The early morning light filtered through the oil-paper window, casting a mottled light and shadow on the table. Rinto put down the charcoal pen, lightly tapped his fingertips across the page full of formulas, and the last stroke landed on the parameter box of "Cell Excitation Threshold", with a rare slight arc at the corner of his mouth.
The whole night's deduction was not in vain. The repair logic of the rainforest vines, the cell fusion principle of Earth Grudge Fear, and the origin of Yin Release that he had understood before, the three sets of logic were twisted together, and finally the core of the Yang Release framework was blocked. Now the last step was left - to get the actual sample from the Takigakure secret book to verify the effect of this configuration on the living body.
He put away the drawings, stuffed the documents, the carving knife, and the freshly cut jade pieces into his backpack. He checked the sensory seals in the room again to make sure there were no missed loopholes, and then he gently opened the door.
There were still traces of last night's fight on the dirt floor in the backyard, and several knocked down shrubs had wilting branches and leaves hanging down. Rinto squatted down, and a trace of Chakra formed from his fingertips and penetrated into the soil. He did not notice the residual malicious atmosphere, only the faint traces left by the Takigakure patrol team as they hurried past.
It seems that Kakuzu's story has been spread out, and everyone in Ochiai Town regards him as someone they can't afford to mess with, and most of them are even less followed. This is actually a good thing for him.
He didn't stop any longer, and slipped out through the side door of the backyard, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the main street in the town, and choosing the back alleys. Three potential clue points were marked on Jiraiya's map - an old warehouse hidden in the backyard of a medicine shop, an abandoned ruin deep in the rainforest outside the town, and the former site of an underground laboratory behind the black market.
The medicine shop was the easiest clue to check, so he went there first.
The owner of the shop, a middle-aged man with a goatee, was squatting in front of the cabinet drying medicinal materials. Rinto didn't take any detours, just took out a small piece of crystal jade and pushed it over. "I want to ask, did the warehouse in your backyard store Takigakure's things before?"
The boss held the crystal jade and weighed it, then raised his head and scanned the area vigilantly. He lowered his voice and said, "Young man, you are asking for information and you shouldn't be asking. That warehouse was sealed ten years ago. I heard that a batch of medicinal materials shipped from Takigakure was hidden there. Later, there was a plague and everything was burned down."
He paused, pushed Jingyu back, and pointed at Rinto's chest. "I advise you not to think that way. Takigakure's people come to check every now and then. They even sent people to guard the ruins outside the town. The rules of this place are that it's good for outsiders to survive. Don't be greedy for things that cost your life."
Rinto didn't ask any more questions. From the boss's reaction, he could tell that there was a high probability that there was something hidden in the warehouse, but it was too dangerous and no one dared to touch it. He put away the crystal jade, turned around and left, already having a plan in mind - to go to the ruins first, as there was no one guarding there, which made it easier to do anything.
The ruins deep in the rainforest are more dilapidated than those marked on the map. Half of the wall has collapsed, exposing the dense vines and moss inside. Rinto did not rush in and walked around the ruins first. Chakra condensed on his fingertips and swept across the surrounding ground and trees and vines.
There are no sensory traps, and there are no hidden guards. It seems that the people in Takigakure have focused all their energy on the town, and no one cares about this remote ruins.
He breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the ruins with his backpack on his back. There were several stone tablets engraved with Takigakure runes scattered inside, as well as a pool of dark red stains that had dried long ago, which should have been left by the plague back then. Rinto walked to the innermost stone wall, pressed his fingertips against it, and Chakra seeped in along the lines of the stone wall.
The runes on the stone tablet are not Ninjutsu. They are an extremely ancient record of cellular energy. They are almost exactly the same as the Takigakure esoteric logic in the Jiraiya booklet, only more primitive and rougher.
Rinto's eyes lit up. He took out his notebook and charcoal pen and squatted in front of the stone tablet to memorize it. Hidden in these runes was the most primitive activation logic of Takigakure's secret tradition - instead of directly stimulating the cells, it first regulated the dormant state of the cells, and then used Chakra to activate the "origin of life" in the body, step by step, and never damage the foundation of the cells.
This is exactly what he needs!
Just when he memorized the key point, the information in the backpack suddenly moved, and it turned out that the rolled manuscript slipped out. Rinto reached out to pick it up, and the moment his fingertips touched the manuscript, he suddenly paused - there was a very faint trace of Chakra on the edge of the manuscript that did not belong to him.
Has anyone touched his information?
Rinto's face instantly darkened, and he threw the backpack in front of him with his backhand. Chakra formed on his fingertips and he scanned everything in the backpack. The information, drawings, and engraving knives were all there, neither missing nor broken, but the trace of Chakra was still there, like a thin needle piercing the edge of the manuscript.
It's not Kakuzu, nor Takigakure. The breath is cold, with a weird stickiness, like the residue after some kind of experiment.
Rinto stood up and glanced at the corner of the ruins. A gap was opened in the vines in the corner, revealing a downward hole. It was dark inside, and a faint, familiar Chakra wave could be vaguely felt.
It's the fluctuation of Yang Release!
He immediately grasped the carving knife and walked down the steps at the entrance of the cave. The steps were very steep and covered with moss. After walking more than ten steps, he finally reached the bottom. In front of him was a small stone room with several iron shelves. Glass jars were hung on the shelves. Various things were soaked in the jars - some were plant roots, some were small animal limbs, and... a human arm.
These are all specimens.
Each glass jar is labeled with words such as "Cell Stimulation Test Sample" and "Yang Release Adaptation Test Body". Rinto's eyes fell on a glass jar in the corner. Above, what is soaked in the jar is a twisted mass of tissue with tentacles, like a pile of rotten meat, but still squirming slightly. The sutures on the body are exactly the same as Earth Grudge Fear from Kakuzu.
It is a sample of Earth Grudge Fear!
He walked over, put his fingertips on the glass jar, and Chakra stuck it in. The rotten meat in the jar tensed instantly, and the tentacles hit the glass wall. The cells on it were dividing wildly, but they were blocked by an invisible barrier and couldn't get out at all.
A glimmer of understanding flashed in Rinto's eyes. This is no ordinary laboratory, it is a place where someone specializes in studying the combination of Earth Grudge Fear and Yang Release. Judging from the number of specimens, it should have been running here for many years.
At this moment, the door of the stone room suddenly "squeaked" and was pushed open.
An old man wearing a white lab coat walked in, wearing goggles on his face and holding a tray with several test tubes filled with green liquid on it. The moment he saw Rinto, he was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes flashed with ecstasy, which was quickly replaced by vigilance.
"Who are you? How did you get in?" The old man's voice was hoarse, with a hint of paranoia unique to the experimenter.
Rinto did not answer, his eyes fell on the tray in his hand. "Are you studying the combination of Earth Grudge Fear and Yang Release?"
The old man's face changed, and he clenched the test tube in his hand. "Who are you? Don't ask about things you shouldn't! This is Takigakure's secret experiment. If you take one more step forward, I will poison you!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand to pour the liquid in the test tube towards Rinto. The liquid glowed green and smelled pungent, obviously highly poisonous.
But Rinto didn't move at all.
A Chakra formed on the fingertips, like a thin snake, and instantly wrapped around the old man's wrist. The test tube fell to the ground with a clang, and the green liquid splashed on the ground, making a "sizzling" sound, and the ground was instantly corroded into small pits.
The old man's face turned pale and he wanted to retreat, but found that his wrist was locked tightly by Chakra, making him unable to move.
"I'm not here to cause trouble." Rinto said in a calm tone, "I want Takigakure's body secret sample. You should have it here."
The old man was stunned for a moment, and a trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes. He stared at Rinto's eyes, and could feel the unfathomable aura on the other person's body, as well as the Yang Release fluctuations that had the same origin as the specimen.
"You... you're here to study too?" The old man's voice was lowered.
"I'm here for verification." Rinto corrected, "What I want is a secret sample that can adapt to a living body, not a failed product like you that is forced to fuse."
He pointed to the specimens on the shelf. "Your research is in the wrong direction. Earth Grudge Fear's cell fusion is forced and will destroy the natural rhythm of cells. Even if it can extend lifespan, it is just an incomplete monster. The real Yang Release is adaptation, not force."
The old man's eyes lit up instantly, then dimmed quickly. "Adaptation? Easier said than done. The secret of Takigakure is locked deep in the village, and we can't get it at all. These specimens are the closest thing we can find."
Rinto said nothing and walked to the glass jar containing the Earth Grudge Fear sample. Chakra condensed on his fingertips and seeped in along the runes on the jar wall. He did not destroy the barrier, but just adjusted the flow of energy inside so that the tentacles in the jar slowly calmed down and stopped splitting wildly.
"You see, as long as the energy threshold is controlled well, it can stabilize." Rinto looked back at the old man, "This is the correct logic. Your previous failures were all because you did not master this degree."
The old man was so stunned that he almost dropped the goggles in his hand. He had been researching for more than ten years, failed countless times, and was scolded by Takigakure executives countless times, but he never thought that just adjusting the energy threshold could stabilize the failed product.
"Who... are you?" The old man's voice was filled with awe.
"A researcher." Rinto took back Chakra, "Now, take me to see the secret sample you got. I can help you improve your research in exchange."
The old man hesitated for a few seconds, and finally nodded. He took Rinto to the deepest part of the stone room, and pushed open a hidden stone wall. Inside was a small secret compartment, and in the secret compartment was a palm-sized jade box.
The jade box was engraved with the same runes as the ruins stone tablet. The moment it was opened, a strong breath of Yang Release hit the face. There was a golden scale in the jade box, with a subtle light on the scale. It was the core sample of the Takigakure secret - the cell scale of an adult Takigakure Yang Release ninja.
Rinto's eyes lit up, and he reached out to pick up the scales. The scales were warm to the touch, like a piece of living cell tissue, and the energy inside flowed slowly, perfectly matching the Yang Release framework in his mind.
"That's it." Rinto whispered, "With it, I can verify the effect of the configuration."
He put away his scales and turned to look at the old man. "I can help you improve your research. But there is one condition - no more forced fusion experiments will be done with living bodies in the future, especially with human bodies."
The old man nodded immediately. "I agree! I have long felt that this method is wrong, but the pressure from above is so tight that I have no choice but to continue."
Rinto nodded and said nothing more. His mind was full of experiments now, and he just wanted to find a quiet place to verify the new Yang Release configuration.
He followed the old man out of the ruins and returned to the town. The old man arranged him in a separate room in the backyard of the inn and gave him a set of experimental supplies to ensure that he could conduct the verification smoothly.
Rinto locked the door, put the scales in the jade box on the table, and took out the Yang Release cell stimulation configuration diagram he had just drawn. He first condensed a very thin Yin Release barrier on the scales to protect the cells from over-stimulation, and then used Yang Release's adaptive framework to guide the flow of cell energy in the scales.
The whole process was done with great care, and every step was extremely precise. Chakra followed the lines of the structure and penetrated into the cells of the scales little by little. The originally quiet scales suddenly glowed with a faint golden light.
Rinto's breath was momentarily held.
Success!
The cell energy in the scales was fully activated and was steadily controlled by the adaptive framework, without any spillage or damage to the cells. He could even feel that the energy in the scales was resonating with Chakra in his body, forming a new and more stable energy cycle.
Rinto picked up the carving knife, made a small cut on his fingertip, and squeezed out a drop of blood. He dropped the blood on the scales, and the blood droplets were instantly absorbed by the scales and melted into the cells.
The new Yang Release configuration established a connection between him and the scales.
He could feel that his body's energy was slowly increasing, and the dormant state of his cells was being activated little by little, without any discomfort. All the logic deduced before was verified at this moment.
Rinto finally showed a real smile on his face.
He succeeded.
At this moment, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps and low voices outside the window.
"That's him! The outsider who was in the ruins just now!"
"Takigakure Jonin has an order, take him down immediately! I suspect he is a spy who steals secret information!"
Rinto's smile instantly dropped and his brows furrowed.
He didn't want to cause trouble in the town, but trouble came anyway.
He put away the scales and experimental drawings, threw his backpack over his shoulders, and walked to the window. The street outside the window was already surrounded by patrolling ninjas from Takigakure. The leader was a tall Jonin, holding Ninja Blade in his hand, with sharp eyes like an eagle.
It seems that the news about Kakuzu and the news that he obtained the secret sample were spread out together.
Rinto Don't panic.
He opened the window, jumped out, and landed on the roof of the inn. The Takigakure ninjas behind him immediately reacted and chased after him, their shouts echoing throughout the street.
"Don't run! Uchiha Rinto!"
Rinto didn't look back, Chakra spread out under his feet, and his figure was like a gust of wind, flying towards the rain forest outside the town. His Yang Release configuration has been perfected, his body energy has been greatly increased, and his speed is more than twice as fast as before.
Takigakure's ninjas were chasing after him, but they couldn't catch up.
Rinto took out his notebook while running and wrote down the new problems discovered during the experiment - the connection between the scales and the body is not stable enough, and the closure logic of the configuration needs to be optimized.
As for the pursuers behind him, he didn't care at all.
After getting rid of them, he should go to the core of Takigakure. With the perfect Yang Release configuration, even if he faces Takigakure, Jonin or even Kage Level, he will still be able to fight.
His Yang Release research has finally reached this point.
What he didn't know was that after he escaped, the powerful Kage Level of Takigakure had received the news. A larger roundup against him was quietly brewing.