Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for only $7 to get early access to upcoming chapters!
> > Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations <<
----------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 17 — The God Tree's Root Hair
"Careful!" Konan's voice rang sharply the moment Alex drifted closer to the shimmering green water. "The Hero Water is dangerous—don't be reckless."
Alex halted, hovering just above the glowing surface. After a brief pause, he decided to listen. Curiosity was one thing; suicide by divine liquid was another.
Even at this distance, he could sense the volatile power roiling within the Hero Water—a storm of nature energy laced with something darker. Beneath its brilliance was a faint, chaotic consciousness, unfocused and wild.
If he plunged in directly, that madness might crush his spiritual essence in an instant.
He slowly backed away, drifting toward the massive tree root suspended above the pool. Its cross-section was vast, layered with countless rings—tight and ancient. From the center seeped a fresh droplet of green liquid.
He counted the rings—there were well over a thousand.
That meant this fragment of wood was at least a millennium old.
"Akatsuki, do you sense something unusual about this tree?" Konan asked, watching him hover motionless beside the trunk.
To her, it was just a massive tree root—impressive, but not unheard of. The only strange thing was that it secreted Hero Water.
Alex pressed himself against the rough bark, extending his senses.
[This root contains an immense life force—enough to feel alive.]
Not metaphorically. Literally alive.
And beneath that vitality pulsed the same wild, unstable energy—and the same distorted consciousness—he had sensed in the Hero Water.
Then it hit him.
[This… this is part of the God Tree!]
Bold black characters rippled across his white surface.
Not the trunk, not even a branch—just one of the root hairs.
But even a single "hair" from the God Tree was enormous, stretching across the entire cavern.
No wonder it could still absorb ambient nature energy after a thousand years.
He felt a chill of awe. This was once part of the monstrous tree that drained entire worlds.
[It's still alive,] he added, excitement laced with respect. [When the Sage of Six Paths dealt with the God Tree, this fragment must have broken off—eventually settling here. It's been feeding on the ambient nature energy ever since, producing this Hero Water.]
Konan's eyes hardened. "The God Tree…." She had heard Alex describe the Ōtsutsuki before—the parasites who planted these horrors across worlds to harvest all life energy. To her, this was no divine relic, but a wound left on the planet.
Now, at last, the madness within the Hero Water made sense.
[The Hero Water's instability… it's tainted with the Ten-Tails' residual will.]
He explained quickly: the liquid was nothing more than condensed nature energy filtered through the God Tree's tissues. And because the Tree had once been the Ten-Tails itself, its spiritual corruption lingered, infecting the energy.
No wonder those who drank it gained overwhelming chakra for a moment—but lost their minds soon after. Their bodies and souls simply couldn't bear the Ten-Tails' chaos.
Alex sighed. If only I could take the whole thing…
He glanced along the massive root. Its sheer size made the idea impossible. The biggest storage scroll Konan owned could hold only a few cubic meters—barely a splinter of this thing.
Then inspiration struck.
[Konan, who invented sealing scrolls? Do you know?]
"Storage scrolls?" She blinked, caught off guard. "I'm not sure. All of Akatsuki's come from regular ninja tool shops."
She thought a moment longer. "Actually, most shinobi across the world buy from the same source. The scrolls' origins can't be traced precisely, but legend says they were created by a family of ninja artisans before the hidden villages even existed. Their invention made them rich—they became the largest arms dealers in the shinobi world and still operate today."
[Oh? Still around after all this time? Which family?]
"Very secretive," Konan replied. "They're based in the Land of Fire. Every major village orders from them—Konoha's biggest ninja supply shop belongs to that clan."
Alex's eyes metaphorically lit up. Konoha's main supplier?
He knew at once who she meant.
The Tenten family.
In the original records, nothing was said about her lineage—only that she ran a large weapon business in Konoha. Apparently, their reach spanned the entire shinobi world.
So the Tenten family had pioneered sealing storage technology.
[I'll have to visit them someday,] he thought. [If I can learn their methods, I could make my own spatial storage—like a cultivator's ring.]
The possibilities thrilled him.
Konan's voice pulled him back. "What should we do with the Hero Water?"
She already knew its effects—Akatsuki had gathered reports long ago. It greatly amplified chakra, but killed its drinkers soon after. To most, it was a useless relic.
[Take it.]
He couldn't use it himself, nor let her drink it, but it might serve another purpose later.
"Alright." Konan nodded, pulling a storage scroll from her pouch.
Before she could open it, Alex stopped her.
[No need. Let me.]
A separate sheet detached from his body and floated above the glowing pool.
Then, before her widening eyes, a slender white thread extended from the paper and pierced the surface of the Hero Water.
"This is…!" Konan's eyes widened in recognition.
The motion—the writhing white tendril—it was just like Kakuzu's black threads, but pure white.
[The Jiongu Technique,] Alex confirmed.
After mastering it, he could create these threads freely—flexible, extendable, almost alive. They served as his hands when he needed them.
The white thread writhed briefly, then began siphoning the green liquid upward. Within moments, the entire pool was drained. The thread retracted, folding neatly back into the sheet, which returned to Alex's body and vanished.
[That's done. Now… time to gather medical knowledge.]
Konan nodded, gently catching him in her palm before spreading her wings.
They soared into the clouds, rising fast above the mist-shrouded valley.
"Toward Konoha?" she asked, glancing down.
[No. Not Konoha.]
She halted midair, startled. "Why not? If it's medical ninjutsu you need, no one surpasses Tsunade. Konoha's medical records are the most advanced in the world."
Alex shook his paper-thin head.
[Maybe—but there's someone else with exactly what I need.]
"Who?" Konan asked, puzzled. Who else could rival Tsunade's mastery?
Alex's answer appeared slowly across his surface—bold, decisive.
[The Sky Village—Shennong.]