Half beast
Sato and Hinata had just returned home, so even though Sato wanted to finish the experiment in one go, he held back and had lunch with his family first.
But his mind wasn't on lunch. There was a problem.
Two separate tailed beast had told him back to back that they felt his idea was unsafe. That was enough to make Sato cautious.
Sato spent the entire lunch thinking about the feasibility of his plan, and in the end, he decided to go for it with some helpers.
"Neji, Hinata, you two use your Byakugan and look closely at my chakra."
Sato was ordering Neji and Hinata while standing in his backyard. He was standing before Matatabi and was surrounded by people.
"Shisui, Itachi, you two use your Sharingan and do the same, but look more for any changes in chakra nature."
Sato explained to his other minions their individual jobs. He had two pairs of Byakugan and two pairs of Sharingan on the job.
Byakugan was for a deep check, and Sharingan was for slow-motion chakra changes. These four will record everything in the greatest detail. He was going all out with this one.
"Okay Matatabi, connect our chakra networks. We will start slow; I will only drink one sip of hero water."
Sato sat down and relaxed; Matatabi's massive body bent down and she put her paw on Sato's muscular back.
*Whooosh*
Sato felt Matatabi's chakra connect with his own; he was ready. Taking a deep breath, he nodded.
"Be careful."
Sato's dad Hi gave Sato the hero water and backed away to his wife, Shi. There was a large group of people watching this attempt.
Karui, Haku, the Third Raikage, the Fourth Raikage—almost everyone important was here. This was risky after all.
"Huff, here goes nothing."
*Gulp*
Sato opened the gourd-shaped bottle and took a big sip. The water flowed down his throat and went into his stomach.
*Wissssh*
Immediately, Sato felt the water fizzing inside his stomach; it felt like he had drunk boiling hot soda water.
"Sato Sama, the water is forcibly activating your body. I can see it clearly."
Neji reported and Hinata nodded in agreement. The third Raikage hummed; the hero water took lifespan and gave chakra, so this was how it did it.
It's a good thing that Sato connected himself with Matatabi; her immortality will help Sato avoid giving up his lifespan.
"Your chakra is increasing Sato kun. It's multiplying; it's almost 1.5 times your original now."
Hinata commented on her next observation, and Sato grunted in agreement. He was in slight pain; it was as if his body had hairline fractures everywhere.
*Growl*
A low growl came out of Matatabi's throat and she narrowed her eyes.
"Sato, your chakra is flowing back into me. There is something wrong; our chakras are starting to mix together."
Matatabi quickly told Sato what she was feeling; she knew this feeling, it was the same feeling she had with Yugito.
"Sato sama your chakras are really mixing; it reminds me of a jinchuriki and how their chakra mixes with their tailed beast's chakra."
Shisui agreed with Matatabi and told him his observation. Itachi frowned from the side.
"It's similar but different. Sato Sama is not a jinchuriki; he reminds me more of that kid Naruto. Naruto's chakra itself has the characteristics of nine tails in it."
"I asked Tsunade Sama about this once, and she told me Naruto has those whiskers for a reason; the boy was exposed to Nine Tail's chakra before his birth."
Itachi remembered his talk with Tsunade back in Konoha and continued.
"His mother was the nine-tail's jinchuriki, and that affected him. Naruto had those whiskers even before he became a jinchuriki himself."
"The tailed beast chakra had fundamentally merged with his body, changing his genetic makeup. When that guy Naruto has children, they will also inherit his whiskers."
Itachi told Sato what he thought about the situation, but Sato couldn't reply right now. It's because his teeth were hurting badly all of a sudden.
"Ugggh, my teeth."
Sato grabbed his mouth and held his aching jaw. His gums felt as if they were on fire. His incisors were hurting the most; it was as if someone was forcing them out of his gums.
"Should we stop?"
Sato's mom Shi asked with concern, but the third Raikage shook his head.
"No, this much pain is nothing, and the hero water is still working. Stopping now would mean Sato will have to sacrifice his lifespan."
"The two tails will not be able to help Sato with her immortality then. Let them continue."
The fourth Raikage agreed with his father and added to the thought.
"As long as their chakra isn't mixing like a jinchuriki's would, it is fine."
"You should know that a jinchuriki's chakra is deeply mixed, so much so that the host dies if their tailed beast is pulled out of them."
"Sato's chakra is only mixing superficially; the mixture is somewhere between a jinchuriki and the gold-silver brothers."
A's words made sense to Matatabi as well; she had seen all three of these people: a jinchuriki, the gold and silver brothers, and that kid, Naruto Uzumaki.
"Yes, A is right. Jinchuriki show no change in their bodies, whereas the gold and silver brothers had changed completely."
''You will only change partially like that Uzumaki kid. I can feel it; your teeth are becoming like mine; they will be much sharper now."
Matatabi said with some giddiness, she felt a kind of happiness thinking that Sato would be similar to her on a fundamental level.
It was like, all of a sudden, she found someone from her own species. Tailed beasts were one-of-a kind creatures; having another living being of her species was special to her.
"Seriously?! I will gain your characteristics. So that's it; that's why Fu never took back her wings."
"Those weren't Chomie's wings; they were her own. This must be why Hinata noticed eyes within Fu's eyes; Fu has insect-like eyes now."
'Darn, I should have noticed this earlier. Will I get whiskers like Naruto then? Matatabi has whiskers just like Kurama.'
Sato grumbled; he was upset that he didn't see this coming. He was now wondering how much of his body was going to change after everything was over.
Becoming a partial-tailed beast didn't seem all that bad; Matatabi had a lot of abilities specific to hunter cats too, and Sato was curious if he would inherit any of them.