Mastering Fate

Under Aoba and Kakashi's watchful eyes, immense chakra surged within Karin. Then, a golden chain flew from her abdomen, wrapping around both her and Yumi.

"That is..." Kakashi was stunned by the sight before him. He vaguely remembered those golden chains.

"They seem to be called Adamantine Sealing Chains. They are one of the Uzumaki clan's strongest Sealing Jutsu. But now, it seems they may be more than just Sealing Jutsu. They are closer to some kind of secret art, perhaps even a Kekkei Genkai."

The Adamantine Sealing Chains lived up to their reputation, forcibly suppressing the mutation in Yumi's body and forcing it into a state of balance.

Karin seemed to realize something as well. She desperately maintained the golden chain, keeping that fragile balance intact.

No one knew how long it lasted, but Karin eventually could not hold on any longer and completely passed out. The chain vanished with her collapse. Strangely, Yumi's body did not continue mutating. Instead, it began showing signs of shrinking.

"Impressive. It seems she has already begun taking control of her own body. In that case, the operation should have succeeded."

Kakashi opened his mouth, wanting to argue. This counted as a success? But when he thought of Yumi's struggle at death's door, he ultimately could not say anything and merely murmured in agreement.

"Remarkable."

As Yumi's body slowly returned to normal, she finally opened her eyes. When she sat up, Karin slid off her body.

Yumi instinctively raised a hand. A small tree burst from the ground, following her gesture as it supported Karin.

"This is..." Yumi stared at her hands in disbelief.

"Wood Release." This time, Kakashi was truly shocked.

"This is not ordinary Wood Release. She did not even form hand seals."

"That's right. But this..." Yamato of Root had not yet been exposed, so Kakashi still did not know that Danzo's side had also succeeded in creating one.

But using the legendary ninjutsu known as Wood Release without hand seals was still far too absurd for Kakashi.

Aoba, however, knew very well that Wood Release without hand seals was the real Wood Release. After all, Hashirama Senju had been the type to clap his hands together and summon whatever he wanted.

Aoba had a guess about this situation. Perhaps it was because Yumi's body had been too weak. Her entire body had already been on the verge of collapse.

So even with the balancing effect of the White Zetsu Cells, she had still been unable to fuse with the Hashirama Cells. Her foundation had been too weak; she had no standing to negotiate with them at all.

As a result, most of the cells in her body had nearly been devoured by Hashirama Cells. Mutation had been almost inevitable.

But then, Karin's Adamantine Sealing Chains had forcibly suppressed that mutation.

And it was not merely an external force. Karin's cries had likely brought forth unimaginable Mental Power as well.

After all, no one could imagine what kind of power a mother could unleash for her child.

Through this combination of coincidences and maternal love, Yumi completed the fusion. That also meant she might now be the person in this world whose physique was closest to Hashirama Senju's.

That was why Wood Release came to her as naturally as instinct.

Aoba stepped forward and took Karin from her.

"Don't worry. She is merely exhausted. She will be fine after resting for a while."

"You know Karin's constitution. She will definitely be fine. Besides, she just awakened the Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains."

"So this experience has only benefited her, not harmed her. But what about you, Yumi? How do you feel now?"

"Me? Right now, I feel... an indescribable power flowing through my body. As long as I..."

As Yumi spoke, she lightly waved her hand. Aoba's heart tightened as he suddenly realized something.

"Don't..."

But it was already too late.

With Yumi's motion, Aoba felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. Then countless vines, roots, and trees erupted from the earth. The rampaging vegetation tore apart the ground and surrounding walls, triggering nearly every defensive formula in the area at once.

Countless defensive formulas activated almost simultaneously. Scorching flames instantly engulfed the entire laboratory.

Aoba grabbed Yumi, while Kakashi carried Karin, and they used Body Flicker to escape the laboratory.

"Kakashi, Water Release!"

Aoba shouted, and Kakashi instantly understood. He immediately used a Water Release technique, flooding the ground with a massive amount of water to stop the flames underground from overheating or bursting out and setting the houses above ablaze.

Yumi: "..."

A few minutes later, everything had calmed down. By then, several ANBU shinobi had arrived around Aoba's home.

When they saw Kakashi and Aoba, the ANBU members relaxed. These two were Konoha's top Elite Jonin. It seemed there was no major problem.

"May I ask what happened here? The Sensory Division detected a violent chakra fluctuation in this area."

"Uh, I'm terribly sorry. I was sparring with Aoba just now, and things got a little too loud."

Kakashi had only recently left the ANBU, and most of its members were acquaintances of his. On top of that, he was an Elite Jonin and one of Konoha's signature shinobi. ANBU shinobi would generally give him some leeway.

"I see. As long as the surrounding villagers were not endangered, there is no issue. But since you are both Jonin, if you truly wish to spar, we suggest using the training grounds outside the village."

"Yes, that is correct. We will not make this mistake again. I'm truly sorry to have made you come all this way."

"You are too polite, Senior. We will return and report."

After the ANBU left, Aoba and Kakashi returned inside and settled the mother and daughter down.

Everything that had just happened made Aoba's heart bleed. He had gone through so much trouble to obtain the equipment from Orochimaru and build that laboratory.

And now, the entire laboratory had been reduced to ashes. Not even a scrap remained.

The only good news was that he had stored both the White Zetsu Cells and the Hashirama Cells in sealing scrolls and kept them on his person.

Those things were simply too sensitive. If anyone discovered them, he would not be able to explain himself no matter how much he talked.

But the entire set of equipment, along with a massive amount of experimental data, had all turned to ash. Aoba's heart bled at the loss.

"...Aoba, did I..." Yumi had realized something as well. But Aoba would not blame her for this.

As the person leading the experiment, this possibility should have been within his considerations. Since something had gone wrong, the blame naturally lay with him, the one in charge.

"No, you did very well. Very, very well. Really, Yumi. Do you know? From now on, you can be considered one of the very few people in this world capable of taking hold of their own fate."