RNP Chapter 92 An Attempt at Atavism
Chapter 92 An Attempt at Atavism
Chapter 92 An Attempt at Atavism
Dark as ink.
The Kikyo Pavilion, basement.
Decades ago, this was a morgue. Now, it's a laboratory.
The shadowless lamp—a spotlight that Sosuke commissioned from the land of craftsmen at great expense—illuminated the operating table in a stark white light.
On the operating table lay half of a Kaguya clan corpse.
It was cut open.
Even though the body had been dead for several days, its muscle fibers still resembled tightly twisted steel cables, and its skin was grayish-white and as hard as leather.
The most conspicuous feature is the pale white bone protruding from the shoulders and ribs.
That's not an inanimate object.
Within Sousuke's snake-like vision in his left eye, there was still an extremely stubborn chakra reaction inside these bones.
It was a desire to continue growing.
"What a beautiful structure."
A hoarse voice rang out from the shadows.
Orochimaru was wearing a white coat and gloves, and holding a scalpel.
His eyes were burning with fervor as he stared intently at the cut-open cross-section of the bone.
"Look, Sosuke-kun."
Orochimaru used the tip of his sword to sever a nerve.
"The bones of an ordinary person are a supporting structure, a rigid calcification."
"But the skeletons of the Kaguya clan are living organs."
"Their periosteum is covered with an extremely rich network of capillaries and nerve endings. This means that they can control the growth, deformation, and ejection of each bone, just like controlling a finger."
Sosuke silently recorded this scene.
"Such extreme mutations come at a price."
"That's right."
Orochimaru nodded.
"The price is lifespan."
"To maintain such steel-like bone density, the hematopoietic stem cells of the Kaguya clan must operate at an excessive capacity."
"Their cells divide three times faster than normal."
"Therefore, most of them died young and were extremely bloodthirsty."
"Because if they don't kill, if they don't release that excess life force, their own bodies will collapse from growing pains."
This is the ultimate manifestation of hematopoietic disorders.
A perfect weapon evolved for war, yet also a cursed short-lived creature.
In the corner, Chiba is standing in front of a microscope.
His voice trembled.
"Mr. Sosuke, Lord Orochimaru—I've extracted it. Bone marrow activating factor."
Chiba held up a test tube.
There was less than one milliliter of liquid inside.
It wasn't red, but silvery-white. Heavy like mercury, it flowed slowly in the test tube.
"This is the origin of the Kaguya clan."
Chiba's eyes were filled with infatuation.
"It is extremely aggressive. I just put a drop on a plate of ordinary cells in a culture dish—"
"As a result, ordinary cells are engulfed. Or rather, assimilated into bone structure."
Chiba pointed to the microscope next to him.
On the slide, the originally red cell clusters had turned into a small, hard calcified spot.
"Terrifying rejection."
Sousuke frowned.
"Can this thing really be injected into Hyuga Masahiro's body?"
"If it were a direct injection, he would die."
Orochimaru took the test tube.
"He will become skeletal, draining his own cells."
"but----"
Orochimaru looked at Sousuke.
"If the historical records you provided are accurate, Mr. Sosuke, there shouldn't be any problems."
"The Hyuga clan and the Kaguya clan were actually related by blood in ancient times—interesting, very interesting."
"I'm absolutely certain. And not only that—"
Sousuke said.
"White eyes, corpse bone veins. If we trace them back to their origins, they may have come from the same ancestor."
This is a secret of the ninja world. Apart from Black Zetsu and Sousuke, probably no one else knows it.
Even Orochimaru, an archaeology fanatic, only had a basic understanding of the relationship between Kaguya Otsutsuki's two sons—Hagoromo and Hamura.
But Sosuke brought him the most shocking truth—
The Hyuga clan are descendants of Hamura. So are the Kaguya clan.
This is an attempt at "atavism".
"Although the bloodline has been diluted for thousands of years, the underlying genetic lock is still there."
Orochimaru put the test tube back on the shelf.
What we need to do is not force integration.
Rather—it was deception.
"cheat?"
"Yes." Orochimaru's eyes were deep. "The paralyzing cell recognition system makes Hyuga's body believe that this foreign bone marrow is a part that it has lost."
"Sousuke-kun, do you still have any of your liquid natural energy?"
Sosuke nodded.
"have."
"That's good."
Orochimaru took off his gloves.
"That's the highest grade of solvent. Natural energy is the origin of the world; it encompasses everything."
"Using it to harmonize these two domineering bloodlines might create a miracle."
Orochimaru turned around and looked into the next room.
There, the paralyzed Hyuga Katsu was lying on a specially made operating table.
He was washed clean and completely naked, with only his private parts covered by a white cloth.
Tsubaki stood to the side, holding a razor blade, having just shaved off Hyuga Masaru's hair and body hair.
Aseptic technique is required for the surgery.
Hyuga Katsumi is awake.
His eyes were wide open, staring at the shadowless lamp on the ceiling.
Are you afraid?
Of course there are.
But more often than not, it's a desperate, all-or-nothing decision.
As a member of a divided family and a paralyzed, disabled person, he had nothing left to lose.
Sosuke went inside.
"Are you ready, Mr. Katsu?"
Hyuga Masaru's eyes flickered as he looked at Sousuke.
"Let's begin."
His voice was calm.
"If it doesn't work, please kill me. I don't want to become a monster."
"rest assured."
Sosuke put on a mask.
"If you become a monster, I will turn you into a specimen and keep you with Chiba forever."
This is a lame joke that isn't funny at all.
But Hyuga Masaru actually twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Then—I'll have to trouble you."
The operation has begun.
This was destined to be an extremely bloody operation.
Orochimaru was the one who performed the surgery.
The assistant is Chiba.
Sosuke was responsible for monitoring and providing the "solvent".
"I'm going to cut it open."
Orochimaru's voice was as cold as ice.
The scalpel sliced across Hyuga Katsu's back.
No anesthesia was used. The nervous system needed to be kept active to observe the fusion of the bone marrow.
"Well-!!!"
Hyuga Masaru's body instinctively wanted to convulse, but he was tightly bound by the restraints.
The skin and flesh were peeled off, revealing the stark white spine.
That is the skeleton of the human body, and also the highway for chakra transmission.
At this moment, the dragon bone appeared somewhat dull, and the surrounding nerve bundles showed a withered, grayish color.
"Nerve necrosis level 30%".
Chiba calmly counted off the numbers from the side.
"If we don't intervene, he really won't be able to stand up again in this lifetime."
"drilling."
Orochimaru picked up a specially made bone drill.
Zi—
A teeth-grinding, grinding sound.
The drill bit pierced Hyuga Katsu's third lumbar vertebra. Bone fragments flew everywhere.
Hyuga Masaru's eyes bulged out, his eyeballs bloodshot. The pain was so intense it could send someone into shock.
But he persevered.
"Good willpower."
Orochimaru gave a word of praise.
"This kind of willpower might make him the best candidate for my research on cursed seals—unfortunately, he is Hyuga."
Drilling complete.
Next comes the most crucial step.
Orochimaru picked up the syringe containing Kaguya's bone marrow.
The needle was thick and gleamed coldly.
"injection."
The needle was inserted into a hole in the spine.
Press the lever.
The silvery-white essence of the Corpse Bone Vein was forcibly pushed into Hyuga Masaru's body.
one second.
two seconds.
A deathly silence.
Sudden.
"Aaaaaaah!!!"
Hyuga Katsu suddenly arched his body, managing to break free of a leather restraint strap!
An anomaly has occurred.
In Sousuke's snake-eye vision, the silvery-white liquid, once it entered his spinal cord, was like molten lava poured into ice water.
The Hyuga clan's chakra, which was originally more feminine, was instantly enraged.
Two bloodlines were locked in a fierce battle within the spine.
puff!
Suddenly, large lumps appeared on the skin of Hyuga Masaru's back.
Those are bones.
That's because his spine began to proliferate and mutate under the stimulation of the Kaguya Factor.
Sharp bone spurs grew wildly like weeds, almost piercing the skin.
"Rejection reaction! Intensity S!"
Chiba shouted, nearly breaking the pen in his hand.
"His temperature is soaring! 42 degrees! 43 degrees!"
"The cells are collapsing! Kaguya's genes are devouring his!"
Chiba's face turned deathly pale.
He had conducted many experiments, but he had never seen anything like this—a war inside the human body.
This is like a monster emerging from its cocoon.
"It can't be suppressed anymore."
Orochimaru calmly watched all of this, even having the leisure to lick the corner of his mouth.
"The Byakugan bloodline of the Hinata clan, although it shares the same origin as Kaguya's, has been diverging for too long."
"It's like a wolf and a dog. Although they are both canines, if wolf blood is injected into a dog, the dog will be burned to death."
Hyuga Katsumi began to bleed from his seven orifices.
His eyes rolled back, and the veins at the corners of his eyes turned purplish-black from bloodshot eyes.
"Kill me—kill me—"
He was screaming.
The pain of having your bones dissolve and reform is beyond hell.
"Sousuke-kun."
Orochimaru turned to look at Sousuke.
"Quickly inject natural energy, or your test subject will turn into a bunch of proliferating bone tumors."
Sosuke took out a bottle of liquid natural energy.
His left eye, with its snake-like pupil, stared at the chaotic energy vortex on Hyuga Katsura's spine.
He was looking for a starting point. It had to be precise. If he misjudged it, the natural energy would accelerate the cell's collapse.
"here."
The snake's eyes locked onto a point. It was the epicenter of the fiercest battle between the two bloodlines.
"Chiba, open up the wound!"
Chiba immediately used a debridement device to open the incision on her back.
Sosuke poured the golden liquid directly onto the mutated vertebrae.
The sound was like the sizzling of a red-hot iron block being dropped into cold water.
Liquid natural energy, like a thick layer of grease, enveloped the raging bone marrow factors.
It neutralized the aggressiveness of the Kaguya factor.
It also nourished Hyuga Masaru's cells, which were on the verge of collapse.
Natural energy is neutral.
It belongs neither to Kaguya nor to Hyuga. It is the will of the world.
Soothed by Mother Earth, the two fighting children finally quieted down.
The bone spurs on my spine have stopped growing.
The redness and swelling subsided. The terrifying rejection reaction gradually calmed down.
The silvery-white bone marrow began to flow slowly throughout the body along with the spinal fluid.
Hyuga Katsu stopped screaming.
He fainted. His breathing was weak but steady.
"Did you succeed?" Chiba asked.
Orochimaru reached out and touched Hyuga Masaru's spine.
"A very interesting tactile sensation."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
"Bone density has increased several times. Nerve bundles—although still repairing, have been reconnected."
"Besides that, there are his eyes. Look—"
Everyone looked over.
Although Hyuga Masaru was unconscious, his eyeballs were moving slightly beneath his eyelids.
Her originally fair eyelids now had a faint hint of gray.
"The white eye has mutated."
Orochimaru came to a conclusion.
"The fusion of bone and eye. Though imperfect, something new was born."
"What a wonderful surgery."
Orochimaru took off his blood-stained surgical gown and threw it on the ground.
He looked at Sosuke with a newfound approval in his eyes.
"Sousuke-kun, what you said about history is correct. I'm going to raise my assessment of your value again."
Sosuke wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"As long as you're alive, that's enough."
He looked at Hyuga Katsumi on the operating table.
He survived.
Moreover, they are no longer the useless, dismembered family members who can be slaughtered at will.
A Hyuga clan member who has incorporated the characteristics of the Shikotsumyaku (Corpse Bone Pulse).
What kind of existence would that be?
"Further observation will be left to Chiba."
Orochimaru turned and walked into the shadows.
"I took some samples back for analysis. No need to send them back."
His figure disappeared.
"Chiba, stitch him up."
Sousuke ordered.
"Use silver thread."
"Yes."
Sosuke walked out of the operating room.
He went into the corridor, leaned against the wall, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The snake in the left eye remained coiled peacefully in its socket. It seemed to be frightened by the violent energy clash that had just occurred.
"This world—"
"As long as you dare to gamble, nothing is unchangeable."
Even bloodlines can be altered.
What about fate?
Can that so-called caged bird still hold this mutated body in check?