Several months quietly slipped by.
During this period, Kiyohara finally succeeded in completely integrating the last portion of Tailed Beast Chakra within his body. The chakra belonged to the Six-Tails, Saiken, and was exceptionally viscous and dense. After spending so much time refining and assimilating it, Kiyohara had finally managed to fuse every last trace of it into his physical body.
Now, whenever he closed his eyes, he could clearly sense nine different types of chakra flowing through his body side by side. At any moment, he could refine and extract the chakra belonging to any of the nine Tailed Beasts.
In other words, Kiyohara now possessed the special characteristics of all nine Tailed Beasts.
The One-Tail had strengthened Kiyohara's Wind Release, and Magnet Release.
The Two-Tails had strengthened his Fire Release.
The Three-Tails had strengthened his Water Release.
The Four-Tails had given him access to Lava Release and further enhanced his Earth Release.
The Five-Tails had granted Kiyohara another Kekkei Genkai, namely Boil Release. At the same time, Kiyohara could use this power to greatly increase his physical strength.
Even Naruto's "Unparalleled Strength" during the Six Paths era relied on the chakra of the Five-Tails.
The difference was that Kiyohara could now continuously refine this power from within his own body. It was as if he had obtained an inexhaustible spring, one that would never run dry.
The Six-Tails, meanwhile, granted Kiyohara access to highly corrosive acidic liquids and gases similar to the corrosive properties of Lava Release.
It also gave him access to a technique known as "Leech."
This technique allowed Kiyohara to transform into a serpentine form and surge forward to attack.
If the attack struck his opponent, he could wrap himself around them and constrict them with tremendous force, crushing them in a deadly coil. Afterward, he could release a cloud of highly corrosive acidic gas at the location.
The acidic gas would linger on the battlefield for a certain period of time. It could also be used to enhance the bubbles produced while Kiyohara was in human form. Once those enhanced bubbles struck an opponent, they would inflict continuous poison damage.
Furthermore, while in the Tailed Beast Cloak state, highly corrosive liquid would continuously secrete from Kiyohara's body, essentially giving him a built-in source of poisonous damage.
These were abilities that Utakata also possessed. However, he had never had the opportunity to use them. Kiyohara's overwhelming strength had defeated him before he could properly display his abilities, leaving him with no chance to put them to use.
The Seven-Tails, meanwhile, greatly increased Kiyohara's agility and flexibility.
As for the remaining abilities, they came from the Eight-Tails.
The Eight-Tails further strengthened Kiyohara's fuinjutsu techniques, allowing him to use ink as a medium for sealing. It also significantly enhanced his body's ability to regenerate severed limbs.
Now, even if Kiyohara's brain or heart were struck directly, he would not necessarily die immediately. His body could continuously heal itself until the damaged organs had completely recovered.
As for the remaining Nine-Tails, it did not grant him any particularly unique ability.
However, it increased Kiyohara's total chakra by the greatest amount.
His chakra reserves had reached a level where he could transmit massive quantities of Tailed Beast Chakra to others without placing any meaningful burden on himself.
His chakra reserves had long since exceeded anything that could be measured by the standards of an ordinary shinobi. The amount was so enormous that even Kiyohara himself could no longer be bothered to estimate it.
It could be said that Kiyohara had already become the strongest person beneath the Six Paths level.
He could even contend with certain Six Paths-level opponents.
Some of the weaker individuals standing at the threshold of the Six Paths level would not be Kiyohara's opponents if he went all out.
After all, the power of the Tailed Beasts was merely icing on the cake for Kiyohara.
If he used the power of the Tenseigan, he could directly rise to a level that was not weak even among Six Paths-level beings.
The Tailed Beast Chakra also happened to provide the Tenseigan with a much greater and more sustainable energy supply, greatly extending the duration for which Kiyohara could maintain its power.
At this moment, Kiyohara stood before the operating platform at the deepest part of the laboratory.
He lowered his head and looked at the artificial Tailed Beast shell inside the cultivation tank.
The artificial body was approximately one meter in size. Its surface was covered with countless tiny patterns of fuinjutsu seals and special techniques. The intricate markings slowly pulsed within the nutrient solution, and with every pulse, a ring of ripples spread across the surface of the tank.
Kiyohara raised his hand and slowly injected a force containing the combined chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts into the artificial shell.
At first, everything remained stable.
The technique patterns covering the surface of the shell gradually illuminated with nine different colors of light.
However, this stability lasted for less than two minutes.
Fine cracks suddenly began to appear across the surface of the shell.
The cracks spread downward from the top, and dazzling white light seeped out from every fracture.
The pressure indicator inside the cultivation tank began fluctuating wildly.
Warning lights started flashing.
Kiyohara immediately withdrew his chakra.
The cracks covering the shell slowly healed, but the traces of those fractures remained on the surface. They looked like countless scars that could never be completely erased.
"It still can't withstand it."
Rin stood beside him, her brows tightly furrowed.
"No matter how much we strengthen the biological material, it is extremely difficult for it to withstand a chakra impact of this level at the molecular level."
Kiyohara listened to Rin's explanation and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Unless they could find a foundational material that had originally come from the Ten-Tails itself, something capable of resonating with Tailed Beast power on the chakra level, it would be extremely difficult to create a vessel capable of bearing this power.
Although the existence of Gelel Stone had already greatly increased the strength of the artificial Tailed Beast's vessel, Kiyohara could now even attempt to clone a new artificial Nine-Tails.
But when it came to the Ten-Tails, it was still not enough.
After all, this was the ultimate power of this world.
Kiyohara was not disappointed.
The Ten-Tails represented an entirely different level of existence.
To put it simply, if the One-Tail and the Ten-Tails were placed together, one could only say that the Ten-Tails and its animal friends were together.
The difference between them was simply too enormous.
As for the full power of the Ten-Tails, at present, only Kaguya truly knew what it was capable of.
Kiyohara moved his hand away from the cultivation tank and fell into thought for a moment.
"Could it still be the 'Demonic Statue of the Outer Path'?"
Rin blinked.
She did not understand why Kiyohara had suddenly brought that up.
To be honest, Rin already thought Kiyohara's plan was completely insane.
She had never understood why he wanted to combine the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts together.
What benefit could possibly come from doing something like that?
Kiyohara did not bother explaining further.
He merely instructed Rin to continue maintaining the stability of the vessel and wait for his return.
Then he turned around and walked out of the laboratory.
He eventually returned to the Hokage's office.
Night had already fallen.
Moonlight filtered through the blinds and scattered across the floor.
"Black Zetsu."
Black Zetsu emerged from the ground.
His expression was noticeably more excited than usual today. His yellow eyes glittered with barely restrained anticipation.
"How has the Akatsuki been moving recently?"
Kiyohara asked.
Black Zetsu's voice was hoarse as he replied, "Orochimaru's production of the Impure World Reincarnation Jinchūriki forces has already entered its final stage. At least three flying fortresses have completed their weapons installation and armament. Obito and Madara have both been missing recently. It seems they are searching for something."
He paused.
"But none of that matters. What about your side? The chakra of the nine Tailed Beasts has already been completely adapted to your body, and the artificial Tailed Beast vessel should..."
"The vessel can't withstand it."
Kiyohara interrupted him.
"I need a portion of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as the base material. The Demonic Statue is the shell of the Ten-Tails. In essence, it originates from the same source as Tailed Beast Chakra."
"Only by using it as a buffer layer will the vessel be able to withstand the qualitative transformation produced when the nine different types of chakra are fused together."
Black Zetsu fell silent for a moment.
Then he slowly nodded.
"The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is currently in Nagato's hands. Do you want me to retrieve it?"
"No need."
Kiyohara rose from the Hokage's chair and walked toward the window.
"As for Nagato, I'll go there myself."
…
The sky above the Land of Rain remained the same as always.
It was perpetually gray and gloomy.
Fine threads of rain silently fell from the leaden clouds, soaking the entire land until everything was covered in a layer of wetness.
Kiyohara passed through the curtain of rain and landed on top of an abandoned tower on the outskirts of Amegakure.
The last time he had come here, Amegakure had still been the core headquarters of the Akatsuki.
Now, however, the balance of power in this land had undergone subtle changes.
Konan stepped out from the shadows on the other side of the tower.
She was not wearing her ANBU vest today.
Instead, she had changed back into the black cloak of the Akatsuki.
The rain had soaked her short purple hair, and several strands of blue hair clung to her delicate face.
"Yahiko has already taken the people willing to follow him and moved to the former site of Amegakure. It is the same ruined area that Hanzo destroyed back then."
"Nagato and those missing-nin have remained at the original base. The two sides have essentially split completely, although they have not come into direct conflict yet."
Konan paused.
Her eyes turned toward Kiyohara.
"As for Akatsukigakure, Yahiko is very grateful to you. He said that without Konoha supporting them from behind, it would have been extremely difficult to accomplish all of this."
"Take me there."
Kiyohara said.
Konan nodded.
She opened an umbrella and walked into the rain alongside Kiyohara.
The former site of Amegakure was located in a valley deep within the Land of Rain.
After Hanzo's death, the remnants of Amegakure and the Akatsuki had fought a brutal battle here. More than half of the village had been reduced to ruins.
Dark green moss covered the remaining broken walls.
Wild grass, nearly half a person's height, had grown between the scattered stones.
Yahiko had brought several hundred followers with him and constructed temporary tents and wooden shelters throughout the ruins. It could barely be considered the foundation of a village.
However, the place was still crude and dilapidated.
The temporary shelters leaked from nearly every direction, and the wind could easily pass through them.
Kiyohara stood in the middle of the ruins and raised his right hand.
Wood Release Chakra surged from his palm and flowed into the earth.
The ground began to tremble violently with Kiyohara at its center.
Countless thick trees suddenly burst out from the soil.
Their trunks rapidly grew upward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Deep underground, the roots intertwined with one another, locking together the fractured foundations and stabilizing the ground.
Between the growing trunks, wood automatically intertwined and formed walls and roofs.
Spaces for windows and doorframes were naturally left behind as the wooden structures took shape.
One wooden house after another seemed to grow directly from the earth, lining both sides of the valley in neat rows.
The entire process took less than ten minutes.
The ruins that had previously been filled with destruction were transformed into a brand-new wooden village.
The walls of the houses still retained the natural patterns of tree bark.
Tiny vines climbed across the windows, gently swaying in the rain.
The followers who had become accustomed to living in tents that leaked whenever it rained rushed out from their shelters.
They looked up in astonishment at the houses that had seemingly grown from nothing.
Konan stood behind Kiyohara.
At some point, the umbrella had slipped from her hand.
Rain fell directly onto her face, yet she did not seem to notice.
From her perception, the amount of Wood Release Chakra Kiyohara had just released was so immense that it almost caused her to hallucinate.
It was as though what she had sensed was not the chakra of a single person.
It was an enormous sea capable of moving on its own.
"How much chakra do you actually have?"
Kiyohara withdrew his hand.
The Wood Release Chakra slowly receded into his body.
"I don't know either."
At that moment, a man hurried out of the largest wooden house.
His face carried the weathered appearance that came from years of hardship, but the fire of his youth still burned brightly within his eyes.
When he saw Kiyohara, his footsteps briefly stopped.
Then he strode over.
He grabbed Kiyohara's hand with both of his own and shook it firmly.
"It's been a long time, Kiyohara. I, Yahiko, will remember this kindness."
Kiyohara looked carefully at the man before him.
This was the man who had once used his ideals to hold the Akatsuki together.
He had heard some of the story between Yahiko and Nagato from Konan.
Two close friends who had once fought side by side had gradually drifted apart because of differences in their ideals.
One insisted that peace could be achieved through diplomacy.
The other firmly believed that only through experiencing pain could humanity truly understand one another.
After that, the cracks within the Akatsuki continued to grow.
Nagato gradually became closer and closer to the group of missing nin and rogue shinobi's, while only the original group of followers remained at Yahiko's side.
The two entered one of the wooden houses.
Kiyohara accepted the cup of hot tea Yahiko handed him and listened as Yahiko intermittently recounted what had happened back then.
When the conversation reached Nagato, Yahiko remained silent for a long time.
Eventually, he lowered his head.
The hands that had always seemed to burn with determination now rested weakly upon his knees.
"Nagato believes that the only way to make other people understand one another is to first use force to make them experience the same kind of pain. He has become particularly close to those rogue shinobi. I don't know what else I can do anymore."
Kiyohara reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
"None of this is your fault. Everyone has their own path to follow."
Yahiko gave a bitter smile and raised his head.
"You came to the Land of Rain for more than just seeing the Akatsukigakure, right?"
"I want to meet Nagato."
Yahiko fell silent for a moment before placing the teacup in his hand onto the table.
"I can pass the message along for you, but whether he is willing to meet you is not something I can decide."
Yahiko did not even know whether Nagato would agree to see him.
"Then I'll trouble you."
Kiyohara nodded. He was already quite satisfied with this result.
That night, Kiyohara stayed in the still-developing Akatsukigakure.
The wooden house was simply furnished. There was a bed, a table, and a chair. An oil lamp sat on the table, its wick quietly burning inside its glass cover.
The rain was still falling outside. Raindrops struck the wooden roof, producing a deep, muffled sound that filled the otherwise quiet room.
The door was gently pushed open.
Konan walked inside.
She had changed into a set of dry casual clothes. The black robe she wore was loosely tied around her waist with a thin belt.
"I came to help you clean up."
Konan said this naturally.
After spending so much time working in the ANBU, she had already grown accustomed to bringing Kiyohara tea and water and taking care of various small matters around him.
"All right."
Kiyohara nodded.
Originally, he had been wondering whether he should return to Konoha to sleep that night. Since Konan had taken the initiative to come over, there was naturally no need for him to leave.
Seeing this, Konan walked toward the window and pulled the curtains shut. She then bent down and began cleaning the cabinet beneath the bed.
Kiyohara's gaze unconsciously settled on her.
When she bent over, the lower part of her robe tightened around her figure.
Her waist curved delicately before transitioning into the fuller contours of her hips, while the fabric stretched smoothly over her body without many wrinkles.
There was a natural fullness to her figure that belonged to a mature woman.
Konan's waist was slender, making the contrast with the curve of her hips particularly noticeable when she bent over.
It was not a part of herself that Konan had ever deliberately tried to display. Yet during the simple, ordinary movements of cleaning, those feminine curves were revealed naturally.
Konan continued wiping away the dust beneath the cabinet, but she gradually became aware that there seemed to be a gaze resting on her from behind.
The sensation made the skin on the back of her neck tighten slightly.
Knowing that Kiyohara was watching her made Konan feel inexplicably nervous.
"What are you looking at?"
Konan turned her head, intending to say something else, only to discover that Kiyohara had somehow already walked up behind her.
One of his arms wrapped gently around her waist from behind, pulling her backward.
Her back pressed against his warm chest.
Konan's heartbeat skipped for an instant.
His other hand slowly moved down from her waist and settled against the side of her hip.
Konan's body suddenly stiffened.
The moment she felt Kiyohara's touch, she seemed to lose the ability to think. Her mind went completely blank.
"Keep cleaning."
Kiyohara said calmly.
Konan did not know how she managed to continue.
She remained bent over, a faint blush already spreading across her delicate face.
Kiyohara, this terrible man!
Even the usually cool and aloof Konan could not help feeling a little like a resentful young woman at that moment.
"When you see the Akatsukigakure gradually taking shape, what do you think?"
Kiyohara asked casually.
"I'm... very happy."
Konan answered honestly.
She continued wiping the cabinet, but her movements had already become much slower than before.
Kiyohara remained behind her, one arm around her waist while his other hand rested against her hip.
Her breathing gradually became more uneven, and the hand wiping the cabinet began to tremble slightly.
Her normally calm and cold expression was now covered with an unmistakable flush.
"Now that the Akatsukigakure exists, ordinary civilians won't have to become shinobi just to survive. They'll be able to settle down and live peaceful lives. Then perhaps there won't be children forced to wander like I was when I was young."
Konan said this softly.
Although Kiyohara could be mischievous and somewhat troublesome, Konan felt that he was still a fairly good person.
After all, many of the great nations had never cared much about the interests of smaller countries.
Naturally, they cared even less about the ordinary civilians living in those smaller nations.
Having someone like Kiyohara willing to offer them assistance still gave Konan a somewhat unreal feeling.
"Of course. There is nothing wrong with that."
Kiyohara shook his head.
He was not some kind of tyrant.
There was no reason why he could not allow the people of the shinobi world to live peaceful and prosperous lives.
In fact, the larger the population became, the more beneficial it would be to Kiyohara.
After all, he also intended to cultivate a God Tree in the future.
Of course, he certainly would not do it in the same way as Kaguya, planting the tree directly and then draining natural energy while absorbing the life force of human beings.
Kiyohara intended to find a way to recycle the process.
If living people could not be used, then he would use the dead.
After all, when people died, their bodies would eventually be buried beneath the earth.
In that way, the roots of the God Tree could absorb the corpses as they were gradually decomposed.
For now, this idea was merely an initial concept. Kiyohara felt there was still a great deal of room for improvement.
Hearing this, Konan's lips parted slightly. The warm breath she exhaled caused a thin layer of mist to form on the glass cover of the oil lamp.
When she finally finished cleaning the cabinet, Konan straightened her back.
Her legs already felt somewhat weak.
Kiyohara released his hold and took half a step backward, looking at her slightly breathless appearance with a faint smile on his lips.
"You should go clean somewhere else."
Konan bit her lower lip and turned around.
"I'll change my clothes."
She walked toward the bed and, with her back facing Kiyohara, raised her hand to untie the thin belt around her waist.
The black robe slipped from her shoulders and silently fell around her ankles.
For an instant, her pale skin was exposed.
Her figure was not the particularly slender and delicate type. Instead, she possessed a graceful and natural fullness that suited her perfectly.
"Why are you still looking at me?"
Konan asked somewhat shyly, feeling as though her mind was becoming increasingly flustered.
"You look beautiful."
Kiyohara replied.
He stepped forward and embraced her from behind.
Konan's frame was not large, but every part of her figure had a natural and harmonious fullness.
She trembled slightly within Kiyohara's arms before slowly raising her head.
Her normally cool, light-orange eyes were now covered with a faint layer of moisture, and her face carried a striking softness that was rarely visible in her usual expression.
Seeing this, Kiyohara lowered his head and kissed her.
Konan casually reached over and extinguished the lamp.
The wooden house fell into darkness.
Only the sound of rain remained outside. Water flowed from the wooden eaves and dropped onto the windowsill, producing a soft and rhythmic tapping sound.
In the darkness, Konan's pale skin gradually became flushed, and sweat gathered across her body.
She only felt that the hunger she had been experiencing because she had skipped dinner had completely disappeared.
No one knew how much time passed before the sound of the rain gradually weakened.
Then sunlight began to shine into the room.
Konan curled up in Kiyohara's arms, her breathing steady and long.
The blanket covered her only up to her collarbone, leaving her pale shoulders and neck exposed.
Her sleeping expression was completely different from her usual appearance when awake. The coldness and restraint she normally carried had completely faded in sleep, replaced by a softness that was entirely defenseless.
Her lips were slightly parted, and the corners of her mouth carried a faint smile, as though she were having a long and pleasant dream.
Kiyohara leaned against the headboard and watched as the first ray of morning sunlight slipped through the gap between the curtains and landed upon the side of her face.
After fully adapting to the Nine-Tails Chakra, Kiyohara's perception had reached an extraordinarily precise level.
He could clearly sense that his constitution was undergoing a fundamental transformation.
Tailed Beast Chakra, Sage Chakra, the power of the Dragon Veins, and every other form of energy that had originally come from outside his body had now been completely integrated into his cells.
If the Ōtsutsuki clan relied on consuming Chakra Fruits to obtain power, then Kiyohara was walking an entirely different path.
He was taking external sources of power and completely internalizing them, turning them into an inseparable part of himself.
From this perspective, he was indeed gradually approaching the level of a pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki.
…
Konan moved slightly.
Her eyelashes trembled before she slowly opened her eyes.
Her light-orange eyes were still clouded with the haziness of someone who had just awakened.
She raised her head and met Kiyohara's gaze.
Then the memories of the previous night came rushing back like a tide.
Her face immediately turned red.
She instinctively buried her face against Kiyohara's chest, unwilling to raise her head.
"Good morning."
Kiyohara's voice carried a hint of teasing.
Konan, still buried against his chest, gave a muffled response that was difficult to understand.
She tried to push herself up and sit, but the moment she exerted herself, the soreness in her waist made her frown.
Kiyohara raised his hand and infused her body with a stream of warm Yang Release Chakra.
A faint green light flowed through her meridians and spread toward every part of her body.
Within only a few breaths, most of Konan's fatigue disappeared.
The blush on her face, however, did not.
At that moment, footsteps could be heard outside.
The footsteps stopped at the door.
Then Yahiko's voice rang out loudly.
"Kiyohara! We received a message from Nagato. He said that he is willing to meet you. He's at the old base right now, but he only wants you to come alone."
Konan's body stiffened slightly.
She instinctively tried to get up, but Kiyohara placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"Get some proper rest. Yahiko is downstairs. You can come out once I leave."
Konan nodded and pulled the blanket back around herself.
Kiyohara put on his clothes, opened the door, and went downstairs.
"It's as Nagato said. Only you can go. You know what his temper is like, so I won't try to persuade him any further."
Kiyohara nodded.
The two of them left the wooden house.
The newly established Akatsukigakure was shrouded in a thin layer of morning mist.
Yahiko led Kiyohara through the newly grown wooden houses and along a small path paved with broken stones toward the depths of the valley.
After walking for approximately two hours, they arrived at a rock wall at the very end of the valley.
A massive tree concealed part of the cliff, and a naturally formed crack could be seen in the rock.
A faint light emerged from deep within the fissure.
"He's waiting for you inside."
Yahiko stopped in front of the crack.
Kiyohara entered the fissure alone.
Inside the rock wall was a modified cavern.
Countless stalactites hung from the ceiling, and glowing mineral deposits had been embedded within the stone pillars, casting a faint light throughout the cavern.
At the center of the cavern, Nagato sat upon a stone chair.
He looked more robust than Kiyohara remembered.
There was none of the gaunt, sickly appearance he had once associated with Nagato.
Kiyohara estimated that the Nagato before him was probably far stronger than the Nagato from the original story.
"Do you want to see the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path?"
Nagato asked.
"I only need a portion of its body. It will not interfere with your ability to use it."
Kiyohara nodded.
At the very least, he needed one of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's arms.
However, removing an arm would not affect the statue's overall function.
Nagato remained silent.
Then he raised both hands and formed the hand seal for the Summoning Technique.
The ground shook violently.
A massive statue slowly rose from beneath the earth.
The true body of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was a dry, grayish-brown color resembling withered wood, and its entire surface was covered with patterns resembling tree bark.
All nine of its eyes were tightly closed.
Its hands were restrained at both sides of its body by thick chains, while its enormous body remained in a seated position.
When Kiyohara saw the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, a hint of joy immediately appeared in his heart.
At last, the final piece was finally in place.
(End of Chapter)