Beneath Sunagakure, in the experimental facility classified as top secret, the atmosphere was a little different that day.
The usual "research atmosphere," with nothing but humming instruments and the occasional calm discussion, had been shattered. The air was thick with... irrepressible agitation, along with a faint, strange smell like rust mixed with disinfectant.
Thirteen people stood in the center of the grounds.
No, "people" might not have been entirely accurate. They wore matching, heavy-looking dark gray bodysuits beneath simple metal armor that protected only their vital areas-Scorpion's first-generation "basic protection" prototypes. Every one of them stood as motionless as a desert poplar in a sandstorm.
Their eyes... how to put it? They stared straight ahead, without much emotion, but looking at them, you felt there was enough strength behind those eyes to twist iron bars apart.
These were all Sand ninja who had "volunteered" to sign up-in reality, they had been "recommended" by the Third Kazekage and certain senior officials-and passed the initial screening.
There were Chunin and a few junior Jonin. What they had in common was an ordinary background, no significant family backing, and an intense hunger for power.
They had become the first living test subjects for the "First-Generation Basic Gene Serum."
Seven days had passed since their injections.
The process had not been easy. The desperately muffled groans and chattering teeth occasionally heard from the medical observation rooms made it clear that having that serum wreak havoc inside their bodies felt anything but pleasant.
But today, seven days later, they stood here, and the results... were visible to the naked eye.
Their leader had once been an unremarkable Chunin in Sunagakure's patrol force. His name was Iron Sand Wood.
Now, the muscles on his exposed arms looked as though they had been carved from sandstone, and