—Twin Blossom!
Crackling sounds erupted from Akira's body like bursting beans.
Black matter surged and interwove beneath his collar.
Whoosh!
He flung open his robe.
Apart from his head, his entire torso had transformed into the same form as the Hashirama artificial body fused with Madara on the Demonic Statue.
Even the direction of the skin folds left behind as the black rods retracted was identical.
The wrinkles smoothed out.
The pores closed.
Madara and Obito stared in shock, eyes wide.
"Y-You… what did you just do…?"
"Ahem."
Akira cleared his throat, adjusted the resonance in his chest, and tried to make his voice sound closer to his original tone.
"Twin Blossom establishes a life link with the target, then completely copies their body, chakra, and all abilities tied to that body and chakra."
"In other words…"
"I've replaced my body with the Hashirama artificial body on the Demonic Statue."
Obito blurted out, "Completely copied? But your face didn't change!"
Madara added, "Not just your head. Your eyes didn't change either."
Akira smiled faintly and brushed his hand across his face.
Whoosh.
His face instantly turned into Hashirama's darkened visage from the statue.
With another swipe, it returned to normal.
"The face—or rather, the head—can be freely switched under Twin Blossom."
"It doesn't affect the copied power at all."
"As for the eyes, that's different."
"Twin Blossom is ultimately a dōjutsu."
"Eyes and ocular power are things it can't replicate."
So that was it.
Twin Blossom existed to copy bodies and obtain body-based abilities.
Madara quickly digested the concept.
"About this 'life link'…"
"Does it mean shared life status?"
"For example, if you copied my body and stabbed yourself…"
"Would I be injured too?"
Akira smiled calmly.
"Uncle Madara, first of all, I can't copy you."
"Twin Blossom only works on living beings."
"You're an Edo Tensei corpse."
"Of course, if you were alive, what you said would be possible."
Obito thought to himself.
Like Hidan's curse ritual… terrifying.
Then he asked with unusual creativity, "So if you copy someone, link your lives, get hurt together…"
"Then release Twin Blossom and return to your own body…"
"Wouldn't that leave only the enemy injured?"
Akira chuckled.
"Impressive that you thought of that so fast."
"But Twin Blossom has a restriction."
"Any damage taken while linked is permanently transferred to my real body."
"Even after releasing, the injuries remain."
"Because of that…"
"Using Twin Blossom on enemies is extremely risky."
"Once they figure it out, they can just commit suicide and drag me down with them."
"Unless I intended mutual destruction from the start."
"I see." Obito nodded.
Then he thought silently:
'Impressive you thought of that so fast'…
Does that mean he usually thinks I'm dumb?
At this moment, Madara noticed something Obito had missed.
The old wound on Akira's chest had disappeared.
Not a scar.
An actual wound.
"Akira," Madara said slowly.
"If you're injured first, then use Twin Blossom to copy someone else…"
"Can you overwrite your original wounds?"
As expected of you, Uncle Madara.
Straight to the core.
"Yes," Akira admitted.
"But I have Umotoryū."
"I can reset my condition anytime."
"So the injury-replacement effect rarely matters for me."
Obito asked, "Is this ability one-time use?"
"After copying someone once and release it, do you have to copy again to use that body?"
That was a very sharp question.
Obito… I admit I underestimated you.
Your lower bound is foolishness, not your ceiling.
"In theory, Twin Blossom is one-time copy."
"But…"
Akira raised his hand and pressed it to his right eye socket.
"I have Toyomiketsu-no-Mikoto."
"I can store the activation state of Twin Blossom."
"Turning a trial version into a permanent skin."
"Of course, it's only 'permanent' relatively."
"If the body is too damaged, it can't be stored again."
Buzz…
Akira stored the current form, returned to his original body, and put his robe back on.
—Toyomiketsu-no-Mikoto!
Crackle!
His body reshaped.
Curves surged, purple hair fluttered, a slender waist emerged.
A mature female voice rang out:
"Konoha kunoichi—Uzuki Yūgao."
Crackle!
Now he became a fair-skinned blonde beauty.
"One of the Sannin—Tsunade-hime."
Crackle!
Reddish-brown curls cascaded like a waterfall.
Flaming red lips, tall and seductive.
"Former Mizukage—Mei Terumī."
Crackle!
Short hair, long elegant legs, youthful and lively.
"Current Tsuchikage—Kurotsuchi."
Crackle!
Silver hair, dark skin, a dignified middle-aged beauty.
"Former Raikage's secretary—Mabui…"
Crackle!
Blue hair, graceful figure, pure and elegant.
"This is… Jinghua, the Zen Master's granddaughter!"
Obito exclaimed, "You've really got a lot saved. No men at all?"
"Jinghua-Akira" smiled charmingly.
"I look at abilities, not gender~."
Indeed…
All those ninjas had special talents.
Wait.
"Does Yūgao even count?"
Akira replied in a bell-like voice:
"Her~ I value her ANBU background most."
"It makes it easy for me to enter Konoha."
"That's how I learned about the Corpse Vault."
Obito still felt something was off.
Then—
"Ah!"
He suddenly remembered.
Mabui!
The former Cloud secretary!
She had the Heavenly Transfer Technique!
During the war, she should've been blasted away by our Ten-Tails Bomb!
Yet she'd become Akira's copy target.
That meant…
She was still alive.
Did Akira appear back then too?
…Probably.
Even Konan survived.
Mabui surviving wasn't that shocking.
But one thing was clear.
Mabui alone isn't worth risking Ten-Tails firepower.
Akira… were you saving someone else back then?
"All right," Akira said with a smile.
"That's enough ability showcasing for now."
"You two know me pretty well by now."
He switched back into the Hashirama-Madara artificial body.
Some aspects of Twin Blossom…
Were not suitable to reveal yet.
Madara spoke seriously.
"Akira, are you planning to keep using Hashirama's body?"
"Once we leave this space, the next step is hunting the Tailed Beasts."
"When the Ten-Tails is revived…"
"Your symbiosis with this artificial body will end."
"And you haven't forgotten, have you?"
"The other prerequisite for awakening the Rinnegan."
"More demanding than uniting Indra and Asura's power."
—"Standing at the brink of death."
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