Noah left the training cavern and headed to the adjoining room: the laboratory.
The lights came on automatically. A machine in one corner had stopped its usual humming, and a green light blinked on its front panel.
—It's finished —Noah whispered as he approached.
In the machine's output tray rested a small, elongated object. He picked it up carefully: it was a cylindrical device, similar to a futuristic syringe, with a transparent chamber in the center and an ultra-fine needle at the tip.
This machine was the new Gadget created from the Anymaker, which he decided to simply call the Genetic Recombiner.
The Genetic Recombiner's function was simple to describe but complex to execute: extract DNA from a sample, fragment it, and combine it with the user's DNA to create a serum that, when injected, would trigger selective genetic integration. In other words, it allowed him to implant new kekkei genkai into his body.
Noah had already prepared the necessary samples. In a small refrigerated container, he kept three DNA fragments. The first belonged to the Lava Release user who had nearly killed him over a year ago, Juro. As for the other two, one belonged to a Hyuga and the other to an Uchiha.
With the injector in hand, he sat down on a chair and rolled up his right sleeve. He pressed the device against his arm and, with a sigh, pressed the activation button.
The needle sank into his skin, and a transparent liquid traveled through the tiny tube and infiltrated his bloodstream.
Noah closed his eyes and waited.
The first few seconds were strange. A tingling sensation spread through his body, concentrating in his right eye. Then the tingling turned into a burning sensation. An uncomfortable heat, but bearable.
Minutes passed. The burning increased, and Noah felt something change deep within his eye socket. As if his own genes were rearranging themselves, accepting a new code.
Half an hour later, he opened his eyes.
He stood up and walked to a mirror hanging on the laboratory wall. What he saw made him smile.
His right eye, once emerald green, was now completely white. No pupil, no iris. A pure, milky white.
Byakugan.
—It works —he murmured, feeling the contour of his eye. He activated the dōjutsu, and the world around him expanded into a 360-degree vision. He could see the flow of chakra in his own body, the faint points of energy in the walls, even the small creatures hiding in the cracks of the rock.
Satisfied, he deactivated the Byakugan and grabbed a second syringe from the Genetic Recombiner. This time with Juro's DNA sample.
Noah took it and, without hesitating, applied it to his left arm.
The process was similar, but the sensation was different. This time the burning concentrated throughout his entire body, and with it, a surge of energy that seemed ready to overflow. Noah clenched his teeth and remained calm.
When the pain ceased, Noah felt his hands, noticing no difference.
—I suppose I'll have to train this Kekkei Genkai from scratch, but with this I've now integrated a basic nature and a variant nature into my genes.
After injecting the third and final serum and going through another round of pain, Noah returned to the mirror.
His left eye was now completely black. An absolute black pupil, like a bottomless well.
But when he concentrated, the black changed. A small pinwheel spun inside it, and the eye turned red with a single black mark.
One-tomoe Sharingan.
Noah blinked, and the eye returned to its original black. He activated and deactivated it several times, checking the transition. It worked perfectly.
—Incredible —he whispered, gazing at his reflection. One white eye, one black eye. The image was unsettling, but for him, it represented a giant step on his path.
However, he couldn't walk around the village with such striking eyes. He took a pair of contact lenses from a drawer, the same green color as his original eyes, and put them in carefully. Looking at himself again, he appeared as usual.
He disposed of the used injectors in a waste container and prepared to go upstairs.
—I need to go out and test the full extent of my new abilities in real combat.
He left the chamber and headed straight to Konoha's mission building.
The mission he selected was quite simple: intercept a shipment of military supplies that, according to Konoha intelligence, was being diverted to a border post controlled by mercenaries.
The presence of mercenaries guaranteed Noah the possibility of a battle in which he could test his new abilities.
He left Konoha at dawn, backpack on his shoulder, brow slightly furrowed. The road to the border was quiet, dotted with dense forests and small streams he crossed effortlessly. He had been traveling for nearly six hours when the landscape began to change: the trees became sparser, the terrain rockier, and the air took on a humid hint that announced the sea's proximity.
He was about to turn toward the ravine marked on the map when something brushed against the edge of his consciousness.
Noah stopped dead.
—Come out now —he said, without bothering to raise his voice—. The smell of dampness and salt you carry gives you away. You're from the Mist.
The silence lasted a second. Then two figures emerged from among the rocks.
The first was a middle-aged man, stocky, with a square jaw and dark hair tied in a sloppy ponytail. He wore the Hidden Mist Village forehead protector slightly tilted. His hands were wrapped in black bandages up to the knuckles.
Noah recognized him instantly.
Juro.
The same man who, nearly two years earlier, had ambushed Noah's team along with a companion. That battle had nearly cost both his life and that of his comrades.
The second was younger, tall and thin, with a katana sheathed on his back and the standard Kirigakure uniform. His face was unknown to Noah. A swordsman, judging by his posture and the way his fingers brushed against his weapon even at rest.
—A kid? —the swordsman let out a dry laugh—. Is this what Konoha sends us? A brat with a backpack?
—Don't underestimate him —Juro growled, and his voice had a hint of caution that surprised his companion—. That boy… I've fought him before. He uses Wood Style.
The swordsman raised an eyebrow, but his expression barely changed.
—Wood Style? The legendary Hashirama's wood style? Bah —he shook his head—. The Lava Release you use is its natural counter. Nothing to fear. Between the two of us, his Wood is worthless.
Juro opened his mouth to respond but held back. Something didn't fit. The last time he faced that boy, he had lost a supposed comrade. He didn't remember how, he didn't remember when, he didn't even remember who the hell that comrade was, but the void in his memory was as real as the sweat beginning to form on the back of his neck.
—Whatever —he said finally, and his hands came together in a seal—. Let's kill him and get on with our business.
Noah, who had remained motionless throughout the exchange, smiled.
It was not a warm smile.
—Perfect —he said, and in his eyes lit a light that hadn't been there a moment before—. I was just looking for someone to test a few new things on.