Human Experimentation

A black figure stood before the operating table, the scalpel in his hand glinting coldly beneath the shadowless lamp.

His fingers were long and steady, their tips slightly pale from years of wearing rubber gloves.

A young woman lay on the operating table.

Her chest still rose and fell faintly, her eyelashes trembling softly under the effects of the anesthetic.

This was also one of the reasons he had chosen to serve Danzo.

Having obtained Singed's template, he needed a patron—and test subjects.

"Begin recording," he said to the ninja holding a camera in the corner, his voice hoarse yet calm.

This was his one hundred and twenty-seventh experiment. Every attempt brought him one step closer to the truth.

The instant he opened the chest cavity, he noticed an abnormality—the test subject's heart was an unnatural dark red, its surface covered in fine black veins that spread like a spiderweb.

"Interesting..." He leaned closer to inspect it.

Just then, the test subject's eyelids suddenly began twitching violently, and the readings on the monitor started fluctuating wildly.

"No, not yet..." He swiftly took out a pale blue drug from the tray and plunged the needle into her carotid artery.

They were eyes as black as ink, without the slightest trace of white, staring straight at the ceiling.

Hiruko felt his heart skip a beat, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Continue observing..." he muttered, lowering the scalpel once more.

The monitor emitted a piercing alarm as all the test subject's vital signs plummeted sharply.

Hiruko reached toward the refrigerated cabinet. The moment his fingertips touched the specially made "Life One," an icy chill spread up from them.

The drug was an eerie deep blue throughout, emitting a faint glow in the darkness like a bioluminescent creature from the deep sea.

He carefully removed the drug, droplets condensed on the glass vial sliding down his gloves.

This drug was a weakened version of Hashirama Cells, refined over three years from more than a thousand failures.

"Injection dosage: 2 ml." He murmured to himself as he drew the drug into the syringe.

The moment the needle pierced the test subject's carotid artery, the deep blue liquid mixed with the dark red blood, forming an uncanny purple.

The monitor readings went wild, her heartbeat soaring from forty beats per minute to two hundred in an instant.

Hiruko stared fixedly at the data, the pen in his hand racing across the record book.

But the very next second, the surrounding instruments erupted into violent alarms.

"Beep! Beep!"

Hiruko instinctively took a step back, and the record book in his hand fell to the floor with a slap.

"Ah—" The test subject let out a shrill scream as her body began to twist and deform.

The monitor emitted a piercing alarm.

Branches spread rapidly, piercing through the laboratory ceiling.

Hiruko watched tender green leaves sprout from those branches, giving off an eerie sheen beneath the shadowless lamp.

"Save... save me..." The test subject's voice had become distorted, as though even her vocal cords were turning to wood.

Hiruko saw her eyes turn dark brown, countless branch-like shadows reflected in her pupils.

Then suddenly, all growth stopped.

The laboratory fell into deathly silence.

"Another failure!"

From the shadows behind Hiruko, an aged figure slowly emerged.

"Yes. Turning ordinary people into ninjas with formidable combat power is still a path full of thorns. We need to overcome countless obstacles." Hiruko calmly replied as he carefully wiped the blood from his hands with alcohol.

By then, the other ninjas beside Hiruko had silently carried the unfortunate test subject away.

After removing his mask, Hiruko revealed a remarkably gentle and handsome face, one that gave off a warm, comforting impression.

Leaning on his cane, Danzo wore a meaningful smile as he said to Hiruko, "We've used up all the civilian spies. Put the experiments on hold for now."

"Want to vent a little?" A strange smile curled across the old man's lips, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes.

"A wandering shrine maiden? You old bastard really know how to be ruthless." Hiruko looked expressionlessly at Danzo, though there was a trace of amusement in his tone.

"Hehe, for her, this is already the best possible fate, Hiruko." Danzo chuckled, as though he had everything under control.

"If that's the case, then give her to me!"

More than a decade had passed since Hiruko had transmigrated here and awakened the mystery of his past life in the womb. He had done many things.