At the southern border where the Land of Fire met the Land of Hot Water, a caravan moved slowly forward, appearing for all the world like a genuine merchant convoy.
Four flatbed carts were piled high with grain and medicine—the two most precious commodities in the current, war-torn Land of Hot Water.
The Root squad led by Hyuga Yu followed a desolate, muddy path, quickly crossing into the country. Before them lay vast stretches of abandoned farmland. Some fields were flooded by man-made marshes created by Water Release, while others were littered with shrapnel and the scorched craters of past explosions.
They passed a town that had once been prosperous; now, only shattered walls and ruins remained. Charred rafters stabbed toward the sky like the ribs of a corpse. The walls were riddled with holes from shuriken and kunai, peppered with the burn marks of Ninjutsu and paper bombs. The river cutting through the town was no longer clear, but choked with thick mud and a faint, lingering tint of blood.
Survivors of the Great Ninja War lurked within the ruins, peering out at the passing caravan. Most of them had dull, hollow eyes and gaunt faces, their clothes little more than rags. A few children, their eyes slightly brighter but their bellies swollen from malnutrition, stared longingly at Hyuga Yu, who sat atop one of the carts, tirelessly reading a scroll.
Of course, that "longing"—which looked so much like a plea for hope—could turn into murderous intent and greed in an instant, were it not for the Root members disguised as guards surrounding him.
Yu had anticipated this before they set out, which was why he had mobilized a group of Root operatives to avoid unnecessary trouble. He felt a measure of sympathy for the plight of these people, but he couldn't change their situation yet. Or rather, he was currently walking the path that would eventually bring peace to the shinobi world and change everything, even if that wasn't his primary goal.
At the same time, Yu had no intention of performing any "bleeding-heart" acts of charity by giving away his own resources. It was a waste of time and utterly inefficient.
Thus, sensing the "longing" gazes hidden in the ruins, Yu simply looked up, scanned the surroundings with an indifferent expression, and then lowered his head again to continue reading his scroll with relish.
It was the Akimichi clan's secret technique: the Multi-Size Technique.
The scroll detailed the Akimichi clan's research into Yang Release. The content wasn't exactly scientific, but it was very "ninja." According to the records, early Akimichi members had tried to explore the nature transformation of Yang Release. However, aside from the first clan founder and Akimichi Torifu—a student of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju—all other attempts had ended in failure.
Later, to preserve and develop the power inherent in their bloodline, the Akimichi shifted their focus to the shape transformation of Yang Release. Having discovered that the proliferation, differentiation, and repair capabilities of a shinobi's cells were limited, they began researching cellular deformation under the influence of Yang Release. Using secret medicines to stimulate the Yang attribute, they made cellular deformation possible. They used body fat as the foundational energy source for this change, serving as a substitute for the "vitality" that would otherwise be consumed during the process. Ultimately, through secret drugs and their inherited Yang attribute, they achieved shape transformation and a very small degree of nature transformation.
In short, the Akimichi secret technique was a method of altering the mechanism by which Yang Release converted vitality.
By understanding the principles of this fat-to-vitality conversion, Yu quickly constructed a mental model to reverse-engineer the original vitality conversion mechanism. He then began recording it in a "scientific" manner.
As his research reached this stage, Yu looked up at Shin, who was currently guarding the side of the cart. Shin was staring at a drawing inside an opened letter, giggling foolishly.
"Shin," Yu called out. "Make me a notebook. A thick one."
As the successor of the Root's Super Beast Imitating Drawing, Shin carried more ink, brushes, and paper than anyone else. With him around, Yu never had to worry about running out of writing materials in the field.
Shin blinked and looked up, quickly fishing a stack of drawing paper from his ninja tool pouch. He trimmed and bound them into a notebook and handed it to Yu along with a pen.
Yu immediately began scribbling in the notebook:
First, the key to Yang Release shape transformation: According to the Akimichi records and previous experimental results, the essence is a highly active group of stem cells. What triggers the transformation is a specific bio-energy field involving ATP from mitochondrial metabolism, cellular electrical signals, and perhaps even biophotons that are not yet fully understood.
On this basis, the 'switch' for the Akimichi transformation is a secret medicine called the 'Fat-Augmenting Pill.' With my top-tier pharmacological knowledge, I can derive the drug's principles from its effects and the formulas hinted at in the scroll. In shinobi terms: it stimulates the Yang attribute within the body to link with the cells. In scientific terms: it establishes a powerful intercellular communication system, coordinating and controlling other cells via exosomes and cytokine networks.
Based on this, Yu immediately mapped out the experimental steps in his mind:
Isolate mesenchymal stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells from various tissues.
Use CRISPR technology to edit genes related to mitochondrial biosynthesis, ATP synthesis efficiency, and cell junction proteins (such as Connexin) to create 'Super Connectivity Cells'—the 'Yang Release Cell Line.'
Verify the activity and energy metabolism levels of these cells and use them to initiate the Yang Release shape transformation process.
With his Byakugan—which was effectively a portable atomic force microscope—and his ability to manipulate cells at the atomic level, Yu could now manually "craft" the Akimichi clan's secret medicine in the form of Medical Ninjutsu!
Of course, without a laboratory, there would be issues with the construction and verification of these abilities. A more precise and efficient "Super Connectivity Cell" would definitely need a lab to perfect, but that didn't stop Yu from making a preliminary attempt.
The caravan continued to move. Before he knew it, Yu had filled every single inch of the 95-page notebook. When he finally looked up, the brilliant sun had begun to dip toward the horizon. In the distance, the mountain ranges swallowed the massive sun, their edges glowing with a radiant golden light.
Yu was about to ask Shin for more paper when suddenly—
Terai, who was guarding the front of the caravan, frowned. He looked back at Yu and said, "Tennin, something feels off."
"Hmm?" Yu blinked, his mind still buried in research. He hadn't even realized what time it was, so he hadn't noticed anything unusual. Still, he asked, "What is it?"
"Also, what time is it? Where are we?"
Yamato, who was driving the carriage for Yu, also felt a sense of unease. He replied, "We've almost reached the central region of the Land of Hot Water."
"It's about 6:00 PM. According to the route you set, we should encounter the medical ninja team coming from the Land of Grass to reinforce Konoha in about three or four hours."
Hearing this, Yu slowly looked up and scanned the area. Everything appeared normal. The road was still the same wretched path of the Land of Hot Water—overgrown with weeds, muddy, and full of potholes. After a full afternoon of travel, Yu's group was entering an area more heavily impacted by the war.
This place resembled the environment where a young Nagato once lived—completely unfit for human habitation. Food, medicine, and water were extremely difficult to obtain. Logically, the area should be deserted, as the residents should have fled to more peaceful regions.
However, with Yu's unique sensitivity to "gazes," he suddenly realized something. Compared to the small groups of refugees he had sensed earlier, the feeling of being "watched" hadn't decreased. In fact, it had intensified.
Yu immediately activated his Byakugan, taking a god's-eye view of the surrounding kilometers to monitor all chakra fluctuations!
And yet...
Nothing. There was nothing. Within a several-kilometer radius, aside from a few refugees hiding in the ruins, the only chakra fluctuations belonged to his Root squad.
Yu narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them.
Just as they were nearing the team containing Nohara Rin, this abnormality appeared...
Not only were there "too many" refugees, but the number of "hidden gazes" he sensed didn't match the number of refugees the Byakugan observed. He didn't believe in coincidences.
Terai asked with a grave expression, "Well? Did the Byakugan see anything? Should we keep moving, or... scout the situation first?"
Yu rubbed his chin for a moment. Though he knew something was wrong, he remained outwardly calm. "Nothing. Keep moving."
"Understood!" Terai nodded and continued leading the way.
Yu deactivated his Byakugan and asked Shin for another notebook. He sealed the first notebook—filled with 95 pages of formulas—into a storage scroll and went back to his Yang Release research.
However, Yu didn't immerse himself completely this time. He held his pen, idly doodling in the notebook while discarding his Byakugan's sensory input in favor of his own unique "visual" intuition. Simultaneously, he generated a Wind Release: Chakra Scalpel inside his body, rapidly putting it to work on the construction of the "Super Connectivity Cells" and the "Yang Release Cell Line" he had designed earlier that day.
At that moment, in total silence, a world-shaking change began to occur within Yu's body!
As the "switch" for the Yang Release transformation took shape, the Super Connectivity Cells were carved and molded by his internal scalpels. Countless cells spontaneously organized into a 3D snowflake-like structure, emitting a unique energy field. As this field—the Yang Release Cell Line—formed, the microscopic "vitality" Yu had once observed in the Kirigakure Yang Release lab began to precipitate within him.
This vitality spontaneously formed a stable, detectable energy field. At Yu's command, the field began consuming his "vitality" to reshape the cells throughout his body. His actin filaments rearranged and polymerized rapidly, and his cell volume began to undergo a drastic metamorphosis in a short span of time.
Then, as the Yang Release transformation occurred, the azure chakra surging within Yu began to change. It became brighter and more transparent. The azure chakra accumulating in his tenketsu points condensed into brilliant "stars," emitting a high-intensity fluorescent green glow, looking like polished jade stones.
According to Yu's previous theories, after his second confrontation with the Caged Bird, his chakra had adapted to his body, unlocking the basic abilities of the Tenseigan. Wind Release had unlocked "Gravity and Repulsion." The Yin attribute inherent in the Byakugan had already generated a faint mental control ability.
Now, with the completion of Yang Release, the three attributes of Wind, Yin, and Yang—in a ratio of 7:1:2—began to generate a destructive power within Yu that rivaled the sun!
As the cultivation reached this stage, Yu slowly opened his crystalline, pure white eyes. In the center of his pupils, a pale blue, snowflake-like hexagonal pattern quietly appeared.
The power generated in this state was tentatively named by Yu as—
[Yang Release: The Power of the Tenseigan]!
All of Yu's unease, tension, and fear of the unknown vanished. The dread of an elderly Uchiha Madara suddenly appearing to take his life or disrupt his plans simply evaporated.
At this moment, Yu realized something—he could finally step onto the stage of the shinobi world openly, competing with the top powerhouses of the era for their respective paths and glory!
Now, no matter who came, Yu had the strength to fight. He even believed that against an Uchiha Madara hooked up to life-support tubes, he could at least escape with his life!
Because, as Yu slowly raised his hand, a deep, silent, pitch-black sphere filled with destructive energy slowly manifested in his palm.
This, he thought, is the power of science.
At the same time, at the front of the caravan, an anomaly appeared. The caravan had arrived at an open ruin. From a cellar within the debris, a young girl about eight or nine years old, clutching a rabbit doll, suddenly ran out.
Looking pitiful, she scurried to the front of the caravan. Her stomach was swollen from chronic hunger, and her hair was yellowish and thin, but her small face was clean and her features delicate. Her dark eyes held a look of absolute determination. She ran straight to the front of the convoy and knelt before the cart where Hyuga Yu sat atop the cargo.
She lifted her clean little face, grit her teeth, and closed her eyes to hold back the tears. Kneeling before Yu, she cried out at the top of her lungs: "Shinobi-sama, I need some anti-inflammatory medicine!"
"My little brother has a fever!"
"He's... he's dying! I... I don't know what to do! But please, please save him! No matter the price—even if I have to sell my soul or my body—if it gets me the medicine, please save him!"
The girl shouted as she slammed her head hard against the ground. Thud! Thud! Thud!
Visibly, a pool of blood began to spread from beneath her forehead.
Yu slowly looked up. He turned his indifferent, faintly glowing blue eyes toward the girl. Like a deity sitting atop a mountain of life-saving resources, unbothered by human suffering, he looked down at the pathetic child.
In his eyes, there was no pity, no sympathy. He simply surveyed her calmly and exhaled slowly.
"Finally... is it starting?"
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