Hiruko watched her puffed-out cheeks, looking very much like a small animal that had been provoked into bristling its fur. He couldn't resist teasing her further. "Didn't you say yourself that you wanted to fly? And now you want to go down?"
Rin's eyes reddened with frustration. "I want to go down! Let me down right now!"
Hiruko grinned mischievously, a wicked glint in his eyes. "It's not that easy. Say 'Daddy' for me. Call me Daddy, and I'll let you down."
It was clear that Hiruko was thoroughly enjoying bullying Rin at this moment.
Rin was both fuming and anxious, but she was powerless against him. Suddenly, Hiruko stretched and put on a weary face. "Sigh, it's really getting chilly up here. I think I'll head back to bed."
With that, he made a move as if he were going to drop her and leave.
Rin panicked. She didn't want to be stranded in the sky indefinitely. In her desperation, she lunged forward and grabbed Hiruko's belt. In her frantic state, she yanked with such force that she actually pulled the entire belt right off.
She let out a long breath of relief, watching Hiruko awkwardly pull up his pants with a speechless expression.
Hiruko cocked an eyebrow, quipping, "My, aren't we in a hurry?"
Rin bit her lower lip, her small face flushing. She turned her head away and finally whispered timidly, "...Daddy."
"Can't hear you!"
"DADDY!!"
Hiruko suddenly leaned in close to her face, a triumphant smirk plastered on his lips. "Haha, I was just playing with you."
"But honestly, calling me Daddy isn't exactly a losing deal for you."
Seeing him so close, Rin scrambled back a few steps, her voice a mix of shame and annoyance. "You are so rude! How can you treat a girl like this?"
"I guess nobody has ever teased you like this before!"
Hiruko suddenly grabbed her wrist firmly, his lips curling upward. "Come on. Let me show you what real flying feels like."
Rin struggled desperately, shaking her head. "I don't want to! Yamete!"
Meanwhile, inside Konoha Hospital, an ordinary laborer was receiving treatment for an injury.
In the middle of the night, the throbbing pain of his wound made it impossible to sleep, so he decided to take a walk to clear his head. Just as he stepped out of the ward, he looked up and saw a "shooting star" streak across the sky, trailing a long tail before vanishing in an instant.
Far away on the battlefield, Obito was leaning against a massive boulder to rest. He gazed at the flickering stars, his thoughts drifting. Suddenly, he too noticed a streak of light passing over the direction of Konoha.
Obito's gaze turned tender yet lonely. He thought to himself, If Rin were still alive, I would take her soaring through the sky to see all the beauties of this world. How wonderful that would be...
The next morning, while the sky was still shrouded in a light, hazy mist, Anko Mitarashi came rushing to Hiruko's residence.
As soon as she saw him, she grabbed his sleeve, her eyes filled with urgency and longing. "Lord Hiruko, you have to help me! Make me stronger!"
It turned out that during the recent mobilization, Anko's teacher, Orochimaru, hadn't taken her along. Ever since the Nawaki incident, Orochimaru was acutely aware of how perilous the battlefield could be. Unwilling to let his disciple risk her life, he had left her in the village.
Anko, however, was convinced that if she were strong enough, her master would surely take her to the front lines. Furthermore, she was certain that Hiruko possessed a genuine method to grant power. As for any potential side effects, she didn't care in the slightest.
Hiruko looked at the determined yet boyish little girl and scratched his head. He then asked with a serious expression, "Little one, are you truly prepared? The path to power is not an easy one. The hardships and risks involved are far beyond your imagination."
Without a shred of hesitation, Anko replied decisively, "Of course! I've already made up my mind!"
Half an hour later, Hiruko emerged from the inner room carrying a bowl of pitch-black liquid. He placed it gently on the table; the concoction emitted a pungent, bitter odor.
Looking at the bowl, Anko's face instantly crumpled into a grimace. She looked at Hiruko piteously. "Lord Hiruko... this... this medicine looks so bitter!"
Hiruko remained unmoved, saying flatly, "Good medicine tastes bitter. If you want to become strong, you must endure this."
Anko gritted her teeth, pinched her nose, and—as if she were heading to the executioner's block—gulped down the entire bowl in one go.
The moment the medicine hit her stomach, it began to growl and churn like a stormy sea. She felt discomfort spreading through her body, as if countless tiny insects were crawling under her skin. She felt so miserable she just wanted to eat a dozen skewers of dango to suppress the nausea.
"It tastes... horrible..." Anko squeezed the words through her teeth, speaking carefully for fear that if she opened her mouth too wide, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from vomiting it all back up.
Watching Anko's pained yet adorable expression, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Hiruko's mouth. He offered some sincere comfort: "Just endure it. This is what medicine tastes like. If you stick through it, the results will be beyond your expectations."
"Little one, you can't get power for free. You have to taste a little bitterness first."
Hiruko crossed his arms, looking at the expectant Anko with a playful smirk.
Anko covered her mouth and frowned, asking tentatively, "Lord Hiruko, have you ever drunk such bitter medicine yourself?"
Hiruko tilted his head back slightly, a trace of reminiscence flashing in his eyes. "Back in the day, what method didn't I try to increase my power? As long as it made me stronger, I endured any bitterness or hardship."
With that, Hiruko walked over to a circular experimental platform and signaled to Anko. "Strip! Get up there."
Anko's eyes widened in shock. "Ah... Lord Hiruko, I need to be... completely naked?"
Hiruko nodded, his expression solemn. "Naturally. Do you think power is that easy to obtain? Every step has its reason."
Anko's face instantly flushed a deep crimson, like a ripe apple, her eyes filled with shyness and hesitation. However, at the thought of gaining great power—and remembering that all of her master's experimental subjects were always naked—she gritted her teeth.
She worked quickly, shedding her clothes in a few swift motions before standing awkwardly on the circular platform. Her face was bright red, and she didn't dare look at Hiruko. No matter how tomboyish Anko acted, she was still a girl. She harbored a secret crush on the handsome Hiruko, which was the real reason she was willing to strip down for the sake of power.
Hiruko skillfully operated the equipment nearby. With the faint hum of machinery, a hollow, transparent cylinder slowly descended from above the platform. There was a funnel-shaped device at the top. Once the cylinder locked tightly onto the platform, it rotated a few times to ensure an airtight seal.
Next, a nutrient solution began to drip from the funnel at the top, falling like a string of broken pearls. Soon, the solution submerged Anko entirely, the liquid swirling and bubbling.
Anko flinched at the sudden change. She looked nervously at the liquid enveloping her, finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. She opened her mouth wide, frantically gesturing that she couldn't catch her breath.
Seeing this, Hiruko leaned close to the glass and shouted, "Don't panic! Open your mouth! You can breathe if you open your mouth!"
Anko was confused, but she instinctively opened her mouth and took a few tentative breaths. Finding that she could indeed breathe smoothly in the liquid, her tense body gradually relaxed. The terror in her eyes faded, replaced by curiosity as she began to inspect her surroundings.
Moments later, a massive stream of data cascaded across the computer screen behind Hiruko like a waterfall. This data precisely mapped every state of Anko's body, including the absorption and metabolism of the medicine.
Hiruko focused intently on the screen, his hands flying across the control panel. He adjusted the equipment based on the real-time data, adding and removing variables to ensure the experiment proceeded safely and systematically.
Immersed in the nutrient solution, Anko was initially excited by the novel experience, her eyes darting around curiously. However, it wasn't long before her eyelids grew heavy, as if weighed down by lead. Eventually, her eyes fluttered shut, and she fell into a deep sleep.
The moment she drifted off, her body began to twitch violently. Her bones and muscles seemed to be yanked by invisible hands, jerking repeatedly. Her facial expression grew distorted and pained; veins popped on her forehead, and beads of sweat rolled down her face. She was clearly undergoing an agony that reached deep into her marrow.
However, Hiruko had already added a special sedative to the solution, ensuring she wouldn't consciously feel the torment.
This machine was a custom-built creation, specifically tuned to Anko's genetic markers after countless precise adjustments. It was a near-perfect fit for her constitution, designed to maximize the success of the strengthening process.
After a deep analysis of Anko's genetic data, Hiruko had concluded that the most suitable Bloodline Limit for her was Steel Style. Although he had bolder ideas in mind, he took into account that Anko was Orochimaru's disciple. If something went wrong, he wouldn't be able to face the consequences.
After much thought, he decided to prioritize the Steel Style enhancement.
The plan for the first phase was to let Anko completely digest and absorb the medicine she had previously taken, using its power to perform preliminary adjustments and improvements to her body. Simultaneously, the external nutrient solution contained the elemental components of the Steel Style bloodline.
Hiruko hoped to create a delicate balance within Anko's body, allowing her to tentatively accept a portion of the Steel Style power to see if her body would reject it. If the first phase proceeded smoothly without any anomalies, they could move on to the next stage in an orderly fashion.
Seeing that Anko had passed out, Hiruko took a quick glance. Ah, she's a "White Tiger"... [1] It was his first time seeing one.
Tsk, tsk!
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