Chapter 36: The Silent Sanctum, A Treacherous Harvest
The Second Shinobi World War, in its grinding, insatiable hunger, consumed shinobi from all villages, their unique bloodlines and hard-won skills often extinguished with them on forgotten battlefields. Kenji had become an efficient harvester in such chaotic environments. But some treasures, some specific genetic legacies, were predominantly found within Konoha's own clans, rarely encountered as battlefield casualties from opposing forces. His gaze, ever analytical, had turned inwards.
His newly acquired Lightning Release, potent as it was, felt raw, untamed. He sought refinement, control, and a deeper understanding of how chakra could be manipulated with such volatile precision. He recalled from obscure texts and his own plot knowledge that certain Konoha clans, while not possessing the direct, overwhelming Lightning Release Kekkei Genkai of someone like Raikou, had hereditary traits that allowed for exceptionally fine chakra control, heightened neural processing speeds, or unique interactions with electrical currents within the body – all of which could synergize powerfully with his new element.
His target: the Yubiwa clan, a smaller but respected Konoha clan known for their intricate fuinjutsu and, more privately, for a rare recessive blood trait that granted a few of their members what was known as 'Denki Myaku' (Electric Pulse) – an ability to consciously control their body's bio-electrical signals with extreme precision, leading to incredibly fast reaction times, enhanced synaptic speed, and the ability to subtly disrupt an opponent's nervous system with a precisely charged touch. It wasn't flashy, but it was a fundamental enhancement of biological and chakra efficiency. A Jonin from this clan, one Akio Yubiwa, had recently fallen heroically on the Suna front, his body honorably returned to Konoha for interment.
This was an act of unprecedented audacity and risk. Stealing from Konoha's honored dead, from within the village mortuary, was a betrayal that, if discovered, meant certain death and eternal disgrace. But the potential gain – an ability that could allow him to master his Lightning Release faster, enhance his overall combat processing speed, and add another layer of subtle, debilitating offense – was too tempting for Kenji's insatiable hunger for power.
His planning was meticulous, spanning weeks. As a Jonin with a sterling (if quiet) reputation, he could access certain records under plausible pretexts – ostensibly researching historical battle tactics or casualty processing for a report. He learned the mortuary's layout, its guard rotations (mostly older Chunin or those unfit for frontline duty), its rudimentary sensory seals (designed more to deter grave robbers seeking valuables than a shinobi of his caliber), and the embalming and preservation techniques used, which thankfully involved minimal chakra-disrupting chemicals for honored dead awaiting clan burial.
He identified his window: the night before Akio Yubiwa's body was scheduled to be handed over to his clan. Security would be present, but perhaps less hyper-vigilant than during the initial processing. The war also meant the mortuary was unfortunately busy, a grim fact that could provide cover.
The night of the heist was moonless, a light drizzle falling – perfect. Kenji moved through Konoha like a whisper, his chakra suppressed to an almost non-existent level, his enhanced senses a living map of his surroundings. He bypassed the outer perimeter guards with ease, his wind manipulation subtly muffling his sounds, his earth affinity allowing him to sense their footsteps and breathing patterns through the very ground.
The mortuary itself was a cold, sterile place, reeking faintly of preservatives and sorrow. He disabled the basic alarm seals on a service entrance with a precise, minute application of his newly acquired Lightning Release – not a destructive blast, but a targeted electrical pulse that overloaded the seal's delicate chakra pathways without a sound or flash. He had practiced this on dummy seals for weeks.
Inside, he navigated the silent, refrigerated corridors, his 'mind's eye' peeling back the layers of security. He avoided a patrolling Chunin by melting into a darkened alcove, his body held unnaturally still, his breathing perfectly controlled. He reached the chamber where Akio Yubiwa's prepared body lay on a cold slab, respectfully shrouded.
There was no time for hesitation. He first created a perfect, chakra-infused earth clone of himself, programmed with a simple objective: if any unexpected patrol entered this specific chamber within the next ten minutes, it was to trigger a minor, contained diversionary fire jutsu in a distant, non-critical section of the mortuary (a waste disposal unit), then dissipate. A calculated risk, but one that could buy him precious seconds.
Then, he turned to Akio. He couldn't perform the full decomposition here; the lingering chakra and potential odor would be too risky. He needed to remove the body. Using a high-level body-sealing scroll he had "acquired" from a fallen enemy shinobi months ago, he carefully sealed Akio Yubiwa's corpse. The scroll was designed for transporting multiple weapons or supplies, easily accommodating a human body.
His exit was as flawless as his entry. He reactivated the seals on the service door, leaving no trace of his passage. The earth clone remained, a silent, temporary sentinel.
His destination was a deeply hidden, lead-lined cavern miles outside Konoha, a sanctuary he had painstakingly prepared over the years for his most sensitive work. The lead lining was crucial to prevent any leakage of chakra signatures during his decomposition process.
Within this sanctum, by the cold light of a chakra lamp, he unsealed Akio's body. The respect due to a fallen Konoha shinobi meant nothing to him; this was merely a vessel, a container of a coveted biological trait.
The decomposition was swift, meticulous. He focused on isolating the specific neural pathways, the unique cellular structures in the nervous system, and the subtle chakra network modulations that constituted the Denki Myaku. The extraction was delicate, like dissecting a whisper from a storm.
Integrating it was a strange, almost uncomfortable sensation. He felt his own nerves tingle, his synapses fire with a new, startling speed. Thoughts seemed to process faster, his perception of time itself subtly altering during moments of intense focus. It wasn't raw power like Lightning or Steel Release; it was a fundamental upgrade to his biological operating system, a sharpening of his mind and body to a razor's edge.
He meticulously obliterated all physical remains of Akio Yubiwa, down to the last particle of dust, which he then dispersed deep within the earth using his Doton abilities. The sealing scroll was burned to ash. No trace could remain.
He returned to Konoha before dawn, slipping back into his Jonin quarters as if he'd merely been out for a late-night training session. His earth clone, its task unneeded, had dissipated on schedule, leaving no sign.
The next day, Akio Yubiwa's body was reported "missing" from the mortuary before the clan could claim it. An investigation was launched. Theories abounded – a rogue shinobi with a grudge, a desperate enemy agent seeking to demoralize Konoha, even ghoulish grave robbers. The minor fire incident (from Kenji's contingency clone, which would have been reported as a small, quickly extinguished electrical fault if it had triggered) was deemed unrelated, a minor footnote in a busy night. No one suspected the truth. No one could.
Kenji, present at a Jonin briefing where the incident was discussed with grim faces, offered his condolences to a distraught Yubiwa clan representative, his expression carefully neutral. Internally, he felt a surge of cold triumph. He had walked into the heart of his own village's sanctity, taken what he desired from their honored dead, and vanished without a whisper.
This act, more than any battlefield harvest, solidified his understanding of his own nature. He was truly beyond Konoha's morality, beyond its loyalties. His only allegiance was to his own relentless pursuit of power. The Denki Myaku now thrummed within him, a silent testament to his audacity. His reaction times were faster, his thoughts clearer, his control over his own chakra, especially the volatile Lightning Release, already feeling more intuitive, more precise.
The risk had been immense, but the reward was a fundamental enhancement that would serve him in every future endeavor. He knew, however, that such an act could not be easily repeated. Konoha's internal security would be heightened. Clans would be more vigilant. But the door, once opened, could never truly be closed in his mind. The village itself, its living and its dead, was now part of his hunting ground.