146. Infiltrating the Land of Rain

Hashirama’s cells might be a coveted trump card to anyone else.

But for Kisame, they were little more than icing on the cake. They simply meant that he had acquired one more ability.

Then—

A flash of lightning streaked across Kisame’s mind. The hand seals for countless Wood Release techniques appeared in his memory one after another, as though he had been born knowing how to wield Wood Release.

After successfully transplanting Hashirama Senju’s cells, Kisame naturally obtained his Kekkei Genkai as well.

“Let’s see what this so-called Wood Release can do.”

He muttered to himself, then smiled at Tsunade. After forming a series of hand seals, he slammed one palm against the ground.

A vast amount of Wood Release chakra surged from Kisame’s palm and sank into the earth.

The next instant—

“Hm?”

Tsunade sensed that something was wrong. Before she could react, a violent tremor rose beneath her feet. She looked down and was instantly horrified.

Rumble!

The earth shook as countless trees burst from the ground, growing at astonishing speed. Within a few short seconds, a vast, luxuriant forest had formed.

This was Hashirama Senju’s signature Wood Release technique—Deep Forest Emergence.

To date, among all the shinobi who had transplanted Hashirama’s cells, Kisame was the only one capable of using this technique. Its demands on chakra reserves were simply too immense.

At that moment, the countless branches in the forest seemed to come alive, thrashing wildly like ravenous monsters.

Every tree was under Kisame’s control. Anyone who entered the forest would be subjected to Wood Release attacks from every direction, leaving nowhere to hide.

And Tsunade, who had not escaped in time, naturally became the unfortunate target of Kisame’s experiment.

Thus—

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Under his command, countless trees surged toward Tsunade one after another, weaving an inescapable net around her.

Tsunade’s expression turned solemn. She darted and twisted through the forest, trying to escape, while striking out with her monstrous strength. With a series of thunderous blows, she snapped apart a great many trees.

Yet the defining trait of Wood Release was its endless vitality. The trees Tsunade broke were restored in an instant by Kisame’s chakra, returning with even greater vigor than before.

They spread across the sky and earth, driving her step by step into a dead end.

In the end, Tsunade was subdued by the Wood Release exactly as Kisame had intended. She was suspended above the ground in the shape of a cross, her wrists and ankles bound tightly by the trees and rendered completely immobile.

“Tsk, tsk…”

Kisame sauntered over to Tsunade, rubbing his chin as he admired her magnificent figure.

As he continued to evolve and gradually left the realm of human life behind, he had lost nearly all interest in women. Even so, he had to admit—

When he saw Tsunade’s breathtaking body, some primitive impulse still stirred within him.

“You bastard! Let me go!”

Tsunade shouted at him, furious and humiliated. But the harder she struggled, the tighter the trees wound around her.

“How about we make a deal?”

Kisame reached out, lifted Tsunade’s chin, and whispered seductively in a devilish voice, “You’ve personally experienced the power of Wood Release. This is your grandfather’s strength. Don’t you want to possess it yourself? If you agree to take me to the Shikkotsu Forest and persuade the Slug Sage to teach me senjutsu, I’ll give you a specimen of Hashirama’s cells. How does that sound?”

For Tsunade, it was indeed an extremely tempting offer.

Hashirama Senju’s blood flowed through her veins. If she transplanted his cells, her chances of success would be far greater than anyone else’s.

Moreover, as a member of the Senju clan, Tsunade was the only one who could truly unleash the power of Wood Release. She might even have a chance of becoming the second Hashirama Senju.

However—

“Kisame Hoshigaki… You’re wasting your effort. I will never agree to any of your demands.”

Tsunade stared fixedly at Kisame and spoke each word with absolute resolve.

Even in the face of such temptation, her attitude remained firm. She did not waver in the slightest.

Kisame had expected that answer.

“I like women as fierce as you. Proud and untamed, like a wild horse. That makes conquering you all the more interesting.”

He examined Tsunade with relish and flashed a wicked grin. Then his tone changed.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have time to tame you right now. So you’ll have to sleep for a while. During that time, think carefully about my proposal.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he placed a hand on Tsunade’s shoulder. Amid her startled cry, he absorbed her into the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

A moment later, Kisame emerged from the forest.

This was the western border of the Land of Fire. To the west, dark clouds blanketed the distant sky, as though a torrential storm might descend at any moment.

Beyond them lay the Land of Rain.

Yes, Kisame had decided to visit the Hidden Rain Village first.

Because there was an organization there called the Akatsuki. Within that organization was a young man named Nagato.

And in his possession was the only pair of Rinnegan in the entire shinobi world.

Those eyes had been secretly transplanted into Nagato by Madara Uchiha when Nagato was still a child.

Behind Madara, secretly influencing his every move, stood the greatest mastermind in the shadows of the shinobi world—Black Zetsu.

For more than a thousand years, Black Zetsu had repeatedly incited the reincarnations of Indra and Asura to battle one another, fomenting and engineering countless wars and deaths.

All of it had been designed to awaken the Rinnegan and, through those eyes, resurrect Kaguya Otsutsuki.

From this point onward, nearly every major event in the story of the shinobi world would be connected to those eyes.

Now that Kisame had killed Hanzo, the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, the news would inevitably cause turmoil once it reached the Land of Rain. The Akatsuki, where Nagato resided, would certainly be swept into the vortex of the village’s internal conflict.

In the original course of events, the newly formed Akatsuki was attacked by Hanzo and Danzo Shimura in concert, ultimately resulting in the death of its leader, Yahiko.

Nagato then fell into darkness. Using the power of the Rinnegan, he created the Six Paths of Pain, killed Danzo, and became the new ruler of the Hidden Rain Village.

After that, Nagato joined forces with Obito, who was disguised as Madara Uchiha. Together, they expanded the Akatsuki and launched a plan to capture the tailed beasts.

But now, things had changed.

Kisame’s plan was to make contact with the Akatsuki before Obito could, drawing close to Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan.

He had no intention of seizing the Rinnegan and using it himself. Even for Kisame, those eyes would be an enormous burden.

The best course was to let Nagato continue serving as a living battery, nourishing both the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Kisame could control Nagato and thereby wield the power of the Rinnegan indirectly.

Then, when the time was right, he would simply claim the fruits of his efforts.

With that thought, he immediately set his plan into motion.

“Poof!”

Kisame formed a hand seal. As the transformation mark on his right shoulder activated, his height and build shrank dramatically, leaving him in an entirely different form.

He then removed his pair of dead-fish eyes and replaced them with Obito’s Sharingan and a Byakugan belonging to Hinata’s clan. Using Wood Release, he created an orange, spiral-patterned mask and placed it over his face.

The mask revealed only Kisame’s left eye, making him look remarkably similar to Obito when the latter had impersonated Madara.

Finally, Kisame stowed away his great sword, Samehada, and drew the Uchiha clan’s Gunbai from the Box of Ultimate Bliss, strapping it across his back.

Compared with Obito, Kisame was far more convincing as a fake Madara Uchiha.

Whoosh!

With several swift leaps, Kisame vanished into the distance and infiltrated the Land of Rain.