As a Grey Knight In Naruto

Chapter 63 – "The Hormone Engine"

A Month had passed since the implantation of the Sinew Coils, and Hajime's body had fully stabilized. The spasms were gone. His frame, the skeletal harness he had forged for himself, sat on the side of the lab. He no longer needed to rely on it every second. His strength was under control.

Now, he stood before the next stage of evolution.

The lights in his underground lab hummed quietly, powered by the chakra generator hidden behind the stone wall. The containment pod glowed in the center, filled with nutrient fluid and suspended life. Floating within it, still forming and stabilizing, was the organ known in the Imperium as the Magnificat.

A hormonal engine.

Hajime stared at it, arms crossed, body still, but his mind moving like a thunderstorm.

This was no ordinary enhancement. The Magnificat was the keystone, the conductor of the orchestra inside him. It regulated the others: balancing hormone levels, accelerating growth, improving regeneration, and coordinating the functions of every implanted organ.

Without it, the next stages of evolution would risk failure. Sinew Coils could tear muscle from bone. The Belisarian Furnace could overload the body's systems.

But with the Magnificat… all would move in harmony.

"It's like a second puberty," Hajime muttered, a rare smirk forming on his lips. "Taller, stronger, hungrier. Hopefully not moodier."

He had already begun crafting the organ days ago. It wasn't built like a weapon. It was a web of flesh, glands, and neural tissue.

He had started by cloning pituitary and adrenal gland tissue from his own body, growing them carefully within hormone-infused nutrient baths. Then came the fusion process, layering the cells with chakra-insulating fibers made from the same alloy used in his Sinew Coils. These fibers would prevent chakra or hormonal surges from overwhelming him during intense use.

Around it all, he wove a thin sheath of reinforced tissue to hold it steady. Psychic regulation glyphs were inscribed into the chamber that would hold the Magnificat within his brain, just above the brainstem. The most delicate place in the entire body.

He could implant most organs on his own, his psychic abilities allowed for perfect control, perfect precision. But not this time.

This was brain surgery.

And even he wasn't reckless enough to try that alone.

"No matter how powerful I am," he muttered, "cutting into my own head while conscious is a bad idea."

He turned his gaze toward the far surgical table. Clean. Prepared. Fitted with stabilizers, scalpels, and chakra-focusing lenses.

He would need a medic. Not just any medic.

He needed her.

His teacher. Tsunade.

The best medical ninja in the world.

She had taught him so much. Trusted him. Defended him against the elders. He hadn't asked for much in return… but this would be different.

This time, he would ask. Not because he couldn't do it alone. But because she was the only one worthy to help him become what came next.

He walked to the communication scroll near the table, inked a message in clean, formal strokes, and burned it with a whisper of chakra.

She would understand the urgency.

But before she arrived, he still had things to do.

He moved to the crates delivered just a few days earlier by ANBU. Carried in with no ceremony, no announcements. Sealed and marked under Tsunade's authorization.

Hajime unsealed the first scroll. Inside, glimmering in the dim light, were threads of meteor-iron alloy, harvested from the Land of Iron. Light, resilient, and forged from materials not of this earth.

The second crate revealed finely-ground chakra-reactive minerals, pulled from volcanic veins near Tanzaku Gai. Hard to refine, harder to obtain. But perfect for the suit he would eventually build.

It was expensive, absurdly so. But Hajime had made a fortune from his inventions.

His Healing Tags were now used by every genin team, every patrol squad. His Chakra-Soap was used in every hospital room and battlefield tent. Tsunade had honored their agreement: 30% of all profits went directly to him.

He didn't want the money for comfort.

He wanted it to build what no one else could.

To create something stronger than armor.

"I'll need every bit of this," he whispered, running a hand across the cool surface of the metal. "The muscles are strong. The nerves are fast. But they still need a shell to hold them."

He resealed the crates and stored them for later. The armor would come soon. But first, the Magnificat.

He looked once more at the floating organ.

With her help, it would be the final lock that aligned the rest of him.

The true harmony of power, speed, regeneration, and control.

He walked to the surgical bench, placed a hand on it, and exhaled slowly.

"I'll be ready," he said quietly. "Teacher… I'll leave the rest to you."

And then he sat. Waiting.

For Tsunade. For the surgery. For the future.

End of Chapter 63 – "The Hormone Engine"