Getting Shaken Down

Thinking of Orochimaru stretching out his tongue and licking his face, leaving behind a layer of saliva, made Uchiha You shudder.

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

Of course, once he achieved some initial results, he could ask Orochimaru for a batch of equipment. By then, Uchiha You believed that with his strength, he could reach the level of a top Jonin.

"What's wrong with you?"

As Tsunade examined You, she saw goosebumps rise across 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 serious."

Not paying much attention to Uchiha You's condition, Tsunade tidied up her laboratory and reminded him:

"You can borrow the things in the laboratory, but some of the items 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 cheating 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 always got perfect scores in lab work!

Besides experimental equipment, the laboratory had a batch of usable materials from the village's shinobi, mainly for assisting 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 finally study properly."

He had to do everything possible to increase his strength. Only then could he keep himself safe. He had already become a genius Danzo wanted to recruit, and Uchiha You did not want to be controlled by anyone. He could only work hard to improve himself!

He took out a set of blood samples from a scroll. These were Uchiha Clan bloodlines he had collected, most of them sweet-talked out of children.

A single lollipop was enough to trick them! It was a willing transaction!

He dripped his own blood onto a culture dish, and through the magnifying glass, the differences between the two were apparent.

Uchiha You's blood was thicker. His greater number of red blood cells meant he could transport more oxygen, resulting in stronger bursts of power.

This was why his physical strength had increased.

You deliberately increased the uranium element's radiation. He could see ordinary cells gradually turn black under the uranium radiation before mutating into a mass of malformed, shattered cells.

His own cells, however, actively absorbed the radiative power without changing.

Their stability ensured that Uchiha You would not mutate.

"Now I understand the biggest difference between my cells and ordinary people's. Their stability and ability to absorb radiation surpass normal humans."

In other words, Uchiha You was not normal!

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, there are no radiation sources in the Shinobi World."

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

"I'll just accumulate it slowly through the dumbest method: sunbathing."

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

Uchiha You took rabbits out of the iron cage one after another and began a series of inhumane experiments under their terrified gazes.

Two hours later, there was an extra pile of ash on the floor. All ten rabbits Tsunade had bought had met their end at Uchiha You's hands.

"Sure enough, it isn't that simple."

You sighed, but he was not discouraged.

If the Healing Technique succeeded, it would be no less than creating an entirely new ninjutsu—one that could strengthen shinobi on a large scale. Orochimaru's human-modification secret techniques had also been developed through countless experiments.

Could he get results on the first try? Even if You was confident he could rival Orochimaru, it would still require money and time.

"What a waste."

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

Before You's eyes, Tsunade's expression changed from a smile to solemnity, before she finally glared at Uchiha You and said fiercely:

"Bastard! You used up all my experimental rabbits!"

"Lady Tsunade! Let me explain!"

"Bang!"

Well, You ended up taking another fist of love.

After giving Uchiha You a thorough beating, Tsunade held out her hand and calculated the losses, saying with a pained expression:

"Ten rabbits, ten thousand ryo in total! That's not excessive, right?"

Hearing that freshly quoted price, Uchiha You froze on the spot. What was going on?

"What! Ten thousand ryo?"

Little white rabbits on the market cost only a few dozen ryo each. He was not a novice; Konoha did not have rabbits specifically bred for experiments at this stage. They were all bought from the market.

"Is that not acceptable? I raised these rabbits for a long time. There's the feed cost, as well as labor expenses."

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

Her unfriendly gaze fell on Uchiha You. She reached out and pressed down on his head, softening her tone as much as possible as she said:

"I know you won't skip out on the debt, right, You?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"

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

The stronger party had the upper hand. Besides, he still needed Tsunade's laboratory to continue reforming the Healing Technique.

After counting the money and finding not a single ryo missing, Tsunade finally resumed her earlier smile. She patted Uchiha You's head and said:

"Now, I have some good news."

"Recently, there have been quite a lot of missions, and they're all rather dangerous."

"Medical shinobi receive protection while carrying out missions!"

"Sand Village recently came to Konoha to discuss supplies. They need a medical shinobi to go with them, so if they encounter danger on the road, they can provide treatment for Konoha's shinobi."

The medical shinobi were all busy right now. A group had even followed Jonin to the front lines. The only ones who could be dispatched were Tsunade and You.

Tsunade needed to remain in the village to establish a new Medical Corps, and there was not enough time. This mission was therefore handed to Uchiha You.

"That's not good news at all."

Uchiha You sighed. It was obviously a B-rank mission at minimum. If an accident occurred, it could rise to A-rank or even S-rank, adding a significant achievement to his shinobi record.

The reward would be paid at the highest rate. For Uchiha You, who was short on money, this was exactly what he needed.

"Will it be in a team?"

"No. They can't send Genin on this kind of mission. At minimum, there will be Elite Chunin, along with a group of Sand Village Jonin escorting them."

Why was this considered such a bargain? Because the two villages would be transporting the supplies together.

With a large group of Jonin and Elite Chunin protecting them, there was no way anything could go wrong.