Chapter 60: Kabuto: How Is This Possible?!
"This... this is...?"
Haruta was stunned as he sensed the surging chakra within his body. Something felt off—it wasn't quite what he had expected!
It wasn't that his chakra had become uncontrollable. With a Level 7 chakra stat, his control was beyond exceptional.
Nor was it that his chakra was difficult to fuse. Instead, everything was going too smoothly—almost unnaturally so!
"Is this the power of the 'formula'?"
Haruta had been following the fusion process exactly as dictated by the Wood Release Experience he had acquired.
But given his less-than-stellar math skills, he had assumed that even using a formula would still make the process somewhat complicated.
After all, people might lie to you, but math never does—if you don't know it, you just don't know it…
Yet now, he realized he had been too caught up in his own biases. The moment he instinctively applied his chakra to the formula, everything fell into place seamlessly!
"This is a good thing. It'll make fusing other Kekkei Genkai—and even Kekkei Tōta—much easier in the future. But..."
But right now, this kind of effortless success left Haruta feeling a little dumbfounded.
The fusion was proceeding so quickly that he had already entered the stage of massive chakra depletion!
"This level of consumption... it's unbelievable..."
Beads of sweat formed on Haruta's forehead. Merging three different chakra natures while maintaining stability and solidifying them throughout his body required an endless supply of chakra.
Now he fully understood why Kekkei Genkai users were so rare—and why new Kekkei Genkai bloodlines were almost nonexistent.
"The chakra demand is simply too overwhelming. Just attempting a single fusion is enough to make countless shinobi give up before even trying."
As Haruta continued to sustain the fusion with his own chakra, he kept a sharp eye on the seal beside him.
A thought struck him—perhaps fusing a Kekkei Tōta already represented the absolute limit for a normal shinobi.
After all, in a thousand years, the only openly known Kekkei Tōta was Dust Release.
Of course, Senju Hashirama could be considered another exception, but…
"That guy is anything but a normal shinobi."
"As for going even further... external assistance is probably necessary."
Haruta's gaze remained locked on the Dragon Vein seal. He had no problem whatsoever with using external power to aid his fusion.
At only Level 7, he was barely at the elite jōnin level. He definitely wasn't on the level of the ever-crafty Onoki or the outright inhuman Hashirama.
Besides, relying on external forces now was just a form of early adaptation—preparing himself for even greater advancements in the future.
Drip—
Drip—
Sweat streamed down Haruta's face, falling onto the ground as his body neared complete chakra exhaustion.
"Damn it, what the hell is he doing?"
Kabuto had been closely monitoring Haruta's condition and noticed that something was wrong—his body was growing weaker.
Especially his chakra, which was being consumed at an insane rate.
He had no idea what Haruta was trying to accomplish, but he also didn't dare interrupt.
His best guess was that Haruta was in the middle of something extremely important.
But the gap in the seal was widening, and the dense, oppressive chakra radiating from within was growing stronger.
How could he not be worried?
ROAR—!
Suddenly, a deafening howl echoed through the entire tower.
The next moment—BOOM!—a ferocious wave of chakra erupted, sending a thunderous shockwave rippling outward!
The terrifying chakra pulsed violently, and in an instant—the entire top of the tower was blown apart!
Falling debris disintegrated into fine dust under the sheer force of the chakra storm, forming a raging sandstorm that swept through the entire tower interior.
"This...!"
Kabuto dodged the swirling fragments while glancing toward Haruta, who was still sitting motionless.
Then, through the collapsed roof, he noticed ancient Rōran City itself beginning to stir.
He immediately realized—they couldn't stay here any longer!
"What a reckless idiot."
Gritting his teeth, Kabuto refused to abandon Haruta.
Braving the storm of sand and debris, he struggled forward, pushing toward Haruta's location.
But just then—
Haruta's eyes snapped open!
"Now!"
In an instant, his hand shot forward, plunging directly into the Dragon Vein's chakra!
BZZT—!
A deep rumbling followed, and the violent chakra surged—drawn directly toward him!
The Dragon Vein let out another furious roar, but Haruta forcefully seized control, directing the influx of chakra into his body and fusing it with his own!
"Seriously… I have to thank the Fourth Hokage for this."
Feeling the chakra flow into him, Haruta couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.
By opening just a small gap in the seal, the interlocking layers of the Four Symbols Seal instinctively tried to repair themselves, consuming the Dragon Vein's chakra in the process.
At the same time, the Dragon Vein itself struggled against the remaining seals, causing even more chakra depletion.
As a result, the Dragon Vein had already been significantly weakened!
And Haruta wasn't foolish—he had deliberately kept the gap small, preventing the Dragon Vein from escaping all at once.
This allowed him to continuously drain the chakra that seeped through—siphoning away the already-exhausted Dragon Vein energy.
BOOM—!
With this vast influx of pure, refined chakra, Haruta's fusion process accelerated dramatically.
As the fusion deepened, the combined power within him became more stable, resilient, and inseparable—melding into a singular force!
At that moment, a bright white light radiated from his body, and a strange chakra aura began to spread from him.
"This... what the hell is happening?"
Kabuto was utterly stunned by the scene before him.
Though he still had to keep an eye on the approaching figures outside, Haruta's current transformation was simply too bizarre.
As the chakra around Haruta grew denser and more concentrated, a deafening roar erupted from above.
Kabuto instinctively clamped his hands over his ears—the sound was piercing, shaking his eardrums violently.
At the same time, he felt the ground beneath him tremble violently!
And then—when he finally turned to look—his entire expression froze in shock.
A colossal, ancient tree had suddenly burst from the ground!
Its massive roots and branches coiled around Haruta, growing and stretching at an astonishing speed.
Within moments, the towering tree had broken through the ruined rooftop, its thick foliage completely engulfing the shattered tower.
But what shocked Kabuto the most was the immense chakra emanating from the tree—
It was alive, brimming with raw, powerful energy!
As he stared at the impossible sight before him, Kabuto was completely dumbfounded.
His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, yet the only words that escaped were the same ones—over and over again.
"How is this possible...?! How is this possible?!"
...