522 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

Valley Country

As the name suggests, this nation was built within a long, narrow valley. The terrain was steep, shrouded in thick fog; if you didn't know better, you might think you'd wandered into the misty lands of the Land of Water.

A figure slipped past Valley Country's guards and infiltrated the nation at high speed.

Kiyosuke crouched on a tree branch, pulled out a map to confirm his position, and said:

"Looks like it's somewhere around here. Victor's company… let me see where exactly it is."

This time, he'd come to investigate where Victor had taken the Hashirama cells. Those belonged to Konoha. Even if Orochimaru had once taken them, they were still—on paper—Konoha property.

There was no way they would hand something like that over. And Kiyosuke also wanted to see what kind of thing had injured his son so badly.

He'd heard the details from Shinichi. They hadn't used elementalization in that fight in order to cover the others, afraid the enemy would lose interest in him. After the battle, he'd been severely injured.

"Still not training enough."

Kiyosuke shook his head. A figure landed on the branch beside him and said:

"Kiyosuke-sama, you're way too fast. Have a little mercy on me."

It was Konohamaru, who had only recently recovered from his injuries.

"Just scouting ahead for you. There's nothing dangerous here. Weaklings, all of them." He sensed the surroundings, finding no particularly strong individuals.

"Valley Country doesn't have a shinobi village. The few shinobi here are wandering ninja,"

Konohamaru explained.

"But Victor's tech company is worth keeping an eye on. Victor himself specializes in Wind Release and body-regeneration techniques."

"Has body-regeneration become so common now? Seems like everybody knows it."

Once upon a time, very few people in the shinobi world could use that technique. How did even a tech-company president know it now?

That alone meant this president wasn't simple.

"Let's go. You make contact with him from the front. I'll slip inside and see what goodies they're hiding."

"Got it."

The two split up. Konohamaru acted openly; Kiyosuke stayed in the shadows. Reaching the tech company, Kiyosuke transformed into a thin stream of flame and slipped in through the ventilation ducts.

The ducts branched in all directions. After sensing around, he headed toward an area brimming with chakra.

"A company this big doesn't even bother hiring a sensor-type ninja… they really don't take me seriously." He shook his head and slipped out of the duct, landing inside a laboratory.

"Nice. Lucky me—found something incredible."

He stared at a huge cultivation tank ahead of him. Inside was a massive tree root. The roots of the God Tree.

During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Madara hadn't managed to finish cultivating the God Tree before they defeated him. This root was likely leftover from Kaguya.

The God Tree had absurd vitality, and with modern technology, even something dead could be revived with enough material, time, effort, and knowledge. As far as he knew, only Orochimaru should be capable of such a thing—yet someone here had done it.

This company really wasn't ordinary.

And…

He looked at the rows of cultivation tanks wrapped around the God Tree's roots. Inside were corpses—humans who had lost all signs of life. Their bodies showed signs of wooden mutation, and some even had sprouting buds.

One glance was enough: failed Hashirama cell transplants.

Which also meant the Hashirama cells were here—and someone was using them for human experimentation.

"These bastards. Always messing with this garbage."

He shook his head and used his camera to record evidence. Now he had solid grounds to arrest them.

Human experimentation was banned on the surface of the shinobi world. These people were either brave or stupid. Using Hashirama cells for experiments clearly meant they didn't put Konoha in their eyes. And that meant Konoha had plenty of room to retaliate.

"Looks like a little bug crawled in. Victor's careless as always."

A mocking voice sounded. Kiyosuke turned and saw a man with a center-part hairstyle, a thin, tall frame, wearing a blue-collared shirt and apron that revealed a sculpted six-pack. Strange markings covered his face, and he wore pale-blue lipstick.

He pulled out a sketch, compared it, then burned it to ash with a grin.

"Finally found you, you little rat!"

"Oh? You recognize me, Deepa-sama?" Deepa chuckled. "You look interesting. You feel strong."

"Not that strong. Killing you won't be hard."

Deepa's eyes sharpened. "Then show me."

His right hand turned black and hardened. Black cubes drifted around him, then shot toward Kiyosuke in an instant.

The cubes broke the sound barrier and punched straight through Kiyosuke's body.

Flames surged and his body instantly regenerated.

Deepa raised a brow.

"I've seen that ability somewhere… ah—now I remember. That kid I met in the Land of Wind. Not bad at all. Shame I didn't get to see his expression of despair. That really disappointed me."

Aside from fine cuisine, what Deepa loved most was seeing others fall into despair. It delighted his soul.

Kiyosuke smiled.

"My kid owes you a lot, huh? Well then—on behalf of his father, let me return the favor. Ready?"

"What?"

"Clench your teeth. And don't cry from the pain."

"Such big talk!" Deepa sneered—then realized Kiyosuke had vanished.

"Where are you looking? Look. Here. You mutt!"

Deepa turned—just in time to see a size-forty-two boot smash into his face.

With a bang, he was kicked flying.

Boom!

His body slammed into the metal outer wall, denting it inward.

"Such speed… how? Has your body been modified too?" Deepa spat blood as he spoke.

"Modified? So you're a cyborg? No wonder my kid couldn't beat you. Heh. From here on… you're going to die miserably."

Kiyosuke dashed forward and grabbed Deepa by the throat, completely overpowering him before slamming him into the ground.

Boom!

The floor sank into a massive crater. Deepa hardened his body and launched black cubes at Kiyosuke—not enough to truly hurt him, but enough to force space to escape.

"What the hell is this guy?!"