Chapter 12: The Difficulty of Developing Ninjutsu
"Teacher, may I study this?"
Kenichi's eyes lit up at once. He had been looking for a path to create his own unique ninjutsu, and in his mind, a technique that forced cancer cells to grow explosively was a promising direction.
It had been disappointing not to find such a patient in Konoha's hospital, but he had never expected to run into one out here, in his teacher's lab.
Orochimaru smiled slightly at Kenichi's excitement. One of the reasons he valued this disciple was that, like himself, Kenichi had his own sharp insight into science.
"Of course."
Orochimaru pressed a switch. The glass tank slid open with a soft hiss, and an unpleasant smell spilled out into the lab.
"Teacher, which part of his body is affected?" Kenichi asked eagerly. Cancer cells usually hid deep inside the body. From the outside, the man did not look like a patient with skin cancer.
"His brain is the source of the problem. It is also affecting his eyes."
Orochimaru pointed at the man's Byakugan. Kenichi leaned closer and finally noticed it. Strange growths clung to the surface of the man's eyeballs. They had been hard to see before through the nutrient solution.
"Then, teacher, can I take a biopsy sample?"
Kenichi rubbed his hands together. This was a ready made set of cancer cells, right in front of him.
Orochimaru's expression grew a little odd. He smiled and moved aside, making a light gesture that clearly meant, "Do as you please."
Kenichi found it strange that his teacher seemed so relaxed about it, but he did not overthink it. He simply picked up a scalpel, disinfected it, and moved it carefully toward the surface of the man's eye, preparing to scrape a bit of the growth.
The instant the cold blade touched the eyeball, the man jerked violently and began to struggle. The sudden movement made Kenichi's hand pause.
He is still conscious?
"If he died, he would not be nearly as valuable," Orochimaru's eerie voice floated over from behind.
Kenichi fell silent for a moment.
Right. Who was his teacher? This was Orochimaru. In the early story he was nothing less than a full fledged villain. People said he mellowed a bit later, but in the beginning he was absolutely a bad guy.
"You are right, teacher."
Kenichi steadied his breathing, adjusted his grip, and calmly scraped a small portion of the growth from the man's eye.
Screams echoed in the lab, followed by blood and frantic, pain filled thrashing. The Hyuga's eyes were full of resentment, but Kenichi's face remained expressionless. His attention was fixed completely on the tiny piece of tissue now sitting in his petri dish.
Cancer cells die quickly once they lose the environment of the body. Their rule was absolute inside a living host, but outside, even common bacteria and viruses could overwhelm them.
The famous HeLa cells in his previous life were notoriously delicate and difficult to cultivate.
Kenichi ignored the Hyuga's hoarse cries and hurried to prepare a culture dish and microscope.
Orochimaru watched silently, then the corners of his mouth curved upward. As expected, his disciple really was very similar to him.
Kenichi, however, had no time to think about that. His entire focus was on the cells under the lens. He could not say with certainty that they were cancer cells, but everything he saw matched what he remembered.
He soon discovered another problem. When he wrapped these cells in chakra, their activity was greatly affected.
"Cancer cells are still just cells. They need nutrients to divide and grow," Kenichi muttered to himself. "I have lightning and fire nature chakra. Those two are not suitable at all."
Under his guidance, the cells steadily lost activity and died out. Kenichi frowned at the emptying field of view.
Then he suddenly froze.
In Naruto, there were more than just the five basic natures. There were Yin and Yang attributes as well. Hashirama definitely possessed powerful Yang chakra.
In fact, most shinobi possessed it. The difference was only in how much they had, and the Senju clan had always been known for vast amounts of Yang attribute chakra.
During his training, Kenichi had already sensed there was a chakra within him that felt different from normal. Since he had inherited the Sage Body of the First Hokage, his constitution should be very similar to a Senju.
"What are you researching now?"
Orochimaru had already placed the Hyuga back into the tank and was watching his disciple with interest.
"Teacher, these cells are all dead. Can I work directly on that Hyuga again?" Kenichi asked, rubbing his hands with excitement.
If he could inject a large amount of life force into the cancer cells inside a target's body, how far would those cells develop?
"Go ahead, as long as you do not kill him."
Orochimaru's tone was relaxed, and he looked thoroughly satisfied. His disciple fit his expectations perfectly.
Kenichi nodded immediately. This was an extremely rare and precious test subject. There was no way he would let him die before he got the answers he wanted.
He returned to the Hyuga lying in the tank. This time he did not reach for a scalpel. Instead, he pressed his hand lightly to the man's face and focused, adjusting his chakra over and over as if he were testing something.
From the outside, it looked like he was fumbling through a very crude attempt at medical ninjutsu.
Orochimaru was a veteran shinobi. It did not take him long to notice the details.
"You have learned the Mystical Palm Technique?"
He watched Kenichi's movements, sensing the faint chakra gathering around his hand, and looked at his disciple with open curiosity.
"Teacher, I have not learned it. I am just trying something," Kenichi replied with an embarrassed smile.
The Mystical Palm Technique was an A rank medical ninjutsu, and he had not actually studied it seriously.
Just now, he had been trying to use his Yang attribute chakra and guide it into the cancerous areas in the man's body to see how the cells would react. Unfortunately, his control was not enough to pull it off.
The difficulty of bathing isolated cells in chakra under a microscope and the difficulty of sending chakra into another person's body and targeting specific cells were completely different concepts.
One was like clearing a simple iron ranked challenge. The other was more like challenging the very top, the strongest king at the summit.
That gap made Kenichi realize that his idea was still too ambitious for his current level.
But the direction itself was correct.
If he could one day figure out how to do this, then he would truly have forged a unique ninjutsu that belonged only to him.
Unfortunately, for now, that was still out of reach.
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