Gene Drug

Successfully capturing White Zetsu was like injecting the most vital—and most dangerous—fuel into a precise but stalled machine. Uchiha Kyohaku's pace of life abruptly accelerated, yet it was compressed beneath absolute secrecy. Orochimaru knew nothing of it, and Kyohaku would never reveal a single detail. This was a forbidden path to the future that belonged to him alone.

The underground laboratory had completely become his true "home." His work at the hospital and his experiments with Orochimaru had instead become covers for him to maintain appearances and obtain ordinary resources. All his remaining time and energy were devoted to researching the White Zetsu sample.

White Zetsu, confined within its container, was like a pale, silent treasure. Kyohaku treated it as he would the most sophisticated instrument: calm, objective, and devoid of even a trace of emotion. He first conducted the most comprehensive basic analyses: tissue sections, cell viability tests, chakra affinity tests, genetic sequence fragment readings—using advanced technical models from Orochimaru's laboratory...

The results were shocking. White Zetsu's cellular structure was indeed as unusual as the records described, somewhere between animal and plant. Its cell walls possessed both toughness and permeability, while its cells contained a highly inert yet infinitely promising form of life energy—the foundational energy of the Divine Tree. Its genetic sequence was even more complex and ancient, bearing obvious traces of artificial modification. Yet its underlying code possessed unbelievable inclusiveness and adaptability, as if it had been born for fusion and containment.

"Perfect culture medium... and the best genetic vector..." Kyohaku murmured as he watched the active white cells beneath the microscope. His heart beat slightly faster with excitement, but his mind remained as cold as ever.

His objective was clear: extract the Divine Tree traits from White Zetsu's cells, break through the limitations of his human genes, raise the upper limit of his life form, and take the first step toward the legendary Ōtsutsuki. More specifically, he first needed to solve the problem of the atrophied meridians in his right foot, restore their vitality, and comprehensively optimize his cellular activity and chakra capacity.

The process would be anything but easy. Directly injecting White Zetsu cells? That would be no different from suicide. Their powerful assimilative ability would instantly turn him into a tree—or a puddle of white spores.

He had to modify and fuse them. He needed to create a specialized genetic drug that belonged solely to "Uchiha Kyohaku."

Countless vessels were arranged neatly across the laboratory bench. He first attempted the most basic in vitro cell fusion. He extracted his own somatic cells and placed them together with White Zetsu cells that had undergone varying degrees of weakening and deactivation treatment for observation.

Without exception, the results were failures.

Either his own cells were completely devoured and assimilated by the White Zetsu cells, or the two rejected each other and rapidly necrotized. The aggressiveness and rejection response of White Zetsu cells far exceeded expectations.

Kyohaku was not discouraged in the slightest. Failure had been expected. He began a long process of iteration.

First-generation experiment: adjusted the culture medium environment, attempted to nourish the cells with Yin and Yang attribute chakra in different ratios, and observed the reactions. He recorded three hundred sets of failed data.

Second-generation experiment: introduced a third-party buffering medium—he used a small amount of Hashirama Cells culture residue obtained from Orochimaru's laboratory, having applied to Orochimaru for a trace sample under the pretext of research needs. He used its immense vitality and mild properties as a neutralizing agent. There was slight improvement, but the fusion was extremely unstable and soon collapsed.

Third-generation experiment: focused on genetic fragment trimming. Using sealing formulas, he simulated an ultra-precise Energy Scalpel and attempted to strip away the dangerous fragments responsible for "unlimited proliferation" and "forced assimilation" from the White Zetsu cells, retaining only the traits of "enhanced vitality" and "structural compatibility." This was the most time-consuming and labor-intensive step, with failures too numerous to count.

Fourth generation, fifth generation... tenth generation...

The laboratory logbooks piled into a thick stack, recording the parameters, phenomena, and new hypotheses from every failure. Day and night were indistinguishable in the underground chamber; there were only the lights of the instruments and Kyohaku's ever-calm, focused eyes.

He repeated, adjusted, and optimized without rest. His powerful mental strength allowed him to maintain intense concentration for long periods, while the rigor of his past life as a forensic examiner combined perfectly with the research methods he had learned from Orochimaru in this life. He regarded every failure as a necessary step toward success.

After an unknown number of iterations, the forty-seventh-generation sample maintained stable symbiosis in the culture dish for seventy-two hours. Under the microscope, his own cells had not only avoided assimilation, but had become significantly more active, forming a strange cycle of energy exchange with the treated White Zetsu cells—

Kyohaku knew that he had succeeded in taking the first step.

But that was not enough. Success in vitro did not mean it would work inside the body. He needed to turn it into a drug that could be safely injected.

He extracted the stably symbiotic cell colony, purified and liquefied it, then blended it into a specially formulated nutrient base capable of preserving the drug's activity and helping it fuse with the human body. Finally, he added a trace of his own blood sample as a biological identification code, ensuring that the drug would act only on himself.

A liquid giving off an extremely faint green glow, with tiny specks of light slowly drifting within it, was injected into a specially sealed syringe.

Uchiha Kyohaku's White Zetsu Cell Genetic Drug, First Generation, complete.

Holding the drug that embodied countless efforts and contained immense power and risk, he walked to the center of the laboratory. He sat down calmly, rolled up his sleeve, and exposed his arm.

There was no hesitation, no fear—only absolute rational calculation and confidence in his own research. He carefully disinfected the area, then precisely inserted the needle into a vein and slowly pushed the drug that might change everything into his body.

The icy liquid flowed into his bloodstream, followed by an indescribable life energy—gentle yet vast—that swiftly spread through every limb and bone. There was no violent rejection, no painful transformation, only the comfort of parched earth being nourished by spring rain.

He could clearly feel every cell cheering, greedily absorbing that gentle energy and becoming more active and resilient. Especially the long-withered meridians in his right foot, which sent waves of faint, crawling numbness and itching—signs that the atrophied nerves and meridians were being nourished and awakened!

The effects of the drug gradually subsided after about an hour. Kyohaku slowly opened his eyes and felt the renewed vitality within his body. He tried moving his right ankle, and the former stiffness and sluggishness had actually eased slightly! It was still far from recovery, but this was undoubtedly a historic breakthrough!

It had succeeded.

Though this was only the most preliminary fusion, and there was still a long road ahead before complete restoration and optimization, he had truly used his own strength to pry the gears of fate into motion.

He looked at the empty syringe, his gaze deep.

The first dose was complete. Next would come the second, the third... continuous optimization, continuous iteration, until he pushed this mortal body toward a higher level.

The path to completion had truly taken its first solid step here.