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Chapter 59 — Fusing Shikotsumyaku
"U—up… you?"
Alex froze for a moment, as if he'd heard Konan say something astonishing. The final syllable — "body" — was barely audible; he only caught the beginning.
Excited, he flew forward and landed in front of Konan.
Seeing the dense cracks forming across her paper-like face, he realized his misunderstanding. She had said "upper body," not what he'd first imagined.
Well… a sheet of paper couldn't do much anyway.
Alex shook his paper form slightly but wasn't too disappointed. After all, a single sheet of paper was limited in capability.
He stiffened his paper body and slipped through a seam at Konan's chest in a flash, perfectly fitting into the gap.
With Konan's cooperation, he then took over control of her body.
A familiar sense of load settled across him; her body leaned slightly forward under the weight. Alex instinctively looked down — as usual, his toes were nowhere to be seen.
He suddenly felt a bit of admiration for Konan. Bearing such a constant burden day after day could not be easy. Fortunately, during combat he had supported her from below, preventing the load from swaying wildly.
Alex put aside his thoughts and focused. He removed the stopper and poured the pale liquid from the vial into his right palm. At the same time he activated the Kiroga Technique.
A white orb of light formed in his palm, steadily enveloping the pale solution. The refinement began.
Little by little, pale-white star-like specks—each representing the Shikotsumyaku bloodline—separated from the mass.
The room was utterly silent except for the faint humming of the Kiroga Technique.
Half a minute later, the Shikotsumyaku in the vial had been fully refined and transformed into a pale white dust that scattered onto the floor.
This was the second bloodline fusion. Alex handled it with practiced ease, drawing the light orb into himself.
Using the power of Kiroga, he fused the Shikotsumyaku energy into his being.
After a moment, the Kiroga Technique ceased — the fusion was complete.
Alex opened his eyes; a sharp gleam flashed across his orange pupils.
He moved, sensing his new body condition. "Good—everything's normal. No incompatibility with the previously fused Uzumaki lineage."
Two different kekkei genkai now coexisted harmoniously inside Konan's body. Alex's last lingering worry about the Kiroga Technique vanished; it had performed flawlessly.
As expected of his perfected, immaculate Kiroga Technique.
Having personally fused two bloodlines, everything operated exactly as he had anticipated — no errors, no anomalies.
"Next, a simple test…"
Alex walked into a small training room off to one side, equipped with various apparatuses.
Bang, bang, bang!
The room echoed with the sounds of collisions and impacts.
Five minutes later Alex emerged, satisfied, and returned to the bedroom.
He explained, "Shikotsumyaku emphasizes taijutsu and physical traits. After fusing Shikotsumyaku, Konan, your physique and bone strength have each doubled, and your power has increased by several times. Your taijutsu—which wasn't remarkable before—has risen sharply."
"Also, your overall chakra capacity has increased by about twenty percent thanks to the enhanced bodily energy."
"Now go, feel it for yourself—"
Alex smiled and returned control of the body to Konan, slipping out from her chest.
Fusing the second bloodline had boosted both Konan's and his own power once more — a very satisfying feeling.
Their chakra attributes synchronized; Alex now shared the same two bloodline properties and could use jutsu tied to them.
Konan came to her senses and tested her new status, eyes bright with delight. Her condition was excellent; she felt significantly stronger and the burden on her front felt much lighter.
She opened her right palm and concentrated, attempting to manifest Shikotsumyaku.
In the next instant, a bone spike slowly extended from the center of her palm. Pale and razor-sharp, it glinted with a cold light.
Its hardness rivaled — perhaps even exceeded — that of her paper weapons.
Alex hovered beside the spike and studied it before speaking gravely: [Konan, unless absolutely necessary, avoid using Shikotsumyaku frequently. And if you use it, do not reabsorb the bones back into your body.]
"Hmm?" Konan asked, puzzled. "Does Shikotsumyaku have drawbacks?"
Alex nodded. [It does. Excessive use tends to cause kekkei-genkai disease. Historically, the deeper members of the Kaguya who exploited Shikotsumyaku went, the more prone they were to early death.]
He didn't know whether his Dark Medical Ninjutsu could cure kekkei-genkai disease. Even Orochimaru couldn't treat Kimimaro — it's best not to risk it.
Who knew how difficult that disease would be to cure?
Moreover, extracting bone to fight and then returning it to the body risks contamination. Bone is one of the innermost parts of the body; any bacterial infection of bone marrow or blood could spread to vital organs and be fatal.
Alex suspected Kimimaro's condition involved not only genetic disease but severe internal infection and gangrene. The man habitually pulled out entire spinal bones to fight — imagine the contamination risk.
"Understood." Konan nodded. "I won't use Shikotsumyaku unless absolutely necessary."
She trusted Alex completely. If the kekkei had dangers, she would minimize use; it wouldn't greatly hamper her combat effectiveness.
At her thought, the bone spike detached from her palm and fell away. The cylindrical wound in her palm visibly closed and healed.
Alex watched the shrinking seam and felt chills run through him — the sight of the bone withdrawing left an impression: 'deep enough to see bone.'
Indeed, Shikotsumyaku was a grisly technique.
Konan's palm returned to normal. Her gaze shifted to the blue vial of Hyōton on the table.
"Akatsuki, Shikotsumyaku is fused. Shall we fuse Hyōton next?"
[No.] Alex replied immediately. [One bloodline fusion per day at most. Your body and genes need time to adapt. Don't rush.]
[As for Hyōton, wait twenty-four hours before fusing it.]
"Alright, I'll follow your lead."
Konan continued to feel out her body, quickly adjusting to the surge in power.
Alex walked to the table and looked at the black scroll beside the blue solution. The scroll bore the characters "Kaguya" across its surface — the complete set of Shikotsumyaku jutsu.
Heh heh heh — all mine now.
Alex unfolded the scroll and spread it across the floor. Dense lines of black characters filled his view.
He stretched his paper form to fully cover the scroll and activated his cheat: Replication.
"Yanagi no Mai… Tsubaki no Mai… Karamatsu no Mai… Tessenka no Mai… Sawarabi no Mai…"
One by one, the Shikotsumyaku techniques listed on the scroll were copied and mastered instantaneously by Alex.
He detached from the scroll, hovered up, and resumed his normal size.
Whew… the sensation of being refilled with new jutsu was thrilling.
After calming his excitement, Alex gazed out at the high sky and pondered.
Uzumaki and Kaguya fused — what next? Senju, Uchiha, Hyūga, Hagoromo — which bloodline should be targeted next…?