The lab was quiet.
Deep beneath the Hokage Tower, where only he could tread, Hajime stood in the center of his sanctum. Light crystals pulsed gently above, casting reflections across obsidian floors and the five containment pods lining the far wall. The hiss of steam marked the completion of the first.
The Larraman's Organ was no longer inside the pod.
It was inside him.
Bare from the waist up, Hajime flexed his left hand slowly. The organ had been implanted just the night before, but already he could feel it pulsing beneath his ribs, coiled and active, connected not just to his blood and flesh, but to something deeper.
The gene-seed.
That was the true key.
Once the organ had been implanted, the gene-seed, the core of his biological transformation, had activated and optimized it. It aligned the tissues, integrated the vascular system, and triggered subtle changes to his entire circulatory network. This was not healing. It was evolution.
Now came the test.
Without hesitation, Hajime stepped to a steel workbench and retrieved a chakra-tempered scalpel. With clinical calm, he drew it across the back of his hand.
A clean incision opened
or should have.
Instead, the skin simply folded away, then sealed shut before blood could even surface. No pain. No inflammation. No scar.
His brow lowered slightly.
Again.
He pressed deeper this time, through skin, toward muscle.
Still, the result was the same. The blade met flesh, but never resistance. The moment any damage registered, it vanished. Larraman cells, bio-engineered clotting agents, activated in less than a heartbeat, sealing tissue and restoring cellular structure as though no wound had occurred.
It was… flawless.
He placed the scalpel down.
The first step was complete.
He turned toward the pods.
The remaining four, Catalepsean Node, Preomnor, Multi-lung, and Occulobe, floated in their bio-fluid, nearing the final stages of maturation. Each shimmered with internal movement, guided by his psychic control. They were nearly ready.
He had already shaped them. Already described their purpose in his private logs and inner monologue.
Now, he simply watched.
"Seventy-two hours," he said aloud, eyes narrowing. "Then the next stage begins."
He stepped toward the central console, the psychic hub of the lab, and pressed his palm to the pillar. A low hum pulsed outward. Chakra threads twisted gently in response.
Then he felt it.
A presence.
The wall shimmered slightly as someone approached, not stealthy, but measured. Familiar chakra brushed against his senses before the figure appeared.
A masked ANBU stepped into view, clad in standard black, his fox mask marked with faint red lines. His posture was straight, respectful.
"Hajime-san," he said with a bow. "Lady Hokage requests your presence. Red-seal priority."
Hajime tilted his head. "Reason?"
The ANBU hesitated. "She did not disclose. Only that you come immediately. No others were informed."
Hajime turned briefly to check the lab systems. The pods would hold. The sanctum needed no external supervision, everything responded to him alone.
He nodded once. "Understood."
As he pulled on his outer coat and sealed the collar, the ANBU turned and led him into the winding corridor that fed back toward the lift to the upper tower.
As they walked, the air between them held a quiet weight.
The ANBU glanced back once, then spoke. "Was it true… you're the one who ended Danzo-sama?"
Hajime answered without pause. "Yes."
A beat of silence followed.
Then the ANBU stopped and gave a full bow, not for protocol, but out of genuine reverence. "Thank you," he said, voice steady.
Hajime didn't reply. But he gave a small nod.
The respect was spreading.
They reached the lift shaft, and the ANBU gestured for Hajime to proceed alone.
"She's waiting inside."
The platform rose in silence, steel walls giving way to sunlight and scroll-lined marble.
When the doors opened, Tsunade stood behind her desk, arms crossed. Her eyes were sharp, focused. On the surface, calm, but Hajime could already read the underlying tension. Her expression was not one of panic, but of calculation.
Beside her lay a sealed red-folder.
No one else was present.
She waited for the doors to fully close behind him before she spoke.
"Hajime," she said quietly. "We have a situation."
He stepped forward. "Cloud?"
Tsunade tapped the folder once. "They crossed into Fire territory. Scouting parties. Not enough to be an invasion, but too precise to be routine."
He said nothing. Just waited.
She opened the folder and slid it across the desk.
Inside were reports, surveillance logs, chakra tags retrieved from scouts, intercepted communication. The data was thin but worrying.
Then Tsunade said something she rarely used.
"I need your assessment. And… your presence."
Hajime looked down at the file, reading the first few pages. Then he turned his gaze back to her.
"Then I'll listen."
End of Chapter 81 – "No Blood Spilled"