[Don't have patience to wait, so here ya go, a chap. But no more generosity.]
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A huge room that smelled of blood, milk, and disinfectant. Not the clean smell of a hospital, but something far rotten.
A woman lay naked on the ground, her legs still spread, her body trembling from the aftershocks of birth. Her eyes were empty and fixed on the ceiling.
She had stopped counting the days a long time ago.
She had stopped counting the number of children they had taken from her.
Her name was irrelevant now.
She was simply "Breeder 47."
A Root agent, his face hidden behind a plain porcelain mask, reached between her legs and pulled out the baby.
It was a girl.
Small, wrinkled, and silent because the agent had clamped its mouth shut before it could cry.
"Another female," he said with his voice flat then he placed the newborn on a metal scale. "Healthy. 3.2 kilos. Tag her and move her to the nursery." He said to another agent who nodded and did what was said.
A few meters away, many other women of all ages and swollen stomachs sat chained to metal rings fixed into the wall. Some held their knees against their chests, and some just lay there waiting for death that wouldn't come any time soon.
From age 7 to 30, all were pregnant and rested weakly against cold concrete, conserving what little energy they had left.
They barely wore any clothing for in this place, except for giving birth and looking like a good breedable tool nothing else mattered.
Their bodies full of bruises faded beside newer bruises. Bandage wrapped wrists rubbed raw by restraints.
They watched the root agent clean the baby coldly without any emotion whatsoever. One of them, a woman with brown hair and a bruise on her cheek, whispered something under her breath.
The agent looked up as a sign to be quiet, which made some of them flinch, and some others too dead inside to care anymore.
"aghh... aghhh... aghhh,"
In the same huge room, you could hear the sound of flesh and screaming as some women were in the middle of being raped which was a daily routine in this place.
There were rows of bassinets stretched into the dark corners of this room. Some held sleeping infants and others were empty and waiting.
A different agent, this one wearing a cat mask, walked between the rows with a clipboard, making notes. Every few steps, she paused to examine a baby's eyes, limbs, and breathing.
"Twenty males and the remaining females." She marked the paper. "All within acceptable parameters. Danzo-sama will be pleased."
A low moan came from somewhere deeper in the huge room. The sound of another woman in labor and another child being forced into the world to serve the will of one man.
The cat-masked agent did not look up and continued to take notes and turned to another agent not far from her.
"Danzo-sama's new order is that, at age 3 forward, the female infants with talent will get proper care. Some will be added to the breeding program while others with good looks for Ninja and honey trap related training." She said and the other root agent nodded.
"The males?" The root agent asked.
"More soldiers, and dispose of the useless ones and harvest their organs to sell in the black market or for use in experiments." She replied.
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*Bang!*
Danzo struck the table in front of him, sending scrolls scattering. His single eye burned with frustration.
"Damn! We missed this great opportunity!" he cried.
"Owl!" he called out then a Root agent materialized from the shadows and knelt.
"Yes, Danzo-sama!" The voice was flat and emotionless.
"Did you get the recipes for those new foods the Akimichi are selling now?" Danzo asked, irritation creeping into his tone.
"Danzo-sama, the people preparing the dishes are sealed. The moment someone tries to tamper with their minds to extract the information, the memory of those specific recipes is erased. We have kidnapped several civilian chefs and even some Akimichi clan cooks, but none of them remembered anything when we tried to probe their minds using Yamanaka clan techniques. The GMA has also increased Samurai and Ashigaru patrols around the Heaven's Feel supply routes to extreme degrees. Any attempt to intercept shipments has been met with armed resistance."
Danzo's eye narrowed.
The GMA and their Samurai dogs were everywhere now. They had turned the merchant trade into a fortress, and every failed attempt to breach it was another victory for the Shogun.
"If we could steal those recipes," Danzo said through gritted teeth, "we could replicate the same restaurant chain concept across the Land of Fire and solve our budget deficit. Our financial resources are insufficient to cover our planned operations, acquisitions, and expenses. The GMA has choked our traditional revenue streams. Even bribing officials has become more expensive because the Samurai's hate for us has reached madness levels all because of those damned books created by that useless boy. This food business was revolutionary. It could have given us the funds we need to fight back against both the GMA and the Samurai."
*Bam!*
He slammed his fist on the table again. "We missed a golden opportunity."
Owl remained silent and his head bowed.
"What about the useless boy?" Danzo asked, referring to Garou.
"Genjutsu and mind manipulation do not work on him, Danzo-sama." The agent said a little fearfully.
"Then aren't you a little more useless than I thought?" Danzo narrowed his eye at the agent who flinched.
"Please, Danzo-sama–"
*Splash!*
Danzo watched Owl's head fly through the air and roll across the floor.
The body collapsed, and blood spurted from the neck.
"Tiger!" he called.
Another ninja appeared and knelt.
"Get rid of this trash immediately." Danzo stood and began walking toward the exit.
"Cat!" he called again.
A female Root agent in a cat mask fell into step behind him.
"Is what that trash said true?" Danzo asked as they passed through the dim corridors.
"Yes, Danzo-sama. We have attempted to place him under genjutsu many times, and we have also tried to transfer a Yamanaka Root's mind to gain control of his body. None of it worked. There is no chakra or tenketsu for our invading chakra to latch onto. His body is like a void."
Danzo raised an eyebrow. "Threat level?"
"From what we gathered during his brief academy days, his threat level is high chunin, Danzo-sama."
"Anything else?"
"There is nothing more eye-catching about him other than what we gathered."
Danzo felt a flicker of disappointment because he had hoped for something more. "Forget about him. Continue trying to steal the recipes, but be cautious of the GMA's Samurai escorts inside and outside Konoha, especially that cursed district. They have become more aggressive. Any encounter could draw unwanted attention."
Danzo thought that he really should start doing something major about the GMA and the Samurais without suffering loses that much. He loathed that some weak organization and fighters could suppress them, the ninjas, to this magnitude without fighting for it or lifting a finger.
He will destroy them for sure, and he has many ideas in how to do so, but nothing concrete yet.
"Yes, Danzo-sama."
"When will Kagami's eyes be ready for transplant?"
"The scientists estimate another two weeks, Danzo-sama."
"Good." It had been a while since he had assassinated Kagami Uchiha by personally leading the whole root and some help from Hiruzen's Anbu.
The sacrifices were great in that battle, but necessary.
The Mangekyo Sharingan could not fall into the wrong hands. Those eyes were safer with him.
"What is the situation in the Land of Mountains?" Relations with Kagero Village were deteriorating.
"It is worsening, but not as quickly as you wanted, Danzo-sama."
"Good, when the time is right, apply more pressure. Slowly sell information to Suna in a way that will push them into starting a war with us." He narrowed his eye at her. "Understood?"
This war would weaken the other villages and undermine Hiruzen's authority, while giving us an excuse to go to war as self defence since the Damiyo may not let us do as we wish otherwise.
It would also distract the Samurai, forcing the Damiyo to recall his patrols to protect the borders instead of surrounding the Konoha territories.
Then Danzo could move freely.
"Hai, Danzo-sama."
"What happened to the second batch of children?" he asked coldly.
The root agent replied, "Out of many women, thirty-five delivered successfully. 15 had miscarriages. And others died from blood loss after birth, mostly those women under 10 years old."
Danzo nodded. "How many females?"
"Twenty males and the remaining were females."
"Hmm, suspend the breeding of the current women until we determine the talent and which child is from which parent. Then we can breed them again with stronger male donors accordingly."
"Hai, Danzo-sama."
"Everything for Konoha," Danzo muttered as he emerged from the hidden passage into his mansion.
He straightened his robes and began walking toward the Hokage building, already thinking of his next move against the GMA and the Samurai, and convince Hiruzen to carry out the operation with him.
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Garou's POV/
"Worlds?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, worlds. That is the closest I can describe them. They are arranged in strange patterns, some clustered, some spread apart. And they emit different colors," Katsuyu replied, tilting her massive head.
I looked down at my hands and grinning wide.
I cannot wait to unseal my Cosmic Form. But alas, there is still a long road ahead until I reach it.
"Hmm, you know what those dots are?" she observed my expression.
I nodded.
"Good. May I ask some questions now?"
"Yes."
"Then can you please tell me what you are?" Katsuyu asked politely.
"My kind are called Mysterious Beings. Monsters, mostly."
"Plural? Are there others?"
"Me and my dog."
"So you are the origin of your kind." She tilted her head. "Interesting. You remind me of Hagoromo, but he was not as pureblooded of a species as you. I can still feel a tiny part of you that is human, though."
I shrugged, ignoring the disgust that thought brought.
I have started to dislike my human side more and more lately, which feels strange.
"Are your intentions evil toward humans or the world?" she asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I can see a very dark and evil aura around you. If you had gone to the other two Sage regions, they would have tried to kill you."
"Then why aren't you doing the same?"
"Mito spoke to me about you before. She is equally sensitive and still gave you her granddaughter. So I wanted to test the waters first. You are not as aggressive as your aura suggests."
"As long as no one brings trouble to me, I won't bring trouble to them." I replied with a shrug.
"With that aside, you cannot become our summoner." Katsuyu added.
I frowned. "Why?"
"How can you summon me without chakra?"
Fair point, but it made me disappointed. Being here was originally that horny dog's idea... Miller. Because apparently, he had a crush on Katsuyu's personality and voice or something and wanted her by his side.
But for me, outside her checking on my SEAL, being here was because no one knows when you need someone, and Katsuyu was a breath of fresh air because she was a neutral creature and a medic who helped whenever you needed her.
Especially, I needed her in case those Toads went full force on me one day out of nowhere before I was ready.
"Is there no other way to become my summon–" An idea sparked suddenly as I stopped speaking and looked at the huge size of Katsuyu.
Then I grinned which made Katsuyu flinch suddenly, "I have a deal for you, Lady Katsuyu."
Katsuyu looked at me suspiciously. "What deal?"
"I want some favors from you. When I call, you will not question and you will simply do as I say." I said and even with no eyes, she looked like she looked at me as if I was dumb.
"I will not even ask how unreasonable that is. What do you offer in return?"
I smiled.
"Let me touch your body."
She became surprised "Excuse me?"
"Not like that, I mean... let me put my hand on you and let me give you something. A gift you may call. If you do not like it, you can refuse the deal. But if you do like it, you will agree to my terms."
She looked at me for a long time.
The little slugs around her started moving again, crawling up her sides, whispering to her in sounds I could not hear. She was talking to them and consulting them.
Wait, doesn't she technically just consulting herself?
Anyways, I waited.
Finally, she nodded. "Very well. You may touch me. But if you try anything harmful, sorry for saying this but I will crush you without hesitation."
"I would expect nothing less." I replied with a smirk. I had nowhere to run to anyways. This place was like a dimension and I was at her mercy since I came here.
I walked towards her.
The closer I got, the bigger she seemed. Her body blocked out the sky. Her soft, slimy skin glistened in the light that filtered through the bamboo.
Then I reached out and placed my palm on her.
Then immediately, a chill ran down my spine. Because I could feel it, one wrong move and I would be dead.
Her killing intent was even superior to Kurama's. And I didn't know how that was possible since Katsuyu didn't look like the person who killed frequently.
Anyways, she felt warm.
Warmer than I expected and very soft. Like pressing my hand into a pile of wet clay.
"Now what Garou-san?" she asked.
"Now I need you to stay still. Do not resist and whatever you feel, let it happen."
"That sounds ominous Garou-san." She said sarcastically.
"It is not dangerous, I swear on my life."
She stared at me.
Then she nodded.
Finally, I closed my eyes and focused on a drop of blood inside my fingertip.
Then I used one of my instinctual and racial skills...
Humanoid Shifting.
I pictured the form in my mind, a form of a woman.
The skin and muscles parted ways and blood left my finger and entered Katsuyu's body.
Then I backed away.
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20 Minutes Later/
We waited patiently so the virus inside my blood could cover her huge body.
Finally, something changed.
"Hmmm, I can feel your blood is changing somethin–" She stopped.
A twitch.
Her body shuddered.
Not a small shake but a deep, rolling tremor that started at her head and traveled down to her tail.
*Crack!!!!*
The ground beneath her cracked immediately.
"W...what?!" Her voice wavered.
*Vrroomm!*
Then another tremor passed by her body.
*vrrrrooooom!*
Then another one but harder this time and her skin rippled like water like when you throw a big rock into a pond.
*Vrrooooomm!!*
"What is happening to me?!" she asked, and for the first time, I heard something in her voice that was not calm or gentle but slightly fearful which made me feel a tiny bit of pity before shrugging.
I didn't answer her and just watched as she began to pulse like a heartbeat.
Then her body started to swell slowly.
"W...what?!"
A bulge here, a bulge there, then like a plague it became faster and faster as her whole body beat like a drum. Her skin stretched and pulled and the blue streaks on her back grew wider, brighter.
"W..hat di...d y...ou do?!!" She tried to move and use her nature energy to expel the virus but to no vail.
Her huge body lurched forward, but she was too heavy now and too swollen. Her tentacles flailed in the air, slapping against the ground, sending dirt and rocks flying towards me.
*Swoosh thud Swoosh thud!*
I jumped back to avoid being hit.
"I can..not... I ca...nnot con...trol my b...ody," she said and her voice was cracking. "It fee...ls like... like so....mething is eati...ng me fro...m the ins...ide."
The nature energy that trued to desperately heal her had stopped completely.
Her skin started to change color. From white to pale pink then pink to deep red. The blue streaks on her back turned purple, then black and started to pulse like veins.
The little slugs that covered the forest floor began to move towards her in haste in hundreds, then thousands.
They slid across the dirt, up her sides, into her skin. Each one merged with a wet, sucking sound.
*Plap Plap Plap.*
Katsuyu screamed and choked with a gurgling sound.
"It hu...rts! It hu..rts so m..uch!" She was practically crying like a little girl.
Okay now I feel slightly bad. Though, I thought slugs didn't have a solid nervous system to feel pain.
"You can do it." I mildly encouraged as I watched the transformation with interest.
Katsuyu was basically my lab rat. She was my first subject which I have tried this on.
Her innocent and soft nature made her agree to this naively.
Or maybe it was arrogance in thinking that someone on my level wouldn't ever be able to harm her.
"I sho...uldn't have agre..ed!" She choked. As she tried very hardly to weakly weave seals and formulas I have seen Mito do to try and fight of the changes, but my virus seem to not care about anything and just invaded without pause.
The bigger slugs then started coming too. The ones the size of dogs, the ones the size of horses and houses. They threw themselves at her body and dissolved into her flesh.
Each one made her grow larger and more unstable.
Her shape was changing.
No longer a smooth slug but now she had lumps and bumps everywhere. Her tentacles were gone, replaced by stubby, twitching nubs.
"I canno...t s..ee!" she said with a voice full of fear. "My e...yes... my eyes are m...oving."
Her huge eyes were sliding across her head. One was going to the left, and one was going up.
I backed away further as her body swelled to twice its original size.
Then three times, then five.
She blotted out the sun and I had to run many miles in the far back just to barely see her whole shape.
She was like a balloon now about to pop.
Any second, she might pop.
But she did not pop.
Instead, her skin started to split. Little cracks appeared all over her body. Not deep cuts but thin lines where the skin stretched too much.
Light started to glow from inside those cracks.
Red light.
Orange light.
Then yellow.
Like magma under the ground.
Steam started pouring out of the cracks. Hot white steam that hissed and curled into the air. It covered the ground like fog and I could barely see my own hands as the fog and the heat reached me from this far very quickly.
Her body began to shrink without me being able to see because of the fog.
Slowly and inch by inch. Her massive frame deflated and the steam got thicker and hotter.
I had to cover my face and go Monster form to protect myself.
*Ssssssssssssssssss!*
The sound was like meat hitting a frying pan.
She was shrinking faster now and her body crumpled in on itself. The cracks on her body widened and the light inside grew brighter.
Her body collapsed like an empty bag falling to the ground and the steam exploded outward in a huge cloud and I was thrown backward violently like a ragdoll because of the sheer force.
*Thud Bammm!*
I hit the ground hard and my head spun for a moment before coming back to my senses.
I pushed myself up.
The steam was still everywhere and I could not see anything.
Where is she?
I waited for a long moment and the steam cleared slowly.
The fog lifted finally and I stood at the edge of a huge crater spanning many kilometres where her body had been.
The ground was cracked and dry and nothing moved.
I looked around but I saw no trace of Katsuyu.
Where is she?
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Rokushiki: Soru!
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I used one of my footworks, hitting the ground many times in less than a second to dash like a bullet into the crater.
The smoke was still thick near the center but I ran through it with my eyes scanning left and right.
Then I felt her.
A very strong presence, but different from before.
It felt smaller, denser, and more focused.
I ran toward it.
The smoke slowly parted.
And finally, I saw her which made me freeze in my place.
She was standing in the middle of the crater. A woman no taller than Tsunade. Her hair was pure white, and cut short in a bob that framed her face. Her eyes were blue-gray, deep, insanely beautiful and clear. She had a beauty mark below the left side of her lips.
And she was completely naked. Her skin was pale and smooth, and her body was perfect with curves in every right place.
"What in the fuck!" I muttered to myself as I looked at her with eyes wide open.
Katsuyu looked down at her own hands. She turned them over. She touched her face. She ran her fingers through her short white hair.
"I... I am..." She looked up at me. Her blue-gray eyes were wide in complete shock. "W.... w...what have you done to me?"
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Katsuyu's POV/
I did not know what had happened at first because the world around me had gone silent and the usual hum of the forest had vanished, replaced by a strange ringing in my ears that I had never experienced before.
Then I realized I was lying on something hard and uneven, and when I tried to move, my body responded in a way that felt completely foreign because instead of sliding or oozing, I had to push with limbs I did not recognize.
I sat up slowly with my head spinning, and that was when I looked down at myself and saw pale smooth skin where slime and slug flesh should have been.
The sight made my breath catch in my throat. I had hands now, real hands with fingers and knuckles and nails.
I curled them into fists and opened them again just to watch the tendons move under the skin.
The strangest part was that I could feel everything, every grain of dirt beneath my palms, every breeze that brushed against my arms.
I touched my face next because I had to know what I looked like, and my fingers found a small nose and soft lips and cheekbones that had never been there before.
When I blinked, I felt eyelashes graze against my fingertips, a sensation so delicate and new that I nearly cried.
I looked down further and saw that I had a chest with two round breasts, soft and heavy in a way that felt both alien and intimate, and below that a narrow waist and wide hips that curved outward like the edge of a riverbank.
Then I saw two long legs that ended in feet with ten toes, and I wiggled them one by one just to prove they were mine.
I stood up slowly because my legs were shaking and I had never stood before in all my tenths of thousands of years, but I managed to keep my balance by spreading my arms out like a bird learning to fly.
I placed a hand over my chest because I could feel something beating inside, a steady thump thump thump that I had never possessed when I was a slug, and that heartbeat made me feel more real than anything I had ever experienced in my entire existence.
I felt more alive than all the centuries of rain and sunlight and wind on my slimy skin combined.
A tear rolled down my cheek and I wiped it away with the back of my hand, but the tears wouldn't stop, and I was surprised by the wetness and the saltiness and the fact that I could produce tears at all.
I realized that I was crying not from fear but from wonder, from the sheer impossibility of standing here in this human body after so long as a creature of the dirt.
I flexed my new fingers again and wiggled my toes and turned my hands over to study my palms, and I thought about how I had watched the world change from the ground for thousands of years.
I had seen nations rise and fall and the Sage himself grow old and die, but I had never felt like a participant in any of it until now.
My power was still there, deep inside me, maybe even stronger than before, but it felt different, compressed and focused like a river that had been forced through a narrow gorge.
I knew that I would need time to understand this new body and this new form.
I did not know if I should thank Garou or hate him for what he had done because he had changed me forever without asking for my permission, but as I stood there in the crater with the sun warming my pale skin I realized that I felt something I had never felt before.
It was a strange flicker of gratitude mixed with fear and excitement and a thousand other emotions that slugs could barely experience.
I was not a slug anymore!
I was not a slug anymore!
I was not a slug anymore!
I was.not. a.slug.anymore!
Katsuyu POV End.
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[Katsuyu Picture]
The End.
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