The matter of war has nothing to do with Hakushi for now. Although its imminent arrival makes him somewhat uneasy, even if he really has to go to the battlefield, that will be two years from now.
Optimistically speaking, perhaps by then, the war will already be over, right?
Besides, war has its advantages. Because of it, Konoha Village is somewhat short on manpower, and the Hokage's direct Anbu are surely busier than ever every day. Who would pay attention to a transparent nobody like him from the Ninja School?
The attention of the Hokage and other higher-ups has all been drawn away by the Hidden Sand Ninjas.
—— Uchiha Clan Land, Ruri's family underground laboratory.
It's spacious, about a hundred square meters, and fully equipped with electrical devices, making the lab as bright as daylight.
The center is left open for movement, with electronic monitoring equipment and an operating table placed as well.
Floor-to-ceiling transparent cylinders filled with green solution contain body parts extracted from animals, catalyzed by unknown degrees and methods, transforming them into gruesomely bizarre forms.
Hakushi was holding a glass test tube in his hand, inside which is an incredibly dense, pale green liquid energy. This is the physical form of natural energy Hakushi extracted from the earth and air.
"How's it going? Any progress?"
Ruri, coming down from above, asked about the research progress on natural energy.
In order to help Hakushi conduct his research smoothly, Ruri always tried to procure equipment and materials by whatever means necessary.
The manpower and funds spent here are incomparable to their previous small-scale endeavors.
"No, although natural energy lasts a little longer than before, the time it remains materialized is still too short."
Hakushi sighed, putting down the test tube. The pale green liquid energy inside began to dilute without warning, the color fading more and more until it became blank—nothing left inside anymore.
The natural energy had completely volatilized of its own accord.
If one does not fuse natural energy with other substances while it is still in its materialized state, this is what happens.
Of course, it's not entirely unusable; you just have to use it before the natural energy volatilizes.
But the efficiency of sustained use decreases slightly.
After all, the process of receiving, refining, and solidifying natural energy is extremely tedious and requires supplemental metals with exceptionally high chakra conductivity.
So extracting natural energy is not only tedious but also very expensive.
"Besides, the most important problem isn't that."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, all these animal parts—when natural energy is infused into chakra to form Sage Art Chakra, and then absorbed, the result is these bizarre mutated forms."
Hakushi walked up to a floor-to-ceiling glass cylinder and tapped on it with his finger, producing a crisp sound. The creature inside did not react at all, as if it were dead.
"So what does that prove?"
"In other words, using Sage Art Chakra comes with a tremendously terrifying risk."
Hakushi's eyes became deep and unfathomable, colored with something mysterious.
He walked unhurriedly to the bookshelf, picked up a scroll, unfurled it across the desk, and pointed to a line of text.
"Ryuchi Cave, Mount Myoboku, Shikkotsu Forest—they're known as the Three Great Sacred Lands, right? It says here you can train in Immortal Techniques at these places, but the Sage Arts passed down from the Three Sacred Lands seem to be different from our human processing systems. After learning them, you develop matching biological traits."
At this point, Hakushi couldn't help but sigh:
"The Uchiha Clan's collection is truly extensive. Although I haven't discovered the exact training methods, these materials have given me a lot of inspiration. In other words, the Sage Arts from the Three Great Sacred Lands are likely unsuitable for humans. To find the right Sage Art System for humanity among various paths... The workload is beyond imagination."
Hakushi has conclusive proof that the Sage Art Systems from the Three Great Sacred Lands are not compatible with the human body.
Because the biological structure of frogs, snakes, and Katsuyu is completely different from humans' life structure.
Sage Arts suited for frogs, snakes, and Katsuyu are likely to cause a collision in human processing systems. In that case, the human mortality and failure rates in training Sage Arts from the Three Sacred Lands would skyrocket.
Hakushi looks at the mutated creatures in the glass cylinders, changed by receiving Sage Art Chakra. This is the best evidence.
For example, if a mouse is used as a source to refine Sage Art Chakra, then that Sage Art Chakra is transferred to a snake's limbs, the snake's body will display mouse-like features.
Similarly, use a snake as the source for Sage Art Chakra and transfer it to a mouse—the mouse will exhibit snake-like traits.
The mutated creatures in those cylinders are a result of this.
This is also why Hakushi judges that the Three Great Sacred Lands' Sage Art Systems are not usable for humans.
Human physiological structure is far more complex and diverse than frogs. If something goes wrong, the consequences are unthinkable.
Without absolute certainty, Hakushi won't try it himself.
So for now, Hakushi can only experiment with animals' bodies first, waiting until the risk is minimized before trying it on a human body.
But this kind of inhumane practice is something Hakushi finds repulsive.
However, if one wants to control Sage Art Chakra without risk, human experimentation is unavoidable.
Life is not something that should be treated so cheaply.
Saying so is perhaps a little hypocritical.
Still, reality has always developed step by step like this.
The more advanced medical science and life sciences become, the harder it is to avoid human experimentation.
They're all based on countless sacrifices and deaths of predecessors, providing invaluable experience.
Fortunately, Sage Art research has only just taken its first step. Human experimentation, if needed, is still many years away.
Besides, even if Sage Art Chakra can't be used, natural energy has extremely versatile applications.
The life force contained in natural energy is immense, with high medical value.
So, slowing down Sage Art Chakra research is the wisest choice for him at the moment.
Now, what he needs to do is maximize the exploitation of natural energy for strengthening himself.
"Ruri, can you help me find some medicinal herbs? I want to refine a new drug based on natural energy to enhance physical capabilities."
"What about the experiment with Sage Art Chakra?"
"I still need to collect more Sage Art materials to ensure the next step is foolproof. Otherwise, experimenting with Sage Art Chakra fusion is far too dangerous—a single mistake could be fatal. Unfortunately, we don't have much information on Sage Arts from the Three Great Sacred Lands, so we'll have to proceed slowly."
Hakushi isn't eager to use Sage Art Chakra. Being able to apply natural energy is already an unexpected delight.
"Is that so? Okay, write down the names of the herbs you need. Make a list for me. I'll have the Ninja Cats buy and collect them as soon as possible."
Ruri has her own private channels that can bypass everyone's gaze in Konoha, acquiring all kinds of materials from outside, so purchasing medicinal herbs is not really that difficult.
And to protect the secrecy of the laboratory, Ruri has placed a large number of activated Explosive Tags around. If an intruder enters, Ruri will sense it and immediately trigger a jutsu to detonate all Explosive Tags inside, blowing up both the intruder and the laboratory, destroying everything within.
"Thanks for your help. If war becomes inevitable, we need to start preparing right now. I have a feeling—this war is going to be exceptionally brutal."