Got It! The Chimera Technique!

A somewhat dilapidated house—this was Minamoto Takuya's residence.

In theory, ninjas were not in a low-paying profession. Even the simplest missions offered fairly generous rewards.

And as a Special Jonin, Minamoto Takuya might not have been able to afford the most luxurious estate, but he should not have been living in such a rundown little house either.

That was indeed the case. It was simply that Minamoto Takuya did not have high standards for his residence. As long as it served the basic functions of a home, that was enough.

Sure enough, although the room had everything it was supposed to have, it still gave off a crude and sparse feeling. There was no sense of lived-in warmth either, as though the owner rarely stayed here.

That was also true. During most periods without war, Minamoto Takuya carried out missions outside Konoha, so naturally he rarely returned home.

Even when he did return, he would only stay in one room to study Sealing Jutsu. There truly was not much of a human presence here.

Minamoto Takuya walked over to the desk and sat down, tapping his fingers slowly against its surface as he considered his next course of action.

Stealing the Chimera Technique was imperative. It was the only chance he had to turn things around with this body of exceptionally ordinary talent.

The main question was what came after stealing it.

He needed to master it in the shortest possible time. At the very least, he had to complete the fusion before Rin Nohara was captured by the Mist Shinobi, resolving his greatest flaw: his lack of chakra.

He just did not know how far Hiruko had progressed with the Chimera Technique's formula. It probably had not reached the point where it could fuse five bodies, but the formula for fusing one or two bodies had definitely been completed. Perhaps even three.

Researching a formula was always hardest at the beginning. Even if the later portions had not been perfected, Minamoto Takuya was confident that he could make up for the missing parts.

As for the bodies he would use for fusion? Naturally, they had already been prepared. His twenty-seven years had not been wasted.

Where were they? Naturally, they were not inside Konoha. His Experiment Base would not be like Hiruko's, sitting inside Konoha and waiting to be discovered.

With that, Minamoto Takuya picked up the Sealing Scroll on the desk and began reviewing it from the start, considering what could be altered.

That night.

Minamoto Takuya put down the scroll and looked toward Hiruko's Experiment Base, which remained silent and still. There was no movement from Kakashi Hatake's side either, and he was starting to grow anxious.

Had he remembered wrong? This part of the Original Work had been rather vague. Hiruko had apparently been discovered just after learning that Kakashi Hatake had obtained the Sharingan, after which the Sannin had driven him out together.

"That shouldn't be right..."

Minamoto Takuya frowned. Could it be that Hiruko had branded Kakashi Hatake with the Puppet Curse only after being driven out?

When Hiruko branded Kakashi Hatake with the Puppet Curse, Kakashi Hatake very clearly still possessed the Two-Tomoe Sharingan. That meant it had indeed happened after the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, but before Rin Nohara was captured.

"Could it be that Hiruko returned to Konoha after being driven out..."

Minamoto Takuya frowned as he considered that possibility. Then he recalled the scene from the Original Work where Uchiha Itachi had entered Konoha directly with that shark-faced man, and his scalp immediately tingled.

Now that he thought about it, with Konoha's habit of never changing the passwords for its barriers, it really was possible!

Fortunately, while he had not seen Hiruko leave, neither had he seen any sign of the Sannin. So the plan had not failed yet.

If things really were as he had just considered, then the plan would have to change.

For Hiruko to escape from the Sannin, they had basically shown mercy out of consideration for their childhood bond and held back. But appearances still had to be maintained, so Hiruko would inevitably be injured. The only question was how serious those injuries were.

But regardless, he could only make a move against Hiruko at that time. If he waited until Hiruko hid away to search for Kekkei Genkai corpses, finding him again would be far too difficult.

To be honest, Minamoto Takuya did not want to fight Hiruko. Not for any other reason, but because even without using the Chimera Technique, Hiruko should have possessed Jonin-level strength. He was merely no match for the Sannin.

He had been able to easily brand Kakashi Hatake with the Puppet Curse. Even if Kakashi Hatake's Jonin rank had been pushed through during wartime, it still showed that Hiruko was not weak. With Minamoto Takuya's Special Jonin strength, dealing with Hiruko was hardly a sure thing.

If he could intercept Hiruko, that would not be the worst outcome. The worst outcome would be losing this opportunity completely. Then, if he wanted to change his own talent, he could only research it himself.

It was not as though he had never considered researching it himself before. But on one hand, he might not be able to figure it out, and on the other, he had other formulas to study. His Experiment Base was not inside Konoha, and he was alone, so he could not spread his research in too many directions.

Since the Chimera Technique had already been recorded in the Original Work, naturally he wanted to take the ready-made formula and focus his attention on another technique.

Minamoto Takuya took a deep breath and tapped his forehead with a finger, slowly calming himself down.

Wait a little longer. The Sannin had not appeared yet. Things had not reached the worst possible outcome. He still had a chance.

Thus, amid his unease, Minamoto Takuya waited until the third night. Then he opened his bloodshot eyes, which were filled with joy.

Because Hiruko had finally emerged from the Experiment Base, and he was heading directly toward where Kakashi Hatake currently was!

Minamoto Takuya sighed in relief, then rose and began moving. Even at a time like this, he absolutely could not let his guard down and be spotted by ninjas patrolling at night. He had no desire to attract the attention of the higher-ups.

Very soon, Minamoto Takuya arrived before Hiruko's Experiment Base. Following the method he had previously observed Hiruko using to enter, he advanced into the base without making a single mistake.

Once inside the Experiment Base, this was no longer somewhere the Crow could observe. He was worried that Hiruko might notice the Crow, so he had never dared let it get too close.

But that did not mean there was no way.

"Water Release: Reproduction Technique!"

Minamoto Takuya formed hand seals and called upon the chakra within his body.

Yes, Water Release. Minamoto Takuya's chakra natures were water and earth, both extremely ordinary attributes. He had received none of the protagonist treatment of wind and lightning.

Water Release was not too bad. After all, Konoha had the Second Hokage, a master of Water Release, so he would not lack techniques to learn later. But Earth Release was a headache. Useful Earth Release techniques like the Light-Weight Rock Technique and Earth-Style: Added-Weight Rock Technique were only mastered by Iwagakure Shinobi.

As for Wood Release, the Kekkei Genkai supposedly formed from earth and water? How could that be possible? Had no one seen that even Mei Terumi's earth-and-water Kekkei Genkai was merely Melt Release? Wood Release definitely had something special about it. Perhaps only the First Hokage's bloodline could possess it.

Still, Minamoto Takuya did not care much about that. As long as he acquired the Chimera Technique, he would obtain other attributes sooner or later. There was no need to rush.

During this time, he had researched quite a few techniques for that very reason, such as the Clairvoyance Technique he had used earlier.

And the Water Release: Reproduction Technique he was using now was...

A thin layer of liquid began spreading from beneath Minamoto Takuya's feet, rapidly flowing outward. It soon covered the ground ahead, and countless footprints emerged within it—some entering, some leaving.

Naturally, Minamoto Takuya focused on the clearest trail, the footprints Hiruko had left only moments ago when he departed.

Stepping on those fresh footprints, Minamoto Takuya quickly advanced deeper into the Experiment Base.

Before long, his view opened up. What lay before him were countless corpses. Some had been left exposed in the open, while others were submerged in solution-filled cultivation tanks.

Minamoto Takuya inhaled the rotten stench permeating the air and could not help frowning. Hiruko was far too careless. His own Experiment Base was much cleaner than this, and there was another major difference as well.

The corpses here were primarily animal corpses, while the ones in his base... were mainly the bodies of targets he had personally killed during missions.

Still, this was not the time to comment on such things. Having reached this place, he was basically safe. Any mechanisms would at most be placed in the passageways. This was where experiments were conducted, so traps would not normally be deliberately arranged here.

In fact, Minamoto Takuya had not discovered any mechanisms in the passageway just now either. Unlike him, who had set up a whole array of deadly traps—poison, acid, and so on...

But it made sense. In the Original Work, the Sannin had reached the interior of the Experiment Base and seen Hiruko before he noticed them.

So their unimpeded progress was partly due to their strength, but also because Hiruko probably had not set up any traps at all.

Even if he had, he had not set up any alarm mechanisms. If this had been Minamoto Takuya's Experiment Base, the moment even one mechanism was triggered—or even dismantled—he would immediately know someone had invaded it.

But now was not the time to mock Hiruko. His gaze swiftly swept through the Experiment Base, and he soon found a large stack of experimental records stored nearby.

Minamoto Takuya had a headache. It seemed he would have to organize these experimental records afterward before he could find what he wanted.

With a sigh, he got to work. Taking out the scroll he had prepared in advance, he released its seal, and a large number of blank scrolls appeared at once.

Then Minamoto Takuya opened Hiruko's experimental records. He had no time to read through them all inside Hiruko's Experiment Base, so he had already developed a technique for this purpose.

"Water Release: Transcription Technique."

Countless streams of water covered Hiruko's experimental records. In the end, all the water adhered to the written characters on the records. Then Minamoto Takuya took out the new scrolls he had prepared, and the water seemed to find new targets, ultimately merging into the scrolls in his hands.

At last, countless words rapidly appeared on the scrolls, every stroke exactly identical to the writing left in Hiruko's experimental records!

Looking at the scrolls in his hands, Minamoto Takuya revealed a satisfied smile, then swiftly copied every experimental record.

By the time he finished copying the final one, he could barely suppress the urge to burst into laughter.

But this was not the time, much less the place.

Finally, Minamoto Takuya reined in the smile on his face. He inspected every corner of the Laboratory, including Hiruko's bedroom. Once he confirmed that no experimental records had been overlooked, he stretched lazily.

Then he formed hand seals and used the Clairvoyance Technique once more, discovering that Hiruko had already succeeded and was currently on his way back.

Minamoto Takuya was not worried about running into Hiruko. Entering had been troublesome, but leaving would be far easier.

By now, he had returned all the experimental records to their original positions. The footprints he had left overlapped Hiruko's footprints, and the only issue was that his frequent use of Water Release had slightly raised the humidity within the base.

But such a minute shift in humidity would be difficult for anyone to notice. Besides, Hiruko did not seem particularly attentive to details, and having just succeeded, he was probably extremely excited. That made it even less likely that he would notice.

Minamoto Takuya had no perverse hobby of deliberately leaving clues behind for Hiruko to discover, making him start suspecting things.

Unlike some people who would push their luck and leave only at the very moment before Hiruko returned, chasing that thrill of danger, Minamoto Takuya had already completed communication with his summoning beast.

Inside that somewhat dilapidated room, a Crow slowly used its tiny body to open an enormous scroll. A formula was inscribed upon it.

"Summoning Technique!"