Konoha Village.
Early in the morning, Tsunade dragged Kawaki out of bed.
Kawaki was still groggy. Last night had once again been exhausting.
"Get up, we've got important work today."
Tsunade gripped Kawaki's shoulders and gave him a hard shake. Her chest jiggled with the movement.
"I'm awake, I'm awake."
Kawaki's head bobbed as he blinked sleepily.
Then he found himself momentarily blinded—by two blinding expanses of white.
"What are you staring at? Head to the lab."
"We made plans with Orochimaru. Today's when we see the final results."
Seeing Kawaki had finally woken up, Tsunade removed her hands and placed them over her chest.
In just a few quick steps, she was out of bed and dressed.
"Alright then, beloved wife," Kawaki mumbled while rubbing his eyes, unable to hide his exhaustion.
By the time he rose and dressed himself, Tsunade had already left.
After washing up and heading to the dining room, he found it quiet—the little ones were already out on missions.
He sat down beside Tsunade and began eating breakfast.
"You're up early today," Sakumo teased with a glance toward Kawaki.
Normally at this hour, there'd be no sign of Kawaki at the table.
Natsuki rolled her eyes. Scolding him wasn't even worth the effort—it never changed anything.
Honestly, who even cared about those small things?
Back then she hadn't realized it, but now it was clear—some of Kawaki's habits were straight from Sakumo.
Those two brothers are no good, either of them!
"Heh, looks like you figured me out again."
Kawaki didn't even lift his head, his tone as sharp as ever toward Sakumo.
"Here, have a chive dumpling."
Sakumo had become more and more skilled—he didn't even get mad anymore.
Instead, he used his chopsticks to grab a chive dumpling and precisely drop it into Kawaki's bowl.
"Oh, wow. Thanks so much."
Kawaki took an aggressive bite.
The two women nearby stifled giggles.
Kakashi joined in with a silly grin.
Having those two troublemakers around sure kept things lively.
After breakfast, Sakumo left to report in at Anbu headquarters.
Tsunade and Kawaki said goodbye to Natsuki and made their way toward the hospital.
"Did you talk to Shouta already?"
Kawaki had assumed Tsunade would go to her office first.
"I told him yesterday. He'll take care of things for us today."
Tsunade had prepared ahead—today's experimental results were crucial.
[Sneeze!] [Sneeze!]
"Must be Shouta cursing my name again."
Kawaki sneezed twice in a row, then rubbed his nose.
"Haha, makes sense he'd curse you," Tsunade laughed.
She didn't mind letting Shouta be the good guy for once. If Kawaki got scolded, well, it wasn't like Shouta would do it to his face.
"All because of you," Kawaki replied, resting his right hand on Tsunade's shoulder as they both disappeared in an instant.
"Sister Tsunade! Brother-in-law!"
They immediately heard Misaki's sweet voice upon reaching the research room.
"Arrived already, huh?"
Orochimaru had only just arrived himself and was chatting with Misaki, casually answering her technical questions.
Misaki was truly a model student—the kind every teacher adores.
"Alright, let's begin."
Without a word, Tsunade pushed open the lab door and strode inside.
Kawaki and Orochimaru followed closely, while Misaki remained standing outside.
She knew it wasn't a scene meant for her eyes.
Tsunade didn't even bother with a lab coat before heading straight toward a sealed door—the entrance to the in-vivo experimentation lab.
After entering the password, the door unlocked and opened.
Kawaki followed her in. Before him stood massive glass tanks connected by an array of tubes.
He couldn't even tell what kind of liquid filled them.
Every time he came here, seeing the people in those tanks gave Kawaki the unsettling feeling he was watching a horror movie.
"Don't bother looking. They're all dead."
"Except for that one over there—he's still alive."
Orochimaru pointed toward a distant tank as Tsunade continued walking forward.
The data from these corpses hadn't been fully recorded yet, so they remained untouched—for now.
"Oh right, I remember that one."
Kawaki stared at one of the corpses. That ninja had once slaughtered an entire civilian family of five.
His wanted posters were plastered all over Konoha. Someone like him had it coming.
"Don't worry, he died terribly."
Orochimaru licked his lips with a twisted smirk, sending chills down Kawaki's spine.
In the dim, oppressive atmosphere, Orochimaru looked like nothing more than a sick freak.
"I'm moving farther away."
Kawaki shuddered and hurried to get closer to Tsunade.
"Hahaha~"
Orochimaru chuckled gleefully, clearly enjoying how much Kawaki despised him.
Their little exchanges were always give-and-take.
By the time Orochimaru caught up, Kawaki had already helped Lady Tsunade remove the subject from the tank.
The subject was still hooked up to medical equipment, displaying steady, normal vital signs—though clearly unconscious.
"Looks good. Cell fusion must've reached a high level."
"Still don't know if the Wood Release has activated yet."
Orochimaru glanced at the readings on the monitors and then pulled out a small knife from his pocket.
He sliced a shallow cut across the experimental subject's wrist. Vivid red blood trickled slowly down the experiment table.
Soon after, the wound began healing at a visible speed before their eyes.
Eventually, aside from the bloodstains, it was as if nothing had ever happened.
"What a wonderful experiment."
Orochimaru's eyes sparkled as he sincerely praised it.
It was as if he were admiring a masterpiece.
"Did he inherit both my grandmother's and mine?"
Kawaki never expected that an experimental subject's healing speed could nearly catch up to his own.
"Yes. Seems our enhancement plan worked."
Tsunade didn't mention how previous subjects had also healed quickly—but then mutated afterward.
Oh…
Just then, she and Orochimaru fastened the subject's limbs to the experiment table.
"Let's wake him up now."
Tsunade didn't even glance away from the subject.
Orochimaru swiftly formed several hand seals and pressed his palm against the subject's head.
"Ugh～"
With a low groan, the subject's eyelids twitched.
Orochimaru removed his hand, and the test subject suddenly shot his eyes open.
"I will kill you!"
He roared loudly while struggling violently. The experimental table trembled violently beneath the force.
All the suffering he'd endured in this lab over the past days was payment for his past crimes—agony beyond words.
"Hate me. Pain is the only thing that gives you strength."
Orochimaru's words had a hypnotic, almost seductive quality.
These death-row inmates weren't martial arts experts by any means—only intense desire could awaken the latent power within their bodies.
"Ahhh! Ahhh!"
As the experimental subject roared, Kawaki could distinctly feel its life force slipping away.
His face began to cave in, and Kawaki couldn't tell if it was a good or bad omen.
Seeing Tsunade frowning with a serious expression, he didn't ask immediately.
He patiently continued watching.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the subject's hands transformed into massive branches, sweeping toward Orochimaru at surprising speed.
"It succeeded."
Rather than showing fear, Orochimaru looked positively delighted.
Several snakes shot from his sleeves to block the branch assault, and the two sides began a clash of strength.
Gradually, the experimental subject's eye sockets grew deeper, his body beginning to wither.
The branch-like arms lost all strength and crashed heavily to the ground.
"So it's dead already?"
Kawaki only voiced his confusion after Orochimaru withdrew his snakes—he still didn't understand what had just happened.
Didn't he say it was successful? Then why did the experiment still die?
"Do you really think surviving is guaranteed just because it succeeded?"
"You're underestimating both yourself and Grandpa."
Tsunade couldn't even be bothered to elaborate. She'd always told him to hit the books more, but he never listened.
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