Danzō instinctively raised his head when he heard Hiruko's voice, his eyes unable to hide their excitement.
"That's right. I don't know exactly what happened, but I can say for certain—I succeeded."
Danzō wasn't lying. He truly didn't know what had happened. He had nearly given in to the unbearable agony, ready to use Izanagi to abandon the transplant altogether.
But just as he was about to activate it, his three-tomoe Sharingan had erupted with a chakra he had never experienced before. When he came to, he discovered the transplant had already succeeded.
He could now use basic Wood Release. Though far from the legendary techniques of the First Hokage, the power was still formidable, and Danzō was more than satisfied.
"By the way, where did you run off to just now? Why weren't you here when I woke up?"
Danzo suddenly noticed something. His indifferent gaze swept across Hiruko. At this moment, his strength had already risen tremendously, and his chakra reserves had reached an astonishing level. Just a glance from him was enough to make Hiruko feel overwhelming pressure.
Of course, Hiruko didn't dare admit that he had assumed Danzō was dead and had gone to deal with Nawaki. Stammering, he explained:
"Lord Danzō, you were screaming in such agony, I thought the experiment was failing. I only went to collect some of Nawaki's blood to help suppress the Hashirama cells' erosion."
Hiruko's excuse was full of holes, but Danzō wasn't paying him any mind. His thoughts were consumed by one thing:
I already have Wood Release. From today onward, I stand shoulder to shoulder with the First Hokage himself. I no longer need to fear that brat Hoshiyomi.
No—that's not it. With Wood Release, I fear no one. I, Shimura Danzō, am destined to rule Konoha as the Fourth Hokage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Gekko Hoshiyomi… I could crush them both with a flick of my fingers.
Still, my mastery over Wood Release is still crude. Before Gekko Hoshiyomi returns to the village, I should hurry and look into the Scroll of Seals and learn a few of the First Hokage's Wood Release techniques.
Once he thought of this, Danzo turned and said to Hiruko:
"Continue your research. When Hoshiyomi is dead, I will send someone to notify you."
With that, Danzo walked away without looking back. Before leaving, he also took three Root shinobi who had been injected with the 60% concentration reagent—after all, they were valuable fighting assets.
Danzo had long since left, but Hiruko was still frozen in place, dumbfounded.
This doesn't make sense. How could he survive after being injected with the 80% concentration reagent? That's not scientific at all.
The reagent had only existed for a month; clinical data was still sparse. There was no way it could succeed so easily.
Could Nawaki's cells really be that miraculous? No—that can't be. I've studied Nawaki's cells before. They were only slightly purer than those of other Senju, nothing with special properties.
The 60% concentration had around a 10% success rate, which Hiruko could accept. After all, Senju cells could somewhat suppress Hashirama's, a fact proven through repeated experiments.
But at 80%, Nawaki's cells should have offered virtually zero suppression. How could Danzō possibly remain unharmed?
Hiruko decided he needed to thoroughly re-examine Nawaki's cells. If just 20% Nawaki cells could suppress 80% Hashirama cells…
Then by now, Nawaki himself should have completed the fusion and awakened Wood Release.
Quickly, Hiruko hurried to Nawaki's room. But when he opened the door, the sight that greeted him made him freeze in shock.
On the operating table, Nawaki's eyes had already started rolling back, and on his shoulder, something was squirming violently—on the verge of bursting out of his body.
Hiruko's pupils shrank. He was all too familiar with the sight before him—this was the sign of tree transformation.
No, that shouldn't be! If Nawaki's cells truly suppressed Hashirama's, then there was no reason for him to undergo tree transformation. What in the world was happening?
At that moment, Hiruko's mind was full of question marks.
He took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, and began carefully examining Nawaki's condition. After a thorough inspection, he finally pinpointed the source of the problem.
It was the Self-Curse Binding Seal! No—more precisely, it was caused by excessive chakra output.
The seal had already vanished from Nawaki's body, proof that he had expended a tremendous amount of chakra trying to break free from its restraint.
A realization struck Hiruko. He rushed to the nearby file cabinet, frantically rummaging until he found the report on the previous Senju test subject:
Experimental observation confirms that Senju cells exert a degree of suppression on Hashirama cells…
When Hashirama cells were injected into a Senju subject, the test subject displayed strong rejection, even expelling massive amounts of chakra in an attempt to force them out…
Subject exhibited tree transformation. Two minutes later, resuscitation failed…
Plop!
The folder slipped from Hiruko's hands and fell heavily to the floor, but he didn't even think to pick it up.
It's over. Completely over.
No wonder his experiments had gone so "smoothly" over the past month—he had fallen into a fatal misconception.
It was true that Senju cells suppressed Hashirama's, but the source of that suppression wasn't anything innate. It was the Senju clan's unique chakra. In other words, the suppression effect vanished when excessive chakra was used.
If he had followed a normal, step-by-step process, he might have discovered this in time. But under Danzō's constant pressure, he had cut corners again and again, neglecting these crucial verifications.
Glancing at Nawaki's shoulder, where the thing beneath the skin writhed grotesquely, his body twitching in intervals, Hiruko shivered.
This was no longer about mistaken methodology.
Danzō had left in triumph, almost certainly preparing for action. If the Hashirama cells went berserk in the middle of his fight with Hoshiyomi… Hiruko dared not even imagine the consequences.
Escape. Yes—he still had time to escape.
Danzō had probably taken his subordinates with him to the fight. Rather than stay here waiting for death, it was better to risk slipping away.
First, flee Root. Find a place to hide. Once Gekko Hoshiyomi killed Danzō, he would seize the chance to defect from the village.
With his mind made up, Hiruko hesitated no longer. He sealed all of his current research into a scroll. After waiting for a while to ensure no guards were stationed outside, he made his break for it.