Chapter 430: The Choice Is You!

Chapter 430: Chapter 430: The Choice Is You!

Since there had been no casualties, although the patrol team’s nighttime attack caused a minor disturbance, Konoha’s higher-ups quickly managed to suppress the commotion.

Hyuga Kagami could understand their reasoning.

Kakashi’s attack had already proven that Akatsuki was active within the village. At a time like this, the more dangerous the situation became, the more important it was to remain calm and composed. They couldn’t afford to lose their heads before the enemy had even made their next move.

Early the next morning, Hyuga Kagami left behind a Shadow Clone to take his place on duty, while his true body quietly departed Konoha carrying the cell tissue samples he had collected from Kimimaro.

Traveling at full speed, it wasn’t long before he arrived at the air fortress floating above the sea east of the Land of Fire.

During this period, under the control of the Third Kazekage human puppet, the air fortress had continuously followed dense banks of clouds, drifting across the skies above the ocean.

Because it remained concealed within layer upon layer of thick cloud cover, even if a fishing boat happened to pass directly beneath it, those aboard would have no way of noticing the air fortress high above them. As a result, its current hiding place was both extremely secure and well concealed.

However, because it had remained hidden for such a long time within clouds saturated with moisture, the air fortress had been forced to keep its defensive barrier continuously active in order to prevent the dampness within the clouds from corroding its structure.

Fortunately, the air fortress’s energy source was Shinno, who had become the Moryo Jinchūriki. Had it been powered by any other energy source, it might genuinely have been unable to sustain such intense, continuous consumption.

Inside the secret laboratory, Hyuga Kagami first inspected the Chimera Buds he had cultivated earlier.

Just as he had expected, among the numerous embryos, two Chimera Buds had successfully fused with Hyuga Kagami’s cellular tissue, becoming viable Chimera Buds that could be transplanted into his body.

Gazing at the two gelatinous young buds inside their containers, Hyuga Kagami found it difficult to associate these tiny things with the thick, gelatinous masses that had erupted from Hiruko’s body during the Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual.

"I have to be extremely careful."

The tender young buds before him appeared harmless, but in reality, they were genuine monsters capable of fusing flesh and blood.

Once they went out of control, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Because of this, Hyuga Kagami silently reminded himself that he could never afford to let his guard down around them.

After spending this period researching and analyzing them, his understanding of Hiruko’s Chimera Technique had deepened considerably.

Hiruko’s line of thinking could be clearly seen from the design of his Kekkei Genkai Fusion Ritual.

He had deliberately loosened the restrictions placed on the Chimera Bud, thereby strengthening its ability to fuse flesh and blood and increasing the ritual’s overall success rate.

Judging purely from the design philosophy, there wasn’t actually anything wrong with Hiruko’s approach.

After all, the success rate of the Kekkei Genkai Fusion Ritual was the most important consideration.

If the ritual failed, Hiruko would be reduced to nothing but a corpse on the spot. Under those circumstances, whatever hidden dangers might emerge afterward would be completely meaningless to him.

However, Hiruko had clearly underestimated the dangers that would arise from loosening the restrictions on the Chimera Bud.

The Chimera Bud’s ability to fuse flesh and blood was simply too powerful, and more importantly, the Chimera Bud possessed an independent consciousness of their own.

When Hiruko was injured and unconscious, they could repair his body and save his life.

But even while Hiruko was fully conscious, they could also forcibly seize control of his body, causing his own body to turn against him.

Because of this, Hyuga Kagami could no longer confidently determine whether Hiruko was currently controlling the Chimera Bud...

...or whether the Chimera Bud were controlling Hiruko.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Hyuga Kagami mused,

"Looks like I’ll still need someone to keep testing the road ahead for me..."

He genuinely admired Hiruko’s courage to cross the river by feeling for the stones beneath his feet.

But when it came to scientific research, there could not be the slightest room for error.

One wrong step, and he could end up just like Hiruko—falling into a situation from which there was no turning back.

Therefore, he needed a few guinea pigs to scout the path ahead for him.

"Who should I choose...?"

Several candidates immediately flashed through Hyuga Kagami’s mind.

Among those who possessed the ability, financial resources, and ambition necessary to invest in developing the Chimera Buds, there were only a handful of candidates, such as Danzo and Orochimaru.

Considering their past relationship, Hyuga Kagami didn’t particularly want to screw Orochimaru over that badly.

Besides, Orochimaru possessed extraordinary talent for scientific research. He would probably be able to recognize the hidden dangers within the Chimera Buds himself.

"Then it’s decided—you, Danzo!"

After thinking it over, Hyuga Kagami finally made his choice.

Danzo was the kind of ruthless man who genuinely dared to perform extensive modifications on his own body. On top of that, as one of Konoha’s higher-ups, he possessed both authority and resources, more than enough to support the development of the Chimera Buds.

Most importantly, Danzo was ambitious.

Others might be able to resist the temptation of the Chimera Technique and recognize the dangers hidden behind it, but someone as consumed by his lust for power as Danzo would absolutely be unable to resist such temptation.

After packaging together an original Chimera Bud seedling and the scroll containing the Chimera Technique, Hyuga Kagami thought to himself,

"Charging fifty million for these shouldn’t be too expensive, right?"

After dealing with the matter of the Chimera Buds, Hyuga Kagami gathered his thoughts and began the cellular fusion experiments for his Wind Release clone.

As usual, before cellular fusion could begin, Kimimaro’s cellular tissue first needed to undergo filtration. All chakra natures other than Wind-nature chakra had to be removed.

Moreover, because Orochimaru had implanted a Cursed Mark into Kimimaro, his cellular tissue required an additional round of filtration to eliminate the Cursed Mark’s chakra as well.

The filtration process lasted a total of three days.

Among nearly two hundred sample groups, only seventeen survived the centrifuge filtration process while still retaining relatively strong cellular activity.

During the filtration process, Hyuga Kagami discovered that Kimimaro’s cellular tissue indeed contained a considerable proportion of Yang-nature chakra.

This matched his previous speculation.

The Kaguya Clan, who possessed the Shikotsumyaku, had very likely inherited the Sage Body of Otsutsuki Hamura.

However, compared with the Senju Clan, who had inherited the Sage Body of Otsutsuki Hagoromo, the strength of their Sage Body inheritance appeared to be somewhat weaker.

And it was precisely because of this that Kimimaro’s cellular tissue was so extraordinarily resilient.

After completing the filtration stage came the most difficult part of all—the cellular fusion stage.

When cloning his Fire Release clone, Hyuga Kagami had been stuck at this stage for a very long time. After expending enormous amounts of money and manpower, he had ultimately been forced to compromise and choose the only successful clone—a female clone.

Yet, completely beyond Hyuga Kagami’s expectations, the fusion between Kimimaro’s cells and his own cells proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

Of the seventeen sample groups, a full ten successfully completed cellular fusion.

With just a little further cultivation, those ten successfully fused embryos could be developed into ten complete clones.

This result was far beyond anything Hyuga Kagami had anticipated.

"The Hyuga Clan and the Kaguya Clan really are relatives!"

There had indeed been rumors within the clan that the Hyuga and Kaguya ninja clans had maintained close relations for generations.

However, interactions between clans were entirely controlled by the Hyuga Main House. As a member of the Branch House, Hyuga Kagami didn’t know much about such matters.

Furthermore, because of the successive Great Ninja Wars, the Hyuga and Kaguya Clans had found themselves belonging to two opposing ninja villages—Konoha and Kirigakure respectively—and their relationship had gradually faded away.

But judging from the results before him now, the possibility that the Hyuga Clan and Kaguya Clan were blood relatives was extremely high...