Yu's Laboratory

In a clearing in the woods on the edge of the village, this was the usual spot for Yu, Sasuke, and Naruto.

The trees and ground around their old spot were covered in traces of battle, all left by Sasuke and Naruto.

The 103rd fight finally ended with a shuriken appearing on Naruto's neck.

At this point, Yu, the referee, stepped forward.

"The 103rd fight is over, the winner is Sasuke."

Yu raised Sasuke's hand as he spoke.

Naruto, however, sat down on the ground with a huff. He had been practicing shurikenjutsu diligently, but still found himself far behind Sasuke.

Ever since he had won against Sasuke in close combat last time, Sasuke no longer engaged in much close-quarters fighting with him. Instead, he had started using Naruto as a target to practice shurikenjutsu.

This left Naruto unable to defend himself.

"Sasuke, are you too scared to fight me fair and square without using shuriken?" Naruto challenged Sasuke.

But Sasuke merely shot Naruto a dismissive glance, not falling for it at all.

"Hmph! A dead last is always a dead last."

Sasuke added a taunt.

Naruto's physical condition was stronger than his own, and his recovery ability was monstrous. Even with the best medicine, he couldn't match Naruto's recovery speed. Therefore, engaging in close combat put him at a significant disadvantage. One fight would take him several days to recover, while Naruto would be full of energy the next day.

So Sasuke had learned to be smart. He generally avoided close combat with Naruto. All he wanted was to win; how he won was no longer important.

"Yu, tell me, is Sasuke a coward for not even daring to accept a challenge like this?" Naruto, unable to do anything but rage impotently at Sasuke's attitude, turned his attention to his good brother, Yu.

However, Yu could only shake his head helplessly at Naruto, indicating that he couldn't make Sasuke accept such a challenge either.

"Hmph!"

Sasuke snorted and curled his lips. How could his own brother "betray" him?

After the sun set, the three parted ways. Upon returning home, Yu, as usual, ate dinner with Sasuke first, and then went to the laboratory after they finished.

"Yu, how is your experiment progressing?" Sasuke asked a question he rarely brought up today.

"It's going alright. There have been some results."

Yu answered without much thought.

"Mm!"

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. He clearly had something else to say but was struggling with how to bring it up.

Even after dinner was finished, Sasuke still hadn't spoken.

However, Yu noticed this.

"Brother Sasuke, would you like to visit my laboratory?" Yu invited him. Sasuke was a trustworthy person, and some things could be shared with him.

This was what Sasuke wanted to say. He really wanted to know what Yu had been doing for the past two years. He never asked, and Yu never said, and the matter had reached this point.

However, being with Yu every day, Sasuke had recently felt a noticeable change in Yu, becoming much more confident, as if a great pressure had been lifted from his heart.

So Sasuke had been looking for an opportunity to understand what had happened to Yu, driven by his concern for him.

Although the laboratory had been built by outsiders, Yu had also made modifications over the past two years, as there were certain people and things he had to guard against.

"Brother Sasuke, you must follow my steps closely in a moment," Yu told him.

"Understood."

Sasuke replied.

Traps, while perhaps not very effective against ninja, were better than nothing.

Led by Yu himself, Sasuke easily entered the laboratory.

The large laboratory had changed drastically over the past two years. Every space had been utilized, and Yu had even expanded it.

"Moo... moo..."

As Yu and Sasuke stepped into the laboratory, they were blocked by a large creature.

Ar Two had grown larger over the past two years, with a body diameter of three meters. Its intelligence had also increased; Ar Two now possessed the intelligence of a normal ten-year-old child, truly a slime life form.

Over the past two years, he had cultivated over two hundred slimes, but only three had reached the level of Ar Two, possessing self-awareness.

"What is this?"

Seeing Ar Two, Sasuke asked Yu. This jelly-like creature completely surpassed Sasuke's understanding.

"Its name is [Ar Two], it's a slime, one of my summoned beasts," Yu explained to Sasuke.

"A slime? It looks so strange," Sasuke said, looking at the slime. Although he didn't know what a slime was, he understood what a summoned beast was. Sasuke even reached out and touched Ar Two's body; it felt smooth and pleasant.

"Brother Sasuke, you can look around freely. There's nothing dangerous here. Oh, and I also have a slime summoned beast called 'Red Cat,' but its personality is quite eccentric, and it loves to challenge other creatures. However, its attacks are weak and not dangerous," Yu told Sasuke.

"I'll go get something and be right back."

Hearing Yu's words, Sasuke nodded, then curiously began to explore the laboratory.

The laboratory was filled with glass products: glass tanks, glass bottles, and glass covers were everywhere. Inside these glass containers were slimes, each with a bizarre appearance and a variety of colors.

Several Slimes were also contained in glass tubes, emitting an extremely strong radiance that illuminated the laboratory.

This world was home to many wondrous creatures. For the past two years, Yu had been collecting tissue samples from various beings. These magical creatures made him realize that the world of the Hokage was far more than what was depicted in anime; this world held many mysterious places.

Yu had named the luminous Slime "[Sun Slime]," which was born from the fusion of a bloodline from a marine fish capable of emitting light.

In truth, wasn't this type of fish also possessing a unique Kekkei Genkai! It was just that ordinary fish couldn't condense Chakra.

However, Slimes could refine Chakra. Even if the cultivated Slimes lacked self-awareness, Yu could control them to refine Chakra. Although the output was very small, it was enough to stimulate and enhance his own abilities.

Just like these "[Sunlight Slimes]" in the glass tubes, a mere bit of Chakra caused their light-emitting ability to increase dozens of times. Although "[Sunlight Slimes]" only possessed the ability to glow, this had opened up a new world for Yu, and he was constantly growing.

Besides "[Sunlight Slimes]," the laboratory also housed dozens of other Slime varieties such as "[Lightning Slime]," "[Venom Slime]," "[Hairy Slime]," "[Floating Slime]," and so on.

Sasuke's eyes glazed over. He had never imagined Yu's laboratory would look like this.