The Possibilities

That night, in Terumi Mei's tent.

Under the dim lamplight, Ao was alone, reporting to Terumi Mei what he had discovered while using his Byakugan to observe Uesugi Shinji and Kisame Hoshigaki.

"Lady Mei, whether it's Uesugi Shinji or Kisame Hoshigaki, both are unquestionably among the village's rare elite. If I weren't so confident in my Byakugan, I wouldn't have believed what I saw today." Ao spoke with a grave expression.

Though Ao had already recovered from his initial shock, his voice still carried a note of amazement.

Terumi Mei raised an elegant eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? Then please explain in detail, Senior Ao."

Ao had only been in Terumi Mei's service for a short time. As an elite jōnin who already held a certain standing in the village, he was still treated with considerable respect by Terumi Mei.

As Terumi Mei's influence grew and the two worked together for longer, the way they interacted would gradually change.

Ao furrowed his brow and spoke slowly. "Inside Kisame Hoshigaki, I saw an immensely terrifying amount of chakra. It was almost on par with the Three-Tails!"

Though Terumi Mei remained composed, the brief flash of shock in her eyes betrayed what she truly felt.

For a shinobi who wasn't a Jinchuriki to possess chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast was absolutely beyond the understanding of ordinary shinobi.

"Could you tell whether that chakra belonged to him?" Terumi Mei asked gravely.

Terumi Mei could think of two relatively plausible explanations for the overwhelming chakra inside Kisame, which otherwise defied explanation.

One possibility was that Kisame was also a Jinchuriki. But having grown up in Kirigakure, he could hardly have become one without anyone knowing. Moreover, no news had ever emerged of any village losing control of one of its Tailed Beasts.

The other possibility was that Kisame had used some unusual jutsu to seal an enormous amount of chakra inside himself. Terumi Mei considered this the most reasonable explanation.

Ao shook his head. "The chakra all belonged to him. It shared the same origin as the chakra in his body!"

The Byakugan could distinguish the nature of chakra and detect subtler changes. For example, when Hyuga Neji used his Byakugan to observe Naruto, he could clearly tell apart the Nine-Tails' red chakra and Naruto's pale blue chakra.

Not all chakra differed as obviously as Naruto's and the Nine-Tails', but Ao, with his Byakugan, could still tell them apart by certain characteristics.

Terumi Mei had great faith in Ao's perception. She lowered her head and thought for a few seconds, then looked up and asked, "I understand. What did you see in Uesugi Shinji?"

Ao furrowed his brow. "Uesugi Shinji is even stranger. I didn't see a trace of Ice Release chakra in him."

Terumi Mei's eyes first flickered with confusion. A moment later, her expression shifted to surprise and disbelief.

Seeing her reaction, Ao said slowly, "It seems you've thought of that possibility too, my lady."

A shinobi born with the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai would inevitably have at least some Ice Release chakra in their body. And the stronger their Ice Release, the more of that chakra they would have.

For example, Senju Hashirama, whose Wood Release Kekkei Genkai had once reached the pinnacle of what a human shinobi could achieve, had Wood Release chakra coursing through his entire body. If his body suffered any injury, the Wood Release chakra would automatically heal him.

(Wood Release was a combination of Water Release, Earth Release, and Yang Release. The Yang Release within it possessed the life force to repair the body.)

"The reason there's no Ice Release chakra in his body is that Ice Release isn't his innate Kekkei Genkai. It's an ability he developed entirely on his own!" Terumi Mei narrowed her eyes, her expression serious.

Ao nodded. "I only saw Water Release, Wind Release, and Fire Release chakra in his body. Ice Release is formed from Water Release and Wind Release."

His voice dropped even lower. "What concerns me more is this: if he can combine Wind Release and Water Release to create Ice Release jutsu, could he do even more than we imagine?"

By "more," Ao meant whether Uesugi Shinji could combine Water Release and Fire Release to create Lava Release, combine Fire Release and Wind Release to create Light Release, or go a step further and combine three chakra natures to create an entirely new Kekkei Tōta.

In the history of the Shinobi World, only one shinobi was known to have developed a method of fusing different chakra natures after the fact to create a new Kekkei ability.

That shinobi, whose name had been passed down throughout the Shinobi World, was the Second Tsuchikage Mu. He had pioneered the method of fusing Wind Release, Fire Release, and Earth Release into the Dust Release Kekkei Tōta, then taught it to his student, the current Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.

And Dust Release was the only Kekkei Tōta known in the Shinobi World.

Meeting Terumi Mei's gaze, Ao spoke gravely. "Though, judging by his chakra reserves, he doesn't seem as powerful as Kisame yet, this man has potential I can't predict!"