Experimental Base Construction Begins

The reason for today's gathering was that Madara was celebrating his twenty-fourth birthday. Yes, twenty-four—his big birthday!

In this Warring States era, any ninja who lived past thirty was practically an endangered species. It was hardly strange for Madara to make such a fuss over turning twenty-four.

"Hehehe, I dug up a jar of good liquor from Third Brother's house. We're not leaving until we're drunk!"

Izuna rushed in from outside, excitedly clutching a small wine jar. Hearing him, Uchiha Gen looked over and spotted the jar in Izuna's arms as well.

"...Second Brother, you said you were going out to get some treasure. So you were really just raiding my house for liquor?"

"Hehe, couldn't be helped. This stuff is ridiculously expensive outside."

Uchiha Gen twitched at the corner of his mouth. Of course it was expensive—it was alcohol! In these turbulent times, grain was not cheap. High-proof liquor was already beyond the reach of ordinary people, and pure alcohol was even rarer.

"Drink less. I don't have much of it either."

"So stingy. Third Brother, you don't even drink. Why keep it if you won't let me have any?"

"Sigh, you wouldn't understand."

Uchiha Gen could not explain. Was he supposed to say that the alcohol was for experiments?

His laboratory was already being prepared, and the equipment was nearly finished. It would absolutely crush ninety-nine percent of the machines in the current Naruto World.

No other reason—he had money.

Under Uchiha Gen's lavish money-splashing campaign, many technological inventions sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain and rapidly became finished products.

After eating, Uchiha Gen packed up a portion and brought it back to his own small home.

Something was wrong with Uchiha Haru's body. She had fallen ill frequently over the past few years, and her constitution had worsened by the day. Today, she had finally collapsed.

"I'm back."

"Cough, cough... Lord Yuan..."

"Don't move. What your body needs right now is rest."

"Meow~"

Before Uchiha Gen could even sit down, Little Kuro trotted over eagerly, begging to be fed.

"I brought something for you."

He fed the packed meal to Little Kuro, then turned and entered the kitchen. Before long, he had prepared a bowl of medicinal porridge.

"Lie still."

Seeing Haru trying to get up again, Uchiha Gen stopped her sternly. Did this woman have no awareness at all of her current condition?

"Lord Yuan... cough... I..."

"Stop talking. As long as I'm here, you'll be fine."

Two streams of tears slipped uncontrollably down Uchiha Haru's cheeks. She was merely an ordinary clanswoman with no talent, yet Yuan, the acting clan head, cared for her so deeply.

"Why are you crying? So dramatic."

He helped Uchiha Haru sit up, placed a cushion behind her back, and began examining her body.

He rested his fingers on Haru's wrist and released Chakra, slowly guiding it into her body and circulating it through her.

Yet this perfectly serious examination made Haru's face flush red. That sensation moving through her body was simply...

"Mmm~ ah..."

"Why are you making weird noises? It seems you suffered internal injuries years ago, and they were never fully treated. Your organs are now showing signs of failure. Ordinary people really wouldn't be able to cure this."

After Uchiha Gen's Chakra circulated through her, Haru felt indescribably refreshed.

"Am I beyond saving, Lord Yuan?"

"No. On the contrary, saving you will be easy."

Uchiha Gen picked up the medicinal porridge and fed it to Haru spoonful by spoonful. After tidying up, he sat by the window with his back to her and spoke in a grave tone.

"I'm asking you this formally now. Are you willing to become my subordinate? You should understand what I mean."

"Yes!"

"Good! From now on, I'll guide your training and cultivate you into my capable assistant. It may be very difficult."

"I'm willing."

"Fine! Enough nonsense. Come—I'll teach you."

This was Uchiha Gen's first time teaching someone ninjutsu hand in hand. Unlike his two brothers, whose talents were each more monstrous than the last.

The first skill he taught Haru was the Breathing Technique he had created at the beginning. The longer Chakra nourished the cells, the stronger its effects would become over time. If it continued for a hundred years, it might not be impossible for her cells to become like Hashirama's.

However, Haru's aptitude still made Uchiha Gen look at her in a new light. It took Uchiha Haru a full three days before she could barely operate the Breathing Technique independently.

"Whew... Take it slowly. We're not in a hurry."

"Lord Yuan... am I very stupid?"

"Being slow has its advantages. You may not know this, but Hashirama Senju, the Senju clan head, was even slower than you when he was little, and his emotional intelligence was worse. He couldn't even handle a clan's administrative affairs."

"Really?"

"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?"

Genius was nothing more than a title bestowed by others. If someone was praised too much and genuinely came to believe they were a genius, that would be ridiculous.

Nothing in this world came easily. If success felt effortless, then there had to be unseen causes and consequences that had offset the cost for you.

Naruto, the protagonist of Naruto, was born into that kind of environment. Everyone despised him, and he lacked food and decent clothes, yet he still became Hokage.

Was that due to Naruto's own hard work? Heh. Without Kurama, he would have died a hundred times over in that state. He was always spouting grand words; only the Japanese would call that lofty ambition. In China, it was called daydreaming.

Uchiha Scroll Chamber.

At present, Uchiha Gen had basically created in advance all those forbidden techniques Tobirama was famous for.

Aside from forbidden techniques related to the human body, the Spirit Transformation Technique, research into Hashirama's Wood Release cells, Impure World Reincarnation, and the like, Tobirama had nothing left that Uchiha Gen needed to squeeze out of him.

"The Eight Gates Formation and the Lightning Release Chakra Body Tempering Technique have real potential."

There were currently no legends of the Eight Gates in the Shinobi World. The Senju side still focused on Super Strength, so Tobirama presumably had not yet developed the Eight Gates.

"As for human experimentation..."

Uchiha Gen rubbed his temples. This was the sort of thing considered taboo among humans; anyone hearing it would think it was no good. But just like the atomic bomb, even if he did not pursue it, plenty of others would.

"Sigh... Having a sword and choosing not to use it are two different things. Let's do it!"

The current Uchiha Gen was no longer the child he had been when he first arrived. Every move he made carried extraordinary significance.

Once the orders reached the agents outside, vast amounts of resources began to be mobilized. Ships traveling overseas changed their routes with increasing frequency, and even prices throughout the Land of Fire began to fluctuate.

Such unusual large-scale activity drew the attention of many. Major nobles spent heavily to investigate, but the agents' influence was now too great. Half of the Land of Fire's upper ranks stepped forward to provide cover.

Uchiha Gen created a Shadow Clone Technique, gave it half his Chakra, then quietly left the Clan Land himself.

In an underground valley on the coast of the Land of Fire, near its border with the Land of Wind, large transport convoys moved constantly back and forth. At the bottom of the valley, countless bare-chested men sweated profusely at work.

A middle-aged man in a red safety helmet repeatedly compared the terrain against the plans. The blueprints described an underground base covering more than five thousand square meters.

Their construction company had dispatched more than a hundred geological surveyors before finding this excellent location. The ground was extremely solid and fully capable of supporting such a massive project.