After acquiring a large basin full of Samehada "juveniles," the next step for Haseo was to further "incubate" them.
Fully replicating Samehada's original living environment was impossible—after all, Konoha didn't have the Three-Tails, and there was no way they could be allowed to grow in the wild either.
Fortunately, Haseo had an alternative—the Chakra of the Two-Tails.
He then purchased several sealed glass cylindrical containers, each one meter in diameter and two meters tall, to serve as "experimental equipment." Next, he asked the obliging Orochimaru to produce a special nutrient solution, poured this liquid into the containers, and placed a juvenile Samehada inside each one.
The nutrient solution itself wasn't essential; what truly mattered was supplying these organisms with abundant, high-quality Chakra.
Therefore, the containers were eventually arranged densely around Katsuyu, the slug containing the Two-Tails' Chakra, and connected to its skin through pipelines.
Three times daily—morning, afternoon, and evening—Katsuyu would supply Chakra to each container. This feeding ensured the "nutritional needs" of these juveniles.
It remained unknown whether the Two-Tails' Chakra would differ in properties from the Three-Tails', or whether it could fully substitute for it. In any case, Haseo's cultivation experiment had begun.
He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous too. He just hoped that after pouring so much Two-Tails' Chakra into this, it wouldn't all be for nothing.
But of course, no one could guarantee the success rate of such an experiment, making this whole endeavor something of a gamble on his part... Perhaps Tsunade should be invited over to place a counterbet. If nothing else, doing so might bring good luck.
Thanks to the Two-Tails' Chakra acting as the main nutritional source, the mass-produced Samehada juveniles grew extremely quickly. Although they were merely clones, these young creatures appeared unusually healthy and energetic—their survival rates alarmingly high.
Such vitality—no wonder this unique species could keep up with the Three-Tails constantly.
Only two months later, the Samehada juveniles had already grown to half a meter long. Their scales began transforming into spines; judging purely by this change alone, there was a pretty high chance these offspring would mature into living weapons.
But living weapons weren't Haseo's goal—after all, they were massive and heavy. To ordinary ninja, they certainly weren't as convenient to use as a simple kunai. No, Haseo's true objective was ensuring these mass-produced Samehadas retained their ability to absorb Chakra.
Yet at present, this couldn't be confirmed—it was worth noting that unlike the original Samehada, these juveniles had been raised with "foster milk," not "mother's milk."
In fact, they had even been gestated by a snake surrogate mother.
As Haseo's aquaculture experiment proceeded, before anyone realized it, winter had passed and a new spring had arrived.
...
Looking from the rooftop of Haseo's home toward the back, one could see that a new district had already been completed. Though everything looked newly built, it was now a peaceful neighborhood filled with the vibrancy of daily life.
Streets, buildings, pedestrians, rising smoke from cooking fires, street vendors, and shops—all of it had become indistinguishable from normal Konoha streets.
The only real problem with this neighborhood might be its "neighbors"... One street over, there was a whole area buzzing with neon lights and noisy crowds.
That kind of lively atmosphere didn't quite fit the quiet nature of this place. Even worse, the kind of environment over there might have a bad influence on the kids growing up here... Well, one was a business district while the other was a residential area for normal people.
But honestly, those weren't big deal issues. Some kids even chose to move here, and still managed to grow into decent people, didn't they?
This day, Haseo was inspecting the maturing Samehada—creatures that had become increasingly grotesque and were beginning to resemble sea cucumbers—when he suddenly received an urgent summons.
"Lord Haseo, Lady Mito wishes to see you," Uzumaki Shikou, who had just arrived at Kagenami, conveyed the message to Haseo.
"Lady Mito?" Haseo wondered what important matter Uzumaki Mito would need him for at this time.
It had been quite a while since he last saw Uzumaki Mito, who now lived in complete seclusion.
More accurately, during these past few years, Haseo had only seen her once when she was inspecting the Uzumaki clan's residential district. Despite his deep ties with the Uzumaki clan—and Lady Mito sharing those same bonds—the two rarely crossed paths.
Therefore, when Uzumaki Mito requested his presence, it meant something significant must have occurred.
[Could it be connected to the Nine-Tails plan?]
Right now, the only reason Haseo could think of for Mito summoning him would have to do with the Nine-Tails plan.
But wasn't it still too soon to start implementing the plan?
"I understand. I will go see Lady Mito right away."
Haseo gave Uzumaki Shikou a nod without another word and left to meet Lady Mito directly. No use guessing—it'd all make sense when he saw her.
As he spoke, Haseo left the Base of Kagenami, heading toward the estate where Uzumaki Mito resided.
Since Shikou joined Kagenami, Uzumaki Mito was never truly alone. Other Uzumaki clan members also stayed close by, making sure she was well taken care of.
Even so, she showed visible signs of aging.
Time's mark was something nobody could escape from—not even the strongest ninja.
"Lady Mito."
When Haseo arrived at the courtyard, Uzumaki Mito was trimming the branches and leaves of plants growing within a flowerbed. It wouldn't be long before these plants blossomed gloriously.
In a way, he already seemed to be living a life of peaceful retirement. The only difference between him and Lady Mito was that he raised fish while she tended to flowers.
"Haseo, you're here."
Seeing that Haseo had arrived, Uzumaki Mito placed the scissors aside and motioned for Haseo to follow her.
The two entered a small pavilion in the courtyard and sat down. After a brief rest, Mito Uzumaki finally spoke to Haseo, "I asked you to come here today regarding the Nine-Tails Plan... we believe it's about time to put it into action."
So it really was about this matter.
"Lord Mito, according to the original schedule we set for the plan, isn't it a bit early now? Plus... with Lord Mito's current physical condition, can you withstand the strain of a second sealing?"
"It is indeed a bit earlier than planned, but... there's a reason for it. Although my chakra is weakening, I'm still capable of suppressing the Nine-Tails at my current state. But if we wait longer, it might become more difficult—exerting my full power will definitely contribute to the success of our plan."
It made sense to proceed with the plan while Mito still had enough strength to control her chakra. After all, with Mito helping suppress the Nine-Tails, wouldn't they be able to manipulate this most powerful tailed beast however they wanted?
Conversely, if Mito's chakra became too weak, things could go terribly wrong.
Normally, removing a tailed beast would mean death for a jinchuriki. But Mito was an exception—after all, the entire point of this plan was to split the Nine-Tails into several parts. After releasing the Nine-Tails from Mito, some people would perform sealing techniques to divide it up, and one of these separated portions would then be resealed back inside Mito.
Actually, this method could even help prolong Lady Mito's life. As she got older, her chakra weakened and grew unstable—sooner or later, she wouldn't be able to keep the Nine-Tails fully under control anymore. But if it were only an eighth of the original beast, that would be an entirely different story.
"Furthermore, during the process of splitting the Nine-Tails, certain sacrifices must be made. We can't possibly expect the younger generation to make such sacrifices. So some of us old-timers, whose time is clearly running out, are more than willing to take on this burden... the problem is, some of us don't have that kind of time left to begin with."
Haseo fell silent after hearing Lady Mito's words, the weight of what she said settling over him. After all, this plan required members of the Uzumaki clan to give their lives, and since he was the one who proposed it, he bore a certain responsibility for those lives.
The lives of comrades willingly sacrificed carry a fundamentally different weight than the lives of enemies taken without hesitation on the battlefield.
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