Chapter 165: The Weight of Time Bears on Thin Paper
Kenichi spent a few more days in his laboratory before receiving news that the second batch of experimental samples, sample number twenty three, had matured. He immediately harvested the rice, a rare thread of nervousness tightening in his chest as he weighed it.
A full year had passed since he started planting. Whether all his effort meant anything would be decided today.
Even Kenichi, who was usually calm to the point of coldness, found himself tense.
"Lord Amamiya, the statistics are in."
A girl with long black hair ran over, her eyes carrying two tomoe. She was Shiori.
Shiori's genetic information had already been verified. She truly was a lucky shinobi. The genetic programming had succeeded, and her genes had changed. In essence, she had become a female version of Obito.
Her genetic sequence was largely aligned with Obito's, and she also carried extra genetic information compared to other Uchiha. Kenichi still did not know what those extra genes actually did, but he intended to find out in time.
For the sake of further research, Kenichi had also kept Shiori by his side for now. He had pulled her out of the role of disposable test subject and reassigned her as a subordinate.
Shiori did not object. Even with two tomoe, she remained respectful and composed. She was smart.
Kenichi liked dealing with smart people. Conversations were cleaner, and there was less screaming, less begging, and significantly less mess on the floor.
"Let me see." Kenichi took the simple report and read it.
Two thin sheets of paper.
Yet they carried the weight of half a year.
In that instant, Kenichi finally understood the hardship behind those brief news segments about agricultural research, the kind people mentioned in passing for a few seconds, or the kind of graduation defense that looked effortless from the outside.
Behind it was years of grinding work.
He hoped those experts and students would have good luck.
He, at least, had been lucky.
The increase was one percent. About one percent higher yield.
But the sample Kenichi had previously focused on, the one that looked noticeably thicker, had a twenty percent yield increase compared to ordinary rice.
"From now on, we focus on cultivating that special sample and observing whether the yield increase holds long term," Kenichi said, satisfied. "At the same time, we will perform another round of targeted mutation on that sample and see if we can breed an even better seed."
At least he had a concrete result in hand now. Even if he brought it to Nagato, he had the confidence to stand by it.
This time, the planted samples were the same as before. Only sample number twenty three maintained the yield increase.
And now they had found an even better seed on top of that. The prospects were bright. The past year of cultivation had not been wasted, even if there were still problems.
The problem was control.
When performing targeted mutations on rice seeds, it was not easy to control the degree of variation. It was far too easy to miss the desired outcome entirely.
After assigning his shadow clones to carry out the plan, Kenichi decided it was time to leave.
He had stayed in the Land of Rice Fields for a long while. If he delayed any longer, he was genuinely concerned Nagato would come knocking in person, furious and demanding answers.
Then Kenichi glanced at Shiori at his side, and a familiar headache returned.
He could not take her along.
This was a mission, not a sightseeing trip.
So he decided to hand her over to Orochimaru for a while. His teacher understood her value better than anyone.
In fact, the moment Kenichi delivered Shiori to the lab, Orochimaru drew a vial of her blood and then kicked Kenichi out.
No one knew what experiments Orochimaru ran during that period.
Of course, based on Kenichi's understanding of his teacher, it had to be related to genes and gene programming. Kenichi's success had clearly stimulated Orochimaru, which meant the consumables in the lab were about to receive an unforgettable opportunity to restart life early.
When Kenichi brought Shiori into the laboratory, he found Orochimaru in a state that could only be described as research induced madness.
His hair was a mess. Draft papers covered in dense formulas were scattered across the desk and the floor. The trash bin overflowed. The room looked as if it had been attacked by a storm made of calculations.
Shiori followed behind Kenichi obediently. She looked mildly startled. The last time she had been here, it had been far cleaner.
"Teacher," Kenichi said, helpless, "is it really necessary to conduct experiments like this?"
He was not surprised. This was exactly the kind of thing Orochimaru did. As for why no one cleaned up, the answer was simple.
When Orochimaru entered this state, no one wanted to be the brave soul holding the broom.
Still cleaning?
Kenichi's gaze landed on blood stains on a broom, and a scale that had fallen to the ground. He could already imagine the fate of the unfortunate person who attempted to tidy up.
Fed to the snakes, most likely.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up!"
A furious roar exploded through the room. In the next second, a snake lunged forward with terrifying speed.
In Kenichi's eyes, it was slow.
He stepped aside, caught the snake by the head, and crushed it with brute force.
Then he put the snake away.
Snakes looked unpleasant, but in some places they were considered a delicacy. In the shinobi world, venomous snakes held low status, since most shinobi were not threatened by venom at all.
It only posed a real threat to ordinary people.
Kenichi did not intend to eat it himself. He had no interest in snake meat.
But it was large enough to improve the meals for the lab's supplies. One snake could become a solid bowl of snake soup.
"Don't be afraid," Kenichi said quietly to Shiori. "Teacher only acts like this when he is completely absorbed in research."
And he added another reassurance, half dry, half practical.
"Also, even if that idiot Manda shows up to bite me, Teacher will not bite you."
Given Shiori's value to Orochimaru, if an earthquake split the building in two, Shiori would be the first thing Orochimaru carried out.
She was the most valuable asset in the laboratory.
Kenichi bent down and picked up a sheet of paper from the floor.
It contained a list of names.
Thirty seven in total.
It seemed that during Kenichi's absence, thirty seven unlucky people had died in Orochimaru's experiments.
"No," Orochimaru snapped, turning around. His eyes were practically radiating killing intent.
Then his gaze landed on Shiori.
"Shiori."
The killing intent vanished.
Orochimaru instantly broke into laughter.
Kenichi's lips twitched.
So even a maniac's mood could flip in an instant.
"Teacher," Kenichi said quickly, "the leader assigned me a mission. I want Shiori to stay with you for a while."
That was the point of bringing her here. Otherwise, Kenichi would not have dragged her across the lab's minefield of half finished experiments.
"Fine. I understand." Orochimaru glared at him, then waved impatiently. "Go. Do not disturb me while I work."
Kenichi was not surprised. Orochimaru was always irritable during experiments. Today was mild by his standards.
If anything, Orochimaru's temperament had changed a little.
In the past, the glance alone would have felt like a blade. Now it was still sharp, but restrained.
"Shiori," Kenichi said, "you'll stay with Teacher for now."
Shiori nodded immediately.
"I understand. I won't run away, and I won't have improper thoughts," she said bluntly.
Kenichi liked that about her. She spoke directly, with no wasted air.
After settling Shiori's arrangement, Kenichi left the laboratory.
Now he had to head to the Land of Rivers, passing through the Land of Fire on the way.
As he moved, another thought surfaced.
He wondered how Sasori was doing, and whether there had been any progress in his research.
Hopefully it would not be too outrageous.
The last time Kenichi left, Sasori had been muttering about the Nine Tails chakra and how its energy was far too massive to consume.
Kenichi felt uneasy.
Would Sasori do something ridiculous with it?
No. Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Sasori was an honest boy.
He would not do anything outrageous.
With that thought, Kenichi quickly crossed the border into the Land of Fire. There were not many shinobi stationed at the border, and there were barely any patrols.
That was normal.
Border squads rotated regularly. Their missions were longer, and typically higher level. It was mandatory to have a jonin leading them, or at least a chunin.
Often, four such squads were assigned to guard a stretch of roughly one hundred kilometers, purely to ensure rapid response to emergencies.
Of course, in reality, reacting in time was difficult. Four squads guarding such a long border was never easy.
It only worked at all because the shinobi world had sensory types. Without them, far more manpower would be required.
"With this many shinobi, feeding them, supplying them, training them, all of it costs money," Kenichi muttered, shaking his head. "No wonder there were so many shinobi wars. If you do not burn through manpower, the finances cannot sustain it."
Peace in the shinobi world was a brutally complicated problem.
In his previous life, Kenichi had read comments claiming that Madara had to be written out because Naruto could not offer a better path to true peace.
But it was not just Naruto.
Even on Earth, peace was rare and precious. Small countries lacked the power to resist old rogues. If they struck oil and gained wealth, it only made them more visible, and more vulnerable.
The shinobi world was similar.
Kenichi believed the Five Kage power structure was built on the model of five major powers. Mutual confrontation kept them from wanting war to reach their own homelands, so smaller countries were allowed to exist.
But if war truly broke out, the voices of those smaller countries did not matter. The conflict would proceed anyway.
In that situation, peace was almost a fantasy.
Nagato's method was not very feasible.
And in comparison, even Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi had seemed more feasible at first glance.
Of course, everyone later learned the truth.
Infinite Tsukuyomi was a trap.
Those caught within it would be transformed into White Zetsu by the Divine Tree, turned into backup weapons for Kaguya Otsutsuki to use against the Otsutsuki clan.
Kenichi was genuinely curious what use those supposedly worthless White Zetsu were meant to serve. In terms of combat power, anyone at the level of Naruto, Sasuke, or the Kage could cut through tens of thousands of White Zetsu.
And then there were the Otsutsuki themselves, creatures that were absurdly overpowered.
Still, it was hard to say whether the true purpose of White Zetsu was fully in Kaguya's hands.
After all, Kaguya was also a woman who married and had two sons, only to be sealed by those sons later.
She was still capable of having children.
"So the Otsutsuki are a civilization capable of space travel," Kenichi thought, "but they still use the most ordinary method of reproduction?"
Their technological level had to be high. At minimum, they had mastered cultivating the Divine Tree and interstellar travel.
Yet there seemed to be a limitation. Their travel did not resemble instant wormhole leaps.
Otherwise, it would not make sense that it took so long for them to arrive after realizing Kaguya and the others might have encountered a problem.
"Peace," Kenichi murmured.
Nagato's obsession was tied to fulfilling Yahiko's wish. It would be difficult to steer Nagato onto Kenichi's path with rice alone.
Kenichi still needed a solution, even if it was only a proposal, a possibility that looked more realistic than the others.
And above all, there was still Black Zetsu.
A truly troublesome opponent.
"Even if Kotoamatsukami is called the strongest genjutsu," Kenichi said quietly, slowing down, "it is hard to say whether it would work on Black Zetsu."
In the end, dealing with Black Zetsu would likely require direct force.
That should not be too difficult.
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