Ninja World: I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am no longer human!

Mei Terumi said calmly, exchanged glances with her two companions, and continued their actions in tacit agreement.

That night, a great fire shot into the sky from the capital of the Land of Fire, engulfing the entire Daimyo's residence. The Daimyo family, which had ruled this country for hundreds of years, vanished into thin air and turned to ashes in the fire.

Over the next two weeks, the daimyo's residences in the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning met a similar fate—the daimyo was killed and the daimyo's residence was burned down.

With this, the era of the daimyo came to a complete end.

The news should have caused a great stir in the ninja world, but unexpectedly, everyone remained silent.

Because everyone knows who did it. Besides Tsunade, the "God of Shinobi" of Kirigakure, who else has the ability and the guts to commit such a shocking crime?

For the four great ninja villages, their biggest concern now is what Tsunade will do next after eliminating the Daimyo's forces. Could she be planning to do something even Hashirama Senju couldn't—unify the ninja world?

Fortunately, after assassinating the daimyo of various countries, Kirigakure suddenly fell silent and returned to a state of isolation, closing itself off from the world. The situation in the shinobi world returned to the state it was in before the Fourth Shinobi World War.

It was as if the war had never happened.

Hidden Mist Village.

During this time, Tsunade dealt with the tailed beasts that Pakura's team had retrieved. Previously, under the effect of the Illusionary Dragon Nine Seals, the four Jinchūriki from Iwagakure and Kumogakure were all tortured to the point of near death, but ultimately they could not withstand it and died one after another.

Before the four people completely died, Tsunade extracted the tailed beasts from their bodies and sealed the Two-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails into specially made containers.

These tailed beasts will find suitable jinchūriki in the future, but as mentioned before, it will be up to Kisame Hoshigaki to decide after he awakens.

After finishing everything, it's time to rest and recuperate.

Tsunade decided to let Kirigakure live its life behind closed doors, just like before, completely cut off from the outside world. She entrusted all her affairs to Genji, Mei Terumi, and others, and, like Kisame in the past, became a hands-off manager.

In the center of Kirigakure, there stands a two-hundred-meter-tall tree that has recently been called the "Divine Tree" by the villagers, because the God of Shinobi, Tsunade, lives on it.

Continue upwards along the trunk of the sacred tree, up to the branches a hundred meters above the ground.

Walking along a path formed by vines and branches, a delicate little wooden house is hidden deep within the tree trunk, concealed by dense foliage.

Here, situated between heaven and earth, one can see the boundless sky above and a clear panoramic view of Kirigakure below. It is indeed a suitable abode for "gods" on earth.

Inside the cabin at this moment.

Tsunade and the slug inside her are undergoing a "transfer ceremony"...

246. Kisame Awakens

Generally speaking, the biggest taboo for a Jinchuriki is to hand over control of their body to a Tailed Beast.

If anyone were to do such a thing, the most likely outcome would be the loss of self-awareness, the eventual possession of their body by the Tailed Beast, or even the Tailed Beast going berserk.

For example, in the original work, Gaara had to stay awake all the time in order to fight against the erosion of his will by Shukaku inside him, which resulted in him having dark circles under his eyes like a panda.

However, this problem does not exist for Tsunade.

Because her fusion with the live slug is even more perfect than that of a perfect Jinchūriki.

Their bodies and chakra were perfectly matched, their personalities complemented each other, and they trusted each other completely. Therefore, the process of them merging into one was without any pain, only joy and fulfillment, just like an incomplete individual evolving into a perfect state.

Therefore, Tsunade's and Katsuyu's consciousnesses can coexist harmoniously in one body and switch at any time.

"I've finished my work, but it's exhausted my mother. She needs to rest for a while. In the meantime, I'll leave my health to you."

Inside the cabin, Tsunade muttered to herself, then lay down on the sofa, stretched out in a wide yawn, revealing her breathtaking figure. Then, she slowly closed her eyes, tilted her head, and drifted off to sleep.

A moment later, Tsunade opened her eyes again and stood up from the sofa, looking somewhat dazed.

She stood in front of the mirror, looked at herself, then reached out a hand and gently touched her face, revealing an incredulous expression.

"I have become Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade murmured, her eyes filled with surprise. Her entire demeanor and body language changed drastically, even her tone of voice became much gentler. It was as if she were a completely different person.

That's because, at this moment, Tsunade's body was completely dominated by the slug's consciousness. Tsunade's own consciousness, on the other hand, had temporarily fallen into a deep sleep.

The slug waved at the mirror, revealing a sweet smile, and then curiously touched and poked its own body here and there, finding it all very novel.

Being human is such an interesting experience.

From that day on, Tsunade and Katsuyu officially began their lives sharing the same body.

……

time flies.

Sunrise and sunset, day after day, and before we knew it, more than a year had passed.

According to Kisame's original plan, he would awaken within a year, but it turned out that Kisame's estimate of the future might have been somewhat optimistic. Tsunade went to Shikkotsu Forest several times during this period, but Kun remained in a deep sleep, without any movement.

Could this guy have really gone too far?

Tsunade couldn't help but think this way, but neither she nor Katsuyu had any good solutions for Kisame's situation, so they could only continue to wait.

During this time, another incident occurred in Wuyin.

Shortly after the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Boa Hancock secretly performed the Impure World Reincarnation ritual, resurrecting the First and Second Hokage.

The Impure World Reincarnation technique is an extremely overpowered ninjutsu. As long as the caster does not die, the resurrected person can live indefinitely and possesses an indestructible body with unlimited chakra.

Boa Hancock's plan was simple: to use the two Hokage as bargaining chips to preserve her life and her position in Kirigakure. After all, these two were not only formidable fighters but also Tsunade's family, their importance to her being self-evident.

However, to Boa Hancock's surprise, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju did not approve of this approach.

They believe that after death, people should go to the underworld, and the living and the dead should not live together. They believe that arbitrarily violating this taboo will inevitably lead to great disaster sooner or later.

Therefore, after spending some time with their granddaughter Tsunade, Hashirama and Tobirama chose to return to the Underworld. Before leaving, Tobirama Senju found a perfect way to undo the Impure World Reincarnation technique and taught it to Tsunade.

After all, he was the one who invented the Impure World Reincarnation technique, so he knew this technique all too well.

In short, this way, there's no need to worry about the enemy's Impure World Reincarnation technique anymore.

Although Boa Hancock's wishful thinking failed, fortunately Tsunade was a kind person and did not discard her after she had served her purpose. She agreed to let her stay in Kirigakure and continue her scientific research.

Apart from that, nothing major happened in Kirigakure. The villagers gradually emerged from the pain and shadow of the war and lived a peaceful and happy life.

Konoha Village.

Over a year ago, the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya, stepped down and went alone to Kirigakure to apologize, only to be quickly killed by Tsunade, a fact that was announced to the ninja world. Following that, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was assassinated, and his residence was burned down, leaving a power vacuum that Konoha Village had to fill.

Under these circumstances, an unprecedentedly fierce competition erupted among various forces both inside and outside Konoha Village for the position of Fifth Hokage.

Whoever becomes Hokage will not only gain control of Konoha, but also rule the entire Land of Fire, possessing the power to control the fate of millions.

This temptation drives people crazy.

Intrigue, open schemes, killing, death.

Finally, after a series of bloody internal battles and at the cost of numerous casualties, the Fifth Hokage was chosen—Minato Namikaze.

Minato was able to become Hokage not only because of his own great strength, his high popularity and likability in the village, but also because he was Naruto Uzumaki's father.

As is widely known, Naruto Uzumaki will grow up to become the Child of Prophecy, a savior who will bring peace to the entire ninja world. Therefore, Minato Namikaze's situation can be seen as a case of "rising to prominence through his son."

It's worth mentioning that Jiraiya, who had his arm severed by Tsunade, also quietly returned to Konoha. He cut off his long white hair and, like Hiruzen Sarutobi, hid in the Anbu, silently assisting his disciple Minato and protecting the village.

Kumokage Village. Due to the death of the Fourth Raikage and the disappearance of the Jinchūriki, the village has once again fallen into a state of leaderlessness and has been in turmoil, with no new Raikage yet being born.

In comparison, the situation in Iwagakure is somewhat better.

Although Onoki died, his son, Kotsuchi, took up the mantle, successfully succeeded as the Tsuchikage, and consolidated the power and resources of the Land of Earth, allowing Iwagakure to recover.

Rain-Hidden Village.

For over a year, Nagato had tried every possible method to defeat Tsunade, attempting to achieve a new breakthrough in his own strength. However, he soon sadly discovered that he had reached a bottleneck and it would be difficult to make any further progress.

Under these circumstances, Nagato harbored dangerous thoughts and several times considered using the Impure World Reincarnation technique to revive Madara Uchiha. After all, Madara was the true master of the Rinnegan, and only he knew how to unleash the full potential of those eyes.

However, Nagato was wary of Madara Uchiha, so he hesitated and couldn't make up his mind.

Perhaps, he will take that step sooner or later...

Beyond the ninja world, in a quiet part of the seabed.

A giant Kun, over 500 meters long, floated silently in the deep sea. All around was darkness, devoid of any light; even the seawater seemed frozen, filled with an aura of deathly stillness.

At a certain moment on a certain day.

Without warning, Kun suddenly opened its eyes. Its huge, lantern-like eyes emitted a dazzling white light in the darkness, like a pair of searchlights, shooting straight towards the sea surface.

Kisame has finally woken up.

From the depths of the Shikkotsu Forest, a resounding whale song echoed from the underwater hot springs. Immediately afterward, the surrounding ground trembled violently, rumbling as if an underwater volcano had erupted.

next second.

A colossal creature burst through the water and leaped into the air. With the body of a whale, the fins of a shark, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a dragon, its imposing body cast a huge shadow on the ground, emanating an aura that made all living things in the world tremble.

Its body stretched across the sky, seemingly distorting even the surrounding space.

Kisame, or Kun, after nearly two years of slumber and digesting all the energy in its body, finally completed its final evolution and became a Six Paths level being.

At this moment, the Kun in the air shrank rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and soon shrank to the height of a person, transforming back into the appearance of Kisame Hoshigaki.

He slowly descended from the sky.

"Wet Bone Forest, how come it's so desolate? The live slug is gone too. What happened during my slumber?"

Kisame looked around. In the vast Shikkotsu Forest, not a single slug could be seen. Only pale, bare trees remained, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of dust, making it appear lifeless and desolate.

He frowned, and with a "pop," he turned into a wisp of white smoke and disappeared from the spot.

A few minutes later.

"Is this... Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village)?"

Kisame stood at the entrance to Kirigakure village. As far as the eye could see, there were hundreds of exquisite wooden villas, surrounding a towering tree in the center of the village like stars around the moon. Kisame was very familiar with that tree; he had brought it back from Takigakure.

With a curious expression, he entered the Hidden Mist Village, walked through the bustling streets crowded with people, and headed towards the large tree.

Strangely, not a single Hidden Mist ninja or villager recognized Kisame along the way; to them, he was like a complete stranger. This was because Kisame had distorted his appearance with chakra, so if he so desired, no one could even perceive his presence.

During this process, Kisame overheard many villagers' gossip and also actively inquired about some information, finally learning a relatively complete picture of what happened after his death.

"Looks like I should really thank that woman, Tsunade."

He thought to himself, looking up at the top of the tree. According to the villagers, the abode of the ninja god was on the sacred tree, deep within its dense foliage.

Kisame then floated up, his feet off the ground, and flew upwards along the tree trunk. During this process, the Hidden Mist ninjas who were guarding and patrolling near the Divine Tree were completely ignored, as if he were nothing more than a wisp of air.