Chapter 584: The Phased Results of the Tenseigan
"Number One, how are you feeling?"
Kenichi held the experimental log in his hand as he examined Number One.
The transplanted Byakugan had remained securely in Number One's eye sockets for seven days.
During those seven days, Kenichi had also noticed a significant decrease in the frequency of his eye pain.
Previously, the pain would flare up several times a day.
Now, Number One's eyes only hurt roughly once per day.
"Very well, Teacher."
Number One answered calmly.
Then he extended one hand.
A green sphere of light gradually condensed above his palm.
Kenichi narrowed his eyes and immediately activated his analytical ability, examining the exact chakra composition of the sphere.
"Teacher, I can condense this now."
Number One looked at the green orb in his hand and hesitated slightly.
"I feel like it has the ability to control other people."
Kenichi glanced at the sphere.
It indeed possessed such an effect.
And how did Kenichi know that?
Naturally, because he had already seen the original Toneri produce something similar.
That Toneri had once tried to use the opportunity to escape, only for Kenichi to catch him red-handed.
If Hagoromo had not intervened, Kenichi would have turned the original Toneri into experimental material long ago.
That brat was far too foolish.
His mentality was also somewhat questionable.
He constantly carried himself with a strange sense of superiority and self-righteousness.
Whenever he looked at Kenichi, his gaze resembled the way Nagato had once looked at others.
The gaze of someone who considered himself a god looking down upon ordinary mortals.
It had nearly made Kenichi laugh.
So naturally, Kenichi had given him a small lesson.
"That sphere does possess the ability to control others."
Kenichi studied the orb in Number One's hand.
"But its effectiveness depends on the difference in strength between the user and the target."
The chakra structure within the green orb was fundamentally similar to the chakra currently circulating through Kenichi's own body.
However, there were still several subtle differences.
That immediately caught his interest.
Kenichi had long suspected that Kaguya's genetic traits had, to some extent, been divided between her two sons.
Hagoromo inherited one branch.
Hamura inherited another.
If Kenichi could successfully combine the genetic traits of both brothers, he might obtain a genetic structure closer to Kaguya herself.
Of course, Isshiki's genes would still be the most valuable.
But Kenichi also wanted to understand exactly how Kaguya's genes differed from the others.
There was another important question.
When Kaguya consumed the chakra fruit produced by the Divine Tree, had it altered her genetic structure?
Under ordinary circumstances, eating something would not significantly rewrite a person's genes.
If someone claimed that a woman gave birth to a dark-skinned child because she drank too much soy sauce during pregnancy, Kenichi would laugh.
No matter how much soy sauce someone consumed during pregnancy, it would not cause two East Asian parents to suddenly produce a child with entirely different ancestry.
If that happened, the problem was obviously not the soy sauce.
But this was the Shinobi World.
Normal biological rules did not always apply cleanly here.
A chakra fruit from the Divine Tree had transformed Kaguya into an overwhelmingly powerful existence that was nearly impossible to kill.
So it was entirely possible that consuming such a fruit altered her genes at a fundamental level.
That was another reason Kenichi wanted Kaguya's genetic material.
He wanted to analyze exactly how the Divine Tree fruit had acted on her body and transformed her into what she eventually became.
Had it rewritten her genes?
Had it inserted entirely new genetic information?
If Kenichi could understand that process, perhaps he could reverse-engineer the mechanism behind the Divine Tree fruit itself.
"Teacher."
Number One looked toward him.
"Has the experiment succeeded?"
Even when asking such an important question, his expression remained almost completely unchanged.
He still appeared detached.
Kenichi glanced at him.
Number One had been cloned from Toneri's genetic material.
Yet for some reason, his personality differed greatly from the original Toneri.
That had puzzled Kenichi somewhat.
Still, he did not dwell on it too deeply.
Innate traits were only one part of a person.
Upbringing and environment mattered enormously as well.
Someone who received an excellent education from childhood would naturally develop differently from someone raised in an environment filled with hatred and hostility.
In Number One's case, however, there also seemed to be some degree of emotional deficiency.
That was probably connected to his brain.
"I suppose you could say we've achieved a preliminary success."
Kenichi examined Number One carefully.
Seven days had passed.
The Byakugan had not yet completely transformed into the Tenseigan.
But Kenichi could clearly see that Number One's body was gradually changing.
His eyes were changing as well.
Kenichi suspected the relatively slow transformation might have something to do with education and inherited knowledge.
The original Toneri had been raised from childhood with knowledge related to the Tenseigan.
He had been taught how to cultivate it.
How to use it.
How to control the giant Tenseigan on the Moon.
Number One possessed none of that upbringing.
That enormous Tenseigan within the lunar secret realm had also already fallen into Kenichi's hands.
He certainly had no intention of allowing anyone else to covet it.
Still, Kenichi could not yet declare the experiment a complete success.
Seven days was far too short to determine whether an organ transplant was truly stable.
So he intended to let Number One continue adapting.
Only after Number One successfully awakened the Tenseigan and showed no serious abnormalities would Kenichi attempt to perform the same process on himself.
Once he successfully awakened the Tenseigan...
His confidence in facing Isshiki would rise considerably.
Thinking about that made Kenichi feel much more secure.
Time was not currently his greatest concern.
He knew where Isshiki was.
Isshiki, meanwhile, had no idea that his existence and abilities had already been exposed.
Kenichi remained in the shadows while the enemy stood in the light.
That gave him plenty of room to continue preparing.
Of course, if Kenichi wanted to use this period to completely unravel the mysteries of time itself, then it still would not be enough.
At present, he was advancing two major research projects simultaneously.
The first was the Tenseigan.
That project had now achieved preliminary results.
All Kenichi needed to do was continue observing whether the fusion remained stable and whether Number One could fully awaken the Tenseigan.
If everything succeeded, Kenichi could perform the same procedure on himself.
The second project involved time.
That research had produced almost no meaningful breakthrough.
Even Amado, whom Kenichi had granted extensive authority and permission to freely dismantle the second time machine, had failed to uncover its true secrets.
Cracking the principles behind the time machine remained unbelievably difficult.
"So, Teacher..."
Number One hesitated for a moment.
"Can I have a name?"
Kenichi looked at him in surprise.
For the first time since the experiments began, he saw a clear emotion in Number One's eyes.
Expectation.
That was new.
Kenichi had almost never seen genuine emotion from him before.
The change made him curious.
Still, he did not dwell on it.
Instead, Kenichi thought seriously about what name to give him.
Number One had been created using Toneri's genetic material.
In that case...
Why not simply name him after Toneri?
Kenichi quickly made his decision.
"Then from today onward, your name will be Toneri Otsutsuki."
Number One froze.
Kenichi had no issue giving him that name.
The original Toneri was still alive, but after Hagoromo's rather cordial family discussion, the young man had apparently undergone a complete change of heart.
He had abandoned his foolish plan and returned to the Moon to continue fulfilling the duty entrusted to Hamura's descendants.
Kenichi had learned all of this from Hagoromo.
He was not particularly worried that Hagoromo might be lying.
There was little reason for him to do so.
Besides, in the original movie, Toneri had eventually abandoned his plan as well after a series of confrontations and revelations.
He had finally understood the true meaning behind Hamura's mission and chosen to remain on the Moon.
So Kenichi was not surprised that this timeline's Toneri had ultimately reached the same conclusion.
Still, the situation made him wonder whether fate truly existed in this world.
Kenichi had already changed so much.
Yet somehow, the original Toneri had still ended up returning to the Moon.
Regardless, Kenichi knew that the original Toneri would probably not appear in the Shinobi World again for a very long time.
So giving Number One the same name created no immediate problem.
Besides, Number One was literally a clone of Toneri.
Kenichi was actually curious about whether the existence of a second Toneri would have any effect on future events.
More importantly, Kenichi wanted to observe whether awakening the Tenseigan could slow or eliminate the rapid aging caused by accelerated cloning.
If it could...
Then cloning technology would become an incredibly powerful weapon.
Dealing with Isshiki would no longer need to be so troublesome.
Kenichi could simply spend some time mass-producing accelerated clones.
Then he could help those clones awaken either the Tenseigan or Rinnegan.
After that...
Send them all against Isshiki at once.
A human-wave assault.
Under an overwhelming numerical advantage, Kenichi doubted Isshiki could handle an endless army of dojutsu users.
The clones would not even need exceptional combat skill.
Kenichi did not require them to fight like elite shinobi.
They only needed to function as platforms capable of repeatedly releasing powerful dojutsu.
Of course, before that plan became practical, Kenichi would need a reliable method of controlling them.
Otherwise, he might end up raising an army that eventually turned against him.
"Thank you, Teacher."
For the first time, Number One sounded genuinely excited.
"Then from now on, my name is Toneri Otsutsuki."
Kenichi glanced at him.
Interesting.
Apparently, the concept of possessing a name held unusual importance to him.
Kenichi became increasingly curious about what kind of person this clone might eventually become.
For now, Toneri was still merely an experimental subject.
But he was an exceptionally successful one.
If awakening the Tenseigan could solve the fatal problem of accelerated aging, then Toneri might genuinely have a future beyond the laboratory.
"For now, continue adapting to the transplanted eyes."
Kenichi looked at Toneri.
"You'll still need to undergo regular evaluations for a while."
"So you still can't leave the laboratory."
Toneri nodded immediately.
"I understand."
He clearly committed the instruction to memory.
Kenichi did not say anything else.
He waved his hand and left.
The Tenseigan project was still in its observation phase.
Only after the experiment was completely successful would it be time for Kenichi to undergo the procedure himself.
For now...
He wanted to check on his other major research project.
...
"Mr. Amado, how is the research progressing?"
Kenichi pushed open another laboratory door and walked inside.
Amado was currently studying the time machine.
The moment Kenichi saw the troubled expression on his face, he already understood.
Things were probably not going well.
Unfortunately, Kenichi did not have a solution either.
The technological level contained within the time machine was simply too far beyond the current Shinobi World.
Attempting to reverse-engineer its principles with their present scientific foundation was absurdly difficult.
It was almost like taking a group of primitive people and asking them to build an atomic bomb.
Simply handing them instructions would not solve the problem.
They needed to understand not only what each step required, but why it worked.
And building that entire foundation of knowledge was incredibly difficult.
Kenichi's time-machine research was currently trapped at exactly that stage.
"The results are terrible."
Amado sighed deeply.
"Frankly, working on this thing makes me feel illiterate."
"I know nothing."
"I understand almost nothing."
"And there's practically nothing I can do."
He rubbed his brow in frustration.
"I can roughly guess what several individual components are supposed to accomplish."
"But the moment I consider how they function together, I completely lose track of it."
Amado looked at the time machine with a deeply troubled expression.
"I still can't understand how this thing actually travels through time."
He had spent years studying advanced technology, chakra, biological modification, and ninjutsu.
Throughout all those years, Amado had encountered countless setbacks.
But nothing had ever made him feel as powerless as this machine.
The experience was deeply discouraging.
Kenichi smiled faintly and sat down beside him.
He understood exactly how Amado felt.
The time machine looked surprisingly ordinary from the outside.
But the principles hidden within it were terrifyingly advanced.
"It's normal."
Kenichi rubbed his temples.
"Something like this was never going to be easy to understand."
....
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