Poof…
Smoke filled the air.
Under the expectant and curious gazes of Tsunade, Shizune, and Karin, three fruits of different shapes and covered in mysterious patterns appeared before them.
"What is this?"
Karin was shocked.
"What a strange fruit…"
Shizune was also surprised.
She was certain that after years of traveling the world with Lady Tsunade, she had never seen such fruits before.
"They are indeed quite peculiar…"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes slightly. She curiously picked up a melon-shaped green fruit and examined it.
"It feels like it has some incredible magical power that makes people want to eat it."
She instinctively checked it with chakra, and her expression changed instantly. She looked at Akira in shock.
Not only did it contain astonishing amounts of chakra, but that incredibly vigorous life force inside it was far too familiar to her.
"Akira Ren, this… is a fruit you cultivated using the power of Wood Release?"
Other than Wood Release, she couldn't think of any other tree that could produce such bizarre fruits.
"Senior Sister Tsunade, don't you think the chakra aura feels similar to the necklace around your neck?" Akira asked with a smile.
"Eh? It contains chakra and feels similar to Lady Tsunade's necklace?"
Shizune and Karin were stunned. They each grabbed one fruit and examined it carefully.
They discovered that the fruits indeed contained remarkably powerful chakra, but the aura was completely different from the chakra within Tsunade's First Hokage necklace.
For a moment, they were completely confused and looked at Akira for answers.
"I call these special chakra fruits 'Devil Fruits'!" Akira said with a smile.
"Devil Fruits?"
The three women looked at each other in amazement. What a strange name.
"The one in your hand, Senior Sister Tsunade, was cultivated using the First Hokage's cells that I obtained from Danzo…"
Akira spoke directly.
To be precise, it wasn't exactly "cells." What he obtained from Danzo was the First Hokage's flesh and blood. This was an artificial Devil Fruit cultivated using that flesh as nourishment.
However, to avoid making Tsunade uncomfortable, he phrased it more gently. After all, in the original timeline, Tsunade had also used the First Hokage's cells to develop new medical ninjutsu, so she should be able to accept it.
"First Hokage cells?"
Tsunade's pupils shrank sharply.
"No wonder it felt off…"
"Once you eat it, you will gain the power of Wood Release!"
Akira dropped a bombshell.
Since Tsunade already possessed the Senju bloodline, eating this Devil Fruit cultivated from the First Hokage's flesh would grant her Wood Release far superior to Yamato's half-baked version—one that came very close to the First Hokage's own power.
Of course, how far she could go would ultimately depend on Tsunade herself.
"What!?"
"Wood Release?"
"Is this really true?"
Tsunade, Shizune, and Karin were all stunned, staring at Akira in disbelief.
"Of course. By combining it with my special Wood Release abilities, I can cultivate these chakra fruits directly…"
Akira nodded confidently and smiled.
"It allows people to perfectly merge bloodline limit genes in a much gentler way. So far, after several experiments, I haven't found any major rejection reactions!"
The advantage of Devil Fruits wasn't just granting people the ability to inherit genetic powers that should only be passed down through bloodlines.
Because they were cultivated using the bloodline limit user's own body as nourishment, they allowed the user to perfectly obtain that person's bloodline limit.
There was no need for intense stimulation. The power could awaken easily, and with a bit of training, it could be fully mastered.
If one had enough talent and trained diligently, reaching or even surpassing the original bloodline limit user's level was entirely possible.
"You can even do something like this?"
Tsunade was dazed.
She knew that Akira Ren's Wood Release was, strictly speaking, far superior to even the First Hokage's and extremely special.
It could perfectly devour any kind of power.
He could even extract bloodline limit powers from others' genetic information using their blood.
But she never imagined he could cultivate fruits that allowed perfect acquisition of other people's bloodline limits.
Truly worthy of the name… Devil Fruit!
With their strange appearance and mysterious powers, they really did feel like demonic abilities!
It was utterly shocking.
Gulp!
Shizune, her face full of shock, couldn't help swallowing hard.
She stared blankly at the Devil Fruit in her hand and the one in Karin's.
"Akira Ren, then what about these?"
"The one in your hand, Senior Sister Shizune, is a fruit that grants the Swift Release bloodline limit…"
Akira shrugged and smiled.
"It will also significantly increase your chakra reserves. You, who originally only mastered Water Release nature transformation, will also gain Fire, Lightning, and other chakra nature transformations you never had before!"
He hadn't even started distributing them yet, but the three women had already picked up the fruits meant for them.
Shizune, who already possessed super strength, combined with Swift Release that could dramatically boost speed, would become terrifyingly powerful in battle.
Moreover, the fruit he gave Shizune wasn't just Swift Release.
Thanks to Root's rich collection, he had also fused in the bloodline of the extinct Hōko clan—a branch of the Ōtsutsuki clan in the ninja world.
This would greatly increase her chakra reserves and even further improve her chakra control.
Everyone had their own path. What suited them was best.
Akira never intended to give everyone Wood Release or Sharingan, just as he had specially given Yuhi Kurenai the Red Eye.
Not everyone could become as powerful as the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara.
He felt that for Tsunade's disciple, this configuration for Shizune was perfect.
"Swift Release?"
Shizune was stunned.
She had heard Tsunade mention this rare bloodline limit before.
It was created by fusing Wind and Lightning chakra nature transformations, allowing extremely fast movement—even approaching the speed of light.
It made it nearly impossible for enemies to track the user's position or attack timing.
A truly fearsome bloodline limit.
"What about mine?"
Karin asked curiously, shaking the banana-shaped red fruit in her hand.
"The one in your hand grants the abilities of the Uzumaki clan's bloodline limit, including the direct power of Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Akira gently patted Karin's head and smiled.
"Since your Uzumaki bloodline isn't pure enough to fully master Adamantine Sealing Chains, I specially cultivated this using the corpses of Uzumaki clan members!"
In reality, it wasn't cultivated from ordinary Uzumaki clan members.
It was cultivated using the body of the Uzumaki clan's former leader as nourishment.
He never expected that after the Uzumaki clan's destruction, Danzo had managed to obtain the clan leader's corpse and preserved it so well.
It was very likely that Danzo had a hand in the Uzumaki clan's extermination.
But that wasn't important now.
He had checked the clan leader's chakra affinities: Wind, Lightning, Fire, Water, Yin, and Yang.
Only Earth was missing.
It was perfect for giving Karin all chakra natures.
Her future potential was limitless.
At the very least, with his guidance, she could use her massive chakra reserves to trap enemies with Adamantine Sealing Chains and then bombard them with all Five Great Nature Transformations at once.
Unlike a certain "Strongest Hokage," who could only use it as a trump card and couldn't even use it properly when he got older.
...
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