Cultivation Tank for Anything

[Ding! Task 4 complete. Congratulations, you received: Cultivation Tank for Anything.]

[Ding! You have mastered Basic Biology. Reinforcing knowledge...]

March, Year 53 of Konoha. After a period of diligent study, Gu Qi had once again used the power of money to master a new subject.

"Come to think of it, shouldn't I get into genetic engineering?" At the system's notification, Gu Qi murmured to himself, rubbing his chin.

Like the furnace before it, the Cultivation Tank for Anything was a miniature model.

The tank resembled the devices used in many movies and TV dramas to grow and manufacture artificial humans and monsters.

It was cylindrical. Aside from the lid and base, which were made of some unknown metal, the rest was glass.

The lid and base also had numerous ports for attaching various instruments and devices.

As before, he placed it by channeling chakra into it. The only difference was that he could adjust the tank's size by changing the amount of chakra he used.

At the same time, the System Mall updated with some supporting equipment and materials to go with the tank.

These included the Gene Atlas, the Culture Medium Preparation Formula, a Sterile Room, Biological Cell Material, a DNA Adjuster, and other ordinary and high-tech items.

Of course, the more high-tech the item, the more its price made Gu Qi's heart ache.

For example, the Gene Atlas cost a whopping 100,000 Ryo.

There was no helping it. Gritting his teeth, Gu Qi bought the book anyway.

Without the information, his current knowledge and materials wouldn't be enough to cultivate the experimental subject he needed.

He opened the book and skimmed through it. To his surprise, the atlas included quite a few bizarre creatures with remarkable physiques, such as fantasy beings like slimes, goblins, and zombies.

Of course, it also included some that looked more ordinary, such as Lickers, griffins, and hellhounds.

In short, it covered all kinds of creatures—except humans.

The more powerful the creature, the more complicated its cultivation requirements. Most importantly, the prices were staggering.

After weighing his options, Gu Qi quickly made his choice.

He took out the cultivation tank and found an empty spot in the laboratory to place it.

Because of his chakra limitations, the tank could only cultivate creatures as large as Pakkun.

But that was more than enough for what Gu Qi planned to cultivate.

Once he'd set up the tank, he needed to complete the equipment.

First, the Sterile Room and Power Supply System were essential. There was no getting around them.

The Sterile Room was ten square meters, and came with a decontamination passage and protective suit. Cultivating materials in the sterile room was the best way to ensure they wouldn't be affected by outside factors.

The Power Supply System was fully integrated into the laboratory itself. Gu Qi only needed to provide the energy.

And that was simple: he could either supply chakra or pay money.

The price was reasonable enough. Powering the tank and its attached equipment cost 100 Ryo a day.

If he prepaid for a full month, the system gave him an extra 100 Ryo discount.

Even a tiny saving was still a saving, so Gu Qi paid for the month upfront.

Next was the DNA Adjuster, which he'd use to alter the material's DNA to meet his requirements.

The Life Detector would monitor the material's condition and prevent failures during cultivation.

After that came the Culture Medium Preparation Formula and the accompanying Culture Medium Infuser, which would deliver a steady, long-lasting supply of culture medium to the material.

Finally, there was the material he planned to cultivate—the core of the whole project.

After adding a few more odds and ends, Gu Qi realized he'd instantly gone from well-off to broke. Still, he gritted his teeth and bought it all.

Once he'd assembled and tested the equipment, Gu Qi returned to the real world and went shopping for everything listed in the culture medium formula.

By the time he finished buying everything, he had only a thousand Ryo left for living expenses.

But Gu Qi couldn't worry about that now. He reentered the laboratory through its door and immediately began preparing the culture medium.

Once he'd made enough for one cultivation cycle, he poured it into the infuser.

The culture medium supplied the material with all the nutrients it needed to grow. It could also provide nourishment to the human body.

In other words, it was edible.

Next, Gu Qi put on his protective suit and entered the Sterile Room through the decontamination passage.

He retrieved the material he wanted to cultivate from the System Mall and carefully placed it inside the tank.

He activated the tank. Before long, the entire chamber was filled with green culture medium.

Now, all Gu Qi had to do was turn on the DNA Adjuster and alter the material.

Since he was only making adjustments, he couldn't immediately change the material to meet his desired specifications.

He would have to wait for it to mature, extract material from the mature specimen, then cultivate and adjust it again.

After N generations of adjustments, he'd finally obtain the mature specimen he wanted.

"Finally, that's done. Now I just need to keep an eye on the material and wait for it to mature."

Gu Qi worked until late at night before finally finishing.

Now, he only had to make sure the material survived the next ten days of growth.

Back in the real world, Gu Qi couldn't afford to enter the classroom, so he could only practice chakra early and then go to bed.

Without the classroom's sleep function, Gu Qi woke up the next morning feeling nowhere near as refreshed as before.

"Looks like making money is my top priority!" Gu Qi said with a headache, staring at his reflection in the mirror, where dark circles ringed his eyes.

Making money wasn't easy. Aside from a few ninjutsu, the only things Gu Qi had to offer were Secret Brew and explosives.

Secret Brew could attract too much attention, so Gu Qi wasn't about to invite trouble.

As for ninjutsu, they were too difficult to master. Besides, given the village's circumstances, he could at most trade them for other ninjutsu.

That might also attract unwanted attention from the village. Either way, it would be a headache.

As for explosives, C4 was too powerful, and too versatile and tactical. Gu Qi planned to keep it as a trump card.

As for Dana Explosives, now that he had safer, more efficient C4, he figured he could trade them for some benefits.

But who should he partner with? That was worth considering.

Given explosives' tactical value, working with the village would be like throwing a Meat Bun to a dog—he'd never get it back.

There was no chance of getting money. At most, they'd let Gu Qi pick out some ninjutsu he wanted.

If that was the case, he might as well trade them the ninjutsu he'd developed.

So, if he wanted to make money from explosives, he'd have to work with one of the major clans.

However, not even clans like Nara, Aburame, or Yamanaka could guarantee the explosives' exclusivity on their own.

Only Konoha's three most prominent clans—the Senju, Hyuga, and Uchiha—could do that.

Setting aside the Senju Clan, which had already withdrawn from public life, Gu Qi could only choose between the Hyuga and Uchiha Clans.

Not to mention that Kakashi's Sharingan had already driven the Uchiha Clan's goodwill toward the Hatake Clan into the negatives.

More than that, the future events of the story immediately made Gu Qi rule out the Uchiha.

That left the Hyuga as his only option.

"The Hyuga?" Gu Qi rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

As one of Konoha's prestigious clans, they had inherited the Byakugan, one of the three great dojutsu.

Though in the anime the Byakugan seemed like little more than a bit player, nowhere near as powerful as the Uchiha's Sharingan,

Gu Qi had personally experienced the Hyuga's strength here.

For one thing, the Hyuga Branch Family's ninjas held an important place in Konoha.

For example, at least a third of Konoha's Medical Ninjas were Hyuga.

The Hyuga also had a presence in some reconnaissance squads and even the Anbu.

After all, a Konoha clan capable of standing up to the Uchiha was far more than what the anime showed.

And the Byakugan's ultimate evolution, the Tenseigan, was an extremely powerful ability, too.

Unfortunately, the Hyuga Clan lacked information about the Tenseigan. Otherwise, with the clan's resources, they could easily create an Ultra-Kage-level fighter with the Tenseigan.

With that in mind, Gu Qi made his decision. "You're the one, Hyuga Hiashi!"