"So it's Vegapunk—giantification, lineage factor, weapons of war... As expected, when science reaches its limits, the paths begin to overlap. Creation becomes the core pursuit!"
After getting up, Hyuga Mirai glanced at the time. Exactly twenty-four hours had passed—down to the second.
Vegapunk's knowledge wasn't overwhelming for him. Much of the research overlapped with earlier templates. Still, what caught his eye were the lineage factors and the synthetic Devil Fruits, especially the idea of combining synthetic fruits with weaponry.
"This research... is quite similar to what are called 'divine tools.' If you could embed kekkei genkai abilities into weapons, perhaps it could replicate the same effects. Come to think of it, Sasori's human puppets follow a similar concept. If both techniques were fused, it'd be even more refined."
The Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai had its own unique genetic marker. If extracted, it could be used to create specialized ocular weapons. There was also Magnet Release and Scorch Release—compound chakra natures.
Scorch and Magnet Release combined with Temari's three-star fan might produce a new magnetic flame fan. Turning the Uzumaki clan's kekkei genkai into weapons could result in powerful sensory tools or weapons that utilize Adamantine Sealing Chains.
A flood of inspiration surged through Hyuga Mirai's mind. He took out his wrist terminal to jot down the ideas and then fed the existing data into it for No. 18 to start running the simulations.
Knock knock!
There was a knock at the door. Mirai put away the terminal and opened the door to find Naruto Uzumaki outside.
"Uncle Mirai, are you a clone or the real one right now?" Naruto grinned while scratching his head. "Mom wants to treat you to a meal. She bought all sorts of stuff. Though honestly, Mom's cooking… other than ramen, not great."
Just as Naruto said this, Mirai noticed the curtain on the neighbor's window twitch slightly. The houses were close together, and Naruto had no sense of volume when speaking ill of others… He'd probably be dragged off to train Taijutsu by Kushina again.
"Naruto, I've got something to take care of. But actually, eating at your place works—I need a favor from your mom."
He suddenly changed his mind. He remembered that Ayaka Uzumaki's cells had been collected years ago, but he hadn't deeply extracted her kekkei genkai. Since she was now out gathering Tailed Beast chakra near the Land of Earth, recalling her would be a waste. Kushina, on the other hand, also used Adamantine Sealing Chains—it made more sense to use her lineage factor.
After agreeing to Naruto's invitation, Hyuga Mirai followed him next door.
"Mom! I brought Uncle Mirai!"
Naruto shouted as he entered, only to be smacked on the head by Kushina. She then smiled awkwardly and said, "Dinner's ready—please, have a seat."
"No need to be so formal," Mirai replied. He was quite picky with food, and after Ayaka failed to meet his expectations, she gave up on cooking. Kushina, though a homemaker for years, still probably couldn't meet his standards either.
After sitting down, Mirai looked over the dishes and aroma—it was clear Kushina had made an effort.
It felt strange. A few years ago, Kushina's family had been his enemies. Namikaze Minato's death had been partly due to him. And now, here they were, sharing a table.
After sampling a few bites, Mirai got to the point. "Mrs. Kushina, I need your help. Ayaka's away, so you're the only one I can turn to."
Kushina's expression shifted when she heard Ayaka's name. She quickly guessed what he meant. Both she and Ayaka could use Adamantine Sealing Chains—that was the ability Hyuga Mirai wanted to extract.
"I see. Shall we go now?"
Seeing Mirai wasn't interested in dinner, she was slightly disappointed, but quickly composed herself.
"If you're not too busy."
"Let's go, then. Naruto, go train or hang out with Sasuke."
After giving her son instructions, Kushina followed Mirai outside.
As they walked, Mirai explained about extracting her kekkei genkai and asked her to activate the sealing chains multiple times. For this new lineage weapon project, he had some ideas that differed from Vegapunk's.
He wanted to skip artificial Devil Fruits and directly engrave lineage factors into weapons.
They met up with Sasori, to whom Mirai explained the concept. Sasori immediately dropped his current task and led them to the third basement level. The large space was originally meant to be his mini-lab, though the equipment hadn't been moved in yet.
Mirai, however, always carried research gear. Once he finished explaining the idea, Sasori's eyes lit up with interest.
He instantly thought of his mechanized puppets. If this worked, he'd have to rebuild everything. A single arm could be loaded with over a dozen kekkei genkai. An ultimate mech-puppet could be filled with every kekkei genkai in the ninja world.
Or maybe even a massive puppet, or Tailed Beast puppets...
Sasori borrowed a few machines and took a copy of the research to start his own experiments. He had already explored combining blood and machinery—this was a step further: letting machines fully wield kekkei genkai power.
After Sasori left, Mirai extended his hand. A three-centimeter chakra scalpel emerged from his palm as he smiled at Kushina.
"I might need a fair bit from you. Should we get you lying down?" he said, gesturing at the bed.
"I guess lying down would be better…" Kushina swallowed nervously. Mirai's presence now felt oppressive—like when she used to fall sick and ended up under Tsunade's care.
Mirai extracted several samples of her flesh and had her use Adamantine Sealing Chains. With the data, he quickly isolated the exact lineage factor responsible for that ability.
"As for the weapon's materials… let's use chakra metal, bio-nanotech, and three types of alloy. The shape will be a bracelet, for now."
It took him some time, with two failed attempts along the way. After nearly six hours, he finally succeeded.
"Success!"
His voice of mild excitement woke Kushina, who had fallen asleep on the lab bed. Rubbing her eyes, she saw him holding a pale golden bracelet with a slight smile.
"This is the result of your invention?" she asked, eyes widening.
"That's right. I haven't tested it yet, but I'm confident it'll perform exactly as intended."
Turning slightly, Mirai looked at her and asked, "Want to try it?"
"How do I test it?"
"Like this…"
He slipped the bracelet onto his wrist and activated it with chakra.
The pale gold bracelet glowed faintly. Then, six Adamantine Chains burst from it, binding Kushina where she stood.
"T-this is the Adamantine Sealing Chains!?"
Kushina's face was full of disbelief. That familiar restraint—once bound, she couldn't even mold chakra. It felt exactly like when Ayaka had restrained her in a spar.
"The energy issue isn't solved yet. Right now it runs on my chakra. There's some enhancement, but that's not the focus. Excluding chakra and your lineage factor, the base cost is 15 million ryō. If powered by an arc reactor, the cost would jump to over a billion."
Mirai explained proudly. The two most expensive components could only be made by him—other parts could be replaced with alternatives.
"T-that's amazing. But... can you let me down first?" Kushina blushed. Interrupting someone mid-talk was rude, but she was genuinely uncomfortable.
"Ah, sorry—I almost forgot."
Seeing her expression, Mirai quickly retracted the chains, letting her back down.
Kushina rubbed her shoulders, then quickly forgot her embarrassment and focused on the bracelet around his wrist, eyes shining with curiosity.
"Can I buy one of those—cheap? I want to give it to Naruto for his birthday..."
After hearing about its cost and power, she thought it'd make a great gift. With her stipend and mission pay, she could probably save up the 15 million within a year. Unfortunately, she'd lost her assets in Konoha—otherwise, tens of millions wouldn't be out of reach.
"For Naruto? Let me refine it a bit more before gifting it. As for the money—don't worry about it. Your pay and stipends all come from me anyway."
The bracelet still had much room for improvement. Technically, it was only a prototype.
Mirai's reasoning left Kushina without a counter. The financial strength of the Sand Federation came from the Hyakusa and Uzumaki Trade Associations—both under Hyuga Mirai's control. Kushina was essentially his subordinate now. No need to take a roundabout route to buy something from him.
"Alright then… thank you."
Kushina bowed in thanks.
(End of Chapter)