Gulp... Gulp... Gulp...
The scene inside Kakuzu's room was far more bizarre and terrifying than the three people outside could imagine.
The entire room was almost unrecognizable. The walls, ceiling, and floor were completely covered by countless thick and thin, tentacle-like black threads of the Jiongu.
Though still looking horrifying, these black threads were noticeably calmer than when Mui first brought Kakuzu back to the base. They merely writhed continuously, knotting and intertwining like blood vessels.
In the center of the room, they had woven five massive, black, cocoon-like structures that pulsed powerfully like hearts.
Each black cocoon was two people high. With every beat, the knotting black threads on the cocoon's surface flickered between bright and dim, as if something was being conceived and stirring within.
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki stood quietly before the five pulsating black cocoons, his face devoid of expression. His Byakugan (White Eyes) stared indifferently at the scene, as if observing an intriguing experiment.
Pfff!
A muffled sound, like cloth being forcibly torn, abruptly broke the silence!
The black cocoon in the center of the five cocoons was suddenly pierced from the inside by a black-brown hand. The tough black threads snapped in response.
A completely naked figure stumbled out of the cocoon, stepping onto the floor covered in black threads, standing before Isshiki Ōtsutsuki.
It was, unequivocally, Kakuzu.
His body seemed to have been restored to completeness, but his skin had a black-brown, hard texture, resembling his former appearance when using "Earth Release: Earth Spear." The writhing black threads were faintly visible beneath the skin.
"Was it a success?"
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's voice, as he looked at Kakuzu, was flat and emotionless, yet carried a trace of subtle interest.
"The indigenous human race of this planet, though their physique and bloodlines are inferior and weak, one must admit..."
He continued, speaking to himself, "The energy utilization technique you developed based on the power of the God Tree, which you call 'Ninjutsu,' does have some unique merits."
"Perhaps, this is the wisdom unique to lower life forms?"
The Ōtsutsuki Clan's approach was completely different from the shinobi world's path, which utilized complex techniques like hand seals, nature transformation, and shape manipulation to unleash a myriad of effects from limited chakra.
Nor did they develop the body and soul like the Sage of Six Paths.
However, the Ōtsutsuki Clan naturally possessed powerful bodies and energy, enabling them to traverse the cosmos, moving between various planets to plant the God Tree, devour all life on a planet, and yield a fruit.
Of course, the fruit could not be consumed alone. It had to be presented to the high-ranking members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, who would refine the God Tree fruit into pills and then distribute a portion to the clan members.
The fruit contained vast energy and genetic factors. Ōtsutsuki members who consumed the pills refined from the fruit would grow stronger until they became an unparalleled "God."
Acts like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki directly devouring the entire fruit, and one yielded from a resource-rich planet like the shinobi world, were extravagantly wasteful even for the Ōtsutsuki leadership.
Yet, exceptional individuals who consumed large amounts of pills, such as Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, could unleash speed and strength that could rival Might Guy when he activated the Eight Gates Formation's Gate of Death.
Most importantly, compared to the rule-based Shinjutsu (God Techniques) and Rinnegan (Saṃsāra Eye) Dōjutsu they awakened, Madara Uchiha's Limbo: Border Jail and Sasuke's Amenotejikara were truly lacking.
They could forcibly modify the world's perception, observe the timeline, anchor spatial coordinates, correct the law of causality...
One could say they were "gimmick-based monsters" with maxed-out stats, which allowed them to roam the entire universe unchecked.
Perhaps Madara, after becoming the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, wasn't far behind them in terms of raw physical stats, but his Dōjutsu mechanics were too far behind.
Take Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, for instance. His eye was the "Black Eye," capable of utilizing Shinjutsu called Sukunahikona and Daikokuten.
The former, activated by sight, could instantly shrink any non-living object he looked at. However, he couldn't shrink other living individuals besides himself.
Naturally, restoring an object to its original size was also instantaneous.
It was a simple ability, yet it completely defied the rules and theorems of the world.
Isshiki killed Jūzō Biwa by shrinking his black rods down to cellular size, scattering them everywhere, and then instantly restoring them to their original size, impaling Jūzō.
The latter, Daikokuten, placed objects in a time-frozen alternate dimension, from which he could instantly summon them.
With these two abilities, coupled with the Ōtsutsuki's naturally powerful strength, speed, and reflexes, Ninjutsu was virtually ineffective against him.
Because as long as he saw it, it could be instantly shrunk to near-nothingness.
Of course, it was "virtually ineffective," not completely ineffective.
Since it was a mechanism, it had flaws.
Sukunahikona ultimately required seeing the target to shrink it, which worked wonders only when paired with the Ōtsutsuki Clan's abnormal physical prowess.
If an ordinary person possessed this ability, it wouldn't be very effective against ninjas, because they would be killed before they could even spot the person.
That is to say, if the respective strength, speed, and reaction stats of both parties were similar, they could use Ninjutsu to harm Isshiki before he could react or see them.
Just like Naruto and Sasuke in the Boruto era. Their combined physical stats were not far behind Isshiki's, but the gap in Dōjutsu mechanics was simply too vast.
It was only when Naruto activated the "Baryon Mode," gaining the ability to burn the enemy's life force like radiation, that he bridged the gap in mechanics between the two sides and killed Isshiki.
This means that as long as the numerical gap isn't too large, certain Ninjutsu can compensate for the disadvantage in "mechanics" and even pose a fatal threat to him.
The fact that Kaguya heavily wounded Isshiki was likely due to this.
Over the past few days of research using Kakuzu's body, Isshiki had clearly realized this point.
Facing Ninjutsu with strange and unique effects, if the number of 'ants' was too large, even he could possibly suffer a setback.
This made him put away some of his inherent arrogance.
He genuinely began to take the humans of this planet seriously.
"This is..."
Kakuzu lowered his head, looking at his intact hands, and feeling the strong, yet unfamiliar, heartbeat. He murmured, "I'm alive?"
He knew better than anyone how severely he had been injured before.
Those were absolutely fatal injuries. Did this guy in front of me save me?
Is this the organization's base?
Then who is this guy? A new member? An enemy?
Should I probe him verbally, attack directly, or just run away?
All sorts of thoughts tumbled through his mind, uncontrollably popping up.
Watching Kakuzu stand still, his eyes flickering, Isshiki spoke, "It seems some side effects remain. Excessive apprehension and suspicion, perhaps?"
"Hm?"
Hearing this, Kakuzu snapped back to reality, his heart instantly seizing up. He realized how dangerous his momentary distraction had been.
Why had he become so indecisive and full of wild thoughts?
Could it be this guy in front of me...
"I am the new leader of the Akatsuki organization. You may call me Jigen or Leader. I am the one who extended your life."
Isshiki didn't give Kakuzu any more opportunity for suspicion and spoke directly, "That black thread in your body, similar to a parasite, is quite interesting."
"Although I helped you suppress their rampage, they over-proliferated and reconstructed your body when you were at death's door."
"Even now that you've awakened, you can no longer completely suppress or control them as before."
At this point, he paused, continuing, "Therefore, I used your body for some research, and in the process, I made a small modification to your body."
Hearing this, Kakuzu's pupils slightly constricted, and a storm instantly churned in his heart.
New leader?
What about that guy Pain?
What happened to the guy with the Rinnegan who called himself a God?
Also, what "small modification"?
Kakuzu lowered his head, scrutinizing his newborn body.
This inspection made his heart tremble.
His body was still filled with dense Jiongu black threads. These threads had replaced the functions of his blood vessels, nerves, and even most of his internal organs, forming an entire life support system.
However, unlike the previous, somewhat unstable state, these black threads were like inert matter. Only one Earth Release Chakra heart remained inside his body.
Kakuzu had a feeling.
It wasn't like the Jiongu had been transplanted into him; rather, it felt as if his brain and heart had occupied and controlled the body of the "Masked Monster."
"These are... Pain's Black Receivers?"
His gaze fell upon his arms and torso, and he instinctively said.
"No," Isshiki corrected. "They are my Black Receivers. You better get your priorities straight."
Indeed, a row of dark Black Receivers was neatly embedded on the outer side of Kakuzu's arms. He had seen these black rods before—they were on Pain's puppet bodies.
Kakuzu instinctively touched the center of his chest and the temples on both sides of his head, feeling the sensation of cold foreign objects embedded there. Clearly, Black Receivers were inserted there too.
These Black Receivers continuously transmitted chakra. Following the perception of chakra flow inside his body, his gaze shifted to the other four pulsating black cocoons beside him.
A thought flashed uncontrollably in his mind.
These cocoons... could they be...
His thought shifted, connecting with the black cocoon that was emitting Wind Release Chakra.
Pfff!
Accompanied by a tearing sound, the black cocoon ripped open from the inside. Viscous black liquid splashed out, and a figure emerged from the cocoon.
No, that could no longer be called a "person."
Several Black Receivers were similarly inserted into its temples and heart area. Its arms were feathered wings covered with blue plumage, folded at its sides, the edges of the feathers gleaming with a metallic cold light.
Its legs had transformed into the talons characteristic of a bird of prey: four toes, three pointing forward and one backward, hooking deeply into the ground like steel hooks. The tips of the talons were sharp enough to easily tear steel.
Its face was covered by a white mask identical to the "Wind Release Masked Monster" in Kakuzu's memory. Only the eyes, which peered out of the eye holes, were the vertical pupils of a hawk.
The entire body exuded a light, swift aura of Wind Release Chakra.
"What is this?" Kakuzu's face subtly changed.
He had expected to see something like Pain's controlled puppets, but the life-sense emanating from this entity...
"Alas..." The "monster" actually spoke, with an exaggerated, theatrically mournful tone, as if lamenting the misfortune of the world.
"A near-fatal injury has even confused the main body's brain? How truly... pathetic."
Main Body?!
Kakuzu's thoughts raced like lightning, instantly grasping the key information. An expression of utter disbelief flashed in his eyes.
"Are you... my Wind Release heart? The split-off Masked Monster?"
"How sad..." The Wind Release clone covered its face with a wing, its tone growing even more sorrowful. "I am not a 'monster.' Perhaps, I should give myself a name."
Kakuzu felt a chill run down his spine. He sharply turned his head to look at the static Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, his brows tightly furrowed. "What exactly did you do to me?"
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki was expressionless, his tone calm. "You were no longer able to suppress the rampaging Jiongu."
"I separated their power—those five hearts—and placed them into five new bodies composed of Jiongu black threads."
He raised a finger and pointed at Kakuzu's main body, as well as the other three black cocoons. He continued, "Lightning, Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water, each occupying one body."
"However, only your current body, which is centered on the Earth nature, retained the complete brain as the main consciousness hub. But they also possess a degree of self-awareness."
"It seems now that your personalities are affected by the different hearts. This was unexpected."
"What an interesting change," Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's gaze flickered, moving back and forth between Kakuzu's main body and the Wind Release clone.
After the five hearts independently formed, their consciousness naturally leaned toward the emotional traits associated with their respective chakra natures.
Just as the emotion dominating Kakuzu's main body now was 'anxiety'—the weighing and suspicion of the current situation.
The Wind Release clone, conversely, clearly exhibited 'sorrow.'
They were a part of Kakuzu, yet they exhibited independent personalities due to the difference in their attributes.
"..." Kakuzu fell into a moment of silence.
Indeed, in his perception, the clone that looked like a hawk in front of him, just as the guy in front said, didn't have a brain inside its body.
No, it should be said that the Jiongu black threads, with the heart as the core, had been distorted and simulated into the form of a brain to some extent, replacing the function of a brain and influencing the clone's personality.
As the main body, he possessed the control, able to command the four clones through the Black Receivers, or allow them to act on their own.
This is... a Five-Element Clone Technique?
Kakuzu's first reaction was not disgust, nor anger, but...
"If I have four clones, couldn't I take on five missions simultaneously? My money-making efficiency would be five times higher!" he thought to himself.
With this thought, Kakuzu looked up at Isshiki Ōtsutsuki.
"I owe you a life," he stated. "And I hate owing anyone."
"So, what do you want me to do?"
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