"Want to eat them?"
Looking at the three shocked women in the room, Akira asked with a smile.
If they were unwilling, he wasn't going to force them.
Gulp!
"Lady Tsunade…"
Shizune swallowed hard and looked toward Tsunade.
Honestly, she was tempted.
Who wouldn't want a bloodline limit?
In the ninja world, strength was the greatest guarantee of a shinobi's survival.
"Wood Release, huh?"
Tsunade's shocked expression gradually calmed down.
She stared blankly at the green, melon-shaped fruit with strange patterns, momentarily lost in thought.
Once upon a time, countless Senju clan members, for the sake of Konoha's future, had cooperated with the village higher-ups in human experiments, transplanting the First Hokage's cells in hopes of gaining Wood Release.
They died one after another with zero success.
The death toll was so high that the higher-ups had no choice but to shut down the project and seal it away.
Her younger brother, Nawaki, had also sincerely dreamed of one day awakening Wood Release, just like their grandfather, the First Hokage, so he could protect Konoha and bring peace to the chaotic world.
And now, such an opportunity had been delivered right to her.
Tsunade took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Since these are gifts from Akira Ren, let's accept them!"
Seeing the Devil Fruits in Shizune's and Karin's hands, she naturally understood that Akira had carefully prepared them for each of them.
She wasn't some stubborn, old-fashioned woman; there was no reason to refuse such benefits.
She simply felt a bit emotional.
Destiny really was a strange thing.
Having made up their minds, the three women held their fruits and took a bite together.
"Ugh——"
Their faces turned green and purple.
They stared wide-eyed at Akira Ren.
This tasted a hundred times worse than anything they had ever eaten before—an indescribably awful flavor.
Was he messing with them?
"The taste is a bit weird, but the benefits are beyond imagination. Just endure it for a moment…"
Akira cleared his throat, barely holding back his laughter.
Watching others experience the same "nightmare" he had gone through made him feel strangely satisfied inside.
Good things should be shared with everyone.
The three women had no choice.
They closed their eyes, endured the nauseating taste, and forced themselves to swallow the fruits bite by bite.
"Is this really a Devil Fruit?"
Tsunade's face was still pale after finishing.
"I think Nightmare Fruit would be more accurate."
"I bet even TonTon wouldn't eat it!"
Shizune, who had finally recovered, agreed.
"I've never eaten anything this disgusting in my entire life…"
Karin patted her chest, still traumatized.
"It's even worse than... shit!"
Although she had never actually eaten shit, even while wandering with her mother as a child (at worst, spoiled food), that fruit had somehow made her mind go there.
"It's fine, it's over now…"
Akira leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and smiled.
"Soon, you'll feel its benefits."
"It doesn't seem like anything changed…"
Karin stared at her hands in confusion.
"No, there are subtle changes happening inside the body…"
Tsunade's eyes suddenly shrank.
She could feel an unimaginable life force surging within her, flowing through her limbs and bones.
Her entire body was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation in a very short time.
Her chakra reserves were visibly increasing at an alarming rate.
Her whole body felt incredibly comfortable.
It was almost unbelievable.
"I feel it too…"
Shizune said, full of anticipation.
She could clearly sense her own chakra reserves constantly rising.
It felt like a dream.
Karin, who had also quickly noticed the changes, looked incredulous.
"Eh?"
"The initial changes are the most obvious. It will gradually slow down soon…"
Akira Ren, who had already thoroughly tested the artificial Devil Fruits using Root members, smiled and explained.
"But over the next few days, your bodies will continue to be subtly transformed until the genetic fusion is fully complete!"
"I'll take you to the outskirts to test your newly gained powers!"
As he spoke, Akira Ren's fingers turned into vines that shot out, binding Tsunade, Shizune, and Karin.
He then activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and instantly disappeared from the hotel with them.
Swish—
Outside the town, in the forest where Akira had once trained his Flying Thunder God Technique.
Several figures suddenly appeared.
"Flying Thunder God Technique?"
"So convenient!"
Tsunade, Shizune, and Karin couldn't help but marvel at the sudden change of location.
"Senior Sister Tsunade, look into my eyes…"
Akira Ren's eyes turned scarlet, with intricate, dazzling patterns that were mesmerizing.
"Tsukuyomi!"
"Hm?"
Tsunade instinctively looked over.
In an instant, the scenery changed, and she found herself in a beautiful world filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.
She looked around in surprise.
"This is…"
"This is an illusory world created by the Mangekyō Sharingan technique—Tsukuyomi. Time, mass, everything here is under my control…"
Akira Ren's figure appeared.
In his right hand was a scroll.
It looked almost identical to the one Tsunade had originally given him, which recorded the First Hokage's Wood Release ninjutsu.
"This is the Wood Release scroll you gave me at the beginning. You can memorize all the techniques on it here…"
Akira unrolled the large scroll and placed it in front of Tsunade.
He smiled and said, "Don't worry. Even if ten days, half a month, or even longer passes here, only an instant will have passed in the outside world!"
"Tsukuyomi? What a convenient ability!"
Tsunade understood and couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
Without wasting time, she immediately began reading the scroll and memorizing the ninjutsu one by one.
After an unknown amount of time, Tsunade finished memorizing everything on the scroll.
The scenery changed again.
Shizune, Karin, and the others appeared beside her.
In front of her stood Akira with his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan activated.
She had returned to reality.
"Lady Tsunade…"
Shizune and Karin both looked at her curiously.
"Whew——"
Tsunade let out a long breath.
Although she hadn't been tortured, memorizing all of the First Hokage's Wood Release techniques without sleep in the Tsukuyomi world still left her feeling a bit mentally drained.
"Want to try it?" Akira asked with a smile.
"Alright…"
Tsunade nodded.
That level of mental fatigue wouldn't affect a powerhouse like her.
Especially with the ridiculously abundant life force inside her body that felt like it was about to overflow, making her feel incredibly comfortable.
Her chakra reserves had already increased two or three times in such a short time.
It was truly astonishing.
"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"
Having already memorized the techniques, Tsunade's hands flew through the seals.
A large amount of wooden vines burst from her right hand and, under her control, shot forward like lightning.
In an instant, they firmly bound a towering ancient tree ahead and crushed it.
"It really is Wood Release!"
"Incredible…"
...
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