As the last command was issued, the nutrient solution in the sealed cabin began to be withdrawn at high speed, making a gurgling sound like a giant beast swallowing.
Without wiping or insulating wraps, three hundred wet young bodies were directly exposed to the cold laboratory air.
A normal newborn would have been crying loudly due to the temperature difference and fear, but there was only deathly silence here, and there was only the numbing "squeaking" sound of three hundred pairs of bare feet stepping on the special alloy floor.
As if some kind of program written into the bone marrow was activated, the first child in the front row bent his knees and knelt down heavily.
Then came the second, and then the third, until everyone maintained the same position - touching one knee to the ground and pressing the right palm firmly on the heart on the left chest.
The movement was as precise as measuring the angle with a ruler, and even the breathing frequency was adjusted to the same band.
"First Flame is destiny, Xuanzhu is God."
The whispers gathered into waves, and the immature vocal cords rubbed the air, but there was an aura that did not belong to this age.
Chiyo Saori's fingers drew an afterimage on the holographic screen, and a large amount of data poured down like a waterfall, making her pupils behind the lenses a faint blue.
"Incredible... the worship circuit in the prefrontal cortex is not formed by acquired stimulation, but like the breathing instinct, it is closed the moment the synapses are connected. Master, they don't need to 'learn' how to be loyal, they live to be loyal."
Uchiha Xuan looked down at the kneeling creatures with an expressionless face. There was no so-called fatherly love in his eyes, only the coldness of examining a fine weapon.
"Just kneeling is of no value." He raised his chin and pointed to the actual combat simulation area on the side, "Let the dogs out."
The gate suddenly opened, and three battle puppets that had been modified by White Zetsu Cells roared out.
They have no sense of pain, and their limbs are modified into sharp bone blades. They attack the group of defenseless "young children" with enough kinetic energy to tear rocks apart.
There is no so-called "order" given.
At the moment when murderous intent enveloped them, blood seemed to be ignited at the same time in those three hundred pairs of dark pupils.
A red light suddenly appeared.
Three hundred pairs of One-Tomoe Sharingan were turned on at the same second, and the scarlet color instantly dyed the laboratory into a Shura field.
Without any communication, the thirty children on the outermost perimeter dispersed instantly, their movements as agile as wild beasts that had been hunting in the jungle for ten years.
The front row lures the enemy, the flanks outflank, and the back row blocks the blind spots.
Even though their limbs are still very weak, their tactical coordination, like a shared brain, makes the three violent puppets like flies struggling in the mire.
Just forty-five seconds.
The joints of the three puppets were accurately removed, and their heads were forcibly severed by some kind of sharp instrument.
When everything returned to calm, the three hundred figures turned around in unison again and bowed their heads deeply towards Uchiha Xuan on the high platform.
There was no cheering, no asking for credit, it was as natural as breathing.
"It's too perfect." Chiyo Saori frowned. This absolute order made her, the puppet master, feel a little instinctive discomfort. "If it is an absolute hive mind, once they lose the instructions of the 'queen', will they become lambs to be slaughtered?"
"Then try it."
Uchiha Xuan didn't even blink. The air in the center of the training ground suddenly distorted. The illusion was activated.
In the sight of those children, the high platform collapsed, and their only "god" - Uchiha Xuan, fell in the ruins covered in blood, seemingly dying of life.
There was a commotion in the dead square formation even for a thousandth of a second.
Most children's pupils contracted violently, and they instinctively wanted to rush forward to block the knife.
But in that chaotic moment, seven thin figures did not charge blindly.
They jumped in the opposite direction and immediately built a circular defense line. One of them even let out a short and sharp scream, used extremely concise gestures to forcibly stop the suicidal charge of his companions, and took over the command again.
"It's not a zombie." Uchiha Xuan removed the illusion and raised a faint arc at the corner of his mouth, "It's a pack of wolves with brains."
The test is over and the real formatting begins.
All newborns are connected to a special neural tank, and the Fire Seal main network is operating at full power.
The massive flow of information--every punctuation point of <Xuanlin Codex>, the strict military ranks of the empire, and even the anatomical maps of the human body's vital parts--were violently compressed into their hungry brains.
It only took them seven days to digest the war knowledge that ordinary ninjas would need ten years to digest.
However, in the middle of the night on the seventh day, the siren suddenly broke through the tranquility of the laboratory.
The surveillance screen is forced to pop up.
In the culture tank numbered "A-074", a newborn who was supposed to receive data infusion in deep sleep sat up straight without warning.
His eyes had no focus, but his pupils shrank to the size of a needle tip. His pale lips opened and closed quickly, spitting out a string of ancient and difficult-to-speak Warring States dialect.
"The one who returns to the spot with fire... heaven's hindrance... the earthquake star..."
The voice was old and hoarse, not like a child of several years old at all, but more like a soul that had been dead for decades and came back to life.
"Zi--!"
The Fire Seal implanted in his body was judged to be "thinking out of bounds", and high-voltage current instantly penetrated his spine.
The child was twitching violently and making painful noises in his throat, but he still repeated the name intermittently like a broken radio.
"Cut off the connection!" Chiyo Saori quickly pulled down the main switch, with an ugly look on his face, "It's not an external intrusion. After checking the data flow, it was dug up from the bottom of the gene. Madara Uchiha's Lineage Factor is too overbearing. Even after reorganization, there is still this curse-like 'hidden memory' left."
Uchiha Xuan looked at the little figure on the screen who was knocked unconscious by the electric current. His eyes did not fluctuate because of this accident, but instead seemed to become darker and deeper.
Sure enough, it is impossible not to sweep away the ashes of the old era.
Even the "new blood" created by oneself is like this. Those "old people" outside are probably rotten in their bones.
"Get rid of the defective products. As for the rest..."
Uchiha Xuan turned around and walked out, the hem of his black trench coat cutting through the cold air, "Notify Konoha Military Police Force to clear the square in front of the First Flame Hall. Since their bones have other people's names engraved on them, I will smash their bones one by one and see whose blood is flowing inside."