While Nawaki was still dazed and confused, Danzō had already ordered Hiruko to plunge a syringe into Nawaki's body. Within just a few breaths, Hiruko had drawn a full vial of blood.
Staring at the bright red liquid inside the tube, Danzō gave a satisfied smile. He turned to Hiruko and said:
"Go test his bloodline. From here on, whether we live or die depends entirely on him."
Of course Hiruko didn't dare disobey. He obediently carried the sample away, leaving only Nawaki and Danzō alone in the room.
Watching Hiruko leave with his blood, and recalling their earlier talk about Hashirama's cells, Nawaki finally realized just how serious this situation was. He turned his head toward Danzō and asked in a trembling voice:
"You're researching Grandfather's cells? How dare you do something so vile?
Even you, Shimura Danzō, survived only because of your teacher—my granduncle, Tobirama—sacrificing himself. And now you dare experiment on Grandfather's cells? Do you have no conscience at all?"
As Nawaki spoke, his whole body trembled—not from fear, but from blazing anger.
As a grandson, how could he not be furious when told that someone had desecrated his grandfather's grave and was using his blood to experiment with his grandfather's cells?
When Danzō heard Nawaki mention his teacher Tobirama, a surge of violence and resentment overwhelmed him. Like a cat with its tail stepped on, he snapped, losing his composure:
"Not human? You think I'm not human? I was forced into this—by your Senju clan, by your grandmother, your granduncle, and by Gekko Hoshiyomi!
As Tobirama-sensei's disciple, in what way was I inferior to Sarutobi Hiruzen? And yet, the result? He gave every blessing to Hiruzen—even the Hokage's seat!
Fine. I could accept not becoming Hokage. But why, after Tobirama-sensei's death, did that old hag Mito keep Hiruzen and the others safe in Konoha, yet send me and Kagami back to the battlefield to die?
Why was I barred from leadership, forced to spend my life trembling at the front lines?
I thought that when the First Great War ended, with my achievements, I'd finally win her recognition. But no—the old woman never relented, not even on her deathbed. She kept suppressing me until the very last.
Out of the five disciples Tobirama-sensei had, four became leaders of the village. Only I was treated as expendable.
Fine, I could wait. When that old crone finally died, I finally rose to power, finally stood equal to my fellow disciples.
But then came Hoshiyomi—he inherited every scrap of her legacy! He obtained instantly what I endured twenty years of humiliation to achieve.
And still it wasn't enough—he sought to crush me entirely, to wipe me out. He knew I had Kagami's Sharingan. He knew I tried to assassinate him. He holds enough dirt on me to destroy me.
And now he's returning to Konoha. When he exposes me to the village elders, how can I possibly remain here?
I'll tell you, the reason I research Hashirama's cells, the reason you're lying here right now—it's all thanks to them!"
Nawaki couldn't help but laugh in anger at Danzō's hysteria.
"You're insane. You're truly insane. The dirty things you've done have nothing to do with the Senju clan or with Brother Hoshiyomi. He was right—you're nothing but a selfish lunatic who still thinks he's noble!"
Danzo leaned closer, lightly patting Nawaki on the shoulder. He whispered into his ear:
"Better than cursing me—pray your cells prove useful. Otherwise, you won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise."
As he spoke, Nawaki suddenly felt his whole body seize up, unable to move a muscle.
Catching sight of the reflection from the metal instruments opposite him, he realized his body was now covered with black sealing marks.
"You… what did you do to me?"
Danzō, who had been about to leave, paused mid-step.
Danzō said coldly:
"This technique is called the Curse Seal of Binding. With this on you, I don't have to worry about you pulling any little tricks like trying to kill yourself."
With that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Nawaki to struggle desperately on his own.
But this curse seal wasn't something an ordinary shinobi could resist—even in the original timeline, Sasuke with his Mangekyō and Kage-level strength had to rely on Susanoo's power to break it. For Nawaki, whose strength was only at special jōnin level, breaking free was completely impossible.
...
In another room, Danzō was watching Hiruko's experiment intently. Seeing Hiruko's expression gradually relax as he peered into the microscope, Danzo's heart leapt with excitement. He quickly asked:
"How is it?"
Hiruko gave a small smile:
"Excellent. My hypothesis was correct. Though Nawaki's abilities don't stand out, as Hashirama's direct descendant, his bloodline purity is extremely high. His cells strongly suppress Hashirama's cells, and from preliminary observation, they are indeed effective."
Hearing this, Danzō's eyes lit up with hope:
"Good! Mix the Hashirama cells with his as you planned. I want to see results before tomorrow morning."
Hiruko glanced at the wall clock—it was already one in the morning. e silently cursed Danzo as a bastard but knew the urgency of the situation. He dared not slack off and immediately began preparing different proportions of Hashirama cells with Nawaki's.
Time ticked by. Finally, around four in the morning, the first stable reagent was completed.
Seeing Danzō's eyes practically glowing green with anticipation, Hiruko explained:
"This is a 20% concentration of Hashirama cells. But the actual effects will still require long-term clinical observation."
As he spoke, Hirukot urned to fetch a lab mouse from the rack behind him. But Danzo snatched the vial from his hand.
"We don't have time for slow mouse trials and gradual human observation. We're going straight to human experimentation."
Hiruko looked at Danzo's eyes, filled with madness, wanting to object. But in the end, he sighed—after all, his life was still in Danzo's hands.
Once a chūnin test subject was prepared, Danzo didn't hesitate. He jabbed the needle straight into the man's body.
Hiruko didn't bother correcting Danzō's crude technique; instead, he stood ready with pen and paper, watching intently for the results.
The subject screamed in pain, writhing just as the previous subjects had, but neither Danzō nor Hiruko looked discouraged. They had noticed that this person showed no signs of "tree transformation!"
After about half an hour, the screams finally subsided, and the chūnin fell into a deep sleep.
Seeing this, both Danzō and Hiruko's eyes shone with wild joy.
"Did we… succeed?"
Hiruko was trembling with excitement, though he still forced himself to stay rational.
"It still needs clinical observation. This is just the first case to overcome the tree transformation—we have to see if there are any rebound effects."
Danzō, however, waved his hand decisively:
"Prepare nine more test subjects. I want to see the success rate of this reagent."