January 21, Year 50 of the Konoha Calendar, 10:00 AM.
Influenced by the internal turmoil within the Hidden Mist Village, Hyuga Yu's team relocated to a new safe house with the assistance of the Kirisame.
Only Hyuga Yu made the transfer. For the future safety of his teammates, Yu utilized his re-established connection with Yakushi Nono to send Terai and the other two to a safe house arranged by the Root Intelligence Department.
The tasks ahead would involve Kage-level threats—extremely dangerous missions capable of subverting a nation's regime and the structure of a hidden village. Although Terai and his companions each possessed unique skills, they were still young and required more time to grow into "complete" shinobi.
After spending time with them, Yu felt that the three Root members still possessed a shred of conscience and significant potential. They could easily serve as his future right-hand men. He vaguely guessed that Danzo was arranging for them to become his personal "foundation."
Though Yu didn't quite understand why...
At the same time, on this day, the Hidden Mist coup organization, Kirisame, sent Yu some good news: the Yang Release Laboratory, built at a cost of nearly one hundred million, was finally complete.
Passing through the crowds of protesters filling the streets, Hyuga Yu, clad in a traveling cloak and bamboo hat, arrived at the designated meeting point—the back door of the Hidden Mist Hospital. There, he met Director Yajima, who had been waiting for some time.
This man was hulking and muscular, looking much like a gorilla, yet he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that gave him a refined air—a twisted temperament unique to an orthopedic surgeon.
Yu had already learned from Miko's intelligence that this man was an expert in the field of orthopedic cytology, currently specializing in bone marrow stem cell transplantation technology.
"You must be the gentleman from Root, Tennin, correct?"
Upon meeting, the fifty-year-old Director Yajima asked somewhat tentatively. He looked at Hyuga Yu with a strange expression, giving a dry laugh as he greeted him.
"You are indeed a man of talent. To have such medical ninjutsu attainment at such a young age... that article regarding 'Dynamic Observation of the Blood Release Cytoskeleton'... was that written by you?"
Hearing the slight skepticism in the man's tone, Yu knew he was doubting his age and ability.
Although Yu had used a disguise to make himself look more mature, a medical-nin who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen was usually still an assistant at the operating table. They were typically a long way off from mastering the Three Great Medical Ninjutsu, becoming a high-level official in the Medical Department, or starting their own research.
Yu ignored the doubt in the man's voice. Adopting the cold demeanor of a Root shinobi, he spared the man a chilling glance and, without a word, began walking toward the laboratory on his own.
"Mr. Tennin, the lab is this way! Please, follow me!"
Seeing this, Director Yajima hurriedly followed, attempting to close the distance while clumsily fishing for information.
"Haha, look at how nice the weather is. Why don't we head to the Director's office for a cup of tea first? What kind of tea do you like? Or perhaps a soft drink? Sake?"
"The Leaf sent you to guide our work this time; who might your teacher be? Perhaps we know each other?"
However, Yu ignored him entirely. Before arriving, he had already used his Byakugan to locate the laboratory. He even entered the password and opened the lab door right in front of the director before the man could even speak.
This seamless sequence of operations left Yajima dazed for a moment, making it feel as though he were the outsider.
Yajima wanted to converse further, but Yu could see that the man—being a medical-nin rather than an intelligence operative—was a complete amateur at gathering info. Moreover, Yu truly didn't have the time to waste on him.
Information exchange required efficiency. Rather than this "chicken talking to a duck" routine, it was better to let actions speak. After entering the lab, Yu immediately began assigning tasks:
"Director Yajima, do you know how to operate the equipment?"
"Ah... well..."
"Go check the Class II biosafety cabinet. Ensure sterile conditions for cell storage to prevent contamination."
"Adjust the equipment layout. Who taught you to place the CO2 cell incubator, centrifuge, and liquid nitrogen tanks so haphazardly? Also, prepare the specific fluorescent dyes. Mark the F-actin with phalloidin, and prepare DAPI and mitochondrial stains. As you know, time is tight. I need to start the cytoskeleton observation experiments immediately."
Yu looked at Director Yajima, whose brain seemed to have stalled under the flurry of instructions. Yu's brow furrowed slightly as he urged coldly:
"Don't just stand there! Move!"
"I hope you aren't telling me that the medical-nin of the Hidden Mist don't even know how to do this?"
Director Yajima was stunned for a moment. Yu's direction felt like a professional pianist playing a piece he could actually understand—every beat followed a rhythm he recognized. Simultaneously, this command—laced with a faint sense of disdain—seemed to snap him back twenty years to the days he spent laboring over experiments under an old professor.
Hiss... this brat... is he looking down on me, the strongest medical-nin in the Hidden Mist? Does he think a medical-nin from the Leaf can just despise us like this? Damn it, although our medical standards are indeed lagging... a little bit... it's not something a green kid like you can just criticize!
"Heh!"
A nameless fire rose in Yajima's heart.
He didn't bother making small talk outside of professional matters anymore. He strode into the lab and began calibrating various instruments with top-tier professional skill right in front of Yu!
Yu watched Yajima begin to work and nodded with satisfaction.
Then, as if returning home, Yu stepped into the lab, affectionately touching and adjusting the various devices as he began the preliminary work for his Yang Release cell research.
And so, Yu's Yang Release research officially got underway.
The level of medical ninjutsu in the Hidden Mist was considered inferior throughout the shinobi world.
Except for cutting-edge techniques and treatment plans in specific areas like blade wounds, trauma, and orthopedics, they were overall no match for Konoha.
Because of this, the only person who could keep up with Yu's research pace and understand what he was saying or doing was Director Yajima himself.
The other high-level members of the Medical Department assigned by Yajima to participate were all sent away by Yu after half a day to perform basic tasks—such as watering the money tree at the entrance, making coffee for him and Yajima, and most importantly, going to the Hidden Mist Elder Council to demand money and mobilize experimental resources.
Once the instruments were calibrated, Yu began the Yang Release experiments.
This experiment had two objectives:
Research the application of Yang Release in medical ninjutsu to strengthen his own medical skills so they could be applied in combat.
Complete a preliminary analysis of the nature of Yang Release. Analyze the mechanisms that produced effects such as extraordinary proliferation/regeneration, directional morphological reshaping, and dramatic increases in energy metabolism to find a way to complete the Nature Transformation of Yang Release.
As for the "Yang Release Serum" promised to the Hidden Mist Elders, it was merely a trivial byproduct of this process.
After Yu completed the observation of the Third Mizukage's "Blood Release" cytoskeleton with his Byakugan, he could practically hand-craft that serum in less than half a day. After all, the principles were already written in the formulas.
The experimental steps to achieve both goals were the same—in short, Yu needed to simulate, observe, and quantify the changes in cells under the influence of Yang Release at an in-vitro cellular level.
To this end, he needed a controlled experiment regarding the effects of Yang Release.
The most well-known manifestation of Yang Release in the shinobi world was the "Six Paths Yang Power" obtained by Naruto in the later stages, which healed a dying Might Guy after he opened the Eighth Gate with just a wave of a hand.
That was the ultimate application of Yang Release and the final goal of Yu's efforts.
Secondly, there were two other directions for using Yang Release. The first was physical self-healing and cell activity that far exceeded the norm.
Hashirama Senju's body, Tsunade's Creation Rebirth technique, the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan, and the rapid healing of Jinchuriki under the influence of Tailed Beast Chakra all fell into this category of Yang Release application.
Aside from Tsunade, who truly realized the application of Yang Release through medical ninjutsu, the others were "recessive talents" acting upon the body.
These "talents" were difficult to measure and even harder to utilize. Therefore, the correct direction was to follow Tsunade's lead and start with medical ninjutsu.
But then, a problem arose—
How did Tsunade generate Yang Release chakra and channel it into medical ninjutsu? What exactly did Yang Release chakra look like? How was it synthesized? How was it controlled? How could ordinary chakra be transformed into that state?
This was a paradoxical "chicken and egg" model.
Yu knew Tsunade relied on the application of Yang Release chakra to create an S-rank Kinjutsu like Creation Rebirth. However, he couldn't understand how the Yang Release chakra was produced during that process.
If he asked Tsunade herself, she likely wouldn't be able to answer.
According to the descriptions in the databooks, it was actually a "brute force creates miracles" model—the consumption of Creation Rebirth was exactly 17 times that of ordinary medical ninjutsu. Furthermore, the chakra utilization rate was less than 30%, with 70% of the energy wasted in ineffective regeneration.
According to Yu's deduction of the technique's theory:
In this process, Tsunade used a terrifying amount of chakra beyond the comprehension of ordinary shinobi to complete a transformation from quantity to quality. Under the flush of massive amounts of chakra, a portion of her chakra underwent the nature transformation into Yang Release, causing her body cells to temporarily evolve to a level close to the Hashirama cells of the First Hokage.
This theory also explained why Tailed Beast chakra could produce healing effects similar to high-level medical ninjutsu in Jinchuriki.
Because once the volume of chakra reached a certain level, miracles could happen!
In this regard, Yu was completely unqualified. After completing the fusion of the "Eighteen-hand Hashirama Cells," his chakra level had reached a Stamina 7. This was already an excellent level, but it was clearly impossible for him to "brute force a miracle" like Tsunade.
He didn't have the Strength of a Hundred Seal, and he certainly didn't have years to spend like Sakura hoarding chakra, only to end up with the "hellish joke" of saying, "I've finally caught up with them."
Yu wanted a faster, more efficient practical application of Yang Release!
His goal was to research the synthesis path of Yang Release chakra and become the first shinobi in the world to actually master Yang Release!
This led to the second application of Yang Release: [Yang Release Morphological Transformation].
The source of Yang Release in the shinobi world came from the Sage of the Six Paths' younger son, Asura, who inherited his father's Yang Power. Later, this power was inherited by Asura's descendants, the Senju and Uzumaki clans. Eventually, due to the passage of time and intermarriage, Yang-attribute chakra flowed into many clans. Most clans no longer possessed the overt effects of Yang Power (powerful vitality and self-healing), but many secret techniques regarding Yang Release were developed among these descendant clans.
The Akimichi Clan's Multi-Size Technique was a prime example.
This was undoubtedly an application of Yang Release morphological transformation.
As for the mysterious Third Mizukage of the Hidden Mist, the Blood Release he displayed was, in Yu's view, also a morphological transformation of Water Release under the influence of Yang Release.
Additionally, a clan descendant of Otsutsuki Hamura's lineage also had a suspected "Yang Release" legacy—
The Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya Clan.
Now that the sources were clear, it was time to return to the experiment.
Yu's original plan was to capture an Akimichi shinobi and extract their cells while they were using the Multi-Size Technique to study Yang Release morphological transformation. However, he clearly had no suitable Akimichi test subjects on hand, nor could he risk the taboo of performing human experiments on his own village's shinobi.
Fortunately, he was currently in the Hidden Mist.
"Yajima, have the materials I requested been delivered?"
At this moment, Yu had finished calibrating the equipment and stood before the confocal microscope. On the nearby workbench sat the instruments he would need: a flow cytometer, a microplate reader, a Western blot protein detection system, and a qRT-PCR machine...
Director Yajima frowned slightly, looking with some concern at the "materials" that had been delivered—corpses of fallen Kaguya Clan members transferred from the Corpse Processing Squad, "Blood Release" chakra samples retrieved from the assassination attempt on the night of the 17th, tissue samples from the Third Mizukage, and a large number of white mice...
Finally, he gritted his teeth, thinking it was all for the village's future, and replied to Yu:
"Everything is ready!"
"Very well, bring them over!" Yu stood before the workbench, a smile like an old farmer's appearing on his face.
Soon, the experimental material labeled "No. 1"—the Shikotsumyaku cells—was brought over. Yu quickly categorized them, injecting them into different observation specimens. He also took his own cells and the "Eighteen-hand Hashirama cells" from his abdomen, creating various sample combinations (aa, ab, ac, bc) and placing them into culture dishes.
He repeated the process using the physical Blood Release chakra and the cell samples from the Third Mizukage, combining them with his own cells and the Hashirama cells.
Next, he took individual samples of each and injected massive amounts of chakra into the tiny specimens within a unit of time to catalyze their Yang Release morphological transformation, placing them under various instruments.
He relied on the confocal microscope to observe the dynamic changes in the cytoskeleton, nucleus, and mitochondria under the stimulation of the transformation.
He used the flow cytometer to quickly quantify the cycle distribution of a large number of cells, the apoptosis rate, and the expression levels of specific proteins—analyzing whether Yang Release pushed the cell cycle toward the S and G2/M phases.
He used the microplate reader to monitor cell activity (CCK-8/MTT assay), ATP content, and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels. Finally, he used the qRT-PCR machine to detect changes in the expression of genes related to proliferation, differentiation, and energy metabolism at the mRNA level, monitoring whether Yang Release upregulated genes like c-Myc and PCNA...
Once the controlled experiment samples were prepared, Yu placed them into the culture equipment. During the waiting period, he continued constructing the twelve primary meridians for his training in Wind Release: Flowing Astral.
And so...
Time flew by. In the process of experimenting while training, two days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the 23rd, the results for the first batch of samples came out.
Unsurprisingly, the research on samples fused with Hashirama cells was declared a total failure. Aside from observing a significant increase in the proportion of S and G2/M phase cells and a growth curve slope far higher than normal cells, there was no discovery regarding Yang Release chakra.
However, the various samples injected with massive chakra—such as the Shikotsumyaku cells and the Third Mizukage's cells—showed obvious morphological transformations. The cytoskeleton migrated and filled in a manner that exceeded the norm.
During this transformation process, while using his Byakugan instead of the confocal microscope, Yu unexpectedly observed a "peculiar microscopic substance" released directly from the cell nucleus.
This proved that Yu's hypothesis was correct!
This peculiar microscopic substance appearing during the transformation was perhaps the "embryonic form" of Yang Release chakra!
Furthermore, the Third Mizukage's cells—when injected with Yu's own cyan chakra and Hashirama cells—showed massive amounts of necrosis during this process.
In contrast, the Shikotsumyaku cells, which Yu had high hopes for, showed three different manifestations when injected with cyan chakra, his own cells, and Hashirama cells.
The Shikotsumyaku cells cultured and fused with his own Hyuga Clan cells suffered massive necrosis.
The Shikotsumyaku cells injected with Hashirama cells displayed an "abnormal activity."
And the Shikotsumyaku cells injected with the cyan chakra... underwent a change that was entirely beyond Yu's expectations—
Under the perfusion of cyan chakra, the Shikotsumyaku cells began to proliferate wildly, eventually turning into a solid "bone fragment."
Yu recorded all these results and continued to push the controlled experiments forward, adding new variables.
The experiments proceeded in an orderly fashion.
On the 25th, with Yajima's assistance, Yu extracted the first sample of the microscopic substance that appeared during the Yang Release transformation.
After injecting this substance into a white mouse, the mouse's body size suddenly expanded several times, becoming the size of a cat.
Under microscopic sections, the actin fibers could be seen rapidly rearranging and polymerizing. The cell volume increased dramatically in a short time, yet the organelles (such as mitochondria and the nucleus) remained functional.
Then, the mouse died within seconds.
However, if a massive amount of chakra was provided to the mouse during this process, it could maintain this state for a full ten minutes. After the microscopic substance inside was exhausted, it returned to its original size and successfully survived.
At this stage of the experiment, Yu had achieved his first result—
He had mastered the principles of the Akimichi Clan's Multi-Size Technique.
Simultaneously, his other controlled experiment showed an unbelievable change. When Yu injected cyan chakra into the Shikotsumyaku cells that were cultivated with Hashirama cells (and thus possessed "abnormal activity") and had been injected with the "microscopic substance"...
His cyan chakra suddenly surged uncontrollably into the Shikotsumyaku cells.
Such a tiny piece of Shikotsumyaku-Yang-Hashirama tissue, invisible to the naked eye, drained nearly half of the chakra in Yu's body.
Then, it transformed into a grayish-black, extremely dangerous-looking microscopic bony substance... before collapsing into an atomic state.
After the grayish-black bone substance vanished, a tiny wisp of cyan chakra was quietly born in the air.
From it, Yu felt "destruction" and "rebirth," as well as a terrifying power that felt as though it had evolved to the ultimate form of life.
That was—
True, authentic Tenseigan Chakra!
For a moment, Hyuga Yu was stunned, and a little bit at a loss for words.
————
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