believe.
Orochimaru chuckled softly.
"Why not confirm it ourselves?"
"Let's go."
Tsunade downed the rest of her sake in one gulp and stood up.
The three of them left the tavern and immediately leapt onto the rooftops.
Moments later, they arrived at the examination room.
Inside, several personnel were busy analyzing Kakuzu's corpse.
The person in charge looked up and greeted them with a smile instead of stopping them.
"So this is Kakuzu?"
Tsunade stepped closer to the body.
The examiner nodded.
"That's right. An S-rank rogue ninja."
"This man's body structure is extremely unusual. He actually has five hearts inside his body."
"Each heart is connected independently to the body's systems. It's truly astonishing."
Jiraiya asked,
"Was the body delivered by Root?"
The examiner nodded again.
"Yes."
Orochimaru studied the open wounds on the corpse.
"How did he die?"
The examiner explained,
"At the moment we can't determine exactly what method killed him."
"From the wounds, the first injury appears to be this penetrating wound here—but it isn't fatal."
"After that, additional injuries spread outward from the same point, piercing all five of his hearts with incredible precision."
Tsunade had already put on gloves.
She examined the wound carefully.
"So the fatal strike came from inside the body?"
The examiner nodded.
"That's correct. Because of that, we can't determine what type of ninjutsu caused it."
"And before the body was delivered here, the wounds had been carefully cleaned."
"Most likely to conceal the information about the technique that caused the fatal blow."
Jiraiya asked,
"Could it have been Wind Release?"
Tsunade shook her head while continuing the examination.
"No. Not Wind Release."
"A sharp weapon of some kind."
"Possibly some sort of special ninja tool…"
Her gaze then shifted to the black tendrils protruding from Kakuzu's body.
"Senior Yakushi, have these been examined yet?"
The examiner nodded.
"These are actually part of the body's chakra network."
"Of course, not normal ones. They've been altered by chakra."
"Even now, these tendrils still contain extremely powerful chakra and remain highly active."
Orochimaru smiled slightly.
"So the key lies in these tendril-like chakra networks."
Tsunade continued examining them carefully.
"We can't say that yet."
…
Training Grounds.
As the clone's memories returned, Hoshishita Shu let out a long breath.
Thankfully, the clone hadn't done anything too outrageous.
And fortunately—
When he created the clone earlier, he hadn't used a Wood Clone, since he wanted to keep Wood Release hidden.
As for revealing Kakuzu's intelligence, that didn't matter much.
Information about Kakuzu wasn't classified Root intelligence anyway.
The clone hoped Tsunade might discover the Earth Grudge Fear technique from the corpse.
But Shu himself didn't have high expectations.
Besides—
Even if he obtained the technique now, he probably wouldn't use it.
It was simply too ugly.
He was still young, and extending his lifespan wasn't something he needed to worry about yet.
As for the five chakra nature transformations…
Shu already possessed multiple nature transformations.
With enough effort in the future, obtaining all five wasn't impossible.
For example…
If he ever managed to dig out a pair of Rinnegan.
As for the clone's bold thought about "winning over Tsunade"—
Shu couldn't help considering it seriously.
To be honest, a woman like Tsunade was hard for anyone to ignore.
And becoming the man beside the Hokage…
didn't sound like a bad future either.
Tsunade as Hokage.
Himself as the shadow of Konoha—
the shadow of the entire ninja world.
A perfect match.
"But if I want to win Tsunade over… I'll need the right opportunity."
After thinking about it for a moment, Shu pushed the idea aside and returned his focus to training.
In the ninja world—
Strength was everything.
However, the Mental Abnormality status was unpredictable.
Shu didn't dare leave clones training while he went off to sleep anymore.
At midnight sharp, he ended training.
Nothing unusual happened through the night.
The next day, Shu collected a chunk of chakra metal roughly the size of a human head.
He then spent three million ryō commissioning Konoha's most famous ninja tool shop to forge two blades.
Both swords were tailored to his physique.
One long blade.
One short blade.
The long sword would be carried across his back, while the short blade would rest at his lower back.
From now on, Shu would adopt a dual-sword fighting style, fully utilizing the One Mind, Two Uses ability he had worked so hard to develop.
After arranging to collect the blades in a week, Shu returned to the Root base.
Before he could begin training again—
Danzo's summons arrived.
Half an hour later.
In a forest outside the Root base.
Shu stood facing his three subordinates.
Inuzuka Ling.
Aburame Hiiichi.
And a new recruit.
Yakushi Nono.
Even Shu hadn't expected Danzo to assign Yakushi Nono under his command.
After briefly glancing at her, Shu spoke calmly.
"Our next target is the Sky Ninja."
"Anyone with value—or anyone who could pose a threat to the village—is a target."
"Nono, I need you to infiltrate the Sky Ninja village and gather as much intelligence as possible."
Inuzuka Ling and Aburame Hiiichi were both startled.
Yakushi Nono had only been in Root for half a month.
Could she really handle a mission like this?
Nono herself looked nervous, but she pressed her lips together and nodded firmly.
"Yes, Captain."
Shu's expression remained calm.
"Then tell me your plan."
"How do you intend to infiltrate the Sky Ninja village and gather intelligence?"
Nono thought for a moment before answering.
"Captain… I can enter the village under the identity of a traveling doctor."
Inuzuka Ling raised a concern.
"The Sky Ninja probably wouldn't trust a wandering doctor."
Aburame Hiiichi continued the thought.
"But if a special situation occurred…"
"For example—if there were many wounded."
"In that case, she could quickly gain their trust."
"Of course, that assumes her medical skills are sufficient."
Shu nodded slightly.
"She has already mastered the Mystical Palm Technique. That's enough."
Inuzuka Ling raised another concern.
"Captain, there's also her age."
"Even if she uses the Transformation Technique, maintaining it for long periods while performing medical ninjutsu could easily expose her."
Looking at the small-framed Yakushi Nono, Shu nodded.
"That is indeed a problem."
"But if I join her… then it won't be."
All three of them froze.
Inuzuka Ling blinked.
"Captain… you know medical ninjutsu too?"
Shu glanced at him indifferently.
"I'll play the role of a wandering samurai."
Brother and sister.
A wandering swordsman and a traveling medical ninja.
It actually sounded… quite workable.
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