Sensing Kakashi's determination, Tsunade had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
"Fine. You can come with us. But don't push yourself."
The combat squad rushed toward the ruins. When they saw the scene before them, everyone's pupils contracted.
The once-magnificent palace had been completely destroyed. At its center lay a massive crater, as if the earth itself had been blasted open.
Within a radius of more than a hundred meters, nothing remained but a sunken expanse of bare ground. Temple pillars, walls, floor tiles—every fragment of the structure had been swept away by the overwhelming force of the earlier explosion.
Standing at the center of the crater was Ryoma.
He looked calmly at the miserable figure before him.
The man's white robe and headband had been shredded by the violent shockwave. His thin body, wrapped in bandages, was now exposed. Beneath the tattered wrappings, the lower half of his face appeared shriveled and wrinkled, and when he opened his mouth, his teeth were sharp like those of a beast.
Even without seeing beneath the bandages, Ryoma could guess what lay hidden there.
The forbidden technique Chimera Technique (Kinjutsu: Chimera no Jutsu)—the art Hiruko had spent years researching—focused on the fusion of flesh and blood. Someone who had experimented with such a technique for so long must have conducted countless trials on his own body.
That alone would explain the scars covering him.
Ryoma also suspected that Hiruko's unstable and erratic personality was the result of both physical and psychological corruption caused by those prolonged experiments.
At this moment, Hiruko stared at Ryoma with a sickly expression.
A strange, rasping laugh escaped his throat.
"Impressive… Ever since I perfected the Chimera Technique, you're the first person who has forced me this far…"
As he spoke, his voice gradually trailed off. His gaze shifted past Ryoma—and suddenly froze.
Because he saw the woman standing beside Kakashi.
Tsunade.
His former friend.
And his enemy.
"Tsunade… I didn't expect we would meet again."
Hiruko stared at her coldly, killing intent surging from his body.
"Hiruko," Tsunade said with a frown, "you've been walking the wrong path for far too long. Stop this. Don't harm any more innocent people."
Seeing her former teammate reduced to such a grotesque, inhuman state, Tsunade couldn't help but feel a trace of regret.
"Shut up!"
Hiruko roared.
The wind around him howled as he took a deep breath, memories flashing through his mind.
Back then, when he worked alongside Tsunade, he had always envied her overwhelming talent.
So what if he researched the Chimera Technique to change his fate?
This world had never been fair.
Everything had to be fought for.
Shinobi were killers by profession. Compared to the countless lives lost on the battlefield under the command of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the few people who died in his experiments were insignificant.
Yet Sarutobi had self-righteously condemned him—and even sent three shinobi to eliminate him.
"What a bunch of hypocrites."
Whether it was Sarutobi or Tsunade, Hiruko would never forgive those who had once persecuted him.
"But it's good that you came," Hiruko said with a twisted grin. "Now I won't have to go all the way to Konoha to find you."
"Let's all die here together!"
He took a step forward.
With each step, the rubble around him began to rise into the air. The bandages wrapped around his body also floated upward, as though gravity itself had lost its hold.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Countless bandages suddenly hardened and elongated, transforming into sharp blades.
They shot outward, extending dozens of meters as they pierced toward Tsunade and the others.
"Bang!"
The reinforcements were all elite shinobi. They instantly scattered to avoid the attack, their bodies flashing away in different directions.
At the same time, they launched their own ninjutsu in counterattack.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Lightning Release: Falling Thunder!"
A barrage of ninjutsu surged toward Hiruko, filling the sky with flames, violent wind, and crackling lightning.
Facing the overwhelming attack, Hiruko showed no trace of fear. Instead, a twisted smile appeared on his face.
"Ninjutsu… is meaningless against me."
He opened his mouth wide. A terrifying suction force erupted from his body, swallowing the incoming ninjutsu one after another as if they had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
Flames, wind, lightning—everything was absorbed into his body.
Then Hiruko raised his right hand.
"Storm Release: Thundercloud Inner Wave!"
Dark thunderclouds instantly formed in the sky above. In the next moment, more than a dozen bolts of lightning crashed down toward the shinobi below.
"Be careful!"
Tsunade shouted a warning.
But before the lightning could strike, a black figure suddenly appeared in front of them.
It was Ryoma.
He stepped forward calmly and waved one hand.
"Wood Release: Wood Style—Wooden Ingot Wall!"
A row of thick wooden pillars erupted from the ground. They bent and curved overhead, forming a sturdy arch-like barrier.
The descending lightning struck the wooden wall and was completely blocked.
The battlefield shook with the impact, but none of the shinobi behind Ryoma were harmed.
"Don't attack recklessly," Ryoma said calmly. "This guy can absorb chakra."
With that, he leapt forward and landed at the center of the battlefield.
Facing Hiruko directly, Ryoma's expression remained indifferent.
"How much chakra can you absorb?" he asked.
Hiruko was momentarily stunned by the question.
Before he could react, a massive wooden fist suddenly crashed toward him.
"Still using ninjutsu?" Hiruko sneered. "Don't you understand? Your ninjutsu is useless against me."
He raised both hands.
At the center of each palm was a strange circular mark—the absorption seals created by the Chimera Technique. Through them, Hiruko could break down any ninjutsu into pure chakra and absorb it into his own body.
As the wooden fist approached, the seals activated.
The Wood Release chakra was rapidly absorbed into Hiruko's body.
But the moment the chakra entered him, his expression changed.
His body suddenly felt heavy.
"What… is this?"
In the past, his body had been like a bottomless pit, endlessly devouring chakra like a black hole.
Yet now, after absorbing only a single attack, he felt an uncomfortable sense of fullness.
His body felt bloated… saturated.
A trace of fear quietly rose in Hiruko's heart.
(End of Chapter)
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