After sending Anko away, Hyuga Lan opened the files again and began poring over them.
He had obtained the files in a deal with Orochimaru. They documented the principles and findings behind genetic modification and artificial embryo technology.
Orochimaru truly was the Ninja World's foremost scientist. His technical expertise was beyond anything Hyuga Lan had imagined. Lan had assumed Orochimaru only had a basic understanding of these fields, but after receiving the files, he realized Orochimaru's expertise in genetic modification ran deep.
Orochimaru really was a research genius. With this technology, the Kaguya Clan Head could be saved.
It was no wonder Lan had gone to the trouble of making a deal with Orochimaru to get the technology. It was essential to treating the Kaguya Clan Head.
The Kaguya Clan Head's survival was crucial to whether Lan's plan succeeded. So when he saw the Clan Head's health declining by the day, he grew increasingly anxious.
If he didn't begin Blood Exchange Therapy soon, then even if he expended a tremendous amount of Tenseigan chakra, he might not be able to keep the Clan Head alive for another six months.
And six months was far too little time. It certainly wouldn't be enough to complete the preparations for his plan.
So performing the Blood Exchange Ritual to ease the damage caused by Kekkei Genkai Disease had become an urgent matter.
In an underground space somewhere in the Land of Fire.
A figure wearing an ivory-white mask approached the Kaguya Clan Head, who lay sleeping in nutrient fluid.
Watching the Clan Head sleep peacefully, Lan used a tool to take tissue cells from his body.
Then he carried the cells to a room filled with research equipment.
Most of the instruments in the room had been purchased for him recently by Pakura. These days, she had been constantly complaining to him through her puppet.
She had to evade pursuers from all sides while also finding the money to buy equipment. The time Hyuga Lan had given her simply wasn't enough, so she hoped he would grant her a little more time.
But Lan could wait; the Kaguya Clan Head couldn't. So Hyuga Lan ignored Pakura's pleas and instead gave her a strict order to acquire all the equipment he needed by the deadline.
If she couldn't manage even this small task, she would disappoint him.
As Hyuga Lan used various scientific methods to cultivate a cloned embryo of the Kaguya Clan Head, the Ninja World underwent another upheaval.
After the Fourth Hokage and his wife both died during the Night of the Nine-Tails, war once again threatened the Ninja World, which had only just settled down.
Now, more than half a year had passed, and Kumogakure seemed to have finally run out of patience...
Kumogakure attacked a Konoha outpost on the border of the Land of Fire, firing the first shot in the postwar conflict between the two nations.
It wasn't until a figure in a tattered red cloak arrived outside the village that Konoha received word from the front lines: Kumogakure had gathered its forces and was preparing to attack Konoha.
Hyuga Lan, who knew how the Naruto story unfolded, wasn't surprised by the news.
He only knew that after the Fourth Hokage and his wife died, Konoha and Kumogakure went to war again—and that the conflict would eventually lead to Hizashi's death.
As for the intensity and duration of the war, Lan's memories were hazy.
But when the sky fell, the tallest would hold it up. A young man like him, who hadn't even passed the jōnin promotion exam, didn't need to face the dangers of the battlefield just yet.
So, in the early days of the war between Kumogakure and Konoha, Hyuga Lan left a Shadow Clone at home to impersonate him and got to work in the laboratory where the Kaguya Clan Head was being held.
The Clan Head's body had been severely depleted by Kekkei Genkai Disease, and it took Lan a great deal of effort to find relatively healthy tissue cells.
Even so, the embryos cultivated from those cells had a low survival rate. After pouring in who knew how much effort, he finally glimpsed a glimmer of hope.
More than half a month later, Hyuga Lan's face lit up as he looked at the healthy embryo in the culture dish.
After all that effort, he had finally succeeded.
After observing it for a while longer, Lan placed the individual embryo grown from the Kaguya Clan Head's tissue cells into a large Life Support Device and began accelerating its growth.
By then, Hyuga Lan's goal was clear: he intended to create a clone of the Kaguya Clan Head.
Once the clone was ready, he could use it to perform the Blood Exchange Ritual on the Kaguya Clan Head.
After learning from the Clan Head that the Blood Exchange Ritual could reduce the severity of Kekkei Genkai Disease, Lan had realized he could artificially create a member of the Kaguya Clan by cloning one, since there were no longer any Kaguya clan members who could perform the ritual for the Clan Head.
That was why he had been confident enough to tell the despairing Kaguya Clan Head that he knew how to treat him.
Since the clone had been grown from the Clan Head's own tissue cells, it was similar to the original in every way. Using it for the Blood Exchange Ritual might even work better than having another clan member perform the ritual.
A little over a month later, Hyuga Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the face inside the life-support chamber, so like the Kaguya Clan Head's.
Thankfully, there was still time. The Clan Head's condition was far worse than Lan had estimated. If he'd waited another half month, even the Blood Exchange Ritual might not have helped.
Once the clone had fully developed, Lan took it out and placed it on the examination table.
Since it was a clone, this Kaguya Clan Head Clone had no spirit or consciousness. It lay on the examination table, letting Lan handle it as he pleased.
After a series of tests, Lan recorded the clone's information.
Compared with the Kaguya Clan Head, the clone's physical indicators were far lower across the board. Only its vitality was greater, since its Kekkei Genkai Disease was still so mild.
Not bad. This clone also showed signs of Kekkei Genkai Disease, but they weren't severe. It was at least healthy enough for the Blood Exchange Ritual.
But as he looked at the clone, a mere shell without a spirit, Hyuga Lan suddenly had an idea.
He sat cross-legged on the floor. As chakra flowed into his eyes, golden light burst from them. He had activated his Tenseigan.
Then a force of Yin Release flew out from Hyuga Lan's body and entered the clone grown from the Kaguya Clan Head's cells.
The clone, which had been lying motionless on the examination bed, suddenly opened its eyes. It stood up and moved around, as if getting used to its new body.
It turned out that Hyuga Lan had used the Tenseigan's ability to let his spirit possess the Kaguya Clan Head's clone. He had only meant to try it out, but to his surprise, a clone without a spirit could indeed serve as a vessel.
Compared with his original body, Lan found this body distinctly sluggish, as though something between his spirit and flesh were resisting his movements.
But the sensation wasn't too strong, and as time passed and he gained better control of the body and its organs, the resistance quickly faded.
Before long, he seemed to have gotten used to the new body. Hyuga Lan began exploring the power of Shikotsumyaku within it.
This clone had shown mild signs of Kekkei Genkai Disease from the moment it was born. That was because it had been born with the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai.
Crack...
A split opened along the right forearm of the clone possessed by Hyuga Lan. White bone extended from the wound, then transformed into a Bone Sword.
After Lan pulled out the Bone Sword, the wound healed quickly. From the outside, there wasn't even a trace left.
Tsk, tsk. So this is the power of Shikotsumyaku?