Chapter 617: What Do Gods Rely On to Grant Power?
A massive swamp.
And no memory whatsoever of a mother.
That answer left Kenichi deep in thought.
He began to suspect that the being in front of him might represent an entirely unique form of life, perhaps something even stranger than he had initially imagined.
This so-called god was composed of countless single-celled organisms, yet it possessed no memory of anything resembling a parent.
That alone was extremely unusual.
It reminded Kenichi of the classic philosophical question.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Most living organisms had some form of origin linked to a parent.
Even single-celled organisms that reproduced by division could, in a loose sense, trace themselves back to the original cell from which they split.
That original organism could almost be considered a parent.
But the god before him remembered nothing like that.
It was composed of countless single-celled organisms, yet apparently had no knowledge of where those organisms had originally come from.
Kenichi found the situation increasingly absurd.
And increasingly fascinating.
"To be honest, this is the first time I've ever encountered something like this."
Amado continued examining the god with obvious curiosity.
"I've never seen such a strange organism before."
He glanced toward Kenichi.
"So what exactly is going on with it?"
"Do you have any theories?"
Kenichi shrugged.
Of course he had no idea.
This was unfamiliar territory even for him.
In fact, if Amado had not first discovered that the god's entire body was composed of countless single-celled organisms, Kenichi might not have noticed for quite some time.
Previously, while interacting casually with these gods, Kenichi had never sensed anything particularly strange about their physical bodies.
Now, however, another thought made him uncomfortable.
If the god's entire body was composed of microscopic organisms...
Then when Kenichi had touched it earlier, could some of those organisms have attached themselves to him?
His skin immediately began to feel unpleasantly itchy just from thinking about it.
Still, that thought raised another important question.
How exactly did these gods grant abilities to their followers?
Kenichi looked toward the god with renewed interest.
"Show me."
The god blinked.
"Show you what?"
"How you grant one of your abilities to someone else."
Kenichi smiled faintly.
"I want to see the entire process."
The god did not hesitate.
It nodded obediently.
"Of course."
Then it looked around.
"But there isn't anyone here for me to grant an ability to."
Its gaze shifted toward Amado.
"Should I use it on him?"
Kenichi immediately shook his head.
"No."
Amado might have been primarily a scientist, but Kenichi trusted him greatly.
There was no reason to expose such a valuable researcher to an unknown and potentially dangerous phenomenon.
So Kenichi arranged for another test subject.
Soon, someone was brought from Konoha's prison.
Although the Shinobi World was currently cooperating under Kenichi and Hagoromo's influence, that did not mean crime had vanished.
Even many of the conflicts between villages were now merely staged to prevent Isshiki from realizing that the entire world had quietly united against him.
But ordinary crimes still happened.
Theft.
Violence.
Murder.
People continued to be imprisoned for all kinds of offenses.
The man Kenichi brought over had already been sentenced to death.
Kenichi therefore felt little sympathy for using him as an experimental subject.
"This one will do."
Kenichi casually tossed the condemned prisoner in front of the god.
"Use your ability on him."
"I want to observe what happens."
Amado immediately began attaching instruments to the prisoner.
The equipment would monitor his physical condition before, during, and after the ability was bestowed.
Every measurable biological change would be recorded.
"All right."
The god slowly stood.
Then it extended one hand toward the prisoner.
Kenichi watched closely.
His curiosity was genuine.
At the same time, his Rinnegan was already active.
The analytical ability of his dojutsu focused directly on the god's body.
Kenichi wanted to determine whether these beings bestowed power through parasitism.
Perhaps some of the single-celled organisms separated from the god's body, entered the recipient, and altered them.
If that was the mechanism...
Then Kenichi would need to reconsider cooperating with these gods.
He knew very well how dangerous parasites could become.
In his original world, his own research into parasitic organisms had allowed him to rapidly dominate enormous portions of the Shinobi World.
Parasites could possess countless strange abilities.
Some could manipulate the body.
Others could alter behavior.
Still others could produce even stranger effects.
So if these gods granted power through a comparable parasitic mechanism, Kenichi would never allow them to casually distribute abilities among his allies.
At that point, their only value would be as living sources of energy for experimentation.
Kenichi watched carefully.
Then something strange happened.
As the god began granting its blessing, the countless single-celled organisms composing its body started waving their flagella.
Kenichi's Rinnegan captured every detail.
As those microscopic flagella moved, they seemed to release some kind of substance.
That substance dispersed outward.
Then it entered the condemned prisoner's body.
"My instruments detected something."
Amado stared at the readings in front of him.
"It resembles pheromones."
He glanced toward Kenichi.
"Did you see it?"
Kenichi nodded.
He had seen the strange particles clearly.
But he did not answer further.
His attention remained focused on the god.
After releasing the pheromone-like substance, the god's body visibly weakened.
The countless flagella stopped moving with the same strength as before.
Even the god itself seemed to wilt slightly.
A trace of exhaustion appeared on its face.
Kenichi immediately understood.
So bestowing power was not free.
The process consumed something.
The god paid a price each time it granted an ability.
Then Kenichi noticed another change.
The condemned prisoner suddenly became shorter.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
Kenichi silently stared at him.
Was that the ability?
Making someone shorter?
Compressing them into a more refined form?
The effect seemed ridiculously arbitrary.
Then again...
Considering the kinds of abilities these old gods possessed, Kenichi could hardly say he was surprised anymore.
The god was already weak.
Expecting some overwhelming divine blessing from it would have been unrealistic.
The actual ability mattered far less than the mechanism behind it.
Kenichi turned his attention back to the prisoner.
He carefully analyzed the man's body.
But no matter how closely he looked, he could not find anything immediately abnormal.
The pheromone-like substance had entered the man...
Then seemingly disappeared.
At least through ordinary observation, there was no obvious foreign substance remaining inside him.
"That's strange."
Amado frowned as he studied the instrument readings.
"This is the first time I've seen something like this."
He pointed toward one of the measurements.
"And the strangest part is that there are almost no abnormal readings."
"The only significant change was here."
"The temperature around his spinal cord suddenly increased by approximately two degrees."
"Then it immediately returned to normal."
Amado looked thoughtful.
"Could the change be centered around the spinal cord?"
Kenichi leaned closer.
He had used these instruments himself before, so interpreting the data was not difficult.
Amado was right.
The prisoner's body showed almost no obvious abnormalities.
The only notable event was the brief rise in temperature around the spine.
Two degrees.
Then it vanished.
No lasting fever.
No visible tissue damage.
Nothing else.
Kenichi stared at the prisoner.
"Let's open him up and take a look."
Amado nodded without hesitation.
The examination began immediately.
They exposed the relevant section of the prisoner's body and examined the spine directly.
Only then did Kenichi finally discover something unusual.
There were microscopic organisms attached to the spinal tissue.
Single-celled organisms.
They were wriggling.
Kenichi's eyes narrowed.
So some of the god's cells really had entered the prisoner after all.
Furthermore, the pheromone-like substance released earlier seemed to have integrated with the spinal tissue itself.
Kenichi could tell because the structure of the prisoner's spine was no longer identical to that of an ordinary human.
Something had changed.
And that immediately raised another question.
How exactly were these gods producing supernatural abilities through this process?
"Let's sequence his genes."
Kenichi looked toward Amado.
"Everything."
"I want to know whether those substances caused genetic changes after entering his body."
Kenichi was genuinely curious.
Did the pheromone-like material merely alter physiological function?
Or did it rewrite genetic information?
There was no reason to guess when they could test it directly.
Before obtaining complete results, Kenichi had no intention of making further plans involving the god.
He refused to take unnecessary risks.
The creature itself was weak.
Kenichi doubted it could threaten him directly.
But scientific research had taught him one principle very clearly.
The most dangerous words in an experiment were often:
"I thought it would be fine."
Countless researchers throughout history had paid for assumptions with blood and their lives.
So safety had to come first.
Kenichi was not in any particular hurry with this experiment.
They had time to investigate properly.
Amado agreed.
He took the condemned prisoner, whose spinal area had already been opened for examination, and began extracting samples for genetic sequencing.
As for whether the prisoner survived the process...
Amado showed little concern.
The man had already been awaiting execution.
From Amado's perspective, contributing to scientific research was a better use of his remaining life than simply dying inside a prison.
If his body provided information that allowed Kenichi to eventually save far more people, then in a certain sense, the condemned man had at least contributed something before his death.
Kenichi turned back toward the god.
"Do you still remember where that swamp was?"
"I want to see the place where you were born."
The origin of these gods interested him greatly.
Unfortunately, the god gave him a bitter expression.
"No."
It shook its head.
"Too much time has passed."
"The world has changed enormously since then."
"And after that period, I spent most of my existence in deep sleep."
Kenichi raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"To conserve my power."
The god lowered its head.
"If I remained awake for too long while no one believed in me, I would continue growing weaker."
"Eventually, I might fall asleep and never wake again."
"So I no longer remember where that swamp was."
Kenichi sighed.
That was unfortunate.
But understandable.
The landscape of the Shinobi World changed constantly.
Battles between sufficiently powerful shinobi could flatten mountains, split forests, divert rivers, and completely reshape the terrain.
A swamp disappearing sometime over centuries was hardly surprising.
Still...
Kenichi found it regrettable.
The birthplace of these gods might have contained extremely important information about their origins.
Perhaps the secret behind their existence was hidden there.
But Kenichi had no intention of dedicating too much time to finding it.
These gods were ultimately only an additional piece in his plan.
He had never expected them to become the main force against Isshiki.
If their abilities helped, excellent.
If not...
Kenichi would not particularly care.
The true battle still depended on himself and Hagoromo.
Kenichi eventually left the god behind and walked toward another section of the laboratory.
His gaze settled on something stored inside.
A weapon.
One that his Shadow Clone had completed after mobilizing an enormous amount of resources from across the Shinobi World.
Kenichi stared at it thoughtfully.
"Isshiki Otsutsuki..."
"I wonder if what I've prepared now is enough to defeat you."
Inside the laboratory rested the weapon his Shadow Clone had created.
An antimatter bomb.
....
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