Dora Shen once again demonstrated his omnipotence.
Although each time, only the Impure World Reincarnated Hashirama seemed astonished beyond words.
That didn't stop Shen from activating his ancestral skill every time, calmly waving a hand to indicate these were merely trivial matters.
The newly improved biological workstation now occupied nearly half of the underground chamber.
Transforming into an enthusiastic scientist, Shen immediately displayed his astonishing control, separating complete cells one by one from the tissue fragments left behind by Hashirama before his death.
Such exquisite technique naturally drew another round of loud exclamations from the Impure World Reincarnated Hashirama.
"This stuff is way more advanced than what Tobirama could produce!" he immediately gave it a thumbs-up.
Before departing for the battlefield in the Hot Water Country, this enthusiastic scientist had already developed a Version 8.0 serum approaching perfection.
With just minor modifications, a truly perfect serum without side effects or dependency could soon make its debut in the shinobi world.
He would use the perfect version himself, while externally deciding which version with side effects to sell based on relationships.
Shen, effortlessly making money while growing stronger, quickly completed the first batch of serums—still slightly flawed.
"The cell activity is too strong—it reassembles even after being dispersed," he muttered thoughtfully, realizing that Hashirama cells' self-healing properties were indeed difficult to manage.
But such minor issues weren't really problems at all for a brilliant scientist with powerful computational abilities and the power to overlap with reality.
"This is..." As the Impure World Reincarnated Hashirama watched him activate his Mangekyō, a previously empty glass tube suddenly filled with blue liquid.
"Version 8.2—the cell activity actually decreased."
"Version 8.3—well-balanced in all aspects, but still hasn't reached absolute perfection."
After taking a nap, Madara discovered that even the newly developed Version 11.4 still didn't satisfy Shen completely.
In fact, by Version 10.5, the serum had already been able to fully unlock the God Tree-like abilities hidden within Hashirama cells.
Yet during his research, Shen found this characteristic extremely similar to cancerous cells.
Wasn't the reason Hashirama cells were difficult to adapt because they swallowed normal cells and then reproduced identical copies?
If even normal humans found the process of 400,000 to 600,000 cancerous cells so painful,
how many Ninja among the 13 trillion-cell population could actually endure it?
Therefore, Shen wanted to completely eliminate this characteristic, retaining only their vigorous vitality and immense chakra capacity.
Even if he couldn't use Wood Release, he absolutely refused to be "assimilated" by the God Tree.
"Picky," Madara remarked truthfully, then closed his left eye again.
A man obsessed with power would never grasp the meaning of 'mental purity' in his whole life.
Frontlines of the Land of Grass.
Arriving here before nightfall, Sakumo shared a hearty manly hug with Jiraiya, someone he hadn't seen in ages.
The friendship forged through life-and-death experiences in the Land of Lightning filled them both with nostalgic memories of their shared past.
"Do you know how satisfying it is to blast the Five-Tailed Beast with a rocket launcher?"
"Do you know how exhilarating it is to engage in a life-or-death battle, fistfighting with the current Commander of Kumogakure?"
"Do you know how difficult it is to trek back from the Land of Earth to the Land of Grass in the dead of night?"
"Do you know how sad it is to return home exhausted at midnight?"
To Jiraiya, Sakumo discussing family matters so openly felt like shameless bragging with no regard for others—especially in front of unattached men.
"Friendship's over!" Feeling hurt and unloved, he immediately turned away.
Leaving Sakumo alone in the wind, experiencing chaotic emotions.
He just couldn't understand why a couple of grumbles from him would spark such an overreaction.
"Could it be..." He suddenly recalled past events drunkenly revealed by the other person, and finally understood everything.
"It seems that Jiraiya has issues in *that* area."
After all, a married man's first thought would naturally go there.
But where exactly was "there"?
Anyway, several days later, a shocking headline unexpectedly appeared on the Grass Country front line.
"The Third Hokage's Top Student? His Fighting Power Can't Be This Weak!"
An Uchiha who excelled at hiding his achievements and reputation made a phone call to the editor-in-chief of the newspaper.
Then a full exposé on why Jiraiya had been sneaking peeks into female hot springs since he was a kid spread across the whole Land of Fire.
Jiraiya, who had ignored Sakumo for over half a month, instantly took off chasing him sword in hand.
"Sakumo, I never thought you'd be this petty!"
"Wait, let me explain—"
The sword fell, and a lock of silver-white hair drifted down.
Jiraiya thought this terrifying revenge was all because of the 'Friendship's over' thing he said that day.
Sakumo, who had mysteriously been framed, immediately reported the unethical journalist: "It must have been that reporter!"
"Reporter?" Jiraiya swung his blade without hesitation.
Dodging barely in time, Sakumo truly felt speechless.
"You even brought the journalist along!" Jiraiya yelled, redoubling his pursuit.
This was the first time Sakumo realized the terrifying power of false rumors.
Given a second chance, he vowed to hold himself to a much higher standard.
He also thought that if he were the one being targeted by these rumors, he probably wouldn't have been able to bear it—and might've taken his own life.
"Let's die together!"
Ducking the attack in a miserable state, Sakumo recognized the problem with his fragile mindset.
"I must become stronger!" After once again having his hair cut short, he resolved that his future self must have a heart forged in fire, unbreakable through every trial.
The legendary 'White Fang', who originally committed suicide due to public humiliation, seemed to have overcome his mental struggles just like this.
At this very moment, deep underground in a small chamber,
Ver. 19.0 of the Super Hashirama Serum had finally been successfully created.
After more than half a month of research—though it felt like who knows how many years had passed—Shen collapsed onto the ground exhausted at the moment of completion.
He felt a strong sense of accomplishment over the light blue serum that had no side effects, dramatically enhanced physical abilities in every aspect, and ensured that his body's cells could never be transformed or assimilated into Hashirama cells.
"Heh... Hahahaha..." Shen chuckled at first, then burst into laughter—until suddenly, tears rolled down his face.
Originally, in this underground chamber, the two elderly men could still squeeze out some time to let him rest properly.
But now, after injecting this Super Hashirama Serum, even faking recovery to take a break would likely become a luxury.
With Impure World Reincarnated Hashirama around—whose chakra reserves were essentially inexhaustible—it would be hard to make excuses like saying the serum injection required massive amounts of energy.
It felt like going from a 996 desk jockey to a nonstop 007 workhorse. Shen couldn't help thinking his reincarnation must've been a mistake.
Yet under Madara's captivating gaze through the Sharingan, he obediently prepared all the necessary equipment anyway.
If fighting fate was pointless, why not just go with the flow? … Ahem, ahem.
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