Hiruko lazily observed an arena bellow as a group chimeras ripped apart dozens of wild beasts one after another. Their development had progressed quite a bit, although they still lacked power. An issue that needed to be resolved if he wanted to make use of them. Either he had to find a way to mass-produce them or strengthen them even further. Though, that should become easier more kekkei genkai users he assimilated.
Back to the current issue, he had a problem to take care of. He would wait for a while longer for the enemy to reveal themselves, but his patience had been running dry. Hiruko wanted to confront the person who managed to make his prideful subordinates run in shame. While losing the kekkei genkai user was a shame, it wouldn’t be much useful in a such short amount of time. It took some time to properly assimilate the new ability, after all. He would chase down that boy later, if he was still alive.
As for the beats that he had collected, and were currently preyed upon, they were simply used to satisfy chimera’s bloodlust. The poor animals were no challenge for the four monsters that were hunting down each of them in frenzy and slowly ripping them apart before eating them alive. It seemed that the final result turned out more unstable that he hoped to. To be expected as such, for the first proper trial, but it was nonetheless disappointing. Hiruko wished to create something more refined than those things that had a hard time containing their instincts. Oh well, he had already collected their blood and tissue samples, he would look into the issue later.
As Hiruko was deep into his thoughts, a sudden explosion reverberated from the building’s entrance. Hiruko raised an eyebrow. The enemy seemed to have finally arrived, but he didn't expect them to announce themselves like that. A distraction, it seemed like, unless the enemies were arrogant enough to simply attack headfirst. Either way, it didn’t leave a good taste in his mouth. What were they up to?
Well, it didn't matter in the end. He would just send his henchman to assess the situation. He doubted there was anyone strong enough to challenge him amongst them, but there was no harm in remaining careful.
“It seems that we have visitors, Nii.” Hiruko turned towards the woman that had been watching chimeras with the eyes full of curiosity and desire.
She probably was dying to get one of them under her control, but considering that none of them were weaker than her, that would not be a likely outcome. What she was superior in, however, was in experience and intellect. He would much rather trust her to handle the situation properly while the chimeras did what they were created for, to fight.
“Take those guys, Nii.” Hiruko pointed at chimeras who had frozen in place the moment the explosion went off and gazing at him with an expectant and hungry faces. He chuckled at that. “Look how eager they are. Lead them. They will listen to your commands. Isn’t that right, guys?”
The chimeras felt a chill run down their spines as Hiruko’s gaze turned towards them and they obediently nodded their heads.
A look of excitement flashed across Nii's face. Relishing in the idea of commanding the chimeras.
“I will not disappoint you, sir.” She responded.
“Well then, what are you waiting for?” Hiruko asked the chimeras. “Prove your worth, prove to me that all the effort I put into creating you wasn't in vain.”
At his words, the chimeras jumped up towards the platform and followed Nii behind. They left the room, eager to engage with the enemy. The place became empty aside from the few dozen scared animals that had been relentlessly tortured by the chimeras. Most of the beasts were already dead and the ones remaining alive were not far away from death’s door.
Looking at the animals that were about to meet their demise, HIroku felt that it was a waste to simply leave them all behind. As he was about to leave though, an idea went through Hiruko’s mind. He jumped down instead and outstretched his arms that turned into countless blue tentacles. They picked up each remaining animal, dead or alive, and piled them into a small mountain of bodies so their bodies were in contact with each other.
“How about be of some use before you all die?” Hiruko mused. “Granted, your lifespan will probably be… unfortunate, but at going out with a blast is better than a pathetic death like this, no?”
As he gazed into a pile of bodies, he let a drop of his blood land onto one of the beasts that had been desperately clinging to the last moments of its life. He watched in satisfaction as the blood caused an erratic reaction from the dying beast. It spread throughout the beast’s body, and then extent to the bodies of nearby beasts around its host. It used the nutrients in the bodies to spread itself throughout the small mountain of bodies. A blue liquid pierced through each of the beast in the pile and after it had its fill feeding on them, it began to mend the flesh together.
Hiruko smiled at the scene and walked out from the room as an enormous amalgamation began to take form behind him.
***
Kakuzu overlooked the massive building that was used as a base by Hiruko. He was impressed that he even remembered the name of a filler antagonist from the movie, but he had to admit that he left enough impression on him.
If Sora’s and Satori’s existence hadn’t confirmed it already, now it was certain that this world had certain elements from the timeline that was considered as a filler. Those were things that should not have existed in the first place, but he wasn't certain how a situation like this was possible. How those elements didn’t cause the ripple effects and changed the world was not something he could understand.
As for the crazy scientist’s actions, he needed to deal with him before things had worsened. The man had kidnapped a kekkei genkai user, probably because he had the ability to absorb it from him. It was a pretty useful power, a jutsu to be specific. He recalled that Hiruko never had a talented body, much less a kekkei genkai like that. Rather, he had invented a technique that could modify his body to overcome the lack of talent. He would look into it if he got hands on it. But considering the state that Hiruko was at the end of the movie, it probably came with some serious consequences that he wasn’t sure was worth it.
It seemed that he wouldn’t be getting much rest any time soon. It wasn’t much longer before Pain attacked Konoha, and that was when things would truly begin to escalate.
Kakuzu thought back on everything that happened after arriving in this world. His soul had merged with another, affecting his actions bit by bit. He had killed the crazy fanatic to not get dragged down by him and tried to salvage the situation and avoid the future where everything went downhill. Most important of all, he managed to get rid of Kabuto, avoiding the potential threat that improved Edo Tensei could pose. He hoped that his actions would result in a world with fewer complications. Still, a butterfly effect was a factor, and the idea of bunch of crazy reincarnated running around and messing things up was already giving him a headache. Oh god, he hoped that wasn’t a case. A man could hope, right?
Kakuzu sighed as he shook his head in annoyance. Who was he kidding. This was going to be a mess, one way or another, and he didn’t even know how many of them could be out there. He had Black Zetsu to catch at all costs before the Fourth Shinobi World War began. At least he could bet on Obito not summoning Madara since he wanted to bring forth the plan by himself.
Seeing as all the preparations were done, he signaled Ryuzetsu and Moroi to send in the kamikhadze squad. The two fed several of the Spirits the Berserker Potions and waited until the effects began to take place. The red fluid circulated through the thread creatures’ chakra system and accelerated the flow to its limits, and then pushed past it. The lifespan of the Spirits rapidly began to tick down as their chakra levels began to rise. The moment the reaction took place, the berserk spirits charged while Ryuzetsu and Moroi led their assigned groups of Spirits behind. The assault had began.
