Konoha: The Absolute Justice of the Uchiha.

Chapter 404 Resonant Arrays

"Kabuto." Izumi said the name, his tone exactly the same as when he announced a diagnosis on the operating table—not a guess, but a confirmation. "The word 'container' has a specific definition in Kabuto's research system."

He conducted numerous experiments on the transplantation of Divine Tree cells in the underground facilities of Chiba Valley. The core of these experiments was to encapsulate the Divine Tree chakra into a container capable of holding it.

He mentioned this goal in his notes—to create a new vessel that can directly confront the Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beasts.

We initially thought he had stored all the experimental data deep within the underground facility, and that the data should have been buried after the main root broke.

But if he had other experimental sites outside of the Chiba Valley base, "the nameless island in the Land of Water," Neji continued, picking up where Izumi left off. "After Kabuto's research in Chiba Valley was interrupted by us, if he had maintained a backup experimental site elsewhere, it's entirely possible that he could have accelerated the experimental progress during the period after Chiba Valley fell."

With over three weeks, plus the living Divine Tree cell samples he still possessed, he had enough time to push a semi-finished product to the stage where it could generate a Tailed Beast-level chakra burst.

"But where did he get a container that can hold the chakra of a Tailed Beast?" Tenten's voice interrupted from the side, not loud, but very direct, "Jinchūriki need a special physique; not just anyone can withstand the amount of chakra of a Tailed Beast."

Even Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha, was able to bear the Nine-Tails because he had the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan and the sealing technique of the Fourth Hokage.

Where did Kabuto get someone with this kind of physique?

This question caused everyone to fall silent for a moment.

The sound of rain surged up again, filling the silence.

Chi Quan lowered his head.

Rain dripped from his still-damp hair and onto his glasses, but he didn't wipe it off.

His brain is working at high speed. He can't use chakra right now, but his thoughts don't need chakra.

He mentally flipped through his research notes, those densely packed experimental records written in coded language that he had hastily browsed through in the underground base of Pheasant Valley.

Shenshu cell transplantation.

White-breeding.

Chakra field construction.

Container filtering.

"Kabuto doesn't need to find a Jinchuriki physique like Naruto." Izumi raised his head, and his eyes behind his glasses shone in the dim light. It wasn't the light of chakra, but the light of his thoughts touching a key point. "His approach to creating Jinchuriki is completely different from our understanding of Tailed Beast sealing."

The Tailed Beast Sealing technique involves sealing an independent chakra life form into a human body, requiring a match in chakra frequencies between the sealed and the sealing entity.

However, Kabuto's Divine Tree cell transplant does not have this matching problem—the Divine Tree cell itself does not have independent consciousness; it will automatically adapt to the host's body and transform the host into a form suitable for carrying it.

In other words, he doesn't need to find a suitable person to be a container; he can turn anyone into a container.

"Anyone?" Tsunade's deep voice came from behind her desk.

"Anyone."

As long as the person's body can withstand the rejection reaction produced by the divine tree cells during the modification process.

Kabuto has solved the problem of rejection in his experiments in Chiba Valley—he used an immunosuppressive factor extracted from White Zetsu's body, which allows the human immune system to enter a dormant state during the transplantation of the Divine Tree cells.

He conducted this kind of experiment on the third underground floor of Pheasant Feather Valley back then. The subjects were prisoners of war. The transplant success rate was 41 percent. Chi Quan paused for a moment, as if searching for that specific data in his memory bank.

This success rate is sufficient for him to cultivate at least one successful vessel from dozens of subjects.

Tsunade pushed the ashtray aside and placed her hands, crossed, on the table.

Her finger joints were unconsciously tightening, and her knuckles turned white from the pressure.

"The key issue now is the strength of this container."

You witnessed Kabuto's White Zetsu army and the energy scale of the Divine Tree's main root in Pheasant Valley.

If Kabuto were to create a new Jinchūriki in the eastern waters of Kirigakure that is on par with a Tailed Beast, what level of combat power would it possess?

No one answered the question immediately.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, like a huge beast slowly turning over in the clouds.

The rain intensified, and the water on the windowpane transformed from intermittent streaks into a continuous curtain of water, distorting the view of Konoha Village outside the window into a blurry, flowing, and indistinct picture.

"Stronger than the White Zetsu army." Guy broke the silence.

He stood in front of his desk, raindrops dripping from him onto the floor, forming a small puddle at his feet.

His voice, undiminished by his lingering injuries, still resonated with the hardness of bone, emanating directly from the depths of his chest: "A true vessel is not something three hundred White Zetsu can compare to."

White Zetsu are consumables, but Kabuto can mass-produce them.

But it took him several years, so many resources, and so many lives of test subjects to create a container.

This kind of thing is not meant to be consumed.

It's meant to be used as a trump card.

"The amount of chakra at the level of a Tailed Beast," Neji chimed in. His voice was lower than Guy's, but he spoke faster, as if he were analyzing something as he spoke. "If Kabuto also transplanted the chakra absorption ability that comes with the God Tree cells—then this vessel's combat mode might not just be a simple release of chakra."

The characteristic of the Divine Tree cells is that they absorb chakra from the surrounding environment and convert it into their own energy.

If this container possesses a chakra reserve equivalent to that of a tailed beast, and can also absorb the opponent's chakra to replenish itself during battle, then its ability to sustain combat might even surpass that of some tailed beasts.

"Let's solve this once and for all." Chi Quan switched the cane to his other hand, took two steps forward, and walked to Kai's side.

The water stain on his glasses had finally dried, leaving a very fine, almost invisible watermark. "You can't fight a war of attrition against this kind of thing."

A war of attrition would be advantageous to it—it would grow stronger as the fighting continues, while we would grow weaker.

We must concentrate our firepower on its core weaknesses in the shortest possible time, before it has fully adapted to the rhythm of the battle.

"If it drags on, it will definitely win."

Tsunade lifted herself up from the back of her chair, opened the drawer of her desk, and took out a sea chart.

The nautical chart was large, so she unfolded it on the table and weighed down the four corners with an ashtray, a teacup, and a paperweight.

The nautical chart marks the distribution of islands in the eastern sea area of ​​the Land of Water—islands of all sizes scattered like shards of pottery on the pale blue sea. On the eastern side, close to the Land of Water's mainland, there is a small dot circled in red ink, with its coordinates marked in extremely fine handwriting next to the red circle.

"This is it." Tsunade tapped the red circle with her finger. "The Hidden Mist Village has sent three reconnaissance teams, all of which lost contact after approaching the central area of ​​the island."

They dared not send anyone in now—the commander of the Kirigakure's ANBU directly sent a secret telegram to Konoha, requesting assistance.

The Mizukage meant that this matter might be related to the remnants of the God Tree's power, and Konoha is currently the only one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages that has directly confronted the God Tree's forces.

"So the Mizukage asked us for help," Tenten said.

"It's not a request." Tsunade moved the teacup on the chart, revealing a smaller mark next to the red circle, a question mark drawn in black ink. "It's reciprocity."

The Hidden Mist provided all the reconnaissance data for the Nameless Island, including detailed waveforms of the two chakra bursts and a topographical map of the cave entrance.

In exchange, they requested that Konoha send a squad with experience fighting the Divine Tree to assist the Hidden Mist Anbu in investigating and eliminating the Jinchuriki on the island.

She looked up at the four people in front of her.

"Kaiban".

Your experience in severing the main root of the Divine Tree in Pheasant Valley is currently the most successful example of a battle against the Divine Tree's forces in the entire ninja world.

The Water Shadow specifically requested you.

"But your current situation—" Her gaze swept over the four people one by one.

Kai's left rib fracture has not fully healed, and he is still using a breathing trainer every day.

Although the glue has been removed from Tian Tian's eyelid scar, the area where her cornea was scratched may tear again during strenuous exercise.

Although Neji's chakra has recovered to 70%, the aftereffects of the low chakra period in his meridians have not been completely eliminated.

Izumi's nervous system is still recovering, he cannot use chakra, and the muscle strength in his right leg has not yet returned to the level before the injury.

"We accepted it," Kai said.

Tsunade's gaze lingered on Guy's face.

Kai's face showed no hesitation, no bravado, and no feverish excitement from being blinded by a sense of honor.

His expression was the kind of calm that had been proven countless times on the battlefield—a calm as heavy as iron.

"I'm not asking you whether you'll accept the mission or not," Tsunade's voice also turned serious. "I'm telling you the details of the mission."

As for whether your current physical condition is sufficient to perform this task, I need to hear Chi Quan's assessment.

He is your team's medical ninja. He can't use chakra right now, but his diagnostic abilities are still intact.

"Chi Quan, you speak."

Chi Quan did not answer immediately.

He leaned his cane against the edge of his desk, picked up a copy of the intelligence scroll on the desk, and turned to the page where the entire Mist Shadow reconnaissance team was wiped out.

His fingers slowly traced the red ink writing, as if he were touching the strokes of the words.

"The reconnaissance captain's last words were just one word," Chi Quan said. "Container."

The words a person utters in their last moments of consciousness before death are undoubtedly the most important information they consider to be.

If he sees Kabuto himself, he will say "Kabuto".

If he saw a White Zetsu, he would say "White Zetsu".

However, he saw that the container indicated that the object's shape might still be humanoid, but the chakra within it was no longer within the realm of humans.

Before he died, he realized that he was not facing a human, nor a tailed beast, but something he had never seen before.

He needed to use one last word to warn those who came after him.

He lowered the scroll, picked up the nautical chart, and carefully examined the island's terrain against the flashes of lightning outside the window.

The nameless island is shaped like a crooked crescent moon, with a raised center and low-lying areas around it. The entrance to the cave is located below the cliff on the inner side of the crescent moon, exposed at low tide and submerged by seawater at high tide.

"We can't fight head-on in our current state." Chi Quan put the sea chart back on the table. "Kai's ribs can't withstand a one-on-one frontal impact, Tenten's eyes are prone to infection in the seawater environment, Neji's chakra can't support prolonged high-intensity use of the Byakugan, and I can't use my chakra—which means that if there are casualties, I won't be able to use the Healing Palm Technique for battlefield first aid."

If we follow the conventional assault plan and directly charge into the cave to confront the container head-on, our chances of winning are no more than 30%.

"So your opinion is not to accept it?" Tsunade asked.

"No." Chi Quan pushed his glasses up a bit. "My opinion is—we can't use the conventional approach."

We need to change our playing style.

He turned around and looked at Kai, Neji, and Tenten.

The office lights reflected a thin, cold white light off his glasses, making his eyes appear hidden behind the light.

"How did we sever the main root of the sacred tree in Pheasant Feather Valley? It wasn't by force."

It's resonance.

It targets the waveform characteristics of the Divine Tree's chakra, using vibrations of the same frequency to dismantle its structure from within.

This time, the opponent is not the main root, but a living, active, and retaliatory Jinchūriki.

However, its energy source is still the Divine Tree Chakra—as long as it is the Divine Tree Chakra, its waveform characteristics will not change.

The fundamental frequency of 7.3 Hz will not change.

"If we can replicate the resonance strategy in the bamboo forest and transform it into tactical suppression in actual combat," Neji took two steps forward and stood in front of Izumi. "The bamboo forest resonance relies on your sword."

Your knife was forged from the crystallized minerals from the roots of the divine tree. That knife was shattered at the bottom of the pit, leaving only the hilt.

What will you use to create resonance again?

Chi Quan reached into the inner pocket of his white coat and pulled out a small cloth bag.

The bag was made of black velvet and tied with a leather rope.

He untied the leather strap, placed the cloth bag on the desk, and opened it to reveal a dozen or so black, irregularly shaped fragments of varying sizes.

Each fragment gleamed with a deep, almost non-reflective black under the light, its edges sharp, and some still bore traces of dried dark red.

"The blade is broken, but the fragments are still there," Chi Quan said. "Each fragment retains the molecular structure of the divine tree's crystalline minerals."

A single sword can resonate, and if a dozen or so fragments are embedded in different ninja tools, they can generate synchronous resonance across multiple frequency bands.

It's not just the resonance of a single knife—it's an entire resonant array.

He would come over every day to look at those fragments.

She picked up the smallest piece with her fingers and examined it from all angles in her palm.

The surface of the fragments has extremely fine lines, exactly the same as the cracks on the Chiquan sword, only smaller and more fragmented, like collecting fragments of a lightning bolt and placing them on a piece of velvet.

"You mean, to embed these fragments into my shuriken and kunai?" Tenten asked.

"Not only that." Chi Quan picked up a slightly larger fragment and placed it on the sea chart. The tip of the fragment pointed exactly at the red circle of the nameless island. "Neji can use the chakra flow of Gentle Fist to embed the fragment into the palm force release path of Bagua Palm - not to attack directly with the fragment, but to carry the vibration wave of the fragment in the energy of Bagua Palm."