Three days later, in the Land of Dragons' laboratory.
Kakuzu sat cross-legged on the ground, tubes connecting his body to a series of data terminals that displayed real-time readings on the computer. Hiruko adjusted the system, ensuring it could run continuously without interruption. Tsunade approached Kakuzu, nodding toward Ni, Heisei Rokuno, and the others standing nearby.
"We can begin," she announced.
Ni took a deep breath. "Kakuzu-sama, you just sealed the Four-Tails' power within your body. Are you certain you're fine?"
Kakuzu chuckled, waving off Ni's concerns.
"I've wielded the power of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails for a long time now. Absorbing the chakra of the Four-Tails and Seven-Tails is just a matter of filling in the gaps. Proceed without hesitation."
Since Kakuzu was so confident, Ni had no further objections.
He retrieved a meticulously sealed tray and lifted its lid, revealing a pulsating chunk of flesh. The tissue had been extracted from the Seven-Tails, and though separated from its original host, it still throbbed as if alive.
Without hesitation, Kakuzu took the piece of flesh, opened his mouth, and swallowed it whole. Then, he settled back into his meditative position, bracing himself for what was to come.
The wait turned out to be much longer than expected.
...
Two months later.
Tsunade and Hiruko, who had been tirelessly monitoring the system, suddenly widened their eyes. Hiruko even shot up from his seat in shock.
"This energy…"
Tsunade turned to look at Kakuzu, who remained in deep meditation.
"Kakuzu-sama, how do you feel?"
Kakuzu did not respond. Beads of sweat had begun forming on his forehead, and he kept his eyes tightly shut. His focus was solely on maintaining his breathing, struggling to merge the nine different chakra sources within his body into a single cohesive cycle.
"Everyone, remain calm," Tsunade said. "Kakuzu-sama is conscious, but the turbulence of his chakra leaves him with no extra strength to speak. Give him time."
Since Tsunade had spoken, no one dared to object. They could only wait in silence.
...
Another two weeks later.
Kakuzu still had not moved an inch, but some among them were beginning to lose patience.
Hidan yawned, shouldering his massive scythe as he prepared to step outside for a walk. As he passed by the large monitoring machine, he suddenly paused.
"What the hell is all this weird stuff? Some numbers keep going up, some keep going down—I can't make sense of any of it."
"A simpleton like you, who only thinks about your so-called Jashin-sama, wouldn't understand even if I explained it," Hiruko remarked casually, using the lull in activity to tease him.
Hidan immediately scowled. "What?! You dare insult Jashin-sama? I'm gonna cut you up as an offering!"
True to his reckless nature, Hidan had already swung his scythe off his shoulder, fully intending to follow through. But before he could take more than a few steps, a massive sword suddenly blocked his path—the Samehada.
Kisame, his shark-like eyes gleaming, stared at Hidan.
"Take it somewhere else if you want to pray to your Jashin-sama."
"Tch, boring." Hidan clicked his tongue in annoyance, then casually slung his scythe over his shoulder and plopped down in a corner.
Meanwhile, Kisame turned his attention back to the computer screen, his interest piqued.
"This chakra fluctuation… pretty fascinating."
"Kisame, I expected you to be interested in this data," Hiruko remarked with a smirk.
"Oh? And why's that?"
Hiruko stepped forward, glancing at the same chart Kisame was observing.
"This is a waveform representing the fluctuation of chakra within the body."
"Is that so? Then what's that red dot next to it?" Kisame's eyes locked onto a single point on the graph, next to which was a marked numerical value.
"The Takigakure shinobi classified the Seven-Tails as their village's Tailed Beast. Before starting this experiment, Hiruko and I compiled a database of the Seven-Tails' chakra and used its total energy as a reference point," Tsunade explained as she joined the discussion. "This way, we have a baseline for comparison."
Kisame grinned. "Heh, don't lump me in with that idiot Hidan. I get the gist of what you're saying—keep going."
He casually slung Samehada onto his back, his interest in the data deepening.
"Kisame, though we never directly measured your chakra output, we did analyze your physical condition during routine checkups," Tsunade continued. "Based on those results, I'd estimate that if your chakra levels were mapped onto this graph, your peak output would surpass the Seven-Tails' baseline by two to three times."
Hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but feel a tinge of admiration. Kisame was, after all, an ordinary human—yet his chakra reserves exceeded even those of a Tailed Beast. The nickname "the Tailed Beast without a Tail" was well-earned.
At this revelation, Hidan, who had been lounging in the corner, suddenly perked up.
"What about me? What's my chakra level? It's gotta be stronger than the Seven-Tails', right? After all, I'm Jashin-sama's top disciple!"
Before Tsunade could reply, Kisame shoved Hidan aside.
"What's the point of comparing chakra levels with someone who's immortal? You don't even die, so who cares?"
Tsunade chuckled before turning her attention to another approaching figure—Nagato.
"Looks like you're interested in your own data as well."
"I…" Nagato hesitated, looking a little embarrassed.
"Actually, Nagato, we've analyzed your data before. We can tell you with absolute certainty—if your chakra levels were displayed on a monitor, your peak chakra output would be at least six times that of a fully manifested Seven-Tails."
As he spoke, Hiruko pulled out a series of data reports—findings he and Tsunade had compiled over the years.
"Oh?" Kisame grinned, baring his sharp, shark-like teeth. "You guys went out of your way to collect all this data on Nagato? Seems like you're pretty invested in him." His words carried a subtle undertone, implying that Tsunade and Hiruko had put quite a bit of effort into studying Nagato.
Tsunade and Hiruko, however, made no effort to deny it.
"Nagato's body has had some… issues in the past. Every time we conducted an examination, we made sure to run the most thorough tests possible," Tsunade explained.
Hearing this, Nagato lowered his head in quiet shame. He hadn't forgotten the time he summoned the Gedo Statue—the consequences of that incident still weighed on him. Even if Tsunade and Hiruko had collected his data without his explicit permission, he held no resentment toward them. For a long time now, he had been working to suppress any murderous intent within himself. If this data helped keep him under control, then he had no objections.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot to mention," Tsunade continued, "Nagato is only in his early twenties. The chakra within his cells is still rapidly increasing. If my calculations are correct, in another ten or twenty years—once his chakra stabilizes—his total chakra reserves should reach at least a hundred thousand."
As soon as those words left her mouth, everyone in the room was stunned into silence.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (262 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)