Zander
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Chapter 51 – Summon
🕑 Added 2025-06-30 00:03:34 +0000 UTCChapter 51 – Summon
The low hum of chakra generators hajime built that eats chakra for energy, echoed gently beneath the stone ceiling of Hajime’s lab. Pale blue light cast faint shadows across workbenches stacked with scrolls, surgical tools, and nutrient chambers. In the center of the room, suspended within a reinforced semi stasis pod that preserves that are inside but time are not stopped, the completed Sinew Coils pulsed like cords of living light.
Each thread was a miracle of craftsmanship, hybrid tendons woven from cloned White Zetsu cells and chakra-infused metal, reinforced with psychic folding techniques. Stronger than flesh. Lighter than steel. Designed to bind muscle and bone together into a seamless unit of power and response. They shimmered with latent potential.
Hajime stood before them, arms folded, his gaze thoughtful.
His halberd rested nearby, blade propped against the wall. His cloak was folded neatly beside the workbench. The air was still, no hum of vents, no outside sounds. Just the silence of focus.
“I could implant them now,” he murmured, eyes narrowing slightly. “But without proper containment…”
The procedure wouldn’t kill him, not with his control of psychic force, not with chakra precision, but it would destabilize him. Without armor to contain involuntary muscle spasms, even the slightest miscalculation could tear his tendons or overload his nervous system.
“I need control,” he said simply.
Then, footsteps.
Not loud, quiet, quick, but unmistakable. Hajime didn’t even look up when the reinforced door opened, revealing two ANBU masked shinobi stepping inside. They paused at the threshold, bodies tense despite his calm expression.
“Hajime,” one said, voice clipped. “Orders from the Hokage.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Urgent?”
“Very.”
He gave a final glance to the chamber behind him, where the Sinew Coils floated in pale nutrient light. He inhaled once, calmly. Then turned and followed.
The journey through the tunnels and back alleys of Konoha was silent. The ANBU moved like shadows, but Hajime strode like stone, his presence undeniable even in silence. As they ascended into the Hokage Tower, the buzz of tension grew louder, runners dashing between floors, jōnin whispering in corners, messengers scrambling with scrolls.
When the doors to Tsunade’s office opened, it was already loud.
“He left the village?!”
Naruto’s voice rang out, raw with disbelief. He stood near the window, fists clenched, face pale with confusion and rage. Sakura sat on the couch, trembling slightly, fingers twisted into her sleeves. Her eyes were red.
“Yes,” Tsunade said bluntly, standing behind her desk. Her expression was hard, professional, but behind it, the worry was clear.
“Sasuke let himself be taken by Orochimaru’s men,” she continued. “The Sound Four infiltrated the village during the night. Left minimal traces, but the evidence is conclusive.”
Naruto’s head turned sharply. “Taken? Why?!”
“To gain power,” Tsunade said. “He wants strength. Orochimaru offered it.”
Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but then noticed Hajime entering the room, quiet and steady.
Even Tsunade’s eyes flicked to him with a breath of relief.
“You called?” Hajime said, folding his hands behind his back.
Tsunade nodded. “I’m assembling a retrieval team. Shikamaru will lead it. You’ll be joining them.”
Hajime tilted his head slightly. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the strongest person we have who isn’t a jōnin or on mission rotation,” she said. “And because this is delicate. Orochimaru’s involved. We can’t risk underestimating the Sound Four.”
Naruto stepped forward. “Then I’m coming too.”
“You are,” Tsunade said without hesitation.
Sakura looked up, suddenly desperate. “Please… bring Sasuke back.”
Hajime didn’t reply right away. He studied her quietly.
Tsunade met his gaze. “You can still refuse. I know you’ve been working on something.”
Hajime’s mind flickered back to the lab. To the coils, suspended in their glow. To the work he had started.
But he also remembered what Tsunade had told him: “You’re not just here to hide in your lab. You’re part of this now.”
He looked back at her, voice low but calm. “Postpone the integration. I’ll go.”
Tsunade nodded once. “Good. Prepare. You leave in an hour.”
Shizune entered just as the meeting ended, arms full of scrolls, whispering updates into Tsunade’s ear. Naruto grabbed Hajime by the sleeve, face tense.
“You’re really coming?”
“Yes.”
Naruto looked down, shoulders trembling faintly. “Thanks.”
They left the tower together, Naruto, stomping off to gather gear, Sakura trying to regain her composure, and Hajime walking calmly through the hallway, his mind already adjusting.
He would have to protect the others, most of them just teenagers.
He walked into the afternoon sun, the wind stirring his cloak.
The integration would have to wait.
For now… his blade would speak.
End of Chapter 51 – Summon
