Konoha's Tag-System Ninja

A fresh start to the new year, and with the young Hokage in power, Konoha is bustling with renewed energy.

Year 48 of Konoha quietly arrives.

Returning from the orphanage with Nonō Yakushi and the others, Shūichi receives a piece of news.

Kushina Uzumaki is pregnant!

This means, if things don't change, the countdown to the Nine-Tails' rampage has begun.

Feeling a sense of urgency, Shūichi heads to Amegakure soon after the New Year hype fades—and has a sparring match with Nagato.

Nagato has grown stronger!

Returning to Konoha from Amegakure, Shūichi suddenly smiles to himself. "Having a strong opponent isn't so bad."

The training continues!

Meanwhile…

In the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze speaks to Kakashi, who just entered after knocking. "Kushina is pregnant, so I'll need you to take on the responsibility of protecting her in secret until the baby is born."

Kakashi hesitates for a moment, then quickly responds, "Congratulations, Sensei, on becoming a father!"

Minato smiles and nods, "Yes, so I'll be counting on you for this."

Kakashi nods solemnly, "Understood!"

He already knew Kushina was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.

Though he wasn't certain that childbirth could weaken the seal, he knew that pregnancy, even for a jinchūriki, would make her vulnerable. And there was also… Obito.

This thought brings a hint of worry to Kakashi.

Seeing through Kakashi's concerns, Minato reassures him with a smile, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

…

"Training can't stop…"

As he leaves the Hokage Building, Kakashi glances up at the soft sunlight, then creates four shadow clones to continue training, before heading to Minato's home to begin his mission.

Time slips by, and soon it's March.

Shūichi has quietly turned fifteen. He now stands at 178 centimeters—almost indistinguishable from a grown adult.

This year, however, he spends his birthday inside the research lab.

The reason? His research on Asuka's cells has finally achieved significant progress.

…

"Are you planning to transplant it into White Zetsu next?"

Looking at a fleshy mass resembling White Zetsu's swollen form, Tsunade frowns.

This isn't just pure White Zetsu cell cultivation—it's a mix of Asuka's cells harmonized with tailed beast chakra.

It looks like White Zetsu, but even Tsunade can sense there's something distinctly different about it.

Shūichi shakes his head. "Of course not."

"We'll start with smaller animals first; White Zetsu should be fine. The key is seeing how ordinary beings react. White Zetsu isn't exactly a typical lifeform."

White Zetsu is ideal for experimentation; every human modification Shūichi attempts goes through White Zetsu first.

"Then let's start with mice!" Tsunade rolls up her sleeves.

Shūichi nods, leaving Tsunade to work while he heads to the Forest of Death to catch some animals.

Chimpanzees, black bears… soon enough, the lab has a dozen types of large animals.

When Shūichi returns to the lab, Tsunade has already completed the first cell transplant on a lab mouse.

Watching the mouse scurry around in the glass box, Shūichi smiles, "It seems there's no immediate risk."

Tsunade nods slightly. "Alright, let's continue!"

She grabs the mouse, and with a quick slice, severs its tail.

Both watch closely, but the mouse's tail doesn't regenerate.

Tsunade frowns. "It seems the regenerative ability from my grandfather's cells is completely suppressed."

Shūichi nods. "Though, the mouse does seem a bit agitated."

Tsunade observes for a moment. "Let's see how the other animals react."

The transplants continue.

Now Shūichi begins transplanting into the large animals he brought from the Forest of Death, placing each in a cage for observation.

Roar!

Howl!

One by one, the animals wake up, all showing signs of increased agitation.

The experiments continue.

Shūichi and Tsunade left wounds on each of the animals, then observed their reactions.

No signs of self-healing.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Shūichi let out a sound of surprise.

Tsunade immediately turned to look and saw that the chimpanzee was licking its wound.

Most importantly, the wound was healing.

Tsunade's eyes lit up. "It's instinctively tapping into the power within its cells!"

Shūichi smiled and nodded. "It seems so."

"Activating its self-healing ability on its own."

Asuka's powers were unique. She couldn't self-heal unless she bit herself, as if activating a switch.

Shūichi believed this was not due to Asuka's physical traits but tied to her childhood experiences.

This 'switch' was artificial, an effect of her past trauma—almost a psychological condition.

The cells of Hashirama are passively regenerative, whereas Asuka's cells are actively regenerative.

For the next few days, Shūichi and Tsunade stayed at the research base, observing the animals.

Gradually, the animals settled down from their initial restlessness.

Three days later, Tsunade said, "We're ready to move to the next phase."

Shūichi thought for a moment. "Let's hold off a little."

"I'll try with my summoning beast first."

"A summoning beast?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.

Shūichi raised his hand, and with a poof, a large white tiger appeared.

The once tiny cub had grown into a king of the forest, stretching over five meters long.

"Lord Shūichi!"

The tiger, Shiro, affectionately nuzzled Shūichi with its massive head.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Is this the summoning beast you had back then? It can talk now?"

Shūichi chuckled, "I fed it chakra and some medical herbs persistently for eight or nine years."

Tsunade nodded, "Seems you were lucky."

Indeed, not all summoning beasts could develop speech and human-like intelligence through feeding alone.

Otherwise, intelligent summoning beasts would be everywhere.

Shūichi patted Shiro's head. "Greet her. This is Tsunade, Konoha's strongest female ninja and medical ninja."

Shiro quickly greeted her, "Lady Tsunade, I'm Shiro. I've often heard Lord Shūichi mention you."

Tsunade nodded slightly, then asked, "Shūichi, are you sure about transplanting it?"

To her, Shiro was one of them—a priority over enemies.

Shūichi, however, felt confident. "The previous experiments show there shouldn't be issues; it's just a matter of effectiveness."

With that, Tsunade relented and nodded. "Alright, let's proceed!"

The second round of testing began, this time with the summoning beast, Shiro.

The procedure was simple and took less than half an hour.

In the empty, seal-covered room, Shiro regained consciousness. Shūichi immediately asked, "How do you feel?"

Shiro first let out a low growl, shook his head, then spoke with excitement, "Lord Shūichi, I feel incredibly powerful—I want to fight!"

Just like the other animals, Shiro exhibited restlessness after awakening. However, being intelligent, he could restrain himself, although he was eager to get out and play.

"No rush, let's test your healing ability first."

With a snap of his fingers, Shūichi sent a wind blade toward Shiro's leg, leaving a small cut.

Outside, Tsunade observed Shiro's wound through the glass.

Unlike the other animals, Shiro could speak and control chakra.

"Shiro, try to tap into that new power inside you," Shūichi prompted.

Shiro nodded, and soon, the wound on his leg healed rapidly.

"Amazing!"

Shiro growled happily, then said excitedly, "Lord Shūichi, I feel like I can use that technique now!"

But Shūichi wasn't in a hurry. "Shiro, why do you feel so excited?"

Shiro sharpened his claws and thought for a moment, "Because the energy inside me feels incredibly strong, like I've been sleeping for ages and just want to get out and explore."

Life thrives on movement, life pulses with energy.

Shūichi pondered. Shiro's description wasn't entirely clear, but it was far better than those of mute animals.

At this moment, Tsunade said, "This shows that Hashirama's cell power was indeed suppressed, but not completely."

"While cellular regeneration is contained, the boost in power still impacts the mental state."

The body and mind are tightly interconnected, like yin and yang influencing one another.

The Uchiha's Sharingan affects chakra through mental influence, and chakra in turn impacts the physical body.

In this case, however, it's clearly the physical transformation that's affecting the mind. The influence seems minor, but if they're going to transplant it into a person—especially one of their own—they need to improve it further.

"Let's go, let's test Shiro's abilities outside."

With Shūichi, Tsunade, and the white tiger, Shiro, they left the lab and moved to an open field nearby.

Standing about seven or eight meters away, Shūichi gestured to Shiro to make the first move.

"Lord Shūichi, be careful!" Shiro warned, letting out a low growl. Immediately, a whirlwind formed around him.

Tsunade watched as the intense, almost tangible wind currents created razor-sharp vacuum blades. "This ability is already on par with a jōnin's."

The swirling wind surged toward Shūichi under Shiro's control.

But such an attack posed no threat to Shūichi. With a simple wave of his hand, he split the wind in two.

From the very beginning, Shūichi had never summoned Shiro for combat.

He'd been too weak for that. Though Shiro could use Wind Release, his power was barely at the level of a chūnin, making him more suited as a playmate for future children.

But now…

Looking at Shiro, Shūichi chuckled. "That's still not quite enough."

Without replying, Shiro opened his mouth wide, condensing chakra inside.

Boom!

The air exploded as a massive wind sphere shot out of Shiro's mouth.

Wind Release: Tiger Cannon!

This was a jutsu Shiro had created based on Shūichi's guidance, similar in essence to the Vacuum Great Sphere and Shukaku's Drilling Air Bullet.

He'd struggled to perform it before, but now, with the cell transplant, he was able to unleash it with ease.

Shūichi's eyes gleamed. "You've captured a bit of Shukaku's style."

As he spoke, Shūichi raised his hand, cutting down with a wind chakra-coated palm, emitting a resonant hum.

Boom!

He split the Tiger Cannon in half with a single strike, sending powerful gusts rolling to either side. The force whipped Tsunade's cloak and sent her ponytail flying as she watched from the sidelines.

Shiro was left in shock, seeing his ultimate move cleaved in two.

But Shūichi was quite pleased and asked with a smile, "Anything else?"

"Can you tap into any other powers?"

Shiro scratched his head with a paw. "I don't think so."

Tsunade thought for a moment. "Perhaps he'd need to train like Yamato to unlock it."

"However, without the ability to form hand signs, it's going to be difficult for him to learn such techniques."

Shūichi nodded in agreement.

The reason Shiro could use Wind Release was likely due to Shūichi's years of conditioning him with Wind Release chakra.

But developing Wood Release would be extremely challenging.

After all, Shiro isn't human.

Nevertheless, Shūichi was satisfied and smiled. "This is already excellent progress."

"That Wind Release jutsu you just used—most jōnin can't even pull that off."

Shiro had a unique advantage with his large mouth, able to compress and launch powerful wind spheres.

"Head back to the Forest of Death, but try not to cause too much of a stir," Shūichi advised.

After dismissing Shiro's summoning, he turned to Tsunade. "Let's proceed with further adjustments."

Tsunade nodded, feeling a sense of anticipation.

If they could stabilize this further, the results would solve countless issues, especially with access to White Zetsu's capabilities.

(End of Chapter)

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