This idea coincided exactly with Fugaku's.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to believe he was biased against Shimizu, thinking Fugaku was deliberately trying to lighten Shimizu's workload.
This was definitely something Shimizu had mentioned to Hiruzen.
Fugaku had almost cursed out loud when he found out.
Thankfully, from Hiruzen's demeanor, it seemed he didn't know the exact nature of the research—just that it was extremely demanding.
Fugaku breathed a sigh of relief. The hospital already had plenty of equipment and facilities.
There were people running experiments day and night, and with Shimizu conducting his research quietly, it wouldn't be easy to discover anything suspicious.
Plus, everything was under the guise of a legitimate reason—researching organ cloning to treat patients with cancer or replace damaged internal organs in injured shinobi.
"What's wrong?"
Mikoto didn't want to dwell on Shimizu right now. She just wanted to ease Fugaku's burden.
If it weren't something truly difficult, Fugaku wouldn't be wearing such a troubled expression.
"It's nothing," Fugaku replied. "By the way, how's it going with Shimizu? Have you made any progress drawing him to our side?"
He looked at Mikoto and asked slowly.
"He's very dissatisfied with you. He says the tasks you assigned are too heavy."
Mikoto spoke up.
She felt the need to explain this to Fugaku—it wasn't exactly something easy to handle.
Then, preparing to tell him about Shimizu's rudeness toward her, she continued:
"Also, he was extremely rude. He even tried to—"
"We can talk about his rudeness later."
Fugaku waved his hand, cutting her off.
"Mikoto, this matter is truly important. I hope you can give it your all."
He looked at her earnestly, hoping for a positive response.
In his view, Shimizu and Mikoto got along quite well.
She could play the good cop on his behalf.
As long as Shimizu firmly stood on their side, the cloning research could continue unhindered.
There might even be more advantages—the ANBU identity would grant Shimizu access to more forbidden medical knowledge.
Many techniques weren't exactly new; predecessors had explored them already, only for ethical concerns to have them sealed away.
Fugaku didn't know how much information still existed, but anything could be useful.
If Shimizu could balance both ANBU and research work, it would be a win-win situation.
"Fugaku, I…"
Suddenly, Mikoto's pupils shrank. She noticed a strand of white hair on Fugaku's head—when had it appeared?
Fugaku was still in his prime!
Mikoto's voice trembled slightly. She hesitated several times, unsure whether to tell him.
A thousand thoughts crossed her mind, but ultimately, all she said was:
"I'll go talk to him again tomorrow."
A sense of sorrow filled her heart.
Fugaku seemed to be under immense pressure, and as his wife, she felt she should share that burden.
Maybe this was her role—to shoulder the weight of Fugaku's sins…
Meanwhile, back at home, Shimizu was still deep in training.
Beauty was merely one aspect of life—it would never distract him from his pursuit of strength.
"Hmph!"
The Tenro Fire Sword blazed to life in his hand.
Ever since he developed Fire Release: Flame Palm, Shimizu had been refining and enhancing the jutsu he used most often.
Fire Release: Tenro Fire Sword.
With a swing of the Tenro Fire Sword, the long, blazing blade traced a magnificent arc of fire through the night sky.
With a subtle shift of chakra, the sword's surface began to warp and ripple, as if melting. Countless bubbles formed along its length.
Then, dozens of smaller swords emerged from it.
It was reminiscent of Orochimaru's White Phosphorus Serpent, with countless snake heads and necks forming a single massive snake.
Likewise, Shimizu's Tenro Fire Sword transformed into countless small blades, merging to form a singular greatsword.
At a glance, it was impossible to tell the difference.
After all, the Tenro Fire Sword was chakra molded into fire and continuously burning—it just happened to be shaped like a longsword. Its blade shimmered and danced like real flame.
"Go."
Shimizu swung the sword once more. The blade extended forward—not straight, but curving bizarrely into a semicircle like a long whip.
It coiled around a wooden stake, tightening instantly, and engulfed it in fierce flames until it turned to ash.
"This should count as combining hardness with flexibility."
Shimizu nodded with satisfaction.
If someone forced him into close combat, he could just strike with his palm and guarantee their organs would burn from within.
If they kept their distance, the Tenro Fire Sword could be used for entanglement.
Each of the miniature swords—barely a third the size of a fingernail—could be manipulated by Shimizu's will.
When an enemy blocked his strike, the tip of the sword could twist mid-air and pierce their back.
"Sky Blade really is an excellent technique."
Shimizu marveled, letting the chakra in his hand dissipate.
As long as it was a blade-shaped object, he could manipulate its position with his mind.
The current iteration of the Tenro Fire Sword had been made more flexible precisely for that reason.
And there was still more potential to unlock.
At first, Shimizu had experimented with discarded movie prop swords, trying to ride them using Sky Blade.
Unfortunately, he failed—those swords couldn't support his weight.
When he tried chakra-forged blades, he couldn't form them under his feet.
He couldn't stand on the Tenro Fire Sword and lift off using Sky Blade either.
If it were that easy, Orochimaru would've been the first flying ninja in the early days.
But Shimizu had thought of a new approach—something that might become his first truly useful Sage Art after entering Curse Mark Form.
The Curse Mark could only absorb natural energy and combine it with his spiritual and physical energies to create Sage Chakra.
Unlike the Sages of the Three Great Holy Lands, his version didn't come with prebuilt Sage Arts.
That meant he had to develop his own.
He had Sage Art: White Shock Technique, but that was tailored for Ryuchi Cave's Sage Mode.
Whether it could be used post-Curse Mark transformation was something he still had to test.
If he could channel Sage Chakra into Sky Blade, maybe he really could achieve sword flight—or even unleash a Ten Thousand Blade Barrage.
The principle behind Sky Blade was dispersing chakra into particles smaller than cells, binding them to a blade, and using specific chakra pathways to generate mental feedback, making the blade respond to one's will.
By replacing that with Sage Chakra and having it support a longsword as a medium, using the natural energy stirred by the Sage Chakra across the blade's surface to generate airflow—the pressure differences between fast and slow currents would produce lift.
Of course, in theory, Wind Release could also achieve this.
But to make hundreds or even thousands of blades fly with regular chakra was impossible for an individual.
Only by leveraging Sage Chakra to manipulate the limitless natural energy of the world, binding that energy to the blades and reducing personal chakra consumption, could the technique become viable.
If he could pull it off, it'd be a full-on bombardment—just swing it mindlessly and wipe everything clean.
"In a little while, I bet we'll be summoned back to the battlefield."
Next would be the death of the Third Raikage—a battle involving tens of thousands of ninja.
This was just the calm before the storm.
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