Now came the moment of truth.
Kenji focused his awareness through the mental connection with his puppet, feeling the chakra circulating through the biological sphere. The energy flowed smoothly through the pathways he'd constructed, responding to his spiritual presence without resistance.
The question was whether the Swift Release bloodline factor had survived the cell cultivation and sealing process intact. Bloodline abilities were supposed to be instinctive, something a ninja could activate naturally without formal training. If the genetic information was still there, the puppet should be able to use it.
He concentrated, searching for any unusual chakra signatures within the puppet's energy output. Normal chakra felt uniform and undifferentiated. Bloodline chakra had distinct characteristics tied to its elemental composition.
There.
The instant he detected it, the puppet vanished.
Not Body Flicker, not even close. The puppet simply ceased to exist in one location and appeared in another, moving so fast the transition looked instantaneous.
This was proof of concept. If he could successfully integrate Swift Release into a puppet through cultured tissue, then theoretically he could do the same with other bloodlines, like Wood Release, Sharingan. Any genetic ability that could be extracted and cultivated from cells.
The shinobi world ran on bloodlines. That was just reality. You could train for decades like Jiraiya and still get beaten by someone born with the right eyes or the right genes. The gap between regular ninjas and bloodline users wasn't something hard work could bridge, not completely.
He had no intention of accepting that limitation.
If he couldn't gain bloodline abilities through birth, he'd create them through puppetry. This Swift Release puppet was just the beginning.
He spent the next hour pushing the puppet through its paces, testing the limits of what it could do.
The speed was incredible. Short bursts let the puppet cross 15 meters in less than a second. Sustained movement was slower but still far faster than any normal ninja could maintain. More importantly, the bloodline enhanced reaction time alongside movement speed. The puppet could change direction mid-sprint without losing momentum, dodging around obstacles that would've been impossible to avoid at those velocities otherwise.
That made sense from a practical standpoint. Pure speed without enhanced reactions would be useless. You'd just crash into things or run straight into enemy attacks because your brain couldn't process information fast enough to respond.
Swift Release was the fusion of Wind and Lightning natures. The combination created something greater than either element alone. It made the puppet perfect for assassination work, striking from unexpected angles before the target could react.
Time to test offensive applications.
Kenji pulled a kunai from his pouch and had the puppet take it. Then he channeled chakra through the puppet's hands, forming the seals for a basic Wind Release technique.
Wind chakra wrapped around the kunai's blade, extending beyond the metal to form a sharp edge. Gale Blade, simple but effective.
The puppet blurred.
One instant it stood about 4.5 meters away. The next it appeared behind a tree roughly sixty centimeters in diameter, kunai extended in a slashing motion.
Shhk!
The tree split in half. The cut surface was perfectly smooth, showing no signs of tearing or crushing. Pure cutting damage from the wind chakra enhanced by the puppet's momentum.
"Not bad at all," he muttered, examining the fallen tree. "Anyone without specialized defensive techniques would get cut in half just as easily."
Techniques like Susanoo or advanced Earth Release hardening could probably block it. But regular ninjas? They'd die before realizing they'd been attacked.
The excitement faded as reality set back in.
Chakra didn't appear from nowhere. It required energy sources. In living organisms, that energy came from converting food into usable cellular power. The puppet's "heart" worked on the same principle, synthesizing chakra from the nutrient solution that sustained the cultured tissue.
He dispelled the Mind Clone Switch and opened the puppet's abdominal panel to check the sphere's condition.
More than half the nutrient solution had been consumed during testing.
"Endurance is going to be a problem," he said quietly.
An hour of activity at combat intensity had depleted over fifty percent of the puppet's reserves. That meant two hours maximum before it ran dry. Completely unacceptable for extended missions or prolonged battles.
He needed a solution.
Three possibilities came to mind as he stared at the depleted sphere.
First option: find a stable external chakra source and seal it into the puppet. Tailed beast tissue would be ideal. The beasts were fragments of the Ten-Tails originally, and they could convert natural energy directly into chakra. A puppet powered by tailed beast flesh would have effectively unlimited endurance.
Second option: enable the puppet to synthesize chakra directly from natural energy. Reanimated ninjas from Edo Tensei worked on this principle. Their chakra came from converting ambient natural energy rather than biological processes. If he could replicate that mechanism, the puppet would never run out of power.
Third option: design an internal conversion system that let the puppet transform external materials into usable nutrients. Soldier pills, food, even enemy corpses could theoretically be processed to replenish the sphere's energy reserves.
Each solution had significant problems.
Natural energy conversion was completely beyond his current abilities. He barely understood the theoretical basis, let alone how to implement it. Maybe if he could get his hands on an Edo Tensei scroll for research, but that seemed unlikely.
Tailed beast tissue was equally difficult. The best source would be Nine-Tails flesh. Kinkaku and Ginkaku had gained its chakra by literally eating the its meat after being swallowed and cutting their way out. But both brothers were dead now, and the Nine-Tails was sealed inside Kushina. No way to access it.
That left the third option as the only practical path forward. Design a biological conversion system that could process external materials into nutrient solution. Difficult, but theoretically achievable with his medical ninjutsu knowledge.
"I'll make do for now," he decided. "Long-term solution can wait."
He refilled the puppet's sphere with fresh nutrient solution from his storage scroll, then pulled out a summoning contract. The puppet signed it with a chakra-infused fingerprint. Now he could summon the puppet directly instead of carrying it in a storage scroll. Much more convenient, especially in combat situations where drawing and unsealing a scroll might cost precious seconds.
"Once I'm back in Konoha, I'll leave it at home," he muttered while sealing the puppet away. "Then I can summon it whenever needed."
He brushed dirt off his clothes and headed back toward camp.
---
Several days passed in relative quiet.
Kenji spent his time training his students, running minor missions, and working on refinements to his puppet designs. The war had shifted with Iwa's withdrawal. Suna was struggling to maintain pressure without their allies, and everyone could feel the endgame approaching.
He'd just returned to camp with his students after an afternoon training session when an ANBU operative intercepted them at the entrance.
The masked ninja wore standard black combat gear with an animal mask, making it impossible to identify them. The voice that came from behind the mask was flat.
"Jonin Yamanaka Kenji, Jiraiya-sama requests your presence. Genin Hoshino Aoi is to accompany you. Follow me."
Kenji's pulse quickened. This was it. Tsunade had arrived.
"Understood," he said calmly.
He turned to Aoi. "You're with me." Then to Haruto and Kaede, "Head back to the tent. We'll catch up later."
The two boys immediately understood what was happening.
"Good luck, Aoi!" Haruto said enthusiastically. "If Lady Tsunade takes you as a student, that would be sick!"
Kaede nodded agreement, grinning. "Yeah, that would be incredible!"
Kenji noticed the envy in their expressions. He felt a pang of sympathy. Talent was brutally unfair in the shinobi world. The gap between gifted individuals and average ninjas could be enormous, and no amount of hard work completely closed it.
But dwelling on that wouldn't help anyone.
He followed the ANBU through the camp, Aoi walking beside him. She looked nervous, hands fidgeting with the hem of her uniform. He couldn't blame her. Meeting Tsunade was intimidating under any circumstances.
They reached a large tent near the center of the camp. The ANBU held the flap open and gestured for them to enter.
Kenji stepped inside first.
Jiraiya stood near the center of the tent, which was expected. But three other people were present as well, and he recognized all of them immediately.
Orochimaru stood slightly apart from the others. Pale skin, long black hair, purple markings at the corners of his eyes. His snake-like pupils tracked Kenji's entrance. Even standing still, he radiated an unsettling presence.
Tsunade stood near Jiraiya. Long blonde hair, brown eyes, and a figure that drew attention whether you wanted it to or not. She looked younger than he had expected, probably mid-twenties. The legendary strength and medical expertise didn't show on the surface, but the confidence in her posture was visible.
Dan stood close beside her. Pale-blue hair, gentle features, steady demeanor. Kenji had read about him. He was Tsunade's lover, the man who would eventually die and traumatize her so badly she developed hemophobia. He wielded the Spirit Transformation Technique, one of the most dangerous jutsu in existence.
Four important people… all in one place. This was as close to the village's top combat power as you could get without the Hokage present.
Kenji composed himself and addressed Jiraiya with a respectful nod. "Jiraiya-sama, you wanted to see me?"
"Kenji, come here." Jiraiya gestured toward Tsunade. "This is Tsunade. I've told her about Aoi already. She's here to evaluate the girl's talent personally."
He indicated the other two. "This is Orochimaru, and this is Kato Dan."
Kenji and Aoi both bowed respectfully to the three of them.