114. The Newt Venom Sac Transplantation Project

Beneath the moonlit night.

Kisame descended from the sky. As he landed, he ended his transformation, exiting the "Satori" form, and strode over to Hanzo to retrieve the antidote from his body.

In this battle against Hanzo, he had first set a trap, dispatching Pakura to exhaust the chakra of this "Demigod of the Shinobi World" while secretly gathering intelligence to master Hanzo's fighting style. He then seized the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, eliminating Hanzo's summon in one stroke and severely crippling his strength. Furthermore, Hanzo’s complete lack of information regarding Kisame’s abilities had only amplified Kisame’s advantage.

Kisame held all the cards.

Yet, it had to be said, Hanzo truly lived up to his name as a demigod. His abilities were incredibly comprehensive, and his combat experience was vast; he was a nearly flawless ninja. That was the only reason he had managed to hold out for so long against Kisame’s onslaught. And this was an aging Hanzo; had it been ten years prior, at the peak of his strength and mental acuity, he would have been even more troublesome.

The title of "Demigod of the Shinobi World" was no mere vanity.

It was a pity. Even though Hanzo had reached the pinnacle of ordinary ninja, he lacked a "cheat" ability, so no matter how strong he was, he remained merely a "demigod." From the moment Kisame entered the Satori form, regardless of what other tricks Hanzo might have had up his sleeve, his death was sealed.

*Shing.*

Kisame tapped his chest, and the human-faced tattoo opened its mouth, swallowing Hanzo’s corpse into the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Hanzo’s body contained a wealth of intelligence and was of great research value. Even if not used for research, it could be traded at a black-market exchange for an astronomical sum of money. Just for the title of "Demigod," it would surely fetch at least seventy or eighty million ryo.

A minute later, Kisame returned to Pakura, Mui, and the others, administering the antidote and pulling them back from the gates of death.

"Lord Kisame, Hanzo... what happened to him?" Mui asked cautiously.

"He is dead," Kisame replied. His calm tone, falling upon their ears, was like a massive boulder thrown into a lake, creating turbulent waves in their hearts. Mui and the others found it surreal; the dignified demigod, a legendary figure, had just died like that.

Under their stunned gazes, Kisame walked over to the salamander named Ibuse, which had already lost all signs of life due to excessive blood loss. While the body was still warm, Kisame used his sewing needle to slice open the salamander’s belly, rummaging through it until he extracted a poison sac.

The fist-sized sac continued to pulse as Kisame held it, releasing wisps of purple toxic gas. Kisame brought the sac directly to his nose and inhaled.

As the gas entered his nostrils, a wave of dizziness washed over him. Immediately following was an intense sensation of numbness, spreading from his head down through his entire body. Accompanying the numbness were intermittent stabs of pain.

Kisame furrowed his brow, but he did not use the antidote. Instead, he relied on his physical fortitude to endure it. After a while, he stood firm, refusing to collapse.

As expected. His body, having been modified by the Box of Ultimate Bliss and other ninja tools, was already like steel—not only incredibly hard but also immune to all poisons. Even the potent venom of a salamander could only cause temporary numbness and pain. If he inhaled it a few more times to let his body grow accustomed to it, his resistance would surely increase further.

With this, Kisame could proceed with his plan: transplanting the salamander’s poison sac.

That was correct. Kisame had fought Hanzo specifically to obtain this poison sac. He intended to emulate Hanzo by surgically implanting the sac into his own body, turning himself into a human-sized salamander capable of exhaling toxic mist or generating venom at will. At that point, his strength would see yet another leap.

With this in mind, Kisame took out a small, prepared cooler, carefully stored the poison sac inside, and tucked it into the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Kisame and Pakura quietly left Hozuki Castle. Kisame summoned a shark, and together with Pakura, they stood upon its back. After a full day, they finally cleared the inland sea and reached the shore.

"From now on, you are free," he said to Pakura, only to find her standing in place, looking lost.

"What are your plans for the future? Going back to the Hidden Sand Village to take revenge on the high-ranking officials who bullied you? Do you need a hand? I can accompany you and take care of the Kazekage Rasa and the Sand high-ups." Kisame spoke in a tone that was half-joking, half-serious. While he was ostensibly showing favor to Pakura, in his heart, he was thinking that the Sand Village likely possessed many high-quality ninja tools, like human puppets. They were worth plundering.

"No, there's no need," Pakura said, her expression changing instantly. She knew Kisame wasn't boasting; he was truly capable of such a feat.

"Tsk, tsk. Ruthlessly abandoned by your village, yet you still hold it in your heart, unwilling to see the Sand destroyed," Kisame remarked with a sigh, then turned to leave.

"Wait!" Pakura suddenly shouted from behind him, chasing after him with quick steps. "Um, I... can I come with you?"

Kisame glanced at her, asked no more, and nodded readily.

"Fine."

As the saying goes, there are no permanent enemies in this world. Kisame and Pakura had once faced each other on the battlefield as hostile ninja. But now, Pakura was no longer a member of the Hidden Sand, and Kisame never considered himself a loyal ninja of the Hidden Mist, always prepared to defect.

Former enemies could also become companions.

Beyond her Scorch Release bloodline limit and her sharp combat style, there was something else about Pakura that Kisame valued most: loyalty. As a double agent, Kisame deeply understood how precious a virtue loyalty was. No matter how powerful a villain was, they needed a few loyal subordinates by their side, or they would end up like Uchiha Madara—betrayed and stabbed in the back by turncoats, eventually meeting a miserable end.

Kisame’s subsequent plan was as follows: after leaving the Hozuki Castle prison, return to the Hidden Mist to report to his superior, Suikazan Fuguki, and find a way to seize the Samehada from him. That would allow him to collect all seven swords of the Hidden Mist.

But that was not the end. Kisame’s true target was the Uchiha clan’s heirloom—the Gunbai fan held by Uchiha Madara. According to his memories, during the Third Shinobi World War, Madara would manipulate the Hidden Mist Anbu, ordering them to capture Noh Rin and transplant the Three-Tails Isobu into her. Kisame’s plan was simple: when Madara made his move, he would infiltrate those Mist Anbu to locate Madara’s hideout and snatch the fan.

Uchiha Madara was already seventy-three years old and had transplanted his Rinnegan to Nagato, relying on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to sustain his life. An old man in his twilight years naturally could not be a match for Kisame.

However, before returning to the Mist, Kisame needed to find someone to perform the surgery to transplant the salamander’s poison sac. This surgery was highly complex, and an average medical ninja likely wouldn't be up to the task; he needed a specialist. If one considered only skill, Tsunade was undoubtedly the best candidate in the world. But given their relationship, it was impossible for her to perform surgery on him, not to mention that her hemophobia was likely still uncured.

So, Kisame settled for the next best thing: he set his sights on Tsunade’s disciple, Shizune. As Tsunade’s student, Shizune had received her master’s full tutelage, and she was a genius in medical ninjutsu in her own right. Despite her youth, she was already capable of handling matters on her own. Moreover, compared to Tsunade, Shizune was much easier to manipulate.

Kisame figured that since Tsunade could not reach the front lines due to her hemophobia, she was likely staying in Konoha. And since Shizune was always by her side, inseparable, he would just have to pass through the Land of Fire on his way back to the Mist and infiltrate the Hidden Leaf to get the job done.

With his plan set, Kisame immediately took action. Considering it was more convenient to move alone, he explained the situation to Pakura, absorbed her into his body, and activated his shoulder tattoo. He transformed into the appearance of an ordinary person.

Having emerged from the isolated Hozuki Castle and returned to the shinobi world, Kisame traveled along, soon feeling the chaotic atmosphere of the major villages physically clashing. In the Land of Grass, the armies of the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Stone were locked in fierce combat, leaving the small country caught in the middle ravaged and countless civilians displaced.

Kisame did not get involved, bypassing the eyes of both sides’ ninja and heading straight toward the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire.

A few days later, Kisame successfully entered the Leaf by blending into a merchant caravan. Since the start of the Third World War, the Leaf had been fighting both the Cloud and the Stone, while also guarding against the Sand in the west and the Mist in the east; their main forces were largely deployed. The current defenses of the Leaf Village were much thinner than usual, so Kisame’s infiltration was extremely smooth.

"Make way!" On the streets, Leaf ninja were frequently seen carrying stretchers, transporting casualties from the front lines to the Leaf Hospital. Kisame deduced that the master-disciple duo of Tsunade and Shizune were likely at the hospital. He headed straight for it.

Suddenly, a mother and son walking toward him caught his attention. It was none other than Uchiha Mikoto and her three-year-old son, Uchiha Itachi.

"Mother, are you going to the battlefield too?" Itachi looked up and asked Mikoto, his black eyes radiating a precociousness far beyond his years.

"Don't worry about me, Itachi. Mom is a jonin, you know." Mikoto smiled, gently patting her son’s head, and said, "A ninja’s destiny is to fight. For the honor of the Uchiha clan and to protect the village, I must give it my all."

"I understand, Mother." Itachi nodded, looking thoughtful.

The mother and son did not notice the ordinary passerby who was secretly observing them. Kisame’s gaze swept over Itachi without a ripple. In his previous life, he had held great respect for Itachi, calling him "Itachi-san" and willingly standing by his side as a minor supporting player.

But in the eyes of the current Kisame, Uchiha Itachi was nothing.

No, that wasn't right. This kid was... a leek. A leek that hadn't yet grown to harvest.