Somewhere within the Land of Earth.
Location: Secret Laboratory.
A man clad in a white laboratory cloak descended the stairs — one, two, three, four, five minutes — before finally reaching the designated floor.
— Time passed. —
Now, that same man was hunched over a microscope, intensely studying something, while two other men behind him hastily scribbled notes.
"Prepare the next test subject," came a frail, almost ghostly voice.
The two men, upon hearing the command, promptly bowed and rushed out of the room, climbing the stairs to another floor without wasting a second.
— Some more time passed. —
The head researcher was now carefully mixing substances, observing their reactions through the microscope with a sharp gaze.
— The two researchers returned. —
"The test subject is ready; he is waiting in the operation room," both researchers reported in unison.
"Good. You may leave now," said the head researcher without even sparing them a glance.
His mind was too absorbed with his experiments; the effects of the chemicals were, frankly, far from satisfying.
— Head Researcher's POV —
I have been working on various secret projects for different clients over the past twenty years. Some projects turned out to be impressive; others, utter failures. But today's work... today is on another level.
Arano and I... we've been acquainted for just over two years now. But that tale can wait.
Once, I was simply a wandering scientist, hired by whomever paid best — sometimes an assistant, sometimes the leader of a laboratory. With time, my skills flourished. One day, I was commissioned to create an extraordinarily lethal poison. I succeeded... but soon after, the poison was used to assassinate a powerful noble. Somehow, the authorities traced it back to me. A bounty of five million Ryo was placed on my head.
The bounty kept growing: six million, then thirteen million. And with every increase, more bounty hunters and ninja came for my head.
Eventually, the heat grew unbearable. I could no longer work freely. I had to disappear.
To survive, I sought refuge in a small, forgotten town deep within the Land of Earth. Life was peaceful there... until one day, a ninja bearing the Iwa forehead protector stormed into my hideout. At that moment, I thought death had finally caught up with me.
But fate had other plans.
Instead of ending my life, the young man spoke to me. He acknowledged my talents, praised my work... and then extended an offer: work for him on a secret project in exchange for the erasure of my bounty — and an unlimited budget.
The deal was irresistible. And thus began the true masterpiece of my life.
Two months ago, I developed a liquid that could hyper-accelerate human regeneration beyond natural limits, even enhancing chakra. However, each time the liquid was injected into a host, the immune system violently rejected it, causing massive cell death.
After countless sleepless nights, I finally isolated the problem. It was the immune system treating the liquid as an invader.
Now... I believe I have perfected the formula.
The final step: test it on a live subject.
— Head Researcher's POV End —
Inside a vast, sterile white room, Ogami lay bound to a metallic bed, his arms and legs shackled tightly by heavy chains.
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(You remember Ogami from Chapter 10, right?)
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It had been fifteen minutes since Ogami was left alone in the room. The two men who brought him in had long since departed.
The silence hung thick—until a door creaked open.
The head researcher entered, his footsteps echoing ominously. He moved to a table beside Ogami and began arranging his tools.
"Who are you?! Why did you kidnap me?!" Ogami shouted, struggling against his bonds.
"Hmmm..."
"What?!"
"Yes... this should be fine," the man muttered under his breath, ignoring Ogami's pleas.
"I said LET ME GO!" Ogami yelled.
"Hmm..."
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
"What is that thing you're holding?!"
"It's a simple syringe," the man said with an eerie calmness.
Without hesitation, he plunged the syringe labeled Liquid nr 356/B into Ogami's body.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Almost immediately, Ogami's body broke out into a cold sweat, and violent tremors racked his limbs. Minutes passed, and his heart rate began to dangerously drop.
Realizing the cobaye was on the verge of death, the researcher swiftly grabbed another syringe and injected it into Ogami's system. The contents of this second syringe were a concoction of his own forbidden design — better left undisclosed.
Miraculously, Ogami's heart rate stabilized. Though his body continued to tremble for a while longer, life had returned.
After a painstaking hour of observation, the head researcher confirmed it: the operation was a success.
Now... the final phase could begin.
— Two ninja entered and carried Ogami away to a cell. —
The head researcher exited the room, a rare wide grin splitting his face.
Finally... some good news, he mused.
"Inform the Tsuchikage that the project is progressing successfully. Deliver this report as well," he ordered coldly.
Having given his commands, he returned to his laboratory — eager to continue his sinister work on the enhanced liquid.
As for Ogami... a long, agonizing path of experimentation and trials awaited him.
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