At night.
Uchiha Shinji flickered away, silently departing from Karin's apartment.
Just moments ago, he had visited Karin again to check on the progress of her Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan fusion.
As he had roughly predicted, the natural fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was no easy feat. Moreover, Karin's current fusion involved quite a few shortcuts, so the overall progress wasn't smooth at all.
Shinji had already expected this.
After all, neither pair of Mangekyō Sharingan originally belonged to Karin, and she shared no blood relation with the owners. The fact that she could even initiate the fusion process was already something of a miracle!
Returning to his own apartment, Shinji lifted his disguise and began calmly analyzing the situation.
"Judging from the current fusion progress, the previous two-week estimate seems overly optimistic. To fully complete the fusion, the timeframe may stretch to four to six weeks..."
He frowned slightly.
Initially, he had projected two to three weeks, so he had only arranged for a minor "accident" for Karin.
For most people, resting at home for a few extra weeks due to injuries wouldn't be suspicious.
But Karin was different — as a member of the Uzumaki Clan, famed for their strong life force, even serious wounds that would normally take others ten days or more to heal would only take her three to five days.
Under such circumstances, if Karin merely suffered superficial injuries from an "accident" yet remained recuperating at home for over a month, anyone would find it suspicious!
Currently, everyone's attention was focused on the upcoming surgery, leaving no time to care about Karin. However, the surgery was set to happen at the latest by next week. Once the surgery was completed and the results were announced, after at most a week of public commotion, the matter would die down.
Even if other villages schemed behind the scenes, they wouldn't stir up open conflict.
At that point, whether it was the Shinobi Academy or Jiraiya himself, they might turn their attention back to Karin.
"The combat exam took a week, the surgery will take another week, and the aftermath another week — which still leaves me needing two to three more weeks,"
Shinji mused, stroking his chin.
He had to ensure continuous events in the Hidden Leaf Village to better conceal Karin's fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan — a critical step in his 'Rinnegan Project,' which allowed no room for error.
"Tsunade's surgical plan is impeccable. One week of preparation time is more than enough, so the surgery itself cannot be delayed for long. Unless..."
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed across Shinji's mind.
A few days later, Tsunade officially announced the commencement of the surgical procedures.
The timing aligned almost exactly with Shinji's earlier predictions — one week of preparation.
On the day the surgeries began, Karin's fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan had already lasted two weeks.
Progress was still painfully slow — less than halfway there.
Fortunately, everyone's focus remained entirely on the surgical operations. Even among the Shinobi Academy students, the major topic of discussion was the surgery, so for the time being, no one suspected anything about Karin.
Hidden Leaf Hospital.
Following Kusada Kaoru, Shinji, along with two other Hidden Leaf medical shinobi and Chiyo from the Hidden Sand Village, entered the underground surgical theater.
On the operation table lay a nine-year-old shinobi from the Hidden Sand, already fully anesthetized.
Kusada Kaoru, as the chief surgeon, glanced at the young shinobi and then took a deep breath, declaring:
"Final checks!"
Shinji immediately reported:
"The volunteer's vital signs are normal!"
Another Hidden Leaf medical shinobi added:
"All surgical instruments have been sterilized!"
Kaoru then looked toward Chiyo.
Chiyo nodded solemnly:
"Please begin."
Without hesitation, Kaoru commenced the operation.
Activation of First Hokage's Cells.
Basic skin compatibility test.
Cell implantation.
Inhibitor injection.
Fusion agent injection.
Every step of the surgery was executed with meticulous precision.
Even Chiyo nodded silently in approval, thinking:
"The Hidden Leaf truly has an abundance of excellent medical shinobi!"
At that moment, Kaoru turned to Shinji.
Understanding the signal, Shinji immediately read aloud the volunteer's vital statistics:
"Volunteer's blood pressure is exceeding safe levels... approaching critical values... cell activity is also exceeding safe thresholds..."
Almost simultaneously, the shinobi on the operating table began violently convulsing.
Chiyo's expression darkened.
As an experienced medical shinobi herself, she clearly understood what those instrument readings meant. Her heart sank.
However, Kaoru did not immediately abandon the operation. Instead, she shouted:
"Quick! Administer more inhibitors!"
Meanwhile, in the medical division office.
Tsunade and Jiraiya chatted casually while awaiting the results of the seventeen surgeries.
Suddenly — Bang!
The door burst open, and a medical shinobi rushed in, reporting:
"Lady Tsunade! The third team's surgery has failed — the volunteer has died!"
Soon after, reports of failures from the fourth team, the seventh team, the ninth team, and the eleventh team followed.
Tsunade sighed heavily.
Every failed surgery represented a young life lost.
Jiraiya tried to console her:
"Don't dwell on it too much. You already tried to persuade them."
Tsunade shook her head bitterly:
"It's a pity... they simply didn't believe me."
Jiraiya said helplessly:
"It's not that they didn't believe you. They were just too greedy."
To exchange a few lives for the chance to obtain 'Wood Release' — from the perspective of the other four great shinobi villages, it was a deal too good to pass up.
After all, shinobi lived by the sword and died by the sword!
Not long after, more and more reports of surgical failure arrived.
At last, Yakumo entered the office, face dark:
"Lady Tsunade, even Shizune-senpai's surgery failed. The volunteer died on the spot!"
Tsunade stood up:
"It looks like it's over. Let's go and deal with the aftermath."
Just then, Jiraiya suddenly asked:
"Weren't there supposed to be seventeen surgeries?"
Tsunade nodded:
"Yes, why?"
Jiraiya frowned:
"Then... what about the seventeenth group? They haven't reported in yet, have they?"
At first, Tsunade hadn't cared much — after all, even Yakumo's operation had ended in death; no one else could possibly survive.
But upon hearing that the seventeenth group's surgery was still ongoing — and that the volunteer from the Hidden Sand was still alive — she became visibly unsettled.
Inside the seventeenth group's surgical room.
Kusada Kaoru stared at the life sign monitor, her expression strangely complicated.
Not just her — all the medical shinobi exchanged bewildered looks.
Every time the volunteer's vital signs seemed about to crash — about to be overwhelmed by the rampaging First Hokage's cells — his condition would mysteriously stabilize again.
Yet after stabilizing for a while, the implanted cells would flare up into chaos again, and so it repeated — seven or eight times already.