"Special-attribute plant detected. Analyzing."
"Analysis complete: fusion-type special seed."
A fusion-type special seed?
Hikaru stared blankly at the system's feedback. To be honest, he did not immediately understand what that meant.
Apparently, the system understood that too, because more information quickly poured into his mind.
And the moment he absorbed it, he was left completely dumbfounded.
According to the system's explanation, White Zetsu had originally been human long ago, transformed into its present form through a special power.
That much Hikaru understood.
After all, he already knew White Zetsu had been created by ??tsutsuki Kaguya.
To be more precise, they were weapons Kaguya had prepared in advance to guard against other ??tsutsuki.
Their true essence was the result of being fused with Kaguya's power.
The human consciousness they once possessed had sunk into an eternal illusion, while their bodies had been remodeled into beings carrying an extremely special kind of power.
As for what that power actually was, Hikaru had never been entirely sure. After all, in the original story, White Zetsu's performance had usually been pathetic.
But one thing was undeniable—
other than their worrying lack of brains, every part of them was valuable.
Not to mention the peculiar chakra they carried, chakra that originated from ??tsutsuki Kaguya herself.
After Black Zetsu's further modifications, they also contained Hashirama Senju's cells and power.
And then there was their absurd adaptability.
If a person's body could withstand their power, White Zetsu could even be used as replacement body parts.
Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito had both done exactly that.
Lose an arm? Tear one off a White Zetsu and use it.
Even later, Naruto's prosthetic arm seemed to have been developed using research based on White Zetsu's body.
Any transmigrator would find them fascinating.
Apparently, once the power in White Zetsu had fused into the tree, the system had detected exactly that and allowed Hikaru to extract something even stranger from it.
According to the system, what stood out most among all of White Zetsu's traits was not anything else—
but its unparalleled adaptability.
Once extracted, that adaptability could be interpreted, in humans, as fusion.
And that fusion had a very broad definition.
The system's meaning was simple:
if Hikaru obtained the resulting fruit, he would be able to attempt certain kinds of fusion.
For example, if he ever lost a limb, he could use the fruit's power to perfectly fuse someone else's arm or leg onto his own body.
But that was not all.
It could also apply to other forms of fusion.
The system had not imposed any narrow restriction on the fruit's abilities, because White Zetsu carried power that originated from ??tsutsuki Kaguya herself.
And Kaguya was, in a sense, the source of chakra in the Naruto world.
Strictly speaking, aside from senjutsu chakra, almost every form of chakra in the world could be traced back to her.
Which meant this so-called fusion trait also included—
the fusion of different chakra natures.
To be honest, if the fruit had been about anything else, Hikaru might not have looked so stunned.
But this fusion property was different.
It was exactly the thing he had wanted most, struggled with most, and found most unbelievable.
"It can actually fuse chakra?"
The implications were obvious.
In the ninja world, aside from the most exceptional bloodlines—Uchiha, Senju, Hyūga, and to an extent the Kaguya clan—
most kekkei genkai were the result of chakra fusion.
Those exceptional clans were likely direct inheritors of Kaguya's power, or descended from the powers of ??tsutsuki Hagoromo and Hamura.
But most other bloodline limits were created by combining chakra natures in special ways.
They only seemed mysterious.
In truth, they were not.
A great many bloodline abilities were similar in principle.
The only real differences were the method, order, and ratio of fusion, and the resulting variations in power.
But one must not forget—
bloodline-snare, the realm of Kekkei Mōra, ultimately relied on chakra fusion too.
Hikaru had spent a long time wondering how he was supposed to handle that problem.
Originally, he had assumed he would have to figure it out by himself, step by painful step.
It was a depressing prospect, but not an impossible one.
After all, he was already someone who could use Wood Release.
Even if it was only an early-stage Wood Release, it still represented the fusion of Earth Release, Water Release, and Yang Release.
He had always believed he could use that fusion as a reference point, find the underlying logic, and eventually apply it to other chakra natures.
He had no idea how long that would take.
But he had always known it was something he would have to do.
And now, the system might allow him to grow a fruit that could fuse the chakra he needed together for him.
That said, the system had also made one thing very clear:
the fusion limit of this seed was only three chakra natures.
"Three, huh… That's still not bad."
He forced himself to calm down.
The fusion of three chakra natures would still create a kekkei tōta.
More importantly, through the process, Hikaru would be able to clearly understand every stage of the fusion—its transformations, its structure, its changes.
Just like every other fruit the system had given him, it was not merely handing him power.
It was letting him understand where that power came from, how it functioned, how to use it, and what it could do.
His job was simply to become more skilled and more suited to using it in combat.
Three chakra natures.
If he could fully understand that process, then later, when he attempted larger or more complex fusions, that knowledge would be invaluable.
"Besides, I think I know now how to get more seeds related to chakra fusion."
"Most likely from White Zetsu… or from higher-quality White Zetsu."
At that thought, Hikaru's eyes deepened.
Hikaru had always known one thing very clearly:
the White Zetsu created by Black Zetsu and Madara were not all equal.
Some were nothing but cannon fodder.
Others could possess people.
Some could even use Wood Release.
Clearly, the experiments Madara had run—or perhaps the alterations Black Zetsu had secretly overseen—had produced enormous variation.
The stronger White Zetsu usually stayed around Obito and Black Zetsu.
As for the rest, they were likely the lower-grade kind.
To be fair, from what Hikaru remembered, most ordinary White Zetsu were mainly used for reconnaissance.
Their concealment was absurdly strong, and they seemed to have decent sensory abilities too.
For gathering intelligence, they were ideal.
As for combat ability…
that was another story.
Most of them were basically brainless creatures.
Still, Hikaru held one doubt.
The White Zetsu body he had just used came from Obito.
But he knew very well that Obito's arm had already been nearly melted away by Minato's attack.
So when Obito had appeared later with a fully functional limb again, that could only mean he had replaced it.
The question was whether that replacement had come from an ordinary White Zetsu or from one of the better variants.
But either way, Hikaru's attention was now fixed firmly on Obito.
Truthfully, Hikaru had always known that as long as he remained in Konoha, he would inevitably clash with Obito.
And reality had borne that out.
Whether it was the direct confrontation during the Nine-Tails incident or the battle against Akatsuki, every one of those encounters had, at its core, been a confrontation between him and Obito.
The difference was that all of those previous clashes had been reactive.
Hikaru had not gone looking for Obito.
This time, though, his mindset had changed.
In the past, the biggest reason he had not gone after Obito was simple:
his strength had not been enough.
Beyond that, he had had too many things to handle already.
And at the time, there had been no direct conflict of interest.
Now, however, things were different.
Hikaru's eyes were on White Zetsu.
That meant conflict was no longer optional.
And this time, it would very likely be Hikaru who took the initiative.
"I need a proper reason. And it can't look too abrupt."
Hikaru rubbed his chin, recalling what Obito had been doing during this stretch of time.
Thinking it through, he realized Obito had basically been lying low for the past dozen years.
Or more accurately—
he had been in the Land of Water, manipulating the Mizukage and turning Kirigakure into a nightmare.
Obito's hatred for the Mist Village was obvious.
In a sense, his path to becoming what he was now had everything to do with Kiri.
If Kirigakure had not interfered in the negotiations in the Land of Grass, Rin would never have been targeted and abducted.
If they had not sealed the Three-Tails inside Rin, she would never have died by Kakashi's hand.
Of course Obito hated Minato too—because Minato, for all his mastery of Flying Thunder God, had still failed to arrive in time.
Of course he hated Kakashi too—for failing to protect Rin and forcing her into a position where she chose death.
But above all, the one he hated most was the Land of Water.
If not for Kiri, none of it would have happened.
So now, his revenge against Kirigakure was merciless.
Even if he had inherited part of his influence there from Madara, it was still Obito who had turned that influence into something monstrous.
He had cut off the Land of Water from the outside world.
He had strangled its economy.
And on top of the "Bloody Mist" policy Madara had left behind, he had built something even crueler.
The result was the terrifying Kirigakure of the present era.
Students who had grown up together were forced, at graduation, to kill one another until only one remained alive.
That kind of system twisted shinobi from their very foundations.
Of course, such a system could still produce extraordinary fighters.
Kisame was proof enough of that.
But it also bred defectors in abundance.
Zabuza, who would one day overwhelm Team Seven, was one of the clearest examples.
And beyond that, Obito had also targeted Kiri's bloodline clans.
One after another, famous bloodline families in Kirigakure were exterminated or weakened.
Even the Hōzuki clan, which had once produced a Mizukage, had been affected.
It was no exaggeration to say that Obito had been systematically destroying Kirigakure from every angle—politics, economy, education, military structure.
If not for that Byakugan exposing him and forcing his withdrawal, he might really have run the village into the ground.
A shinobi was supposed to be loyal to the Kage.
That principle was nearly unbreakable.
Even if the Kage was unfit, most shinobi would still only try to act within the rules.
Because once a village descended into internal rebellion and civil conflict, the consequences were not merely shameful—
they could be fatal.
A rival village taking advantage and crushing them outright was entirely possible.
And Obito had already made it very clear what would happen to anyone who tried open rebellion.
The Kaguya clan, not yet fully exterminated at this point, was already the perfect cautionary tale.
"The Land of Water, huh… and the Kaguya clan too?"
Hikaru rubbed his chin.
He already had a rough idea.
If he wanted to go after Obito without placing too much suspicion on the identity of Senju Hikaru, then his jinchūriki persona was the perfect tool.
The excuse was practically ready-made.
After all, the Fourth Mizukage was himself a jinchūriki.
An unusual jinchūriki hunting another jinchūriki was hardly strange.
And while he was at it, investigating the Kaguya clan did not seem like a bad idea either.
Their power was one of the few bloodline abilities that did not come from simple chakra fusion, but from the body's own bloodline itself.
Hikaru was deeply interested in that.
For now, he was not ready to move against the Sharingan or the Byakugan.
Not only did he lack the proper medical research team for that, but more importantly—
he still remembered that he was a Konoha shinobi.
That said, building such a research team was already something he had begun considering.
ANBU had already possessed a medical and research wing, but it was too small, and its loyalties were unclear.
He did not trust it.
"It looks like I've got something to do later."
With that thought, Hikaru decisively planted the fusion seed into his body.
At once, he felt his chakra give a faint tug, as if being drawn into subtle alignment.
It was an incredibly strange sensation.
And it made him even more eager to see what kind of effects this fruit would produce once it ripened.
"For now, I only have Earth and Water at the advanced chakra level."
"Wind and Fire are still being cultivated."
"And this seed can only fuse three chakra natures."
"Looks like when the time comes, I'll have to think carefully."
Hikaru still had not decided which three chakra natures he ought to fuse.
The biggest reason was simple:
he did not yet know how strong the resulting kekkei tōta would actually be.
The safest path, naturally, was Dust Release.
After all, its power had already been tested by time.
??noki was old enough to be ridiculous, yet still possessed frightening combat power.
Dust Release deserved much of the credit for that.
Of course, the secret technique Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique had also played a major role.
Without that jutsu, ??noki would never have been able to reduce his own body weight to such extremes and remain airborne.
Otherwise, with his physical condition, any younger, sturdier shinobi could probably have beaten him to death in hand-to-hand combat within minutes.
There was also a tactical benefit.
If Hikaru developed Dust Release, then in the future he might even be able to impersonate an Iwa shinobi and conveniently pin some hatred on the Hidden Stone.
But that option carried obvious risks too.
The first was the sheer amount of hatred it would attract.
Hikaru knew he was strong.
But he was not delusional enough to imitate the Third Raikage and challenge ten thousand shinobi by himself.
That was not bravery.
That was insanity.
If he revealed Dust Release and drew Iwagakure's attention, then they would become extremely vigilant.
And once ??noki understood that such a dangerous enemy possessed one of Iwa's greatest secrets, there was every chance he would choose the harshest, most extreme response possible.
Besides, Hikaru fully intended to go to Iwagakure in the future.
After all, there were two tailed beasts there.
So Dust Release was tempting—
but also dangerous.
"Forget it. By the time the seed ripens, I'll have four advanced chakra natures anyway."
"I can choose later."
With that thought, Hikaru let it go for now.
Then, together with Ayame, he headed toward a yakiniku restaurant.
Konoha truly was far more prosperous than most people imagined.
Only half a year had passed since the Nine-Tails disaster, and yet most of the village had already been rebuilt.
And notably, shinobi had not done much of the actual reconstruction work.
As Hikaru watched the ordinary villagers moving through the streets with smiles on their faces, he felt an odd lightness in his chest.
Humans were social creatures.
And humans were also creatures who were easily shaped by their environment.
Long exposure to ANBU—the frontline work, the assassinations, the purges, the endless darkness—had a terrifying effect on the mind.
At times, Hikaru even wondered whether he ought to open some kind of counseling division to stabilize the psychological state of shinobi.
But after thinking it through, he gave up on the idea.
Shinobi were not ordinary people.
Their wills were too hard.
Even genjutsu could not easily shake some of them.
How much use would "psychological counseling" really be?
"Unless it's Naruto's strongest illusion—Talk-no-Jutsu—nothing is going to work that well."
The thought amused him.
After all, Naruto was the kind of person who could talk Nagato into suicide and make Obito start seeing illusions of the life he had lost.
That sort of "technique" was honestly more terrifying than most genjutsu.
Of course, it was not flawless.
There had been people immune to it.
Sasuke, for example.
But Naruto had also seemed to understand very well how to deal with arrogant Uchiha.
The moment you beat them into genuine submission—
physically and mentally—
they would stop arguing.
The Uchiha really were like that.
Trying to reason with them was often pointless.
Their pride was so extreme that words alone rarely worked.
Unless you proved that you were stronger, harsher, prouder, and more dangerous than they were—
you might as well save your breath and just throw the first punch.
Uchiha shin was a perfect example.
Hikaru had never needed to beat him down directly.
He had only needed to show him enough power to make him understand that crossing Hikaru would come with consequences the clan could not bear.
And after that, shin had behaved.
It was funny, in a way.
The yakiniku meal tonight had actually been shin's invitation.
Recently, shin's actions had not escaped Hikaru's notice.
As ANBU Minister, Hikaru lacked for many things—
but information was not one of them.
Half the time, he did not even need to ask.
The reports arrived on his desk on their own.
As for exactly what was happening inside the Uchiha clan, Hikaru did not know every detail.
Uchiha families were still relatively closed off.
Shisui did not yet have access to deep clan information.
saya was operating under a concealed identity and naturally was not attending clan meetings.
And Hikaru had no intention of asking them to provide internal political intelligence.
So on the inside, his knowledge was limited.
But externally, there was enough to infer quite a lot.
For example:
the Police Force had, for the first time, begun recruiting civilian shinobi and even some shinobi from other clans.
That news had caused no small stir in Konoha.
Though the numbers were still low, and the effort was concentrated almost entirely in the Second Division.
The other divisions had made no similar moves whatsoever.
In fact, they had reportedly begun distancing themselves from the Second Division.
From that alone, it was obvious enough—
shin's situation inside the Uchiha clan could not be good.
He was probably under immense pressure.
But Hikaru did not care.
The fact that shin had gone that far already meant he had truly started leaning toward Hikaru's side.
Even if shin still believed, in his own mind, that he was really leaning toward Minato instead.
Hikaru did not care about that either.
After all, Hikaru intended to become Hokage.
In the end, who exactly they thought they were supporting made very little difference.
When Hikaru reached the restaurant entrance, the attendant quickly greeted him warmly, opened the door, and led him inside.
shin had reserved a relatively quiet corner.
But before Hikaru could reach it, a broad-shouldered figure suddenly stepped in front of him.
"Minister Hikaru? I didn't expect it really to be you!"
Hikaru turned and looked over.
There were not many people who knew he was ANBU Minister.
That information was largely limited to Konoha's upper ranks and the jōnin who attended official meetings.
Even if ANBU had stepped partly into the light, its Minister still retained a great deal of mystery.
But once Hikaru saw who had spoken, he was not surprised at all.
A smile immediately spread across his face, making him look as warm and approachable as ever.
"So it's Chōza-dono."
He smiled.
"This is our first proper meeting. Please take care of me."
"Hikaru-sama is too polite."
Akimichi Chōza smiled broadly as well.
"It's true that this is our first proper face-to-face meeting. I should be the one saying that."
And that was indeed true.
Technically, they had seen one another before—
at official village meetings.
But they had never had the chance to actually speak.
Even so, there had already been subtle contact between them.
When Hikaru had begun expanding ANBU, the Akimichi had quietly sent in a few clan members.
That had been both a gesture of goodwill and a long-term investment.
To be honest, Chōza had been very curious about Hikaru.
The boy's background and rise were almost absurdly mysterious.
Other than knowing that this young Minister was monstrously strong, came from the Senju clan, and possessed Wood Release—
he knew almost nothing.
Even the clan members he had sent into ANBU would never casually reveal anything.
This chance encounter, in one of the Akimichi family's own establishments, was too good to ignore.
At the very least, Chōza wanted to leave a favorable impression.
"Minister Hikaru, you're here for dinner, right?"
Chōza glanced around and smiled.
"If you'd like, I can make some arrangements so you can have a better environment."
"Someone already reserved a table ahead of time. I'm here as an invited guest."
Hikaru answered with an easy smile.
"So I won't trouble you."
He had no particular desire to hide the fact that he was meeting with the Uchiha—
especially not shin.
shin's recent actions were already conspicuous enough.
And Hikaru's ANBU expansion meant he would inevitably be dealing with the major clans more and more.
There was no point trying to hide what was obvious.
"Is that so?"
Chōza gave an expression of realization, though he had clearly already noticed the Uchiha table from the start.
"In that case, I won't disturb you further. I hope you enjoy your meal, Minister."
"Thank you."
Hikaru nodded politely, then continued toward shin's table.
Seeing Chōza here had been mildly amusing.
And it was even more amusing that shin had chosen an Akimichi business as their meeting place.
Still, it made sense.
A great many of Konoha's industries were tied to the major clans in one way or another.
Much of Konoha's medicinal supply, for instance, ultimately came from the Nara clan.
And quite a lot of Konoha's restaurants and food businesses also stood behind various clan interests.
The Akimichi, who naturally valued caloric intake and body mass, running yakiniku restaurants was perfectly reasonable.
Even the Uchiha had their own share of businesses.
A clan that large had more than just shinobi.
There were always many members who could not become shinobi at all.
Raising shinobi required enormous money.
The non-shinobi still had to survive too.
So naturally, large clans built industries to support themselves—both to fund ninja training and to provide livelihoods for ordinary clan members.
"Minister Hikaru. Ayame-san."
As Hikaru and Ayame approached the table, Uchiha shin rose with saya and greeted them with a smile.
"No need to be so formal, shin-dono."
Hikaru shook his head lightly.
Then he gave Ayame a slight look.
Ayame immediately understood.
Forming hand seals, she quietly erected a soundproof barrier around the table.
Her talent was not bad at all.
Her sealing techniques were not yet exceptional, but basic barrier work was well within her reach.
No one knew exactly what tonight's conversation would turn into.
And since they were on someone else's turf, Hikaru would have been a fool not to prepare for that.
Once the barrier was complete, Hikaru smiled.
"shin-dono, long time no see."
"I never expected to receive your invitation. It's quite an honor."
shin smiled bitterly.
"You're too kind, Minister Hikaru. Honestly, I'm the one who's honored you came."
"All right, all right. It's not work hours right now."
Hikaru smiled and waved it off.
"Tonight I'm not ANBU Minister. I'm not Konoha's Nightingale either."
"I'm just Senju Hikaru. Or if you prefer, Fukami Hikaru. Either is fine."
shin hesitated slightly.
Hikaru's line between sincerity and calculation was impossible to read.
Still, shin quickly understood the point.
Hikaru did not want tonight's conversation to become an official transaction.
Or more precisely—
he wanted it to be deniable.
Then Hikaru added, still smiling and idly tapping the table with one finger,
"This is just a casual conversation between friends."
"No need to be so tense."
"Of course, some things said here don't need to be taken too seriously either."
shin froze for a second.
Then realization hit him.
"Yes…"
"Just a casual conversation between friends."
He smiled and nodded at once.
Hikaru had not changed his expression.
But the meaning was clear enough.
Tonight's discussion would happen within rules, appearances, and deniability.
That, too, was a kind of battlefield.
Hikaru had barely begun sitting down when another familiar figure called out from behind him.
"Hikaru, you're here too?"
He turned.
And there stood Ino–Shika–Chō's current representative line—
well, more precisely, one of them.
This particular meeting was going to become even more interesting than he had expected.
And inside the soundproof barrier, as the village lights flickered warmly outside, Hikaru's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
The game within the rules—
was about to get much more entertaining.
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 150 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: /KageNaruto.
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