The temple ruins reeked of burning and blood, a nauseating stench.
Sen Senju stood beside the shriveled corpse with his eyes closed.
He had no attention to spare for Asuma, Naruto, and the rest of that noisy bunch. Too much was happening inside his body.
The chakra he had drained from Kakuzu was no joke.
Chakra of five different natures-wind, fire, lightning, earth, and water-had all poured into him at once.
An ordinary ninja, even someone on Kakashi's level, would probably have had his chakra pathways burst by that chaotic mixture already.
But the Divine Tree origin was different. It was like a monster with picky tastes and an enormous appetite.
The moment that mixed chakra entered his body, the Divine Tree's roots pounced on it like starving wolves spotting meat.
"Hiss..."
Sen Senju sucked in a sharp breath, his brow knotting tightly.
It felt like swallowing a handful of burning coals studded with shards of ice.
The five chakra natures rampaged through his pathways, trying to resist.
But under the absolute suppression of the Divine Tree origin's life force, that resistance did not last even half a second.
Like scraps thrown into a meat grinder, they were forcibly crushed, filtered, and assimilated.
"That old monster really built up a fat stockpile over the decades."
Sen Senju gritted his teeth as he felt that immense power gradually submit, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
As the last trace of lightning release chakra was fully assimilated, a deep, muffled hum suddenly sounded inside him.
It was not a vibration in the air, but a resonance erupting from deep within his marrow and blood.
The Divine Tree origin's system panel flickered in his mind.
Level breakthrough. Chakra qualitative transformation.
Sen Senju opened his eyes. For an instant, faint, fine