You're too slow. The sun's almost setting. What were you doing?"
As soon as Shiraishi returned, Ruri frowned and asked.
"Sorry, the medicinal herbs I needed were quite rare. I had to search many stores before I found one that sold them. Here, this is the natto you wanted."
After apologizing, Shiraishi tossed the snack bag containing natto to Ruri.
Ruri took the snack bag with the natto, and her expression softened slightly.
"By the way, if there's nothing else, I'll head back to the lab. I still have a lot of things to do there."
Seeing Ruri still sitting there motionless, Shiraishi lifted his feet and left the room.
With Ayane's completely new body data collected, the subsequent work could only be handled by him alone.
Whether it was the Caged Bird or the perfect fusion of natural energy and ordinary chakra into Sage Chakra, he had to do it himself.
It had been almost a week since he annihilated that Sand Village unit within the Land of Fire and returned to Konoha. The next mission should be soon, no later than half a month before he would have to leave the village again.
After all, Konoha still had a difficult war to fight, and as one of Konoha's top elite Jonin, their Team 5's leader, Hatake Sakumo, naturally couldn't rest in the village for too long.
As for what the next mission would specifically entail, Shiraishi couldn't deduce any useful information from the existing intelligence, but it was certain that the mission difficulty would be at least A-rank.
Upon returning to the lab, Shiraishi opened one of the hidden doors. Inside was a thirty-square-meter room with an emergency toilet and shower. The five people used for human experiments usually lived there.
The lights inside were always on, so when Shiraishi opened the door, they clearly saw his face and involuntarily shivered.
Then, one person voluntarily walked out in order. Although their spirits had recovered a lot after such a long period of rest, the terrifying memories that flooded their minds made them realize what they would have to cooperate with Shiraishi to do next, and their faces turned a little pale.
Shiraishi nodded slightly in satisfaction. This was how it should be.
If they cooperated actively and didn't resist, he could naturally provide them with rich and delicious nutritious meals, which was much better than the wandering, blood-licking bandit life outside.
After that person walked out, Shiraishi looked at the remaining four and pulled out two not-very-thick books from his ninja pouch, throwing them in front of the four of them.
"Read more when you have nothing to do. Books are good things that help humanity progress."
The four prisoners inside looked at each other, not knowing what Shiraishi was up to.
Shiraishi didn't explain anything. Mainly, these guys seemed too bored normally, so he found two books for them to read. It could both pass the time and greatly help their mental recovery.
Shiraishi closed the hidden door. When he turned around, he found that the person who had just walked out was already lying on the operating table, in position, staring at the lights above with wide eyes.
If you can't resist, then just enjoy it.
Anyway, there's no need to worry about food or clothing here; it's indeed much better than the chaos outside.
"Lord Shiraishi, can you give me a little more anesthetic?"
Seeing Shiraishi walk over, he turned his head and whispered a question.
"..."
Shiraishi didn't know how to respond.
But he didn't act according to the test subject's wishes.
Too much anesthetic can cause circulatory failure in the human body, leading to cardiac arrest. The dosage and method of use need to be handled carefully.
"Don't worry, based on humanitarian human experimentation, I will be responsible for your physical health and life safety. Moreover, compared to last time, my experiment has made great progress, so it shouldn't be as painful."
Shiraishi still patiently explained.
Konoha had not issued any related guidelines for human experimentation, but Shiraishi had always followed the rules of his previous life.
Especially for unethical matters like human experimentation, it should not be applied casually in practice.
Shiraishi adhered to principles such as protecting the interests of the individuals involved, promoting medical development, and conforming to scientific settings.
When a person showed signs of mental breakdown, he would stop immediately and switch to another person.
And if Sage Mode was successful, it could also drive medical development, which was beyond doubt.
The experiment itself was also scientific, based on a complete theory and having accumulated enough animal cases, so the risk was very low.
He did not start with human subjects due to slow progress.
Except for violating the first principle of informed consent from the individual involved... However, in this era of war, Shiraishi felt he could act flexibly and didn't need to be so meticulous.
Shiraishi picked up a syringe filled with natural energy liquid and began to inject the test subject.
To avoid problems, when Shiraishi injected natural energy, he would neutralize it based on the test subject's physical fitness, including the maximum amount of chakra that could be drawn out from within their body, to create complete Sage Chakra within the test subject.
After forming Sage Chakra, he needed to observe the test subject's rejection reaction to the Sage Chakra, the maximum duration, and whether it would cause damage to various organs of the human body, all of which needed to be considered in detail.
When he first fused Sage Chakra using animals, Shiraishi already knew that the cultivation of Sage Mode was full of unknown dangers.
Precisely because it was unknown, he had to be cautious and not take too big a step at once.
The test subject was now connected all over with fine wires, and the terminals of the wires led to a very large computer, which could instantly reflect various body data of the test subject and record them precisely in the computer's database.
He left the test subject on the operating table like this, using the computer to record data at all times.
Shiraishi then began another experiment — cracking the Caged Bird.
The question of whether one would die after exhausting all chakra had been bothering Shiraishi.
However, this experiment could not be directly applied to humans and still had to start with animals.
Similar to humans, animals in nature also have chakra within them.
For this purpose, Shiraishi prepared fifty usable white mice for the 'chakra disappearance' experiment.
If this experiment could succeed, it would be of great help in cracking the Caged Bird.
Even if it couldn't perfectly solve the problem, it provided a reasonable approach.
An hour later, the test subject undergoing the neutralization experiment of natural energy and ordinary chakra into Sage Chakra had finished.
As for the results of the experiment, there was a slight improvement compared to the last time. At this rate, before he left Konoha, there was a high probability that he would figure out a Sage Mode system suitable for human cultivation.
He removed the wires from the test subject and sent him back to the room behind the hidden door.
However, before returning, this test subject took two books from the nearby bookshelf and secretly glanced at Shiraishi, to see his reaction.
Shiraishi merely turned a blind eye to this and said nothing.
The books on the bookshelf covered a wide range of topics, including history, geography, chemistry, and biology, but no important research materials were placed there.
Learning is a crucial process for enlightening humanity.
Shiraishi was naturally willing to support their enthusiasm for learning.
But they still needed to serve as test subjects when required, which was very important.
Shiraishi looked at the white mice on the operating table that had died directly from having their chakra drained and shook his head.
The experiment failed.
Although he tried his best to save the lives of these white mice, the effect was still minimal.
Seeing that it was almost time, Shiraishi was about to leave the lab when a sudden chill touched his throat, making all the hairs on his body stand on end.
A sharp kunai was held against Shiraishi's throat like this. With just a slight flick, it could make him disappear from this world.