Ch 60: Two Years of Digestion

Chapter 60: Two Years of Digestion

Chakra is closely tied to one's physical condition—and even more so to one's bloodline. If training and exercise represent addition, then possessing the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki clan is multiplication.

In the world of Naruto, there has never been a perfect method for utilizing Hashirama's cells. Whether it's Yamato's Wood Release, so weak that it's more suitable for landscaping than combat, or the grotesque "Kirin Arm" that Shimura Danzo grafted onto himself, most results are either unstable or come with severe drawbacks. Even Uchiha Madara, who achieved the most stable fusion, had the disturbing result of his best friend's face growing on his chest.

But this wasn't a problem for Ayaan. The Yami Yami no Mi possessed a unique transformation ability. If he could merge even metal seamlessly into flesh, growing a cannon from his mouth would be trivial—so why not integrate Hashirama's cells?

This transformation was completely different from his previous attempts. In the past, Ayaan would reconstruct his body using the template of others. But now, he only needed to integrate Hashirama's cells directly.

With a sweep of the black mist, he first destroyed a large number of Hashirama cells, then the Uchiha clan's Sharingan samples. The unconscious Uchiha Fugaku was almost killed, his eyes and valuable Uchiha genetics stripped away by Ayaan. After extracting what he needed, Ayaan returned the now blind and crippled Fugaku near Konoha and simply told him to get lost.

To Ayaan, there was no emotional attachment to Konoha, its clans, or even the ninja profession itself. Although he once enjoyed reading the manga, being dragged into this war-torn world and forced to fight at age ten had erased any romanticism.

A savior like Naruto Uzumaki only appears once in a millennium. Ayaan was just a normal person. He had no intention of repaying evil with kindness.

"There's still Kamui's Mangekyō, but nowhere suitable to implant it..." Ayaan muttered, frowning. He decided to store it for now.

While the Yami Yami no Mi could easily merge Kamui's eye with another Mangekyō to form an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he found that the resulting power was volatile. Control was difficult unless both eyes came from the same origin. For now, he kept them separated, intending to fuse them later once he stabilized his chakra flow.

With both Uchiha and Senju bloodlines now in his body, he had no trouble wielding Mangekyō-level power. The risk of blindness was all but gone thanks to the healing capabilities derived from Senju cells.

"The Uzumaki genes in Kushina's body are very similar to the Senju's. Maybe I can fuse the two."

Ayaan spent an entire day running experiments. Unlike conventional researchers, he had the advantage of trial and error without consequence. Thanks to the Yami Yami no Mi's transformative properties, he could revert any changes instantly and try again. Each experiment took only a minute or two. By the end of the day, he'd run hundreds of variations.

Eventually, he succeeded in fusing the bloodlines of Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha almost perfectly. His new body resonated with a surge of vitality and balance, and he was finally satisfied.

After this, Ayaan disappeared from public view. He focused entirely on deciphering the Forbidden Sealing Scroll and the vast trove of human experimentation data he'd stolen from Root.

Konoha's knowledge of ninjutsu, genetics, and bloodline limits was impressively advanced. Without the help of shadow clones, the information alone could take someone decades to absorb.

Fortunately, Ayaan immediately mastered the Shadow Clone Technique and created dozens of clones, each assigned to specific research and training tasks.

Ayaan himself focused on practicing the Eight Gates technique. With his pirate-world physique, near-immortal vitality, and the Yami Yami no Mi to repair internal injuries, he was practically born for it. Not training in Eight Gates would be a waste of his overwhelming potential.

But not everything went his way. The Shiki Fūjin sealing technique had proven to be a major obstacle. Even with his fruit's gravitational absorption powers, Ayaan couldn't access the sealed contents—because they weren't there. The remnants of chakra on the surface were mere fragments. The actual Nine-Tails and Minato Namikaze had already been devoured by the Shinigami.

So, in the end, he couldn't retrieve the remaining half of the Kyūbi. That was the one imperfection in an otherwise flawless raid.

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Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, more than two years had gone by.

Ayaan remained hidden in his underground base, dedicating himself entirely to training and research. Meanwhile, the shinobi world simmered with tension.

Konoha, devastated even further by Ayaan's rampage, was still reeling. Root had been wiped out, the Uchiha clan was leaderless, the Fourth Hokage and the Jinchūriki were dead, and more than a dozen jonin were gone. It was a loss comparable to a full-scale ninja war.

This naturally excited the other villages.

But the shadow of the Third Great Ninja War still loomed large. While other villages were eager to take advantage of Konoha's weakened state, no one wanted to start a new war so soon. The memory of mutual destruction was still fresh. Everyone understood that the last war had no winners—only survivors.

So while no major conflicts broke out, spying, probing, and political games began again in earnest.

The most active among them was Kumogakure, which had never signed a formal truce with Konoha. Although they had stopped fighting in practice, the lack of a treaty gave them an excuse to demand reparations and exert pressure.

Ayaan ignored it all.

He had little interest in world affairs. As a lone wolf, he was invisible to the major players—unless they got close.

Konoha was too busy recovering to seriously hunt him. All they did was place a bounty on his head, making the legend of the Black Shadow Ninja circulate in the underworld.

In contrast, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and the Akatsuki were far more persistent.

Kumo, obsessed with collecting bloodlines and kekkei genkai, drooled at the sight of his so-called "Dark Release."

Iwa wasn't as bold but was always on the lookout for strong bounty hunters. Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, had a habit of recruiting powerful mercenaries.

As for the Akatsuki, it was obvious. Uchiha Obito had his eye on Ayaan from the moment he looted Konoha. He admired Ayaan's power but was also wary of him. The Akatsuki was still in a growth phase, looking for powerful members. Naturally, Obito wanted to either recruit or remove him.

But despite their efforts, Ayaan had gone underground—literally. Living in seclusion, only occasionally venturing out for food or tools, he remained off the radar. Even the White Zetsu network struggled to track him.

For now, the ninja world could only speculate about the reappearance of the dark storm called Ayaan.

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