Peerless Genius

Inuzuka Yuka snatched the scroll right out of Kakashi's hands.

Her fluffy white tail stood bolt upright in an instant.

"That bastard Yatsuhashi..."

She gritted her teeth, the white fur at the tip of her tail bristling.

Because of that guy Uchiha Yatsuhashi, her experiments over the past few days had been forced to a halt.

Although she had recorded all those brand-new, unverified experimental concepts in her notebook, the mere thought of that man brought the disgust in Inuzuka Yuka's heart to a boiling point.

Upon returning to the laboratory, Inuzuka Yuka puffed up her cheeks, ready to open the scroll.

She slammed the scroll onto the table and skillfully began pulling out various pieces of experimental equipment.

"Huh?!"

The very moment Inuzuka Yuka took out her own specialized experimental tools, the tail standing straight up behind her suddenly froze.

Inuzuka Yuka's sensitive nose merely twitched, and the expression that was already angry instantly turned even more furious, to the point where Inuzuka Yuka was trembling all over with rage.

Because someone had actually dared to use her tools without permission.

Although the culprit had wiped them down carefully and left not a single trace, she had still caught it—the unfamiliar scent lingering on these experimental instruments.

Before Inuzuka Yuka's nose, the owner of that scent had nowhere to hide.

That person was none other than Uchiha Yatsuhashi himself.

"Yatsuhashi, you bastard, you even dared to touch my things!"

Inuzuka Yuka was so incensed by Yatsuhashi's actions that her teeth felt itchy.

She was just about to lose her temper when she suddenly narrowed her eyes.

Even the stiff tail behind her began to droop and sway slightly.

"Wait... this isn't right."

Inuzuka Yuka had originally assumed that Yatsuhashi was just bored and had been fiddling with her experimental equipment, but as she organized all the tools Yatsuhashi had used, a strange sense of dissonance suddenly welled up.

She discovered something extremely bizarre.

These tools that Yatsuhashi had used all possessed a significant degree of correlation.

They actually formed two complete, underlying experimental procedures.

"This, this is impossible..."

Inuzuka Yuka closed her eyes, and the instinct of a researcher instantly overcame her current emotions.

In her mind, those scattered instruments seemed to come alive, automatically arranging and combining themselves.

Two incredibly ingenious experimental workflows, which even subverted her original line of thought, now appeared clearly within her consciousness.

"Hmm?!"

Inuzuka Yuka snapped her eyes open, and the tail that had been swaying gently...

At this moment, it was as if she had discovered some kind of prey, her tail wagging excitedly behind her.

Yatsuhashi's techniques were exceptionally brilliant.

Even lacking many critical tools, he could still utilize the available equipment to devise unexpected alternative procedures.

This not only failed to hinder his experimental progress but instead provided Inuzuka Yuka with immense inspiration.

This person's level of scientific theoretical knowledge... is actually far beyond my own.

Inuzuka Yuka felt deeply shocked in her heart.

You have to understand, with a research talent possessing Yatsuhashi's theoretical level, there was no reason she hadn't discovered him until now.

Inuzuka Yuka immediately accessed Yatsuhashi's detailed personal life records within the archives.

"Special Genin?"

However, aside from the eye-catching "Special Genin" title, there wasn't much else that was particularly notable.

This was because after Yatsuhashi entered the Anbu, his personal files had been specifically partially concealed by Minato Namikaze.

It was just that with Inuzuka Yuka's current clearance level, she was unable to view the complete contents.

Yet, the word "Special" within "Special Genin" still allowed Inuzuka Yuka to discover something unusual about it.

You must know, there were many Special Jonin in the village.

Although they belonged to the Jonin establishment, their true comprehensive strength still remained somewhere between Chunin and Jonin.

They had not fully reached the so-called standard of a Jonin.

It was only because they possessed particularly outstanding talent in a specific field that they were promoted from Chunin to Special Jonin.

But what the hell is a "Special Genin"?

Inuzuka Yuka was completely stunned.

I'm afraid that in all of Konoha, Yatsuhashi was the only one.

This was an existence even more unique than a Special Jonin.

After all, between a Chunin and a Jonin, no matter how large the gap in strength, they still shared the commonality of being ninjas.

But a Special Genin was a process of creating something from nothing.

It was a category of ninja that had been artificially and forcibly created.

Furthermore, this category in the village belonged solely to Yatsuhashi alone.

One could even say that it existed specifically for Yatsuhashi.

Seeing that this path was a dead end, Inuzuka Yuka shifted her line of thinking.

She began searching the archives for the sponsor of Yatsuhashi's Special Genin status.

But she was met with disappointment once again.

No matter how she searched, that mysterious sponsor had vanished without a trace from Yatsuhashi's file.

Their information had likewise been sealed away by the village's top brass.

A series of setbacks left Inuzuka Yuka feeling somewhat discouraged, and even her fluffy white tail drooped down.

"Wait a minute!"

Inuzuka Yuka's eyes suddenly lit up.

Her tail suddenly shot up, wagging excitedly once more.

"I don't need to find out who Yatsuhashi's sponsor is; I just need to find out who in the village has the authority to sponsor others!"

"By eliminating them one by one, the one left over will naturally be the mysterious person in Yatsuhashi's file."

Thinking of this, Inuzuka Yuka's fluffy white tail wagged even more vigorously behind her.

In just a few moments, Inuzuka Yuka uncovered the mysterious person hidden behind Yatsuhashi. After all, there were only a handful of people in the village with the power to sponsor others and hold such high positions. Relying on the process of elimination, she quickly arrived at a result.

However, this person made Inuzuka Yuka's expression change drastically.

Because it was the notorious Orochimaru. Although much of Orochimaru's file had also been sealed, the massive document contained only a few brief descriptions.

The disciple of Hiruzen Sarutobi, one of the Konoha Sannin, forbidden human experimentation, a strong contender for the Fourth Hokage, and an S-rank missing-nin of Konoha.

But among them, the only things related to scientific research were those human experiments that made Orochimaru notorious and highly controversial.

Behind those forbidden experiments, hidden within Orochimaru's file, was also a mysterious person who appeared throughout almost all of his experimental history.

These two mysterious figures soon began to overlap in Inuzuka Yuka's mind. With a simple cross-verification, the answer naturally became obvious.

"So that's how it is..."

After pondering for a moment, Inuzuka Yuka reached her final conclusion. "No wonder Yatsuhashi's research ability is so strong; he is actually Orochimaru's research disciple. That explains Yatsuhashi's outstanding research capabilities."

She had finally found a logical explanation.

It was just a pity that Inuzuka Yuka did not know that the truth was far more shocking than she had imagined.

Orochimaru and Yatsuhashi were actually in a relationship of equal partnership. Even Orochimaru had to admit in his heart that Yatsuhashi was a peerless genius, one in ten thousand, and a top-tier research talent far superior to himself.