Being Shaken Down

Just thinking about Orochimaru sticking out his tongue and licking his face, leaving it covered in saliva, made Uchiha Yū shudder.

"Damn it! I absolutely cannot become Teacher Orochimaru's experimental material!"

Of course, once he achieved some preliminary results, he could ask Orochimaru for a set of equipment. By then, Uchiha Yū believed that, with his strength, he could reach the level of an elite jōnin.

"What's wrong with you?"

As Tsunade examined You, she noticed goosebumps rising on his skin and thought something had gone wrong during the examination.

"It's nothing, Lady Tsunade. I was just thinking about something that scared me."

"Something that could scare you? That must be quite a serious matter."

Tsunade paid no further attention to You's condition. As she tidied up her laboratory, she reminded him, "You may use the things in the laboratory, but some of them are dangerous, so be careful."

"Also, handle fragile items carefully. If you break anything, you'll have to compensate me! It'll come out of your mission earnings, so don't even think about stiffing Tsunade out of her money!"

As far as Tsunade knew, You had never conducted experiments before. Many of the instruments in her laboratory were custom-made, and with Konoha's current instability, replacing damaged equipment would be troublesome.

"Don't worry, Lady Tsunade."

He had heard those words from his chemistry teacher countless times. Back then, he had been a genius who scored full marks in laboratory work!

Besides experimental equipment, the laboratory also contained a batch of usable materials from the village's ninja, mainly for Tsunade's research into medical ninjutsu.

For now, he could only use little white rabbits for his experiments.

After giving him her instructions, Tsunade left the laboratory.

"Now I can properly begin my research."

He had to do everything he could to increase his strength. Only then could he protect himself. He had already become a talent Danzō wanted to recruit, and Uchiha Yū did not want to be controlled by anyone. He could only work hard to improve himself!

He took out a batch of blood from a scroll. These were Uchiha Clan bloodlines he had collected, most of them coaxed from children.

A single lollipop was enough to trick them! It was entirely voluntary!

He dripped his own blood onto a culture dish, and even through a magnifying glass, the difference between the two was obvious.

Uchiha Yū's blood was thicker, and the greater number of red blood cells meant it could carry more oxygen, resulting in stronger bursts of power.

That was why his physical strength had increased.

You deliberately increased the radiation. He could see ordinary cells turning black under the radiation, before mutating into a mass of malformed, fragmented cells not long afterward.

His own cells, however, actively absorbed the radioactive energy without changing at all.

Their stability ensured that Uchiha Yū would not mutate.

"Now I understand the greatest difference between my cells and those of ordinary people. My stability and ability to absorb radiation surpass normal people's."

In other words, Uchiha Yū was abnormal!

He recorded the experimental data and stored it in a ninjutsu scroll. It concerned the secrets of his body, and before he had the ability to protect himself, he would not tell anyone.

"Unfortunately, the ninja world has no radiation source."

At this stage, the Hokage world was still only semi-industrialized. Forget radioactive elements—even the most basic periodic table did not exist.

"I'll just slowly accumulate it through the stupidest method: basking in the sun."

There was also the effect of the Healing Technique. While Tsunade was away, he could experiment to his heart's content.

One rabbit after another was taken from the iron cage by Uchiha Yū. Under the rabbits' terrified gazes, he began a series of inhumane experiments.

Two hours later, there was an extra pile of ashes on the floor. All ten rabbits Tsunade had bought had perished at Uchiha Yū's hands.

"As expected, it's not that simple."

You sighed, but he was not discouraged.

If the Healing Technique succeeded, it would be no different from creating an entirely new ninjutsu—one that could enhance ninja strength on a large scale. Even Orochimaru's secret body-modification techniques had been developed through a vast accumulation of experiments.

Could he get results on his first try? Even if You was confident he could rival Orochimaru, he still needed to invest money and time.

"What a pity."

Just as You was about to clean up the scene, Tsunade pushed open the door and entered with a smile on her face.

Before You's eyes, Tsunade's smile turned grave, then vicious as she glared at Uchiha Yū and said, "Bastard! You used up all my experimental rabbits!"

"Lady Tsunade! Let me explain!"

"Bang!"

Well, in the end, You received another iron fist of love.

After thoroughly beating up Uchiha Yū, Tsunade held out her hand and calculated the losses, saying with a pained expression, "Ten rabbits, ten thousand ryō in total! That's not excessive, is it?"

After hearing the price she had just named, Uchiha Yū was stunned on the spot. What was this?

"What! Ten thousand ryō?"

Little white rabbits on the market only cost a few dozen ryō each. He was not some clueless fool. At this stage, Konoha had no rabbits specifically bred for experiments; they were all bought from the market.

"What, you don't agree? I raised these rabbits for a long time. There's the cost of feed and labor too."

"The Konoha Princess raising rabbits means they naturally cost more."

Her unfriendly gaze fell on Uchiha Yū. She pressed a hand on his head and softened her tone as much as possible. "I know you won't try to dodge the debt, right, You?"

"That's right, Lady Tsunade!"

The money changed hands, and the earnings from a C-rank mission were gone. Noticing the little stars in Tsunade's eyes, Uchiha Yū knew he had been scammed, but there was nothing he could do.

She was stronger than him, and he would still need Tsunade's laboratory to advance the reforms to the Healing Technique.

Only after counting the money and finding that not a single ryō was missing did Tsunade regain her earlier smile. She patted Uchiha Yū on the head and said, "Now I have some good news."

"Recently, there have been many missions, and they're all relatively dangerous."

"Medical ninja receive protection when carrying out missions!"

"Last time, Sand Village came to Konoha to discuss supplies. A medical ninja is needed for the trip, so if danger arises along the way, they can provide treatment to Konoha's ninja."

The medical ninja were all extremely busy right now. Some had even gone to the front lines with jōnin. The only ones left who could be of use were Tsunade and You.

Tsunade needed to establish a new medical unit in the village and did not have the time, so this mission was handed to Uchiha Yū.

"This isn't good news at all."

Uchiha Yū sighed. It was clearly at least a B-rank mission. If an accident occurred, it could become an A-rank or S-rank mission, which would be quite an addition to a ninja's record.

The reward would be paid at the highest rate. For Uchiha Yū, who was short on money, it had arrived at exactly the right time.

"Will it be a team mission?"

"No. A mission like this cannot send genin. At minimum, there will be elite chūnin, along with a group of Sand Village jōnin escorting them."

The reason it was such a bargain was that the two villages would be transporting the supplies together.

With so many jōnin and elite chūnin providing protection, there was no way an accident could happen.