Second Completion

The news of the Third Kazekage's disappearance was like a boulder thrown into a tranquil lake, stirring an urgency in Uchiha Kyohaku's heart that refused to subside. The hourglass counting down to war seemed to have suddenly accelerated, every grain of sand striking against his nerves as it fell. He could no longer wait and proceed step by step.

After returning to Konoha from that border mission, he barely paused. Without even reporting to Orochimaru's laboratory, he went straight into his secret underground space. Cold lights flickered on once more, illuminating his unnaturally focused, pale face.

Several carefully preserved test tubes glimmered faintly atop the experimental table. On one side was a White Zetsu cell culture solution containing the properties of the Divine Tree, serving as a universal foundation; on the other were several tubes of vibrant blood from surviving members of the Uzumaki clan.

The Second Completion Plan—its objective was to fuse the Uzumaki bloodline, obtaining its vast reserves of chakra and tenacious vitality, thereby laying a solid foundation for more complex fusions in the future.

There could not be the slightest error in the process. He took a deep breath and forced himself into a state of absolute calm. His mind began operating like the most efficient biological computer, seamlessly merging fragmented medical knowledge from his previous life, cutting-edge biotechnology learned from Orochimaru in this life, and his own unique understanding of chakra and genetics.

The first step was in-depth analysis. Using an improved microscopic observation technique—incorporating the Sharingan's powers of perception—he performed an extreme, detailed analysis of the Uzumaki cells' activity, unique genetic sequence fragments, and the Yang-nature chakra properties contained within them. Countless streams of data formed intricate three-dimensional models in his mind.

The second step was adaptive weakening. Though the Uzumaki bloodline was powerful, its inherent exclusivity was equally astonishing. Direct fusion would be no different from playing with fire. Carefully utilizing the exceptional compatibility and balancing properties of White Zetsu cells, he prepared a special "buffer matrix." He extracted the active factors from the Uzumaki cells and injected them into the matrix for preliminary "taming" and "adaptation," reducing their aggressiveness while preserving their beneficial traits.

The third step was pretreatment of his own cells. He drew samples of his blood and likewise used the White Zetsu cell matrix to nourish and strengthen them, increasing their affinity for and capacity to bear the incoming foreign power.

The entire process was tedious and precise, like performing a prolonged surgery on a microscopic level. He barely slept, relying on soldier pills and minute doses of stimulants to maintain his intense concentration. The laboratory held only the faint hum of machinery and the occasional low murmur of his calculations.

The miraculous properties of White Zetsu cells, somewhere between plant and animal, played a crucial role at this moment. They were like the most versatile neutralizing agent and adhesive, capable of soothing the restless Uzumaki cells while lubricating their connection with Kyohaku's own cells. Many barriers of rejection that should have been theoretically insurmountable miraculously found a point of balance with the intervention of White Zetsu cells.

Days passed. After countless rounds of mixing, reactions, centrifugation, and purification, the liquid in the test tubes gradually stabilized. It took on a deep, harmonious amber hue, with starlike specks of light slowly circulating within it and releasing life-energy fluctuations that were both vast and gentle.

The Uchiha Kyohaku version of the Uzumaki gene serum was complete.

There were no cheers, no excitement. His eyes held only cold exhaustion and absolute concentration. After carefully checking the data one last time and confirming that there were no errors, he slowly injected the serum that embodied countless hours of effort into his veins.

Unlike the gentle nourishment of his first fusion with White Zetsu cells, this feeling was far more... overwhelming!

The moment the serum entered his body, it transformed into a warm yet unstoppable torrent of life, surging through his limbs and bones! Every cell seemed to cheer, greedily absorbing this unprecedented nourishment of energy. His chakra pathways were violently broadened and reinforced to an unprecedented extent, becoming tougher and wider, capable of containing nearly terrifying volumes of chakra. The total amount of chakra within his body began soaring at an astonishing rate, effortlessly breaking through bottleneck after bottleneck before finally stabilizing at a staggering level—far beyond an ordinary jonin, approaching and even surpassing many elite jonin renowned for their chakra reserves!

He could clearly feel that his vitality had become incomparably tenacious, his recovery ability reaching an almost abnormal level. Even the minor hidden injuries left behind from past training were instantly repaired.

Yet as his power rapidly climbed, a profound exhaustion originating at the cellular level began silently spreading as well.

The body's evolution did not come without a price. Forcibly fusing two powerful foreign bloodlines—White Zetsu and Uzumaki—placed an enormous burden on the body, even with White Zetsu cells serving as a universal foundation to mediate them. His cells needed time to fully adapt to and assimilate this new power, while his genetic sequences needed time to complete stable reorganization and expression.

One month later, all energy fluctuations gradually subsided. Standing before a water mirror, Kyohaku felt the vast, oceanlike chakra and vigorous vitality within him. The Second Completion had been successfully completed.

However, he could also clearly sense his body's "saturation" and "rejection threshold." A vague instinct told him that, for a short period, his body could no longer endure another genetic fusion on the same scale. Forcing one would only result in genetic collapse and cellular annihilation.

"One year..." he murmured, arriving at the conclusion. He needed at least a year for his body to fully adapt to its current changes, to completely turn the powers of the White Zetsu and Uzumaki bloodlines into his own foundation and solidify that base before considering another Completion—one that would touch upon more powerful and dangerous bloodline limits such as Shikotsumyaku and the Byakugan.

The clouds of war had already gathered thickly, but he had no choice but to suppress his impatience and follow life's most fundamental laws.

He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the power contained within it—power enough to alter the course of a small battle.

The Second Completion was complete, granting him the anticipated vast reserves of chakra and tenacious vitality.

What followed would be a period of consolidation and waiting.

At the same time, it would be a period of final preparations for the coming war.