I am not afraid of making too many enemies; I only fear that the enemies are not strong enough.

Outside the banquet hall.

"Let me in!" Shizune shouted sharply, preparing to bypass Yugito and storm into the hall to save people.

"Take one more step, and you die."

Yugito's voice was cold. With a snap of her fingers, several scorching Scorch Release fireballs appeared silently, floating around Shizune and boxing her in.

Feeling the intense heat radiating from the fireballs, Shizune's expression changed drastically. Though burning with anxiety, she realized that moving against Yugito by force was no different from seeking death.

Inside the hall.

Kisame's hands gripped Tsunade's wrists like a pair of giant iron vises. His massive physique pressed down upon her with the crushing weight of a mountain, making it difficult for her to breathe and rendering her completely immobile.

"What do you want?"

After her initial panic subsided, she forced herself to calm down, glaring at Kisame as she asked.

"That is a good question."

Kisame wore a standard villainous smile, speaking to her without the slightest concealment. "I can do whatever I want to you, simply because you are too weak. The weak are playthings for the strong; that is the law of nature."

As he spoke, he unceremoniously scrutinized Tsunade's beautiful and delicate face, much like a predator eyeing a delicious meal.

"You..."

Tsunade clenched her teeth, feeling an unprecedented sense of humiliation as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She had been bullied by Kisame too many times, and the accumulated weight of that helplessness and disgrace pushed her usually resilient self to the verge of an emotional breakdown.

She turned her head away, refusing to look at Kisame another second, resigning herself to her fate.

"Oh? Are you about to cry? Tsunade, do you feel desperate and helpless right now?"

As Kisame spoke, he pinched Tsunade's chin with his fingers, forcibly turning her face back to lock eyes with him.

At this distance, their faces were inches apart, their breath mingling against each other's skin.

"Tsunade, haven't you always wanted to beat the living daylights out of me? Too bad you don't have the strength for it. I, Hoshigaki Kisame, have never feared making too many enemies; I only fear that my enemies aren't strong enough to give me a real fight. So, if you don't want to end up as my plaything, work hard to make yourself as strong as Senju Hashirama, and then come find me. At that time, you'll know whether I can compare to your grandfather or not."

Staring at Tsunade, Kisame finished these words, then stood up, ceasing to torment her further.

Just then.

"Mr. Kisame, what is going on?"

Yukime walked in through the side door with an expression of astonishment. Although she was on the guest list for the banquet, she had been worried about Haku and Kimimaro, choosing to stay home to take care of the two little ones, and had only now found the time to attend.

She walked over with small, hurried steps, carefully helping Tsunade up from the tabletop.

"Lady Tsunade, long time no see. Did you... have an argument with Mr. Kisame?" Yukime asked in a low voice, casting a glance toward Kisame.

"I was just chatting with Tsunade. It's nothing," Kisame said with a smile, walking over to wrap an arm around Yukime's shoulders. Then, with a calm expression, he turned to Tsunade. "A week from now, I will awaken that sealed Slug clone. By any means necessary, I will obtain the Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest, whether you help or not."

Hearing this, Tsunade looked at Kisame in silence, her thoughts unreadable.

"Well then, it's getting late. I need to go home and hand in my homework to Yukime."

Saying this, Kisame glanced at the night sky outside; it was nearly midnight.

Hand in his homework?

Hearing these three words, Tsunade paused in a daze, failing to grasp the meaning. It was not until she saw Yukime blushing deeply, leaning shyly against Kisame's chest, that she finally understood.

"Hahaha."

Kisame let out a hearty laugh, then wrapped his arm around Yukime's slender waist and walked out through the front door.

Tsunade watched the backs of the departing pair with a gloomy expression, slowly withdrawing her gaze to look at the emerald-green Senju Hashirama cell cutting resting on the table.

A flash crossed her eyes, and she grabbed the cutting tightly. Her inner desire for power had never been this intense.

Tsunade took a deep breath, composed herself, and walked out of the banquet hall.

"Lady Tsunade, are you alright?"

Seeing that Tsunade's clothes were somewhat disheveled and there were tearstains at the corners of her eyes, Shizune hurried forward with a worried expression.

Tsunade looked at Yugito nearby and suddenly asked, "Excuse me, where is the Hidden Mist Village hospital? I would like to borrow an operating room here."

Clearly having received prior instructions from Kisame, Yugito was well-prepared and simply said, "Please follow me."

Guided by her, the trio soon arrived at the hospital, entering a heavily guarded and fully equipped operating room.

"This operating room was specially prepared for you by the Mizukage. I will be right outside; please call if you need anything."

With those words, Yugito stepped outside to stand guard at the door.

Inside the operating room.

"Lady Tsunade, is this the First Hokage's cell cutting? Do you intend to... transplant it into your own body?"

When Shizune learned of Tsunade's plan, an expression of utter astonishment crossed her face.

"To defeat Hoshigaki Kisame, I must acquire my grandfather's power."

With a resolute expression, Tsunade slowly slipped off the clothing on her right shoulder, revealing her smooth, fair skin. She prepared to undergo the transplant surgery immediately with Shizune's assistance.

During a transplant of Hashirama's cells, ordinary people would suffer severe rejection reactions, ultimately being consumed by that immense power and perishing miserably as they transformed into "tree men."

Extraordinary individuals, like Kisame, relied on their monstrous physical constitutions to forcefully suppress the power of Hashirama's cells, assimilating and absorbing them.

Tsunade was different from all of them.

As Kisame had pointed out, Tsunade was the sole surviving member of the Senju clan and the granddaughter of Senju Hashirama; flowing through her veins was the purest Senju bloodline.

When Tsunade extracted the cutting from the test tube and gripped it in her hand, she could feel a familiar chakra resonating intensely with the bloodline within her body.

Tsunade was the only person capable of executing a flawless transplant of Hashirama's cells and inheriting the true power of Senju Hashirama.

"Let's begin."

With these words to Shizune, she lay down upon the operating table.

The surgery commenced.

...

In the dead of night.

The Hidden Mist Village, lively throughout the evening, gradually grew quiet. Lights went out, and the villagers drifted into deep slumber.

Kisame dressed and slipped quietly out of bed.

He glanced back; Yukime lay asleep on the bed, her face flushed with a look of blissful satisfaction, clearly exhausted.

Gently closing the door, Kisame stepped into the courtyard and cast a glance at the dark night sky. Then, unfurling the black wings upon his back, he soared upward into the sky.

A short while later, Kisame arrived at a spacious clearing in the mountains behind Hidden Mist.

He had resolved to venture to Shikkotsu Forest, where he would inevitably face the Slug Immortal face-to-face.

To Kisame's knowledge, its name was Katsuyu, an unimaginably colossal slug. Unlike Mount Myoboku or Ryuchi Cave, Shikkotsu Forest possessed no other slugs, only Katsuyu's countless clones.

Katsuyu was undoubtedly an entity on the same tier as Gamamaru; before such a being, one had to remain cautious and make thorough preparations.

Kisame currently held one of Katsuyu's clones as a "hostage," but that was clearly not enough.

Therefore, he decided to further elevate his personal strength.

With this thought, Kisame retrieved the Nuno-Hoko Sword and the Totsuka Sword from the Treasure Box of Heaven and Earth.

One of these ninja tools was crafted from the trunk of the God Tree, serving as an heirloom treasured by the Uchiha clan for millennia, while the other was a legendary divine instrument, the hardest and sharpest weapon in the ninja world.

One might say that the Nuno-Hoko Sword and the Totsuka Sword were weapons second only to Sage of Six Paths-tier ninja tools.

If Kisame could absorb their abilities and wield them flexibly, it would undoubtedly be like adding wings to a tiger for his current self. By then, even when facing beings of Katsuyu or Gamamaru's caliber, he would possess ample confidence.

One hour later.

With the aid of the cheat within his mind, Kisame successfully devoured the two ninja tools and mastered their abilities preliminarily.

Among them, the Totsuka Sword, after being absorbed by Kisame, ultimately became his spinal column, propping up his rugged and powerful torso.

This sword granted him an ability akin to the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku.

Kisame reached toward the back of his neck and pulled upward, extracting his entire spine to use as a weapon.

This bone sword was far harder than the bones of the Kaguya clan—truly indestructible—and it inherited the two major traits of the Totsuka Sword: flight through the air and the ability to extend and retract at will.

"Go!"

With a soft cry from Kisame, the bone sword flashed forth like lightning, darting through the woods under his telekinetic control. Wherever it passed, sword radiance flickered, and thick trees were sliced apart like tofu, crashing down one after another.

Next, the bone sword returned to Kisame's hand. As his will shifted, the blade rapidly extended forward, soon transforming into a sword dozens of meters long.

Wielding this forty-meter-long blade on a battlefield would be sufficient to sweep away entire armies, cutting down vast numbers of foes as easily as carving vegetables.

Finally, the bone sword shrunk back to its original state, melting through his palm into his arm before settling back into his spine.

As for the Nuno-Hoko Sword.

Another shift of Kisame's will caused his right hand to rapidly expand to over a meter in diameter, covered by a thick layer of bark, taking a shape somewhere between a palm and a fan.

Lifting this hand and sweeping it forward, he immediately whipped up a fierce gale in the clearing, sending sand and stones flying.

This giant hand also inherited the Nuno-Hoko Sword's most formidable capability—reflecting ninjutsu. Shielded by it, Kisame could remain virtually fearless against most ninjutsu attacks.

Furthermore, because the Nuno-Hoko Sword was fundamentally made from the trunk of the God Tree, Kisame discovered that when he used this giant hand to cast Wood Release, it produced astonishing amplification effects.

Kisame practiced repeatedly through the night, familiarizing himself with his new abilities until the sun rose in the east, before returning to the village.

As soon as he landed in the courtyard, Yugito, who had been waiting for a long time, stepped forward to report on Tsunade's condition.

Last night, exactly as Kisame had anticipated, Tsunade successfully completed the Hashirama cell transplant surgery, but an unexpected complication arose afterward.

Tsunade had fallen unconscious.

By this time, Shizune had carried Tsunade back to her chambers, where she remained fast asleep.

Oh?

Hearing this, Kisame walked straight over and knocked on the door, pushing it open without waiting for a response from Shizune inside.

"Kisame, what on earth did you do to Lady Tsunade? Why has she ended up like this?"

Seeing Kisame, Shizune mustered all her courage and angrily demanded an answer.

"Step aside."

Kisame shoved her away, walked up to Tsunade's bed, and swept his gaze over her. He quickly noticed that although she was unconscious, her complexion was not pale, carrying a healthy rudeness instead.

Frowning, he reached out to peel back the clothing on Tsunade's right shoulder, sure enough finding the face of Senju Hashirama imprinted there. However, the features of that face were blurring and fading, as if about to thoroughly integrate into Tsunade's body.

Tsk, tsk.

Kisame let out a soft exclamation, a smile crossing his face before he straightened back up.

"Rest easy. This is a good thing. If I guessed correctly, after Tsunade absorbed Hashirama's cells, her bloodline underwent a reversion, bringing her closer to the ancestors of the Senju clan. When she wakes up, incredible changes will undoubtedly occur within her. It's truly something to look forward to."

He spoke thus to Shizune, patted her shoulder, and signaled that she need not worry about Tsunade.

Then, Kisame instructed Yugito, "You stay here. Report any new developments to me immediately. I'll be in the study for the next few days."

"Understood, Mizukage-sama," Yugito nodded.

Shizune watched Kisame's receding figure, her heart filled with conflicting contradictions and doubts.

That man Hoshigaki Kisame undoubtedly looked like a heinous villain, yet upon serious reflection, he had never done anything overly malicious to Lady Tsunade.

On the contrary, he had helped Tsunade treat her hemophobia, exposed the truth about the Leaf higher-ups using Hashirama's cells for experiments to let Tsunade witness their hypocrisy, and even gifted precious Hashirama cells to Tsunade, granting her formidable power.

With these thoughts, Shizune's view of Kisame shifted subtly.

Kisame returned to his study.

By his estimation, it would take at least several days for Tsunade to wake from her unconscious state.

During this period, he could use the time to sort through the ninjutsu he had plundered from the Leaf Village's forbidden library.

Among these arts, the most useful to Kisame were undoubtedly Second Hokage Senju Tobirama's Water Release ninjutsu and the Multi Shadow Clone Technique, a forbidden art with extreme chakra demands.

Other techniques, such as Impure World Reincarnation, Spirit Transformation Technique, or the Flying Thunder God Technique, were far too difficult for Kisame to learn; his brain power fell short, and after reading through them a few times, he simply gave up.

Likewise, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal—a technique of immense power that traded lives with the enemy on a one-for-one basis—was not to Kisame's taste.

However, after flipping through all the ninjutsu scrolls, his eyes lit up as he found an art that genuinely interested him.

The Eight-Branches Technique.

This technique was Orochimaru's ultimate ninjutsu, enabling him to transform into a colossal white snake with eight heads and eight tails.

Back then, Orochimaru had selected only Impure World Reincarnation and the Eight-Branches Technique from the library of forbidden arts, demonstrating just how valuable this technique was.

The reason Kisame cared so much about this art was his realization that the Eight-Headed Serpent was the physical embodiment of Orochimaru's enduring obsession.

Orochimaru's obsession was eternal life; for this sake, he was willing to discard his human body and evolve into a higher-order being.

Kisame felt the same way.

The difference was that in Orochimaru's mind, the white snake symbolized eternity, leading him to channel his obsession into the Eight-Branches Technique to transform himself into a giant white snake.

So then.

Kisame wondered if he could borrow the principles of this technique, fusing his own obsession with his chakra to transform himself into an entity akin to the Eight-Headed Serpent.

This notion left Kisame brimming with excitement.