Chapter 172: Preparations Before Flying
"Then let me ask you this," Kenichi said calmly. "How large an area can the current Zero Tails support?"
He was not surprised. This was within his expectations.
"I don't know," Koji Tadokoro admitted, shaking his head. "We'll have to test it."
Koji was responsible for the design and construction of Ancor, but the problem was that Ancor had been designed as a war fortress from the beginning.
When the Zero Tails was used as the power source, Ancor was already that size. Naturally, it had never been possible to run smaller scale tests.
Kenichi blinked. "Then how did you determine the Zero Tails could make Ancor fly?"
Good heavens. Did they just slap their foreheads and decide, I think it can?
Was that something you could guess?
"Ahem." Koji looked even more embarrassed. "We test it once a year. If it can fly, then it can fly."
Kenichi took a slow breath and rubbed his face.
There was actually a testing method like that.
Thank goodness these people were not building rockets. Otherwise, they would probably build a rocket just to see if it could fly, and if it flew, then it flew, without caring what the people sitting inside thought.
"Bring out the conversion devices you and Zero built before," Kenichi said, taking another deep breath and forcing his temper down. "You'll be my assistant later."
Science had to be rigorous. Everything had to be precise.
When Kenichi made thermobaric explosives, the ratios of raw materials were accurate down to the microgram. If even a tiny amount shifted, the power could change completely.
He had originally planned to let Koji lead the research on flight systems, but now it was obvious Koji still had a long road ahead before he could truly stand on his own.
If the teacher were here, he would have done better.
But the teacher was not interested in this direction. Lately, he had been busy researching Shiori's genetic information.
So there was no help coming.
"Okay," Koji said awkwardly, then turned and went back into the lab to gather the equipment.
While Koji worked, Kenichi handed the "cargo" he had been carrying to Shiori, then gave her instructions.
"Find a safe place to store him," Kenichi said, motioning to the bag. "Feed him thin porridge and small pieces of egg every day. Don't let him starve."
"Lord Amamiya…" Shiori stared at the bag of meat in her arms, her expression unusually shaken. "May I ask… how do I feed this?"
Kenichi fell into thought as well.
Hidan's body was in that condition. How was feeding even supposed to work?
If she put food into his mouth, she would have to chew it a few times for him, and even then the food would likely fall right out of the neck opening. If she used a feeding tube, Kenichi had no idea whether Hidan's body could properly maintain nutrition.
If an arm or another part started rotting, that would be a real problem.
"How about this," Kenichi said after a moment. "When it's time to feed him, stitch his head back onto his body. After he finishes eating, remove his head again, then stitch his hands and feet back together."
There was only one Hidan right now. That cult had not produced any other "Hidans," so Hidan remained valuable.
Kenichi did not know whether being separated from the body would affect limbs and cause necrosis, but he still wanted to avoid that possibility as much as he could.
"You demon!" Hidan exploded the moment he heard it. "I will never let you get away with this!"
He had tested it himself. His head could still move, but his body could not move at all. The thought of living like that going forward filled him with crushing despair.
"Can't take it already?" Kenichi sneered. "Then clean up the mess yourself."
To deal with a fanatic like Hidan, you had to crush his faith completely.
This kind of person would not fear death. In his mind, dying simply meant continuing to serve his so called god. Kenichi had even heard the high priest preaching that nonsense.
Believe in the true God, ascend to the Kingdom of God after death, endless fine food and wine, and ten thousand eternally pure beauties to serve you.
Kenichi almost laughed out loud. Whether in his previous life or in this world, con artists loved the same bait.
"You ￥#!@!" Hidan cursed viciously, but before he could continue, Kenichi shoved a rag into his mouth and gagged him.
Kenichi did not enjoy being insulted. That would be an odd hobby to develop.
"And if he gives you trouble," Kenichi added coldly, voice dripping with contempt, "tell him this. He wipes his own excrement with his hands and feet."
Hidan was foul mouthed and stubborn. The kind of stubborn that made him feel like a rock in a latrine, hard and unpleasant.
If Kenichi did not force him into complete despair, Hidan was not worth communicating with at all.
"Okay," Shiori said, nodding without hesitation.
Kenichi felt satisfied.
This Uchiha subordinate was reasonable. Straightforward, yes, but easy to communicate with, honest in her work, and not prone to drama.
If a more delicate, temperamental type had been asked to handle this, the lab would probably already be chaos.
As Shiori carried Hidan away, Kenichi's thoughts drifted to something else, to what he and Shisui had discussed before.
Counting the days, there was still time before Kenichi needed to go pick him up. He wondered how many people Shisui could gather.
"I hope there are more," Kenichi thought.
He had already mastered the process of going from one tomoe to two.
But the method to reach three tomoe was still a problem.
He needed to confirm whether only Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan could find that strange fleshy lump in the amygdala. He had even given that lump a name.
Writhing ring grains.
That thing was clearly tied to the Sharingan's evolution. Kenichi just did not know whether the three tomoe Sharingan and the Mangekyō Sharingan were also linked to it.
Either way, these experiments required huge amounts of consumables.
The Uchiha were an excellent source of consumables.
The people Shisui brought could not be moved casually, but Kenichi could still go back to Konoha and capture more Uchiha.
Or maybe he would not even need to lift a finger.
If Shisui defected, Danzō would probably act early.
But Itachi had not grown up yet, and he had not experienced Shisui's death. So who would carry out the massacre?
That question was genuinely interesting.
At that moment, Koji returned with a pile of equipment. There were many items, but fortunately, aside from Zero, most of it could be stored in sealing scrolls, which kept things manageable.
Kenichi looked at Zero. The creature was ingratiating the moment it saw him, clearly remembering him. It was not a mindless insect.
"Do you have supplies in the lab?" Kenichi asked.
"Yes, Lady Amamiya." Shiori answered quickly. She had not been idle while the teacher was gone. "Currently, there are three ordinary consumables, two genin consumables, one chunin consumable, and one jonin consumable in the laboratory dungeon."
"A jonin?" Kenichi was surprised.
Where had the teacher kidnapped a jonin from?
That was genuinely strange.
But Kenichi also understood how valuable jonin were, so he did not touch that one. Instead, he told Shiori to bring up one ordinary person and one genin.
Kenichi planned to test how long sustained flight could be maintained using only those two levels of chakra as the baseline.
Shiori moved quickly. Soon she returned with a burly man and a shinobi wearing a Konoha forehead protector.
Kenichi glanced at the Konoha shinobi. He did not recognize him, but the face felt vaguely familiar.
The Konoha shinobi recognized Kenichi immediately.
Kenichi raised an eyebrow. "That face, and the Nara style outfit?"
No wonder he looked familiar.
Kenichi had seen Nara shinobi before while following the teacher. This was basically how they dressed. It was said younger clan members admired the clan head, imitated him, and it became a trend.
The shinobi lowered his head.
The moment he was captured, he understood his fate would be grim.
Orochimaru was an S rank rogue ninja. His disciple, Kenichi, was also an S rank rogue ninja.
Why master and disciple betrayed Konoha was known across the shinobi world.
Human experimentation.
Countless deaths.
Everyone knew it.
So when he was taken, he knew exactly what awaited him.
Since the shinobi did not answer, Kenichi did not bother pressing further.
Even if the man was from the Nara clan, Kenichi had no connection to them. They were part of the lofty Ino Shika Chō circle, far removed from him.
After binding both test subjects, Kenichi had Koji direct Zero to extract the ordinary man's stamina first.
The extracted energy was converted successfully. It did support flight.
But the assembled conversion device floated less than a centimeter off the ground.
Kenichi glanced at the "consumable," who already looked like he was about to die.
"Looks like an ordinary person really is an ordinary person," Kenichi muttered.
He stopped the process immediately.
An ordinary person was useless. At best, a decoration.
"Try the genin," Kenichi said.
He checked the amount of chakra in the genin's body, then signaled Koji to continue the next test.
As the Zero Tails extracted energy, the Nara genin's face twisted in pain. At the same time, the energy conversion device rose one full meter into the air and maintained a relatively stable hover.
Kenichi began recording the exact chakra consumption.
He needed accurate data to calculate the Zero Tails current capacity.
<><><><><>
[Check Out My Patreon For +50 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]