Inside the Hokage Office, Kagami Uchiha had just sent out his reply to Kakuzu.
Just as he was about to tidy up and head out for a stroll, a soft knock came from outside his office.
"Lord Hokage, Hiruko requests an audience."
At the sound, Kagami Uchiha looked up and said evenly, "Come in."
The door slowly opened, and Hiruko stepped inside, dressed in a white lab coat, his manner cool and reserved.
Several years had passed. The once-obscure, ordinary researcher was now the director of the Konoha Research Institute and held a seat among the Konoha High Command.
Over the years, the vast quantities of kekkei genkai samples, flesh and cells from powerful shinobi killed in battle, and specimens of unusual chakra constitutions that Danzo had scavenged from the battlefield had all been entrusted to Hiruko for research.
Perhaps because of this, Danzo and Hiruko had grown increasingly close. Whenever Danzo returned to the village, Hiruko would visit him, and Kagami Uchiha had heard Danzo praise Hiruko more than once.
Throughout those years, the institute had studied a wealth of specimens, primarily the Steel Release kekkei genkai that enhanced physical defense, the extraordinary speed of Swift Release, and hashirama cells for restoring one's condition, along with numerous obscure kekkei genkai from shinobi clans in smaller nations.
After years of dedicated work, theorizing, analyzing, restructuring, and replicating day and night, Hiruko had almost single-handedly unraveled and decoded several rare kekkei genkai.
He had gained a thorough understanding of everything from hereditary factors and chakra circulation to cellular activity and the requirements for bodily modification.
Now, Hiruko's eyes held a fervor and confidence he could barely contain.
He strode up to Kagami Uchiha's desk, bowed, and reported solemnly, "Lord Hokage, after several years of research in seclusion, I have now fully