Chapter 419: Modes of Virus Transmission
Kenichi looked at the test tube in his hand. Inside was a mass of viscous plasma.
To be honest, at this stage, it could no longer be called blood. It was closer to plasma, with a consistency somewhat like blood curd soup. It had not quite reached that level, but it was close.
"It's normal for blood to clot after exposure to the outside air. That's how blood curd dishes are made. Even in real life, when a large amount of blood spills onto the ground, it can visibly coagulate."
Kenichi fell into deep thought as he looked at the plasma in his hand.
He had once witnessed a traffic accident in his previous life, where the victim's blood had pooled on the ground and visibly clotted.
But that had happened outside the body.
If such a thing happened inside the human body, inside the blood vessels, it would be extremely dangerous. In medicine, there was a term called embolism, and thrombosis was an even deadlier cause. If a thrombus traveled into the lungs and caused a pulmonary embolism, it could become a life-threatening event. At that point, the clot was no longer liquid, but closer to something like blood curd.
Even a small thrombus could be fatal. In his previous life, it was something that absolutely required treatment.
In the Ninja World, however, such cases were not very common. Ninja generally had excellent physical constitutions.
Since even a small thrombus could endanger a person's life, Hyūga Hanako's current situation was even more critical. Her entire body's blood was nearly clotting. It would likely accumulate in her heart and block normal circulation.
"Never mind. Let's test it first."
Kenichi picked up the test tube in his hand.
He placed another sample of Hanako's blood into a syringe. This was for the experiment afterward.
If the transmission was bloodborne, then the virus responsible for this disease might be hidden in the blood.
After that, Kenichi went to a regular ward on the third floor. He selected a ninja with the same blood type who had caught a cold, then injected Hanako's blood into his body.
Kenichi did not want to make a mistake by ignoring blood type compatibility and causing the subject to die from an unrelated cause. That would affect his observation of whether the test subject had become infected.
However, he remained skeptical about whether blood type compatibility was truly important for ninja.
After all, ninja had extremely strong physical constitutions.
After the blood was injected, the ninja, whose complexion had already been somewhat rosy, remained rosy.
Kenichi was in no hurry.
After all, the subject was in a private room, and his family had already fallen under Kenichi's genjutsu. They were now immersed in a beautiful illusion.
The man's face even had a slight flush. It was unclear what exactly he was seeing.
At present, Tsunade and Jiraiya had not returned, so Kenichi naturally did not need to worry about being held up here.
Moreover, with the Vanishing Facial Copy Technique, he was not worried about being discovered, unless he deliberately showed a flaw in front of Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Two hours passed.
Kenichi glanced at the instrument. The data was normal, and the ninja showed no obvious changes.
Kenichi frowned slightly.
Could he have been wrong?
Still, he decided to wait a little longer.
There was no clear research data on Nanovirus, and the incubation period from infection to onset was unknown.
However, for Kenichi, if it took too long, he could simply abandon the subject.
Even if the subject developed the illness later, it would not have much to do with him. What he needed was a virus with rapid onset and a high mortality rate.
As for transmission rate, that would have to be solved through other means.
Other diseases also had various problems. Most of them shared one issue: the period from onset to death was too long.
Uchiha Itachi was an example. After contracting his incurable illness, he had survived for a long time before finally dying. That did not meet Kenichi's requirements.
Three and a half hours later, Kenichi, who had been reading, keenly noticed a change in the body monitor beside him.
The ninja's heart rate had accelerated, and his overall condition had become abnormal.
His face began turning pale, and his breathing grew faster and faster.
When Kenichi touched him, he realized the ninja was running a fever. His temperature might continue to rise.
That delighted Kenichi.
These symptoms were highly consistent with the early signs of the Nanovirus.
Kenichi touched the mask he had already put on and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Although he knew this virus was not airborne, and if his guess was correct, it should be transmitted through blood, possibly even bodily fluids, it was always better to be cautious.
Strictly speaking, this level of protection still had problems.
In proper virus research facilities, the protection worn by experimental personnel was extremely comprehensive. They would enter in hazmat suits and undergo multiple rounds of disinfection.
Unfortunately, the technological level of the Ninja World was rather strange. They had computers, but no protective suits.
There was no helping it. Kenichi could only handle things this way.
Protective suits seemed simple, but they were actually quite difficult to make.
One challenge was isolation. Viruses and bacteria were tiny, and ordinary clothing might not block them. The hardest part was the respiratory filtration system, which prevented pathogens from entering through the mouth and nose.
The Ninja World did not possess such capabilities yet.
[At four hours and four minutes, the target's body temperature climbed to forty degrees Celsius, gradually approaching Hyūga Hanako's temperature. At the same time, the instrument began to sound an alarm. According to Shizune's readings, the subject showed signs of organ failure.]
[At the sixth hour, blood viscosity increased. At this stage, if the wrist were cut, only a single drop of blood would slowly ooze out. The subject's condition has worsened significantly, with repeated arrhythmia and related symptoms.]
Kenichi glanced at the ninja in front of him.
He was a genin.
Could the Nanovirus's virulence be determined by the host's strength?
No.
That was not it.
It should be that the host's inherent strength determined their resistance. The stronger they were, the purer their chakra tended to be. Their physical benefits were greater, and naturally, so was their resistance to disease.
[At six hours and forty-five minutes, the genin's heart stopped. Resuscitation succeeded.]
[At seven hours and twenty minutes, the patient's blood was nearly solid in viscosity, completely unable to circulate normally. The experimental subject's body showed severe damage.]
Kenichi looked at the genin before him.
The man was barely breathing, already close to death.
This was normal. His body had already suffered severe damage.
Large amounts of blood had clotted inside his body, and even lividity had appeared. This was all because the blood could no longer circulate normally and had turned into something like blood curd.
At this point, the body monitor's alarm had long since been blaring throughout the ward.
Under Kenichi's gaze, the man's breathing stopped. His eyes shriveled, and he died silently on the sickbed.
"Interesting."
Kenichi licked his lips.
He glanced at the family member nearby. She was also a genin and seemed to be the dead ninja's wife.
However, she showed no abnormalities. This proved that the disease was indeed not airborne.
Otherwise, this woman should already be dead, rather than still alive like this.
[Final time of death: seven hours and fifty-three minutes after injection of infected blood. Mortality rate is extremely high. Conventional rescue methods are ineffective.]
Kenichi continued writing.
Earlier, he had ordered Shizune to organize a rescue attempt, but Shizune had used every method available and still failed to do anything for the subject.
[Medical ninjutsu such as the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique are ineffective. Not airborne. Requires…]
Kenichi took out a test tube and extracted some bodily fluid from the deceased ninja, then had Shizune apply it to a specific area.
Next, he cut open the subject's abdomen and instructed Shizune to isolate the area using medical gloves. Then he had her collect a fresh fecal sample.
After that, he controlled another genin from outside, had him lie on the bed beside the corpse, and fed it into his mouth.
"A bit disgusting."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
It had to be said that medical research was not an easy field.
These dangerous pathogens and viruses were extremely perilous and pervasive. Some forms of research inevitably involved dealing with excrement and other bodily waste.
Many people felt embarrassed when going to the hospital, especially for things like hemorrhoid surgery or urine and stool tests. They found such matters difficult to speak about. Some could not even accept handling their own samples.
But for doctors, these were materials they needed to collect for examination.
Nurses could even suction phlegm without batting an eye.
Of course, that did not mean they never felt disgusted or uncomfortable. It was simply their sacred sense of mission as medical professionals that allowed them to suppress that discomfort.
Because of this, Kenichi held a sufficient amount of respect for doctors and nurses.
Of course, the premise was that they were qualified medical personnel, not unscrupulous ones looking to grow rich by extorting red envelopes.
"Conventional disease transmission usually follows a few routes. Airborne transmission has already been proven ineffective. This disease does not have the ability to spread through the air. So next, I need to verify bodily fluid transmission and fecal-oral transmission."
Kenichi stroked his chin.
Disease transmission usually occurred through only a few major routes.
Among them, airborne transmission was the most virulent. It was pervasive, difficult to guard against, and hard to prevent.
Fecal-oral transmission often appeared in areas with poor hygiene.
Bodily fluid transmission was even more specific. Blood could transmit certain diseases, and fluids from other areas could also transmit them, so those also needed to be tested.
If a virus possessed all three transmission routes, its infectivity would be terrifying.
In his previous life, the infamous Black Death, which had nearly turned Europe into a wasteland and spurred theological thought, was a disease capable of spreading through multiple routes.
Kenichi observed patiently.
Experiments were never something that could be completed quickly. He had enough patience to slowly observe whether these two unfortunate individuals would become infected.
Before that, however, Kenichi first took some tissue samples from the ninja who had died of the disease.
He needed them for research, to determine where exactly the Nanovirus was hiding.
Only then could he find the virus's true form.
"Where is the laboratory?" Kenichi asked casually.
Shizune, still controlled by the Mangekyo genjutsu, honestly told him.
Immediately afterward, Kenichi created several Shadow Clones.
One stayed in the ward to observe. Another took the pathological tissue to the laboratory to see if the research equipment there could detect anything.
If it could not be found here, he would have to take the samples back to the Land of Snow.
Kenichi intended to make the Land of Snow his scientific research base. That place had a sparse population, and its cold temperatures were conducive to certain experiments.
The Land of Water was also good, but the problem was that it still faced the risk of war.
Kenichi was not sure how the other four Ninja Villages planned to deal with him.
As for Kenichi's main body, he had his own matters to handle.
—--
"How are things now?"
Tsunade rubbed her temples, her voice exhausted.
She was very tired.
A large number of injured needed her treatment, and she had not hesitated to treat them.
For this, she had even borrowed the power of the Slug Sage. Only with that could she treat the injured ninja from all four Villages.
However, even the Slug Sage showed considerable caution toward the injuries these ninja had sustained.
Especially in the case of certain ninja. Their bodies contained a strange energy, or perhaps something else, that continued to affect them, causing severe physical damage that worsened over time.
Tsunade could only do her best to alleviate their conditions.
Even while physically and mentally exhausted, Tsunade gritted her teeth and finished treating them.
"Kumogakure has relented, and Sunagakure hasn't said anything for now, but it's obvious they're in a terrible mood."
Jiraiya looked at the exhausted Tsunade. A trace of distress flashed through his eyes, and he silently poured her a cup of hot tea.
"Kumogakure's casualties weren't too severe. With my treatment, most of them have largely recovered, so that was expected. But Sunagakure probably still holds considerable resentment."
Tsunade snorted.
Looking at the three Ninja Villages, Konoha had suffered the most severe damage.
The Third Hokage was dead, and most of their ninja were seriously injured. On top of that, the reanimated corpse of the Third Hokage had caused chaos and killed several more ninja.
For the sake of the bigger picture, she had still treated the people from the other Ninja Villages.
Yet even so, those people still refused to fully back down.
That was unacceptable.
"The main issue is Iwagakure. Kitsuchi hasn't received the intelligence yet. Once he does, I think…"
Jiraiya rubbed his temples.
Iwagakure had been attacked by Konoha, and the attackers were even Uchiha.
This was practically nailing the blame directly onto them.
They could not simply ignore it.
"In any case, Konoha didn't do it. If they don't accept that, then they don't accept it."
Tsunade waved her hand helplessly.
She did not have any better ideas.
However, Tsunade believed Ōnoki was not a fool. He should not fall for such a simple frame-up.
To be old and not die was to become a thief.
Ōnoki, that old geezer, had lived for so long and seen countless schemes and tricks. He should not believe such a straightforward frame-up.
Jiraiya nodded.
He also felt the frame-up was far too obvious.
Anyone with eyes could see through it.
.....
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