Kusunami Coast, Abandoned Laboratory.
"You're finally here."
"Yeah."
"Are you ready?"
Hyuga Yu raised his head slightly, glancing at Tanuki Shigaraki. With dark circles under his eyes, bloodshot sclera, and a scruffy, unkempt beard, Tanuki looked every bit the mad scientist. Yu had the distinct feeling he had heard those exact words somewhere before.
Neither confirming nor denying his readiness, Yu simply asked calmly, "Is the equipment calibrated?"
"It's ready."
Tanuki paused, then added, "Now that you're here—can't your Byakugan see everything? Why do you need an optical microscope?"
Yu shook his head. "The Byakugan can't see this."
The upcoming procedure involved splicing the genetic molecules of two experimental subjects: the Zero-Tails and Hashirama Cells. This was surgery on an atomic level.
While the Byakugan possessed the ability to zoom in and out of a person's field of vision, its maximum magnification reached only the level of pressure points, meridians, and body tissues. Not long ago, the metabolic cycle Yu had constructed within a patient using his Wind Style: Chakra Scalpel was merely a crude version based on the movement of the body's 361 tenketsu and meridians.
For finer work—such as the manual reorganization of a DNA model—he had to rely on instruments.
"This way."
At this moment, Tanuki Shigaraki's state was erratic. His steps were floaty, and his entire being seemed to be in a trance-like state of exhaustion. Having clearly pulled too many all-nighters, he spoke as concisely as possible, keeping his instructions sharp and clear.
Soon, he led Hyuga Yu to an experimental bench deep within the abandoned laboratory.
This area was relatively new compared to the rest of the facility. It was equipped with a nucleic acid extractor, a PCR machine, electrophoresis apparatus, a UV transilluminator, a gene gun, a spectrophotometer, and various pipettes.
The equipment was fairly comprehensive—a mix of the old and the new. Some were remnants from Orochimaru's past experiments, while others were newly purchased by Tanuki Shigaraki out of his own pocket.
Stepping up to the workbench, Yu retrieved a test tube from a cell storage tank.
Inside was the Hashirama Cells.
Actually holding it in his hand, Yu couldn't help but feel a momentary daze. The "ultimate cheat" that countless people in fanfiction stories fought tooth and nail to obtain was now sitting so easily in his grasp?
It looked like a piece of writhing flesh. To the naked eye, it was visibly proliferating at a slow, steady rate.
Yu glanced at the temperature indicated on the storage tank, then back at the lump of meat in the tube that still appeared incredibly active. A flash of bewilderment crossed his eyes.
Sensing his confusion, Tanuki explained from the side:
"Don't be surprised. This is the power of the 'God of Shinobi.'"
"Even in an environment of -196°C, his somatic cells remain active. Their metabolism continues to function."
"I used liquid nitrogen to seal it, but even then, I can only slow down that metabolic rate as much as possible..."
Yu looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "You guys actually managed to conquer this stuff?"
Tanuki Shigaraki shrugged.
"We've gone through dozens of iterations, at least. We suppressed the metabolic rate to make transplantation a possibility, and then we moved on to animal and human trials."
"And the results?"
"Not a single survivor."
Yu's mouth twitched slightly.
Only after seeing the true form of the Hashirama Cells did he realize why so many "powerhouses" who had been transplanted with them in the later stages of the Shippuden era still fell short of Hashirama Senju's raw output.
It was because they hadn't been transplanted with the original, first-generation Hashirama Cells. They were using versions that had been iterated dozens of times—either like Yamato, or perhaps a version slightly closer to the First Hokage than Yamato was.
True Hashirama Cells were simply not something an ordinary person could survive transplanting.
The only outcome for a normal human merging with this substance was to swell up into a giant tumor and then... bang. They would explode.
Fortunately, Yu wasn't lusting after that power for the time being.
What he wanted was the ability of the Zero-Tails.
Yu turned to Tanuki and asked, "Where is the Zero-Tails?"
Tanuki stared at Yu, his voice turning cautious.
"The Zero-Tails was a chakra construct envisioned by the Second Hokage. All our materials are derived from samples left behind by him."
"Right now, Root only has three samples of Zero-Tails tissue left. Once we use one, it's gone."
"You must guarantee me that you are certain you can complete this surgery!"
Yu looked at him and said calmly, "No problem."
Tanuki stared into Yu's eyes, scrutinizing him for a long time. In reality, this was the only way he could apply pressure to the boy; beyond this, he had no other options.
Finally, he took a deep breath, pulled out a scroll labeled with the character 'Zero' (零), and handed it to Yu.
Yu took the scroll and summoned the sealed Zero-Tails samples—three chunks of flesh carved from a living Zero-Tails.
Unlike the Hashirama Cells, which were easy to cultivate and keep alive, the Zero-Tails was technically a Tailed Beast. Theoretically, Tailed Beasts are chakra-based lifeforms with a "fixed" total volume. Parts cut from their bodies are difficult to cultivate or replicate and can only be preserved through Sealing Jutsu.
Even a world-class scientist like Orochimaru, who had stolen a sample of the Eight-Tails, had only managed to cultivate a single Eight-Tails horn after all those years.
Having secured both samples, Hyuga Yu began his operation.
The process wasn't actually that complex; it was gene-splicing technology.
The principles were taught in textbooks in his previous life: connect a foreign DNA fragment to a vector DNA molecule to construct a recombinant DNA molecule, then introduce it into a host cell for replication and expression.
The process was like building with blocks—combining different genetic elements to create genetic material with new functions.
Many synthetic drugs in his past life were created this way. For example, by connecting the human insulin gene to an E. coli plasmid vector and introducing it into E. coli cells, the bacteria could express human insulin for treating diabetes.
Tanuki Shigaraki understood the theory, but he was limited by the technical requirements to execute it.
And while Yu might not have fully mastered every nuance of this scientific knowledge, he only needed to act as an "expert gardener" in this process, grafting the two genetic samples together.
At that moment, Yu activated his Byakugan. Under the optical microscope, he raised the tip of his left index finger and moved toward the Zero-Tails tissue sample.
Above the pad of his finger, a green Chakra Scalpel—countless times thinner than a strand of hair—quietly materialized.
With the aid of the microscope, Yu precisely thrust the scalpel into the Zero-Tails' cells, reaching deep into the double-helix structure of the DNA. As if plucking a harp string, he intercepted a specific "element" that Tanuki Shigaraki had noted as being responsible for "the conversion of mental energy into chakra."
Simultaneously, Yu's right hand performed the same maneuver, reaching into the Hashirama Cells to cut out an "element" Tanuki had labeled as "chakra absorption."
He separated both fragments simultaneously and then grafted the Zero-Tails' "genetic fragment" into the Hashirama Cell.
In the next instant, Yu's expression suddenly froze.
The lump of flesh made of Hashirama Cells suddenly leaped off the workbench and latched onto the tip of Yu's right index finger.
Then, the flesh morphed, sprouting a long, thin, tube-like "proboscis" that bit down hard on his finger!
Yu instinctively prepared to sever it with a Wind Style: Chakra Scalpel, but he quickly paused, his brow furrowing.
In that moment, through the connection of their chakra, he felt something unexpected—
A sense of yearning and filial devotion, like that of a newborn cub for its parent.
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