Ashes at the Fingertips and the Noose Tightening Around Kyoto

The touch beneath his fingertips was warm and soft.

It was Kushina's cheek, burning hot from worry and the full-force transfer of Chakra. The faint fragrance of her hair filled his nose, mixed with the rich steam rising from the premium black tea Mikoto had just brewed.

Charcoal crackled softly in the fireplace, shutting out the howling wind and snow beyond the windows and turning it into a quiet, warm backdrop.

Baishi sat back against the soft chair with his eyes closed, savoring this rare tranquility. Even more, he savored the pure, immense Chakra of the Nine-Tails, which silently and continuously nourished the Hashirama Cells within him like a trickling stream—cells that had long been ravenous.

Everything seemed so pleasant.

Yet beneath this nearly perfect tenderness, all his focus was fixed on the barely noticeable speck of ash-black powder on the tip of his right finger.

It was the only residue brought back by the Chakra Thread when he had crushed Orochimaru's Cursed Seal core from afar.

"Baishi, do you feel any better?" Kushina's voice was thick with tears, full of guilt and lingering fear. "Kurama said that transferring its source Chakra like this would help you recover faster..."

"Mm." Baishi gave a lazy response from his throat without even opening his eyes.

His attention was already wholly immersed in analyzing that tiny bit of ash.

He gently rolled the powder between the pads of his index finger and thumb.

An almost imperceptible graininess came through, accompanied by the dryness left behind by scorching. He raised his fingertips to his nose and took a light sniff.

A muddled, filthy, decayed stench filled with inferior natural energy and the resentments of countless souls slipped into his nostrils.

A crude imitation... A trace of icy mockery flickered through Baishi's mind. *Orochimaru, in