Naruto: The Strongest Sage.

Karin asked to watch from the side, which was actually a bit cruel because the transplantation process was not a good look. But both Yumi and Karin insisted on doing so.

"Karin, listen to me. I have never said these words to you since I came to Konoha. Because at that time, I was not sure if you could do it. But now, I can say it.

If one day, you become a strong enough ninja. Remember everything we suffered in Kusagakure. Remember our hatred, remember... revenge. "

Aoba's transplant surgery naturally cannot be like Uchiha Madara's, where he directly presses a piece of Hashirama's flesh on his chest.

In order to ensure the success rate, the transplant location, size, various auxiliary drugs, and neutralizing agents made from white Zetsu cells all need to be strictly controlled.

It is difficult for one person to complete these tasks. Of course, he can use shadow clones to form a team. But Kakashi's participation is necessary.

His joining was not just an assistant. It was mainly aimed at Kakashi. Aoba knew that Kakashi only partially recognized him now. But this was far from enough.

He didn't need Kakashi to be his obedient subordinate. That was unnecessary and difficult to achieve. He just needed Kakashi to believe in him.

There are many ways to make someone believe in you. The one Aoba is using now is the simplest one. Give Kakashi a sense of identity.

I'm sharing a secret with you. Doesn't that make you believe me?

"Yumi, because the fusion process requires your mental will to have a certain degree of self-regulation. Therefore, we cannot use anesthetics on you.

So, you will face severe pain, loss of control of your body, and even mental breakdown. If you can't get through any of these, the operation will be a complete failure. I have one last question for you: are you ready? "

"I'm ready, let's get started."

"Very good. Scalpel."

"......ah......."

Karin sat on a chair next to her, listening to her mother's screams from afar. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails even cut her palms. But she seemed to be unable to feel it.

She pursed her lips tightly to prevent herself from crying out loud, for she was afraid that her crying would interfere with the operation.

It was not until last night that she finally realized that her mother, who had always looked healthy, was about to die.

And the reason why she was going to die was because she was bitten too many times by those grass ninja demons.

Karin was still young, and she didn't really understand the concept of hatred at first, until her mother told her that what they felt towards the Kusanagi was hatred.

And hatred will never disappear unless one day you go back.

At this time, Yumi's body had begun to tremble and parts of it had begun to deform. The erosion of Hashirama's cells was too strong.

Just because a ninja like Aoba, who is at the peak of physical fitness and has the strength of a jonin, can persist, it doesn't mean that Yumi can do it.

In fact, Yumi's physical fitness is very good. If she had not encountered everything that happened to the Kusagakure ninja and had received ninja training, her success rate might be higher than Aoba's.

After all, the physiques of Uzumaki and Senju are the same type that were recently connected. The probability of her successful fusion should be very high.

Unfortunately, she had not received any ninja training and her essence was damaged. Her body was riddled with holes and she was completely unable to resist the erosion of Hashirama's cells.

The transplant had just been completed, and Yumi was already showing signs of collapse.

The surface of her body began to move irregularly, as if some living thing was about to break out of her body.

Those were Hashirama's runaway cells, a runaway phenomenon caused by a mixture of chaotic chakra.

Aoba thought for a moment, gathered a ball of natural energy, and tried to slowly inject it into Yumi's body.

At this time, her body has not really mutated yet. If she suppresses it at this time, there is still hope.

Natural energy is in some sense more dangerous than Hashirama's cells. Therefore, Aoba was very careful in his actions.

He tried to use natural energy to suppress the runaway Hashirama cells. But this was actually a very risky move, because if he was not careful, Yumi would be petrified by the natural energy.

Soon, Qingye found that the effect was there, but not as good as he had imagined. And the side effects were also very obvious.

His original idea was that it was Hashirama's cells that bore the natural energy. By letting Hashirama's cells fight against the natural energy, Yumi herself would have a chance to breathe.

But what was unexpected was that Hashirama's cells attacked Yumi too quickly. It might be because her body was too weak.

In just a few seconds, the connection between the two sides has become inseparable. The petrification of natural energy is directly fed back to Hashirama's cells and Yumi's body at the same time.

Qingye stopped immediately. If she continued like this, she would turn into a stone statue in less than a minute.

Afterwards, he injected Yumi with a life potion. However, the life potion was also absorbed by Yumi and Hashirama's cells at the same time. Hashirama's cells even absorbed more.

Tried to inject more White Zetsu cells. It worked a little at first, but soon it was like they were immune to it and no longer had any effect.

Qingye even began to despair. There was not much that could be done by outside forces in this operation. He had done everything he could. Now it all depended on Yumi's will to resist.

"Yumi, I'm sorry I can't do more. It's up to you now. Think about your hatred, think about Karin, and think about your future. You have to believe that you can survive."

Qingye could feel that Yumi was trying very hard to resist. But her resistance was weak because her body was still getting worse.

At this time, even Kakashi realized that the operation was doomed to fail.

At this time, something strange happened.

However, the change did not come from Yumi, but from behind. Aoba turned around suddenly, with the Kusanagi sword in his hand. But he did not see anyone else, only Karin running towards him.

And that strange chakra fluctuation came from Karin's body.

Aoba hesitated for a moment and did not stop her, while Karin threw herself directly onto her mother.

"Mom, please, don't die, don't leave me..."

Karin could no longer control her suppressed emotions and burst into tears while lying on her mother's body. Yumi's squirming body seemed to be temporarily suppressed by this strong emotion.

But then, there was an even more violent counterattack. Kakashi saw that the situation was not good and prepared to save Karin. Because if Yumi really mutated and turned into a plant, she would kill Karin next to her.

But at this time, Aoba suddenly reached out and stopped Kakashi.

"Don't worry, it looks like there may be a turn for the better."