"Shattered Power of Asura…?"
Senju Hikaru stared at the System's words and froze for a moment.
That name alone sparked too many possibilities.
But one thing was now beyond doubt—
The chunk of flesh he'd found was definitely Hashirama Senju's.
At the same time, a knot of confusion tightened in his chest.
Because this was the first time he'd obtained something that wasn't a seed.
And it made him wonder—whether the method he'd been experimenting with could, in fact, be used to cultivate seeds on a large scale.
That thought didn't even last a few seconds before it was smashed flat by reality.
Because on the tree he had sealed with Earth Release chakra, he hadn't extracted a single seed.
Even after using Senju secret techniques to try and draw something out, he got nothing besides raw life force.
"So either this method is random… or it simply doesn't work."
Hikaru rubbed his chin. Those were the only two explanations that made sense.
But whether that conclusion was satisfying or not didn't matter right now.
He had something more important to do.
His chakra trembled slightly.
Hikaru placed his palm against the tree—and in the next instant, a dark green glow blossomed across his hand.
Then he felt it.
A strange power surged violently into his body.
It wasn't like chakra he'd handled before.
It felt… adjacent to chakra. Related, but not the same.
And inside it, Hikaru sensed an overwhelming concentration of life force.
The moment that power entered him, his body seemed to shift.
Muscle fibers, chakra pathways—everything inside him began changing in ways that felt almost unreal.
"—Ah!"
Hikaru's face twisted.
The more power poured in, the more drastic the changes became.
And with those changes came pain.
At first it was faint. Almost ignorable.
Then it climbed—geometrically—until it became an agony that felt like it was ripping at his soul.
Hikaru's tolerance for pain was far beyond normal.
He was ANBU. Pain was part of the job.
But this…
This was the first time he'd experienced something like it.
For a moment, he genuinely felt like he might black out.
He clenched his teeth and forced himself to stay conscious.
His entire body screamed—
And yet, the more intense the pain became, the more clearly he could sense it:
His body was getting stronger.
"What the hell is going on?" Hikaru thought grimly. "Even if this is Asura's shattered power improving my constitution… it shouldn't be like this."
He kept enduring, but his mind was anything but calm.
He'd never considered his physical foundation weak.
He'd planted countless seeds since childhood to strengthen his base attributes.
And on top of that, he was Senju—
His natural constitution had always been excellent.
Sometimes he even felt that while he couldn't compare to a monster like Hashirama, he shouldn't be that far behind.
But now he was discovering something terrifying:
If just a shattered fragment of Asura's power could create this kind of transformation…
Then what did a complete, true Asura power—something that belonged to Hashirama at his peak—look like?
And beyond that—
What kind of being was Asura himself, the Senju ancestor?
Hikaru grit his teeth and silently bore it all.
Thankfully, the pain didn't last long.
In less than five minutes, the power fully fused into him.
And in that same moment, the pain stopped.
"...Finally over?"
Hikaru sat up slowly, breathing hard.
The soul-deep ache hadn't fully disappeared—it still echoed through him like an afterimage.
But he had regained control of his body.
And his recovery was faster than he'd expected.
He raised his arm.
His skin was still pale and clean—no "black sludge," no ominous residue.
That alone eased a chunk of tension from his chest.
"But… my chakra feels bigger. And stronger?"
Even while weak, he could tell the change was exaggerated.
His previously insufficient chakra suddenly no longer felt "tight."
If anything, it felt overflowing.
And his base attributes had clearly been boosted again.
Strength. Speed. Coordination. Reaction time.
Everything had jumped.
Hikaru was so stunned he didn't even move for a while.
Then he opened his System panel.
Maybe the answers were there.
Name: Senju Hikaru
Gender: Male
Birthday: Konoha Calendar Year 34, March 24
Rank: Elite Jōnin (System evaluation: without using any abilities)
Chakra Reserves: Kage-tier (System evaluation)
Bloodline Development: Intermediate (Senju Secret Techniques, Basic Yang Release Secret Techniques)
Seeds: None
Fruits: Advanced Chakra Fruit, Advanced Earth Release Fruit, Advanced Water Release Fruit, Basic Wood Release Fruit (requires mastery of Advanced Water + Earth and Yang Release control to activate)
Quest: Become the true "Big Boss" of the shinobi world (Unique) — Progress: 11%
Hikaru blinked.
He thought he'd misread it.
He stared again.
And then… he fell silent.
What was this?
The System now rated him as Elite Jōnin even without counting Sage Mode, Flying Thunder God, or anything else.
More importantly—
His chakra reserves were now evaluated as Kage-tier.
And his fruits had all matured.
That part didn't shock him too much—he'd been cultivating them for ages, most hovering above 95% growth already. A wave of ripening wasn't unreasonable.
But for everything to complete so cleanly, all at once…
It felt dreamlike.
Still, that wasn't even the biggest point.
The fruit list now included a Wood Release fruit.
"And my bloodline development jumped straight to Intermediate…"
Hikaru stared at the panel for a long time.
Then he slowly clenched his fist.
Hard.
If nothing else had changed, this leap could only be tied to one thing—
The Hashirama flesh.
Who was Hashirama Senju?
He was Asura's reincarnation.
And what Hikaru had extracted was only a shattered remnant of that power—Hashirama had been dead for years, his strength long since dispersed.
If anything remained at all, it would only be a fraction.
And yet… even that fraction had given him a rise he could barely imagine.
"So this world really is… a bloodline world."
Hikaru held his fist tight until his knuckles whitened, then exhaled and let it go.
His fist being hard wouldn't change anything.
Obtaining Hashirama flesh had been a chain of coincidences.
Without the earlier seeds, without the strength he'd built step by step, he never would've contracted Lizardmaru.
Never would've had the leverage to take out Namuki.
And without that… he wouldn't even be thinking about "Hashirama flesh" in the first place.
He shook his head and stopped dwelling.
Instead, he began thinking about what this meant—what it could become.
The Naruto world, at its core, was a world that valued bloodlines above almost anything.
Without a strong bloodline, moving forward was always harder.
Yes, a "normal" person could still reach the top.
But on that path, the odds were brutal. It was nearly impossible to outpace those born with inherited power.
"…Still, this gives me a direction."
Hikaru sat up again and raised his hand.
Chakra gathered.
And as it condensed, something shaped like a fruit appeared in his palm—small, tangible, real.
He lifted a brow.
"If bloodline is the fastest path right now… then based on this experience, can I use Asura reincarnations to raise my bloodline development further?"
"And if that's possible…"
His gaze sharpened.
"Indra's power isn't unreachable either."
"Does that mean I can eventually gather both—and trace my bloodline potential toward Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's level?"
The thought was intoxicating.
Because the Sage of Six Paths' power was, in essence, the union of Asura and Indra.
But the difficulty wasn't just high—
The time span was long.
To wait for the next generation of "chosen ones" to awaken…
He'd likely need to wait sixteen years.
And during those sixteen years, he'd have to keep a good relationship with them.
Otherwise, even if he wanted something from them, he might not be able to obtain it cleanly.
"And chakra growth still has to continue," Hikaru thought, forcing himself back into calm.
"Seeds are still necessary."
Now that he didn't have active seeds consuming his reserves, his chakra felt freed—but he still needed more.
Fire Release, Lightning Release, Wind Release…
Those weren't cheap elements. They devoured chakra.
Hikaru kept his thoughts steady, refusing to get drunk on his sudden jump.
He was excited—how could he not be?
Wood Release. Yang Release.
Those were huge.
But he also knew what kind of "gods" existed later.
Compared to them, this was nothing.
And he couldn't even be sure that "Advanced" was the highest tier of seed.
His Sage Mode wasn't at an advanced stage yet.
Wood Release and Yang Release were still basic.
His road was long.
With that in mind, Hikaru glanced at the fruit in his hand—
And shoved it into his mouth.
Bitterness flooded his tongue.
But this time, Hikaru smiled as he swallowed.
...
Two days later, at the oasis several kilometers outside Lōran—
Hikaru's hands glowed with a green light as he steadily guided chakra into Sara's body.
Sara kept her eyes closed.
As the green radiance flowed into her, color gradually returned to her face.
More than that, under Hikaru's sensory perception, he could feel her internal condition improving continuously. Her ruined health was being corrected—repaired—by an immense, dense life force.
In only two days, Hikaru's changes were night and day.
Two days ago, he couldn't control the life force he extracted from plants.
But after absorbing the shattered power of Asura…
Everything was different.
He didn't actually know much about Basic Yang Release Secret Techniques.
But through trial, he had started to understand its meaning.
Trees contained massive life force—there was no question.
That life force could be considered a manifestation of Yang Release.
But its Yang components were complex.
Some were suitable for living bodies.
Some were outright harmful.
When Hikaru's bloodline level was still low, he couldn't separate those components.
Even if he sensed it, the best he could do was inject it into a living body in one lump.
Which meant the harmful parts would grow wildly inside the host—treating flesh and blood as nutrients—until the person was essentially "plantified."
But now…
With Basic Yang Release Secret Techniques, Hikaru could precisely grasp those components, separate them, and even fuse and neutralize them into something truly harmless.
This was only the most basic application—something he'd just barely figured out.
But it was enough to solve the immediate problem.
And beyond that…
This ability had immense development value.
His road was still long.
"It's done, Your Majesty."
As the green chakra slowly faded from Hikaru's hands, he spoke gently.
"I think you can feel it too, can't you?"
"Thank you for the treatment." Sara checked her body and couldn't help smiling. "I truly feel much better."
She could clearly sense how light her body felt.
The pain from her illness—gone like smoke.
She hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time.
"That's good." Hikaru smiled. "In the days I'm gone, I'll need Your Majesty's cooperation."
"After all… the Dragon Vein is still important to me."
"I understand," Sara nodded seriously. "As long as you keep your promise, I will keep mine."
Then she seemed to notice something.
"My lord… are you leaving?"
"Yes." Hikaru smiled, his eyes turning toward the distance. "I'm leaving."
He exhaled softly.
"I've been out for too long."
"…It's time to go back."
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