Transplanting cloned limbs

Watching Ju Huo wolf down dried fish, Neji carried the enormous scroll into another room in the Basement, with Sasuke following close behind.

With a poof, he released the scroll's sealing, and three transparent containers half a person's height appeared on the table.

Three arms floated in the containers filled with cultivation fluid: two left arms and one right arm.

The two left arms had been produced through targeted cloning of Naruto Uzumaki's tissue cells, while the right arm had been cloned from Sasuke's tissue cells.

Simply transplanting cells could also provide Indra's chakra and Asura chakra, of course. Back then, Madara Uchiha had merely sewn a piece of Hashirama Senju's flesh directly onto his chest.

Neji had chosen to transplant entire limbs because he suspected that Madara Uchiha had only awakened the Rinnegan in his old age because the piece of Hashirama Senju's flesh he had transplanted produced too little Asura chakra.

That was why Neji had decided to transplant entire arms rather than just cells.

He could not bear the thought of waiting decades to awaken the Tenseigan.

"You first, or me?" Neji looked at Sasuke, then tipped his chin slightly.

Sasuke took a deep breath and stepped forward twice. "Let me go first!"

Neji pointed to a wooden bed in the room. "Lie down and inject yourself with the anesthetic."

Sasuke obediently did as instructed.

Neji watched Sasuke settle onto the bed after injecting the anesthetic. After waiting a while, he jabbed several points on Sasuke's body using the Gentle Fist's chakra-point striking method, then drew a sharp tachi and swung it down hard.

With a wet slicing sound, blood splashed up as Neji severed Sasuke's left arm high on the upper arm with a single stroke.

Since Neji had sealed his chakra points with the Gentle Fist, the severed end of Sasuke's arm only spurted a little blood at first. There was no heavy bleeding.

Neji methodically opened a container and took out a left arm. After comparing it with Sasuke's severed arm, he trimmed the cloned arm to fit.

Once the preparations were complete, Neji picked up the cloned arm, aligned it with the wound on Sasuke's left arm, and attached it.

After positioning it correctly, Neji's palms lit up with the green light of Medical Ninjutsu.

The reattachment process did not take very long. Neji used the Accelerated Healing Technique, a ninjutsu that accelerated wound healing at the cost of the cells' lifespan. As long as a wound was not fatal, it could speed recovery tremendously; even bones could heal rapidly.

An hour later, Neji had finished the reattachment. With the aid of his Byakugan, he had also connected the nerves in the arm.

Although it fell short of Madara Uchiha's ability to grab an arm and use it immediately, Neji thought it was already absurdly impressive.

Neji then used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to remove the anesthetic from Sasuke's body and wake him.

Upon regaining consciousness, Sasuke sat bolt upright.

"Try it out." Neji had Sasuke test it briefly to see if there were any problems.

Sasuke immediately moved his newly attached left arm. After feeling it out for a while, he said, "No problems. Apart from a slight difference in skin tone, it feels no different from my own."

"Good." Neji nodded, then placed Sasuke's severed arm back into the container to preserve it.

"What are you going to do? You can't exactly operate on yourself one-handed, can you?" Sasuke looked at Neji in puzzlement.

Neji smiled slightly and formed hand seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

With a poof, two shadow clones of Neji appeared.

"Won't your shadow clones disappear when your real body loses consciousness?" Sasuke asked in confusion. "Don't tell me you've improved the Shadow Clone Technique too!"

"You're overthinking it. I'm not capable of that." Neji was speechless. "I'm not planning to use any anesthetic."

Sasuke shuddered at Neji's words. He could not even imagine the pain.

Neji really is ruthless! Sasuke thought as he watched him.

Neji took out a towel, rolled it up, and bit down on it.

One of Neji's shadow clones bent its fingers and struck several points on his body, then gripped the sword and swung it down hard.

With a wet slicing sound, two vivid splashes of blood bloomed on the Basement wall.

Neji's real body was drenched in sweat by then. He clenched the towel between his teeth as searing pain tore through him, and he could not help letting out a low roar.

Watching this, Sasuke swallowed involuntarily. Neji's willpower had exceeded his expectations.

Is this the will of a bird trapped in a birdcage, longing for freedom? Sasuke wondered.

Neji's shadow clones did not stand idle. They first helped him lie down on the bed, then took out the cloned arms, trimmed them to fit, and attached one on each side.

Seeing Neji endure the immense pain with a deathly pale face, Sasuke felt admiration. The will to seek freedom—how powerful it is! I, Sasuke Uchiha, truly acknowledge you, Neji Hyuga!

As an avenger, could my will withstand pain like this too? Sasuke asked himself.

Yes! Sasuke immediately gave himself an answer. No matter what darkness and pain lie ahead on the road to revenge, I, Sasuke Uchiha, will press on without wavering until my revenge is complete!

Time ticked by, and soon an hour had passed. Neji's reattachment was complete as well.

With his severed arms reattached, Neji collapsed limply onto the bed, his clothes soaked through. He spat out the towel and gasped for breath.

Every moment had truly felt like an eternity to Neji. If not for the resentment in his heart and the will to seek freedom sustaining him, he felt that something really would have gone wrong.

"I almost couldn't hold on." Neji panted, feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death.

"I thought you really weren't feeling much of anything," Sasuke teased with a straight face.

"I'm not that tough." Neji smiled bitterly. In the end, it had only been sheer grit that let him have his arms cut off in the first place.

As for the treatment afterward, there had been no other option. He could only grit his teeth and see it through.

"But at least they were reattached perfectly." Neji moved his new arms. He could feel subtle differences that only someone who had practiced the Gentle Fist for years could detect.

After systematic training, members of the Hyuga Clan could release chakra through the chakra points and pathways throughout their bodies. As a result, his chakra points and pathways differed slightly from those of ordinary ninja.

To Neji's senses, those differences were as obvious as lights in the darkness.

"How long will it take for the yin and yang powers to turn into the power of all creation and awaken the Rinnegan?" Sasuke asked.

Having mostly recovered, Neji sat up and saw that Sasuke's face was full of anticipation.

"Don't rush." Neji got off the bed and placed his own two arms into the containers. His shadow clones had already reached their limit and disappeared.

He looked at Sasuke. "You can't rush something like this. The Rinnegan won't come overnight. Think about it. With power that immense, how could it emerge all at once? It needs time to accumulate, little by little, and transform."

"Hmph." Sasuke snorted. "As long as this Rinnegan doesn't wait until I'm old and decrepit to awaken."

"It won't." Neji shook his head. "It won't take that long. I'm sure you'll start feeling changes in your eyes after a while."

Whether he himself could awaken the Tenseigan remained uncertain, but Sasuke would definitely be able to awaken the Rinnegan. The odds were overwhelmingly in his favor.