Chapter 126: Naruto, Did He Really Get a Transplant?
"Who said I'm the only one? Isn't there still Sasuke with the Rinnegan, one of the strongest combat forces in the future ninja world?"
"…Don't even start with 'Rinnegan Uchiha Sasuke.'"
After hearing Shiromo's words, Tobirama rolled his eyes.
If they hadn't just witnessed that earth-shattering battle, maybe everyone could still cling to a bit of fantasy.
But now? Forget it.
If a true battle between the strong was like trampling the earth, then that so-called earth-shattering fight earlier was more like trampling their eyeballs and brains, violently strengthening them.
"Actually, even if Sasuke had his chakra hooked away, that doesn't mean he couldn't act. He could've used the Preta Path to absorb a bit of the Nine-Tails' chakra from Naruto to replenish himself."
After Shiromo raised this point, Nagato, standing nearby, froze for a moment.
As a Rinnegan wielder himself, he hadn't even thought of that just now.
Sure enough, his brain had been 'strengthened' by that absurd battle to the point where it temporarily stopped working.
"Then why didn't Sasuke absorb it?"
Hashirama posed the soul-searching question.
"First, we can rule out that Uchiha Sasuke didn't think of it."
Tobirama immediately followed up.
"…If we've already ruled that out, then what other answer could there be?"
Shiromo felt that even the Second Hokage's thinking was gradually being assimilated.
"What do you mean?"
Kushina asked blankly.
"Sasuke couldn't bear to."
"Huh?"
"Sasuke couldn't bear to draw out the Nine-Tails' chakra from Naruto."
"..."
Kushina fell silent.
What kind of reason was 'that' supposed to be?
And ever since earlier, that very cute Uchiha girl had kept insisting that Naruto and Sasuke had some kind of improper relationship.
At first, Kushina thought Hikari was just biased, but now, somehow, it was starting to feel like that might not be the case.
"Ugh~"
Kushina clutched her head with both hands, completely at a loss.
When she was alive, she had already resolved that Naruto 'must' pay attention to the three ninja taboos, and that he should spend less time around Jiraiya to avoid learning bad habits.
But this, this was even worse than just learning bad habits!
Back then, she had once thought that if she and Mikoto each had a son and a daughter, they could become in-laws. But she had never considered that two sons could also… work?
Wait a second.
Kushina suddenly remembered, wasn't Boruto in the footage Naruto's son?
That meant that future Naruto hadn't…
Hiss, no, wait!
Just as Kushina was about to relax, she suddenly thought of something terrifying.
On the way here, she had overheard the Impure World Reincarnation Hokage chatting, and it sounded like they mentioned Orochimaru transplanting some kind of organ, and even having children!
Could it be that future Naruto and Sasuke also had children like that?
The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. Looking around frantically, she spotted Shiromo, who was just about to leave with Itachi, and hurriedly grabbed Shiromo's arm.
"Wait, there's something I want to ask. Naruto, he… in the future, did he get a transplant of…"
As she spoke, Kushina couldn't bring herself to continue.
Even though she was already a mother, she hadn't been that old when she died. How could she casually say something like this out loud?
"Oh. Yes, he did."
Fortunately, Shiromo seemed to understand what she wanted to ask and answered directly.
"What?! Really?!"
Kushina's pupils shook violently, her body going stiff.
Though, to be fair, an Impure World Reincarnation body was already pretty stiff to begin with.
"It's true. In their final battle, Naruto and Sasuke fought until heaven and earth lost all light. Both sides were heavily injured. Naruto suffered irreversible damage, and in the end Konoha had no choice but to use Hashirama cells to cultivate and help Naruto, "
"Stop! Don't say any more!"
Kushina covered her ears and interrupted Shiromo.
She suddenly remembered that a few days ago, out of boredom, the First Hokage had gone to a nearby village and bought a novel called 'Buff Man Paradise'. There had been a similar plot in it.
Something about Lei Ai suffering severe bodily damage, losing the ability to reproduce, and then a female ninja transplanting her own… something into him.
At the time, Kushina had only thought it was some kind of bizarre novel.
She never imagined that something like that would actually happen to Naruto.
This is completely unacceptable~
"Oh."
Shiromo felt that Kushina was being a bit neurotic.
It was just an arm transplant, was it really worth this level of breakdown? Sasuke didn't even get one and was still living just fine as Yang Guo. ( Yang Guo from The Return of the Condor Heroes)
In fact, the masked man had it even worse, getting crushed by that rock. Who knew if even 'that' had been crushed? Even if Hashirama cells could repair it, if Rin were revived later, then whose "Kirin" would it actually be, his, or Senju Hashirama's?
The moment he imagined Rin being filled with Hashirama-sama's cells after being revived, the masked man would probably feel the world was even more hopeless, and that Infinite Tsukuyomi absolutely had to be activated.
After confirming Adult Sasuke's location, Shiromo and Itachi set off.
Seeing the image of Adult Sasuke lying unconscious by the riverbank, everyone instantly had countless things they wanted to say. In the end, they swallowed it all back, turning it into one sigh after another.
What kind of freak was this Ōtsutsuki Urashiki?
Adult Sasuke had no chakra, fell off a cliff, and got swept into a river, losing consciousness was at least understandable.
But 'you', an Ōtsutsuki, fell into a river and actually got forcibly separated from Sasuke, then crawled out of the water looking utterly miserable?
Of course, everyone present was well aware, Urashiki was just bizarre, not useless.
If anyone really thought that a river alone could suppress an Ōtsutsuki and decided to use Water Release against one, the result would be completely different.
"It feels like this Urashiki has plenty of ability but no idea how to use it properly. His combat mentality is terrible, and his battle experience is practically zero."
Watching up to this point, Tobirama finally arrived at a reasonable explanation.
"If that's the case, then you should've let me go even more."
Hashirama complained dejectedly.
"Big brother, just stay put. Did you not understand what Shiromo said? Besides this Urashiki, there's still Momoshiki who one-shotted the Monkey!"
"Big brother, do you have any idea how absurd your situation is?"
"The Ōtsutsuki want to absorb Tailed Beast chakra and refine it into pills."
"But your chakra alone rivals that of a Tailed Beast. Do you know what that means?"
Tobirama explained with a tone of frustrated disappointment.
Everyone knew that Uzumaki Naruto, with chakra far beyond normal people thanks to his Uzumaki lineage, plus half of the Nine-Tails' chakra, the most chakra-rich of the nine Tailed Beasts, 'still' didn't have as much chakra as Senju Hashirama.
So here's the question.
"Tailed Beasts originate from the Ten-Tails. The Ten-Tails was born only after the God Tree absorbed the planet's natural energy for a long time. Shiromo already explained all of this to us in the Land of Wind."
"The Land of Wind became so barren precisely because of the Ten-Tails."
"So what about you, big brother?"
"Did you drain the land of the Land of Fire dry?"
"Did you turn it into a wasteland for a thousand miles?"
"You eat two steamed buns a day, and yet you produce Nine-Tails–level chakra."
"Big brother, you're even more impressive than a dairy cow. Cows eat grass and produce milk."
"You eat steamed buns and produce chakra."
"..."
Hashirama scratched his head and also started to feel that something was off.
If his situation were discovered by the Ōtsutsuki, if he could beat them, fine. But if it ended in a draw, or he lost, then by Tobirama's logic…
Wouldn't that mean he'd be taken away and used as a dairy cow, milked for chakra every single day?
(End of this chapter)