Science Creates Something from Nothing

Ever since Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze officially took office, work on carving Hokage Rock had begun, and Orochimaru had also grown quiet and withdrawn.

Kenichi Amamiya watched his teacher stand in a spot where Hokage Rock was visible and stare blankly for a while before turning away without the slightest hesitation.

"Teacher may say he doesn't care, but he cares more than anyone, doesn't he?" Kenichi Amamiya sighed inwardly as he watched Orochimaru's retreating back.

All of a sudden, he began to question his teacher's gender. If he hadn't known that his teacher was indeed a man and hadn't changed bodies yet, he would have suspected he had run into a tsundere girl.

Well, if he changed Teacher's hair to blonde and gave him a ponytail or twin tails, he would fit the image of those tsundere losers in love even better.

"Teacher, does Elder Shimura Danzō smoke?" Kenichi Amamiya recognized the familiar route and knew they were heading to the laboratory jointly established with Root today, so he could not help asking.

"Hm? Him? I've never seen him smoke." Orochimaru paused, clearly not expecting Kenichi Amamiya to ask such a question, but he answered anyway.

Kenichi Amamiya was somewhat disappointed to hear that. He didn't smoke? That made things rather difficult.

Previously, Kenichi Amamiya had been considering whether to find an opportunity to cultivate some cancer cells for Danzo, but he had not expected the man not to smoke. Since his technique was not yet perfected either, he temporarily gave up on the idea.

When they arrived at Root's Underground Laboratory, Danzo was not there. Only Root's ninja were present, but that did not interfere with the experiments.

However, the Fourth Hokage's appointment also meant the war had completely ended. At the very least, Root would be unable to provide enough consumable materials for some time, and the situation would only grow worse in the future.

"Teacher, what is today's research topic?" Kenichi Amamiya realized something odd about himself—whenever he entered a laboratory, he became excited.

"It's nothing much. We're simply continuing our experiments on how to help people better control the First's Cells." Orochimaru remained calm. This was Danzo's request.

Kenichi Amamiya found it somewhat boring. Though the First's Cells were powerful, their limitations were considerable. Simply whether someone could withstand the First's Cells was already a huge problem.

Over the course of Orochimaru's experiments, who knew how many people had died before Yamato became the one successful case.

"Teacher, can I conduct my own research?" Kenichi Amamiya did not want to continue experimenting with the First Hokage's Cells. He had ideas of his own.

Orochimaru glanced at him, then nodded. That experiment truly was uninteresting. If not for Root's support, Orochimaru would not have wanted anything to do with Danzo.

After receiving Orochimaru's permission, Kenichi Amamiya eagerly ran off to conduct his own experiment. However, since this was a laboratory jointly affiliated with Root, he did not continue refining his ninjutsu.

He chose to develop something else.

Chakra Armor—or, more precisely, an extended line of research based on a metallic substance Orochimaru had previously created.

During his earlier research, Orochimaru had produced a special metal capable of absorbing Chakra. It could absorb the Chakra within a ninja's body, but because Orochimaru had so many research projects, it had been shelved for the time being.

Kenichi Amamiya, however, thought highly of it. If it could be improved to absorb the Chakra within ninjutsu, its practicality would be incredible.

"Then, if I add an energy conversion device to store the absorbed Chakra or transfer it into the wearer's body, wouldn't that make it a perpetual-motion machine for the battlefield?" Kenichi Amamiya smacked his lips.

Wouldn't that mean he could pilot a Chakra Gundam in Naruto World?

Theoretically, the idea was feasible. Kenichi Amamiya remembered that armor capable of absorbing Chakra seemed to have appeared in one of the Naruto movies.

If he improved its defense, then developed higher-performance metals and a matching conversion and storage core, this idea might truly become reality.

Even if Madara Uchiha was powerful, once I brought out Chakra Armor and absorbed every one of your ninjutsu, how would you deal with that?

But it was still far too early for all that. Kenichi Amamiya had not even figured out how to improve this metal yet, so he could only conduct experiments slowly.

"No wonder Teacher cooperated with Root." Looking at the materials he had used up, Kenichi Amamiya smacked his lips. Scientific research truly was a money-burning endeavor.

No wonder so many people chose to develop ninjutsu instead. Ninjutsu development did not cost nearly as much money. As expected, the poor relied on mutations, while the rich relied on technology.

"You're interested in Exotic Metal?" The moment he heard that voice, Kenichi Amamiya knew Orochimaru had arrived. He hurriedly turned around, and sure enough, Orochimaru was standing behind him.

There it was again—he had arrived without making a sound. Kenichi Amamiya truly wondered if he had learned that from Batman.

"Yes, Teacher. I feel this metal has tremendous potential for development." Kenichi Amamiya spoke honestly. If this thing could develop as he envisioned, it would definitely become a strategic deterrent on the level of nuclear weapons in the future.

It might even completely reshape the landscape of combat in the ninja world.

"Exotic Metal has a very low absorption limit, but I think highly of you. After all, science has always created something from nothing." Orochimaru smiled. There was not much in this village that he wanted to take with him, and Kenichi Amamiya was the only one.

Orochimaru even felt that he probably would not need any other disciples in his life. This disciple, who resembled him so greatly, was enough.

"Yes, Teacher. Science creates something from nothing." Kenichi Amamiya was very determined. Though he was not some exceptionally brilliant Scientist, he knew that many things had not existed in the first place.

Before computers appeared, people could not have imagined what such a thing would look like. So saying that something came from nothing was not an exaggeration.

Besides, Kenichi Amamiya remembered Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. By then, even more things had appeared that were unimaginable in the present era.

"Let's go. Today's experiments are over." Orochimaru calmly set off for home, with Kenichi Amamiya following behind him and the laboratory behind them occasionally ringing with wails of agony.

Step by step, up the stairs, Kenichi Amamiya followed his teacher out of darkness and into the light.

"Teacher, do you think the Third knows about our experiments?" Kenichi Amamiya suddenly became curious about that.

Root was certainly an extremely secretive organization belonging solely to Danzo, but the Anbu were not useless either.

"Of course he knows. He tacitly approved it."

Thanks to Feng Ah Ah Ah Ya for the reward.