Chapter 600: Gene Sequencing, Propelling Biological Ascension!

Chapter 600: Chapter 600: Gene Sequencing, Propelling Biological Ascension!

Chapter 600: Gene Sequencing, Propelling Biological Ascension!

"As expected, the symptoms Toneri described have started appearing in me."

Kenichi lightly touched the area around his eyes.

"Based on the experimental data we collected from Toneri, this pain should continue for a while before gradually fading."

"The initial stage is the worst."

He paused, carefully evaluating the sensation.

"Right now, it feels like someone stabbed a kunai into my thigh, twisted it around repeatedly, then poured a handful of salt directly into the wound."

The pain in Kenichi’s eyes was extraordinarily intense.

Even with his tolerance, he found it somewhat difficult to adapt.

Fortunately, although the pain had appeared suddenly and reached an almost unbearable level in an instant, it was now declining relatively slowly.

It felt as though the pain had immediately reached its peak, then begun dropping step by step.

Despite the discomfort, Kenichi found the phenomenon interesting.

He had never experienced anything similar during his previous experiments.

More importantly, the appearance of this pain meant the experiment had achieved preliminary success.

The pain was one of the characteristic stages of the Tenseigan awakening process.

That matched the results from Toneri’s previous experiment.

Still, when Kenichi looked at his Rinnegan in the mirror, he could not help feeling conflicted.

He had no idea what would happen when someone who already possessed the Rinnegan awakened the Tenseigan.

The key issue was compatibility.

Would the Tenseigan conflict with the Rinnegan?

And if the two dojutsu were incompatible, causing one to replace the other...

What would happen?

"Something looks wrong with your eyes."

Amado stared at Kenichi.

Kenichi nodded.

His eyes were still throbbing intensely.

Fortunately, the worst of the initial pain had already begun to subside.

The intensity was gradually decreasing, which relieved Kenichi considerably.

Still, when he remembered that Toneri’s symptoms had continued for a little over a week, Kenichi immediately developed a headache.

Fighting while suffering from sudden attacks of severe eye pain would be extremely dangerous.

A single moment of pain at the wrong time could completely alter the course of a battle.

Thankfully, Kenichi did not need to fight anyone right now.

"It’s part of an experiment I’m conducting."

Kenichi did not seem particularly concerned.

"If this succeeds, our chances of winning the future battle will increase significantly."

For now, there was little point worrying about his eyes.

Whether the Tenseigan and Rinnegan could successfully coexist would become clear with time.

At present, Kenichi was far more concerned about two things.

Kaguya’s gene sequencing.

And the time machine.

As for the genetic analysis, Kenichi believed he needed to personally establish the initial research process.

Once he developed a clear procedure, however, the tedious repetitive work could be handed over to his Shadow Clones.

"Forget about my eyes for now."

Kenichi looked toward Amado.

"How is the separation of Kaguya’s genes progressing?"

"Have you successfully isolated those additional genetic sequences?"

He intended to use Toneri as the next experimental subject.

By inserting Kaguya’s additional genes into someone who already possessed Otsutsuki blood, Kenichi hoped to determine what those genes actually did.

If they could successfully identify their functions, the results would be enormously valuable.

Just thinking about it made Kenichi somewhat excited.

Amado nodded.

Naturally, he had already made preparations.

Then he seemed to remember something.

"Speaking of which, Toneri is actually quite interesting."

Amado smiled slightly.

"He’s been extremely helpful during the experiments."

"The only troublesome part is that he has to report every single action to me before doing anything."

There was an obvious hint of support for Toneri in Amado’s words.

Kenichi frowned slightly.

It had only been a short time.

Had Amado already begun changing his opinion of Toneri?

Even so, Kenichi had no intention of loosening the restrictions.

Toneri’s situation was unusual.

His emotional responses were extremely weak.

More importantly, he was a clone whose psychological development remained uncertain.

Kenichi had no reliable way to influence his deeper thoughts.

Unless he obtained Kotoamatsukami and used it on Toneri, there was no guarantee that the clone would remain loyal.

"Toneri’s circumstances are special, Amado."

Kenichi’s tone became serious.

"I hope you understand that."

"He’s still in a state where we can’t completely predict his behavior."

"I have no way to know whether he genuinely wants to cooperate with us or whether he’s hiding something."

"So until we’re certain, strict supervision is necessary."

Kenichi did not change his position simply because Amado had spoken positively about Toneri.

Toneri appeared respectful.

He followed instructions.

He worked diligently.

But what was actually happening inside his mind?

Kenichi still did not know.

A person could not simply ignore a potential threat because that threat appeared harmless.

Likewise, surrender or apparent loyalty did not automatically eliminate danger.

History was filled with painful lessons proving that point.

The An Lushan Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty was one of the clearest examples.

For that reason, Kenichi believed Toneri had to remain under strict control.

If Toneri eventually earned his trust, Kenichi would not hesitate to give him genuine freedom and responsibility.

But the current Toneri had not yet earned that trust.

So even if Amado believed Toneri was performing exceptionally well, Kenichi had no intention of relaxing the restrictions anytime soon.

"All right."

Amado nodded.

"If you insist, we’ll continue doing it your way."

He admittedly found the constant reporting somewhat troublesome.

But Kenichi had already made his decision.

Amado had no reason to argue further.

From his perspective, as long as the arrangement did not interfere too heavily with the experiments, it was acceptable.

More importantly, Amado understood perfectly well who had given him everything he currently possessed.

No matter how impressive Toneri behaved, Kenichi’s instructions still carried far greater weight in Amado’s mind.

"I also have a strict surveillance plan for Toneri."

Kenichi smiled and patted Amado on the shoulder.

"Of course, I probably won’t personally monitor him forever."

"When that time comes, I’ll hand Toneri over to Hagoromo."

"Strictly speaking, Hagoromo can be considered one of Toneri’s ancestors anyway, even if this Toneri is only a clone."

Kenichi was not particularly confident about Toneri’s personality.

The clone simply behaved too coldly.

After Kenichi resolved the issue involving the Otsutsuki Clan and eventually returned to his original timeline, he had no intention of bringing Toneri with him.

Toneri would remain in this world.

He could continue pursuing whatever life or goals he eventually chose.

But responsibility for supervising him would be transferred to Hagoromo.

Considering their bloodline connection, Hagoromo was probably the most appropriate person.

"I understand."

Amado did not argue further.

The two returned to the laboratory.

Once there, Kenichi took Toneri away.

It was time for another experiment.

...

Inside the experimental chamber, Kenichi looked at the gene sequences displayed on the computer.

After hesitating briefly, he selected the first isolated sequence.

Then he prepared to insert it throughout Toneri’s body.

Full-body genetic editing had once been an extremely difficult problem for Kenichi.

Originally, he had no idea how to modify every cell individually.

Trying to alter them one at a time would have been absurdly slow.

Eventually, however, Kenichi realized he did not need to do that.

He could create something similar to a biological program.

The inserted genetic fragment could be given a specific instruction.

Whenever it encountered a genetic sequence that lacked the target segment, it would automatically integrate itself into the correct location.

With that method, Kenichi only needed to initiate the process once.

Everything afterward would proceed automatically.

In principle, it sounded somewhat like running a computer program.

But when reduced to its fundamentals, it was actually a specialized ninjutsu application.

Of course, the technique only sounded simple.

Its requirements were extremely high.

The most basic requirement was the Rinnegan.

The Rinnegan allowed control over attractive and repulsive forces.

Kenichi’s method of programming genetic insertion was essentially an extremely fine application of those ocular abilities.

Instead of manipulating large physical objects, he was applying those forces at an incredibly small biological scale.

"Toneri."

Kenichi looked toward him.

"Are you ready?"

Toneri nodded calmly.

Then he closed his eyes.

Kenichi began the genetic insertion.

The process proceeded smoothly.

Once the sequence had been successfully integrated, however, Kenichi did not relax.

Instead, he immediately began observing Toneri with heightened attention.

Gene insertion was never simple.

Human genetic structures were already tightly interconnected.

Adding even a single additional gene could create a chain reaction.

In particularly severe cases, the entire genetic structure could collapse.

And genetic collapse had an extraordinarily high fatality rate.

Therefore, Kenichi had to remain constantly alert.

If Toneri displayed any abnormal reaction, Kenichi would immediately remove the inserted sequence and restore the previous genetic state.

He had already prepared the necessary ninjutsu for reversing the modification.

That requirement also created another problem.

Kenichi could not hand this experiment over to ordinary researchers.

He had to perform it himself.

Currently, only three people in the Shinobi World possessed the Rinnegan.

Kenichi.

Hagoromo.

And Madara.

Neither Hagoromo nor Madara was particularly suitable for this kind of laboratory work.

So the responsibility naturally fell to Kenichi.

"How do you feel?"

Kenichi glanced at the electrocardiogram and the various monitoring instruments around Toneri.

Then he immediately looked toward the clone.

Toneri shook his head without hesitation.

"Nothing unusual."

"I don’t feel any discomfort."

Kenichi rubbed his brow.

He had expected that answer.

Genes were extraordinarily complicated.

That was precisely what made identifying the function of individual fragments so difficult.

Right now, Kenichi did not possess a convenient database that could simply tell him what every sequence did.

The Shinobi World had no comprehensive gene bank.

There was no existing reference material.

Everything had to be built from scratch.

Every sequence needed to be tested.

Observed.

Recorded.

Compared.

Then tested again.

Thinking about the amount of work ahead, Kenichi pinched the bridge of his nose.

Fortunately, this world possessed Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Without Shadow Clones, even analyzing and cataloging a single section of genetic information might consume an absurd amount of his personal time.

Kenichi opened his experimental log and began writing.

[Preliminary Gene Mapping Procedure]

[After inserting a target gene into the experimental subject, closely observe all physiological, neurological, chakra-related, and behavioral changes.]

[Maintain observation for three hours.]

[If no abnormal symptoms appear during that period, remove the inserted gene sequence and restore the subject’s original genetic state.]

[After restoration, insert the next target gene and repeat the process.]

Kenichi finished recording the procedure.

He obviously could not remain here personally watching Toneri every hour of every day.

He had too many other projects.

His next priority was returning to the time machine research.

Kaguya’s genetic research had now officially entered the experimental-testing stage.

How long it would take to obtain meaningful results...

Kenichi had no idea.

There was nothing he could do about that.

All he could do was proceed step by step.

Observe.

Test.

Record.

Repeat.

Eventually, enough data would accumulate to produce the answers he wanted.

The entire process was destined to be long and exhausting.

But genetics research was simply like that.

There were no shortcuts.

Kenichi briefly considered producing several more Toneri clones to accelerate the work.

But Toneri’s circumstances were special.

If he cultivated another batch through accelerated growth, each clone would also need to awaken the Tenseigan.

After that, they would require additional time to adapt to it.

That would create even more work at the beginning.

Kenichi sighed.

Then he reconsidered.

"Forget it."

"I should put another batch of Toneri clones on the schedule."

"One experimental subject is simply too slow."

He calculated briefly.

"Let’s cultivate ten."

"If all ten undergo genetic sequencing experiments simultaneously, the research speed should increase substantially."

With that decision made, Kenichi added yet another project to his growing list.

....

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