The air in the operating room was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.
This was not a normal surgery, but an experiment that transcended ninjutsu, science, and mysticism.
Under the lights, four figures moved around the operating table, every action tied to the life and death of that boy.
"Heart rate dropping! Alveoli starting to rupture!"
Yakushi Kabuto, responsible for monitoring the vital signs, shouted loudly; although he was usually calm, his forehead was covered in cold sweat at this moment.
"Shut up, don't panic."
Tsunade barked sharply.
Her hands glowed with high-intensity green chakra, pressed firmly against Kimimaro's exposed chest.
Cellular Activation!
Under Tsunade's powerful intervention, regardless of chakra consumption, the organs that were on the verge of necrosis were being forcibly repaired at a speed visible to the naked eye.
But it wasn't enough; the rate of destruction was too fast.
"Orochimaru! Inhibitor!"
Tsunade shouted without looking back.
"Hehehe—it's here."
Orochimaru's eyes were filled with fanaticism, and the syringe in his hand precisely pierced into Kimimaro's spine; it contained a special enzyme modified by Naruto.
As the liquid was injected, Kimimaro's body began to twitch violently, and his bones emitted a teeth-grinding friction sound.
The rejection reaction reached its peak.
"It's collapsing—"
Kabuto's voice trembled slightly.
"Suppress him."
Naruto, who had been standing in the lead position, finally made his move.
He did not use medical ninjutsu, but instead placed his palm directly on Kimimaro's forehead.
Hum—!
The deep blue light of the Hōgyoku erupted instantly.
At the same time, the Nine-Tails's massive and overbearing chakra poured into Kimimaro's body like a flood, following Naruto's arm.
If Tsunade's task was to keep the broken ship from collapsing, Orochimaru's task was to replace the engine.
Then Naruto was rewriting the rules.
He was going to make this ship sail even in a place without water!
Naruto's will rushed into the depths of Kimimaro's cells along with the chakra, forcibly ordering the rampant genes to stop their internal attrition and reorganize according to his requirements.
With their combined efforts, a miracle occurred.
The originally violent rejection reaction slowly subsided.
The cells that had been fighting each other began to fuse, not only repairing the damage but also completing a qualitative leap at the microscopic level.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The originally rapid and chaotic heartbeat gradually became steady and strong.
"Phew—"
Tsunade let out a long breath, took off her blood-stained gloves, and looked at the operating table with a complex expression.
"It actually—it really succeeded."
This was not just a complete victory for medical technology, but a mockery of the boundaries of life.
The group of them had joined forces and forcibly snatched a soul back from the hands of the Shinigami, stuffing it into a more powerful body.
"Nice cooperation."
Naruto wiped his hands, looked at Orochimaru and Tsunade, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
"See, as long as we work together, there is nothing we cannot do."
Orochimaru looked at the sleeping Kimimaro, his eyes filled with pure appreciation, as if looking at a piece of artwork.
"Naruto-kun, your Hōgyoku—it truly is a cheating existence."
"Wake him up."
As the anesthesia jutsu seal was released, the white-haired boy on the operating table slowly opened his eyes.
His originally murky and sickly eyes had now become crystal clear.
Kimimaro sat up, looking at his hands in a daze.
No pain, no weakness.
In its place was a terrifying power surging endlessly within his body.
"Am I—still alive?"
"Not just alive; get down and test your new body."
Naruto's voice came.
Kimimaro jumped off the operating table.
Without any unnecessary movement, just by landing, two footprints were imprinted into the ground.
"This kind of power—"
Kimimaro said in surprise.
"Follow me, let's go test your body."
Then, the group arrived at a spacious underground training ground.
"Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon, Kidōmaru, Jirobo, the four of you go together and spar with Kimimaro."
Naruto added, "Give it your all."
"Huh?" The Sound Four were stunned for a moment.
"That is an order," Orochimaru said coldly.
The four dared not say anything more, immediately activating the first stage of the curse mark, and various ninjutsu and taijutsu poured toward Kimimaro instantly.
However...
Kimimaro just stood in place, not even drawing his bone blade.
Curse Mark Stage One.
The red curse mark instantly appeared and spread across his skin; other than that, his body underwent no explicit changes.
But in Kimimaro's eyes at this moment, the world had changed.
The movements of the Sound Four were as slow as frame-by-frame animation.
The trajectory of Kidōmaru's spider silk, the hand signs Jirobo was making, the intake of breath before Tayuya played her flute—
This was Gene Lock Stage One: Battle Instinct.
It forcibly raised his already superior combat power by another significant margin.
Swish!
Kimimaro moved.
It was not the Body Flicker Technique, but simply the high speed brought about by physical eruption.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four muffled sounds rang out almost simultaneously.
The Sound Four didn't even see what happened before they were all sent flying back, slamming heavily into the wall and losing the ability to fight.
One second.
Just one second.
Kimimaro had instant-killed the four members of the Sound Four, whose strength was considered strong even among special jonin, without using his bloodline limit.
"Is this—the current me?"
Kimimaro looked at his fist in disbelief.
If it were in the past, he would have had to expend some effort to face the combined force of the Sound Four.
"It's not over yet."
Naruto stepped forward.
"Kimimaro, unleash your power and show them Stage Two."
Kimimaro focused his thoughts.
Curse Mark, Stage Two.
It was different from how it used to turn him into an ugly monster.
Dense bones surged out from under Kimimaro's skin; these bones were as white as jade, like precise bone armor, completely wrapping his fragile flesh.
In the end, he had turned into a warrior clad in streamlined white bone armor.
Crimson curse mark patterns adorned it, and his whole being exuded a cold and powerful sense of oppression.
"This is the second stage of the Stage Three Curse Mark."
Naruto looked at the perfect work before him with appreciation, explaining to the shocked Tsunade and Orochimaru.
"It removes the erosion of natural energy and fuses the excellent traits of multiple genes."
"In this form, he will automatically activate the second stage of the Gene Lock, able to control 100% of every muscle and bone in his body; for his Shikotsumyaku, it is an exponential enhancement."
"Furthermore, as long as it is not an instant-death injury, he can rapidly self-heal during battle."
"The most critical point is that this curse mark theoretically has a third stage, but it is limited by the fact that Kimimaro cannot yet withstand that kind of power."
Tsunade's eyes were full of shock.
"This—is truly—"
She couldn't help but mutter to herself.
As a medical ninja, she knew better than anyone what this meant.
This was simply a killing machine like a perpetual motion machine.
"This kind of power—"
Yakushi Kabuto swallowed hard, his eyes flashing with longing.
"Lord Naruto, can this Stage Three Curse Mark be mass-produced?"
"If we could assemble an army like this, sweeping across the Five Great Nations would be easy."
"You're overthinking it."
Naruto shook his head, pouring a bucket of cold water.
"The Stage Three Curse Mark is a gift that only the elite among the elite can withstand."
"It has extremely high requirements for the user's physique, willpower, and genetic compatibility."
"I'm afraid there aren't many people out of ten thousand who could withstand this transformation; others who inject it would probably just turn into a puddle of blood in an instant."
Hearing this, the crowd's fanaticism cooled down slightly.
"However—"