With the new "skin" ready, the Medical Ninjas began watching the operation intently, not daring to look away.
They watched with solemn reverence—as if on a pilgrimage. Even though they had seen it before, they were still awestruck by Uchiha Kin's ability to ignore rejection and stitch limbs from different people, or even different animals, together.
Any Medical Ninja could understand how astonishing this medical technique was. It was practically a jewel among Medical Ninjutsu.
Piece by piece, the tiger pelt, with its golden fur, was stitched onto the exposed muscles of the person on the table. Gradually, the fur covered the entire body.
A furry "tiger demon," golden all over with black stripes and a white belly, appeared, lying quietly on the operating table.
The Medical Ninjas saw only Uchiha Kin's calm, mechanical repetition. The nimble nerves in his hands seemed to extend like spikes, darting between skin and flesh, joining them together in a work of precision art.
Inside Uchiha Kin's body, four Byakugan established a three-dimensional view from different positions and angles.
The chakra, chakra pathways, nerves, and everything else inside the person were observed in meticulous detail.
Every nerve ending was clear.
"His chakra pathways... Judging by the signs of use, some are clearly thicker. They're probably related to the jutsu he uses often. This is more reliable than hand seals." Uchiha Kin had a thought and memorized those pathways.
"Good. Next!" Uchiha Kin moved on to another person and continued the skin graft. After a while, he moved on to the next.
By the time all three skin grafts were finished, it was already late at night. One doctor asked, "Lord Kin, is that all?"
Uchiha Kin nodded. "That's all for now. We'll deal with the remaining issues after they wake up and recover.
"Though their appearance is a little strange, the fur itself is meaningful to a ninja. They can decide for themselves. If they don't want it, we can remove the fur later.
"It's getting late. Everyone should get some rest."
After speaking, Uchiha Kin changed his clothes and returned to his squad's small tent. He didn't go to sleep, though. First, he took out a notebook and sketched some chakra pathway diagrams. He smiled softly at the notebook, his gaze full of warmth.
I'll have to use the Byakugan more and draw more. That way, I can build a database using the ninjas I've seen as references.
A record of chakra pathways will be much more accurate than hand seals, which are prone to error. Then I can analyze jutsu systematically. Take nature transformation, for example. This method will undoubtedly let me examine it in finer detail and with greater precision.
Now this is how you use the Byakugan.
He gently closed the notebook and glanced at Jasmine and Golden Chrysanthemum. The two of them were leaning against each other, fast asleep.
He thought again, Obito... I can hardly wait to get my hands on your eyes. I've been looking forward to your Kamui dimension. Carrying all this miscellaneous stuff around is such a hassle. With that thought, he lay down, controlled his breathing and heart rate, and fell asleep in no time.
Falling asleep quickly was one of the basic skills every ninja needed. Of course, the Ninja Academy didn't place much importance on this skill.
These days, even Ninja Academy students who could throw a kunai without missing were being sent to the battlefield.
Under that same night sky, the Demigod of the shinobi world revealed the ruthlessness befitting his title. After returning to Amegakure with one arm severed, Hanzo of the Salamander immediately summoned his ninjas and ordered a purge of Akatsuki. "Purge Akatsuki at once. Don't give them time to react."
"Yes!"
A large force of Rain Ninjas set out.
Hanzo waited, making plans as he did. "Nagato and Konan aren't here right now. This is the perfect time to eliminate that naïve cancer.
"Nagato's power is far too great. But perhaps that's for the best. The future of the Land of Rain... I, Hanzo, will use this old, worn-out body to lay the foundation for the Land of Rain's new god." He knew he was going to die.
But had Hanzo of the Salamander ever feared death?
Akatsuki wasn't some mysterious underground organization in the Land of Rain. From the very day it was founded, it had been under Hanzo's watchful eye.
Using the Rain Ninjas as his eyes and ears, Hanzo had carefully observed the organization and every one of its members. For the past three years, his focus had naturally been on its strongest members: Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan. To be precise, it had been 983 days.
The Rain Ninjas knew Akatsuki inside and out. Now that they had a list of targets and knew exactly where to find them, the operation had become nothing more than a massacre.
The Land of Rain was drenched in blood.
One corpse after another was brought into the central building of Amegakure, filling the lower floors. There were well over a hundred.
Hanzo came down from the top floor to inspect the bodies himself. He walked past them, recognizing every one. He had paid more attention to some than others, but he had kept an eye on them all.
There was a tall puppet master, formerly of the Sand Ninja, with a rather comical face. Another was a teacher from the Waterfall Ninja. There was a couple from the Rock Ninja, and...
They had come from all over, brought together by Yahiko's naïve ideas of "understanding" and "peace." They had worked toward a lofty ideal that could never be realized.
Now...
Yahiko was dead, and so were they.
Suddenly, Hanzo stopped in front of the body of a girl who was only eight years old. "Was she also a member of Akatsuki?"
A Rain Ninja answered, "I'm not sure. She was at the third base."
The answer made Hanzo close his eyes. Only after a long while did he open them again. He took a deep breath. "During the Second War, I dared to declare war on the entire shinobi world, standing alone.
"The Five Great Nations... As the leader of a small country, was I afraid? Of course I was. But I could only summon my courage.
"I didn't want the people of the Land of Rain—its children and women—to keep wandering from place to place, never knowing where they'd sleep or whether they'd see the sun tomorrow. Everything I did was for them, especially the children—
"I wanted to give them a place far from the battlefield. They might still go hungry or feel cold, but at least they could escape the war and survive.
"My abilities are limited. I'm just a warrior, with no talent for governing. I couldn't make sure they had enough to eat or warm clothes. All I could do was guarantee, at the very least, that they stayed alive. She was only eight." Hanzo looked at the body, deeply troubled.
But he couldn't blame his subordinates, either. He closed his eyes in pain, as if a funeral bell were tolling for him in his heart.
"That's right. I'm the evil dictator of the Land of Rain. Under my rule, the country is oppressed and silent, and its people are numb, like deadwood.
"So if you defeat me and kill me, you'll naturally become leaders whom everyone supports, won't you?"
A sorrow he couldn't describe welled up inside him!
Before you continue