Kaien's eyes widened. "So this… this is a separate dimension."
Benihime nodded. "Genbu never offered the contract to outsiders. Our clan was the only one who holds it. And I am its current contract after the death of my father."
So that was why she fought differently, why she radiated an aura unlike any standard shinobi. Her raw physicality, her speed, her instinct... these were not easily trained. They became a part of her over decades of constantly training with a reservoir of nature energy.
As they walked deeper, the scenery shifted seamlessly. The forest thickened, trees widening until they resembled ancient fortresses.
They entered a broader chamber... and Kaien froze.
Two Benihimes sat cross-legged on stone slabs.
Except these Benihimes looked twenty old ladies... not the hardened woman who he saw. Their expressions serene and eyes closed and bodies surrounded by tiny animals perched on their arms and shoulders... birds, moles, fox-like creatures... each absorbing or feeding small motes of nature energy.
Kaien blinked rapidly. "Shadow clones?"
Benihime gave a short hum of agreement. "They gather nature energy constantly and store it. Sometimes absorbing information from Genbu's creatures and maintain the ecosystem of the island, it was our clan's purpose."
Kaien tried to wrap his mind around it. His grandmother had clones storing sage energy twenty-four hours a day, few have been doing it for forty years. The amount of stored power she must possess… And yet she rarely boasted about this part of it.
She watched Kaien watching her clones and smirked at his expression.
"How do I explain it… They are extensions of me, taking energy from the environment. While I attend other matters, they also maintain connection with the dimension."
Kaien's mind started racing down. If her clones gathered sage energy… If she herself could command Genbu… If she could use battle instinct, weapon mastery, and a tailed-beast-level partner like Bee…
"Granny," he finally asked, honest curiosity winning, "just how strong are you?"
Benihime raised a brow as she thought. "It is… hard to say." She lifted a hand and flexed her fingers. Chakra shimmered faintly.
"Genbu is my summon. I can enter sage mode. I wield battle spirit. And mastery of all traditional weapons. I have few more tricks up my sleeve. I am very strong."
Kaien swallowed. His frustration broke through. "Then why didn't you stay in the village during the war? If you were there, we would have won everything in one stroke!"
Benihime stopped walking. Turned to face him fully. Her expression softened with understanding... but did not apologize.
"I stayed because the jinchūriki of Konoha was in my care. If she panicked, or died, or broke her seal, the Nine-Tails would be released in the heart of the Land of Lightning. Where do you think its rampage would go? Who would suffer? "
Kaien was silent. Benihime continued, voice patient but firm:
"I also left the village few decades ago to maintain Genbu. This dimension requires constant balance. And I trusted your grandfather. His strength surpasses almost anyone alive. I knew he could handle village affairs. I trusted his judgment."
Her explanation didn't erase the frustration, but it grounded it. Kaien lowered his gaze.
"I know," he said. "I just... wish you didn't have to be away."
Benihime placed a hand on his head. "One day, you will understand these roles better."
They continued deeper, Genbu adjusting its terrain to guide them. The air grew warmer, the ground smoother. The light dimmed into a deeper golden hue. They approached the surgical chambers... natural caverns where chakra-infused bone formed operating platforms.
"We'll prepare your grandfather here for the next procedure."
Kaien nodded, slipping instantly into tactical mode despite the surreal surroundings.
But then something else caught in his peripheral vision. At least fifty meters ahead... twenty Benihimes. Each one was in different ages. All meditating or performing specific motions. Some looked fifteen, she should learned it quite an early age. Others elderly.
Kaien stopped breathing. He whispered, "Granny… how…"
Benihime didn't even look. "Some are clones from different stages of my life. Each gathers what I gathered at that age. Each trains something my real body cannot afford to waste time on."
He stared at her with growing disbelief. "You're… a monster."
Benihime chuckled. "Only to my enemies."
As they reached the central platform, Genbu raised a smooth operating table carved directly from its living tissue. The Raikage was laid atop it gently.
"Bring the bone marrow," she instructed.
Kaien fetched the sealed container containing the extracted tissue from Kushina. It pulsed faintly with dormant vitality. Benihime began arranging tools... some forged metal, some complex tools shaped by Genbu's tissue. The variety reminded Kaien that medical ninjutsu here transcended normal measures.
Kaien exhaled slowly. He was standing inside a hidden sage land.
Benihime said, "Kai". One of her younger clones went poof.
--
Benihime's face shifted as she entered Sage Mode fully... three clean, sharp lines marking each cheek with perfect symmetry. No animal-like mutation and nothing that hinted at imbalance. Kaien stared at her, realizing what those markings truly meant.
She's a perfect sage.
Her senses sharpened in an instant. The ambient nature energy bent around her body. Even animals in the dimension turned quiet as they looked at their direction.
Then she leaned over her husband. She placed her palms lightly on his chest and abdomen. Nature chakra pulsed gently beneath her hands, seeping into tissues one layer at a time. She wasn't flooding him with senjutsu... she was using it to read him.
And then the operation began. This was not a simple medical procedure. Not even close.
She first coaxed the Raikage's own marrow cells into dormancy, slowing their production cycle without halting it completely. Too much suppression, and his body would crash. Too little, and the foreign marrow would be attacked immediately. Every adjustment happened in micromovements.. gentle pulses of chakra, controlled with inhuman precision.
Kaien watched the way her fingers moved, her chakra threads thin as silk, guiding each droplet of infused essence toward the major marrow cavities of the Raikage's body.
The extracted marrow... Kushina Uzumaki tissue... glowed with a faint vitality. And she started to stitch that essence into the Raikage's body.
She opened the first cavity at the sternum, weaving chakra threads to keep blood vessels parted without rupturing them. The marrow was introduced slowly, molecule by molecule, nature chakra coaxing it to blend.
Minutes passed.
The Raikage's body fought back. His cells rejected foreign material, creating microscopic ruptures. Benihime countered each rupture individually, her eyes narrowing, Sage Mode expanding her perception down to the level of cell walls.
Two hours in, her sweat began to fall. Sage Mode maintained her stamina, but the sheer concentration required was draining even for her.
Kaien stayed silent. He stood like a soldier at attention, watching her work, absorbing everything.
Another hour passed.
Sage Mode finally flickered. Her markings dimmed. Her eyes lost the amber hue and returned to their natural black. She exhaled once... long, controlled, exhaustion woven into the breath.
Then she withdrew her hands and wiped her brow.
At last, she spoke with tiredness in her tone. "The operation is a success. In few months his blood will replaced with new blood produced by the kushina's bone marrow."
~~
A/N: After the Raikage is stabilized by Life force transfer... Benihime replaced the Raikage's bone marrow with kushina's bone marrow. Blood is produced by bone marrow, it takes 2 months to completely replace the old blood. Then the Raikage would become a Pseudo-Uzumaki.
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