With the experiment reaching a temporary bottleneck, Rokuro decided to take a day off—to clear his head before pushing any further.
But the next morning, Hyūga Hizashi and Inuzuka Hana came knocking at his door. Rokuro welcomed them into the living room, but soon noticed Hizashi giving him a subtle look.
"Mom, I've got something to discuss with them," Rokuro said simply, before leading the two downstairs into the basement.
Once the door closed behind them, a puff of smoke burst from Hana's body—revealing not a woman, but a middle-aged man with the Byakugan gleaming in his eyes.
"Rokuro," Hizashi said, "let me introduce you. This is Hyūga Taiki, the most senior active jōnin among our Branch Family."
Rokuro immediately understood the situation. After exchanging brief courtesies, Taiki suddenly activated his Byakugan and turned his gaze toward the intricate sealing formulae etched on the walls of the basement.
"This… I can't see through it?"
His voice trembled slightly in disbelief. Hizashi activated his own Byakugan for confirmation, scanning the walls before exhaling deeply.
"Taiki, now you believe me, don't you?"
From their exchange, Rokuro had already pieced together what was going on.
"My apologies, Rokuro," Hizashi admitted. "Taiki and the others weren't entirely convinced about your skill in sealing techniques. That's why we delayed for seven days."
Rokuro nodded faintly. "So, I take it you've all made up your minds?"
Hizashi and Taiki exchanged a glance. The latter said nothing more.
"Yes. I've gathered ten elite members from the Hyūga Branch Family. We've all reached an agreement. Over the next ten days, they'll use the Transformation Technique to take on my appearance and come to you. You can then study their Caged Bird seals and extract blood samples under that pretext."
"Hmm… that arrangement works nicely," Rokuro replied. "Since we're all part of the same team, meeting up won't raise suspicion. The Main Family and the Root Division shouldn't notice a thing."
As members of Konoha's great ninja clans—especially the Hyūga, masters of reconnaissance—Hizashi and Taiki had already detected surveillance the moment they entered the Uchiha compound.
And in Konoha, there was only one organization shameless enough to spy so blatantly on their own allies: Root.
Even the ANBU, despite being under the Hokage's direct command, wouldn't stoop to something so disgraceful.
Once they finalized their plan, Hizashi eagerly asked about the progress of the Caged Bird removal technique.
"No need to rush, Captain Hizashi," Rokuro replied. "I already have some leads, but considering what's at stake—your very lives—I'll need more samples for precision. You said there'll be ten participants, correct? Including you, that makes eleven."
Hizashi nodded.
"In that case," Rokuro continued, "I estimate results within six months."
"Six… months?"
The moment he said it, both Hizashi and Taiki drew sharp breaths. Just the thought of breaking free from that curse-like seal within half a year made their hearts race uncontrollably.
"Roughly," Rokuro said with a small smile. "At most, eight months. But during this period, I'll need your full cooperation."
"Understood."
Once the discussion ended, Rokuro began his examination of Taiki's Caged Bird mark. After a detailed record, he drew 200 milliliters of blood for analysis.
When they left the basement, Taiki transformed back into Inuzuka Hana's form and departed quietly.
Over the next nine days, nine different Hyūga Branch ninjas visited one by one—all disguised as Hizashi.
Rokuro followed the same routine each time: record the seal, draw blood.
Of course, for Rokuro, this was more performance than necessity. The Caged Bird seal, to him, was nothing more than a trivial technique—he could break it with ease.
But things obtained too easily hold little value. So he deliberately slowed the process, crafting an illusion of painstaking research.
The real key lay in the blood samples. They were invaluable to his deeper genetic studies.
In a secret laboratory outside the village, Rokuro, Uchiha Kei, and Uchiha Ashikaga gathered around a computer screen, analyzing the fully mapped Hyūga genetic sequence.
"This should be the optimal configuration," Rokuro said. "We've already excluded the sequences that cause hereditary diseases or deformities. Of course, this is still theoretical. We'll need further testing to confirm."
Staring at the gene chart, Rokuro couldn't help feeling a twinge of envy toward those protagonists who ended up in high-tech worlds.
He didn't even need something too futuristic—just a world with true artificial intelligence. With advanced AI, he could simulate endless genetic models in seconds, narrowing down the ideal sequence instantly.
Even if live testing was still required, the element of chance would drop dramatically. Time, cost—everything would be streamlined.
But this was the Naruto world, where chakra replaced science. In basic research, it barely matched modern Earth, let alone a civilization with AI.
He sighed. "Forget it. With chakra alone, I can already accelerate the experiments. No point in being greedy."
Following the gene map, the trio synthesized a new batch of serum and injected it into the test mice. Then, using Medical Ninjutsu, Rokuro accelerated the fusion between serum and tissue.
The result…
"Again? How did it fail again?!"
Rokuro's voice echoed through the lab. Over 90% of the mice were dead. The few survivors were severely crippled—half-paralyzed, blind, or convulsing.
He grabbed at his hair in frustration, nearly tearing it out.
Beside him, Kei slumped into a chair, eyes glazed over, looking as defeated as a salted fish that had lost its will to swim.
Only Ashikaga remained calm, still seated before the computer, her eyes fixed on the data.
"…Maybe we should take a few days off," Rokuro muttered helplessly. "Sometimes the answer only comes when you stop forcing it."
He turned to leave—but Ashikaga suddenly stood up.
"Rokuro. Don't you think we've been approaching this the wrong way from the start?"
He frowned. "Wrong way? Mom, I'm certain the Hyūga bloodline can produce immense power once integrated. That's not the problem!"
As a lifelong Naruto fan, Rokuro refused to believe the premise itself was flawed. Every plan he'd made was rooted in canonical knowledge. If even that couldn't be trusted, he might as well give up.
Ashikaga waved her hand gently. "Calm down. I'm not saying the experiment is wrong. I'm saying—if the Hyūga bloodline is that powerful, shouldn't its vessel be equally exceptional?"
Rokuro froze, realization dawning.
"You mean… a powerful force needs a powerful body to contain it? Of course! That's obvious! How could I overlook something so basic?!"
He laughed, half in frustration, half in self-mockery.
He'd been too influenced by the original series—assuming that simply merging the bloodline would automatically awaken immense power. He thought the Byakugan would evolve, perhaps even reach the level of the Tenseigan.
But he'd forgotten one crucial fact:
The stronger the power, the stronger the vessel must be.
Ordinary lab mice—fragile creatures weaker than even humans—couldn't possibly endure the might of the Hyūga bloodline. The miracle wasn't that they died; it was that any survived at all.
"Mom, you're right. Our next step should be strengthening the mice's bodies. Let's begin immediately!"
Rokuro grabbed the still-dazed Kei by the arm and pulled her up. The exhaustion vanished from his face, replaced by the spark of new inspiration.
Once again, the three threw themselves into the whirlpool of research
their experiment taking a new and dangerous turn.
END OF CHAPTER
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