Inside the Night Watchman's Bell Tower at Cassell College.
The Night Watchman Flamel stood before the table, which was covered with various large and small alchemy documents.
The Night Watchman picked up Cheng Sui's blood report again, scratching his head in distress.
Angers sat in a lounge chair, his feet resting on the table, and took a sip of red wine. "My old friend, that's the fifteenth time you've done that today. What exactly is wrong with Cheng Sui's bloodline?"
"There's nothing wrong with his bloodline."
The Night Watchman shook the quartz glass tube containing Cheng Sui's blood in front of Angers. The blood, which was dark red when first drawn, was now crystal clear and tempting, like perfectly aged wine. "But having no problem is the biggest problem. With his level of dragon gene content, he shouldn't have been able to defeat Caesar that day."
Angers gently shook his wine glass, offering no opinion.
"And his blood sample is too strange," the Night Watchman said, pointing to the data on the blood report. "The fibrinogen in his plasma is five times that of a normal person, his red blood cells are three times normal, and the mitochondrial content in his cells is ten times normal. He's practically a superman."
The Night Watchman continued, "The only thing I can imagine achieving this physique is a Pure-blood Dragon. But I've been studying his blood for days, and I almost—no, I'm certain he is not a dragon. But this is too strange; it has gone beyond the scope of what science and alchemy can explain."
Angers put down his feet from the table, raised his glass, and toasted his old friend across the table. "So, our academy superstar isn't a dragon, right? Cheers, old friend. You've worked hard these past few days."
As Angers spoke, he moved closer to the Night Watchman, and his free hand snatched the blood report from the Night Watchman's grasp with lightning speed, tearing it into shreds in one go.
"Angers, what are you doing? That was precious experimental data!"
Angers gave a flippant whistle, clearly in a good mood. "It's a democratic society now. Young people pursue individuality. Isn't it normal to have a few secrets? We only need to know that he isn't a dragon."
"It's too boring to get to the bottom of everything. You and I have lived for over a hundred years; scrutinizing every detail is exhausting and will give you wrinkles."
Angers picked up the quartz glass tube from the Night Watchman's table, along with the blood report remnants, and tossed them into the roaring flames of the attic fireplace. The blood instantly vaporized. Everything related to Cheng Sui's blood was destroyed by Angers.
"Old friend, you'll keep this secret for me, right?" Angers winked at the Night Watchman.
The Night Watchman sighed helplessly, poured a mouthful of wine down his throat, curled up in the lounge chair, and waved his hand impatiently. "What can I do when you act like this? Don't worry, the Board of Directors won't find out about Cheng Sui. Oh right, aren't you going to conduct a private 3E Test for him? Though I doubt the results will be of much use anymore."
Angers pondered, "The White King's Kotodama: Divine Oracle is the only Kotodama that can free the Dragon Clan from the Black King's control. That's why those white kings descendant descendants in Japan are unaffected by Kotodama: Emperor, and naturally, they don't generate Spiritual Sense. Do you think Cheng Sui might be of the white kings descendant?"
"Impossible. If he were of the white kings descendant, he wouldn't have generated Spiritual Sense upon enrollment, and he wouldn't have been rated C-class," the Night Watchman immediately denied. But then, as if something occurred to him, he mused, "Could it be that he possesses both the Black King and white kings descendants simultaneously? The powers of the two bloodlines counterbalance each other internally, but have now achieved unification, allowing him to burst forth with this kind of power."
The Night Watchman's eyes shone, like a high school student who had found the solution to the final, most difficult math problem, scribbling continuously on the kraft paper.
"But there have been precedents of European Hybrids intermarrying with Japanese Hybrids, and a situation like Cheng Sui's has never appeared before," Angers said, his expression unchanged.
"That's why he is the most special, he is unique. You know, the Nibelungen Project I've been focused on researching is essentially using an alchemical matrix to suppress the mutation caused when a bloodline exceeds its critical point."
The Night Watchman flipped through Cheng Sui's file. "If Cheng Sui truly possesses both the White King and Black King bloodlines, and the White King's spiritual element suppresses the Black King's bloodline, do you know what that means?"
The Night Watchman stared into Angers' eyes, his pupils reflecting the fireplace flames. "He is practically a born Super Hybrid, and he might be the first person to successfully walk The Path to Deification."
Angers fell silent, simply drinking his red wine quietly.
Silence descended upon the Bell Tower attic, broken only by the rustling sound of the Night Watchman turning pages... Norton Hall, basement.
The originally empty basement had been converted into a training ground, with several wooden stake dummies placed in the center.
Cheng Sui moved continuously through the training ground like a phantom. His body, strengthened by training through the first four of the Eight Gates, was so fast that his figure was impossible to catch.
Although his speed only left behind afterimages, Cheng Sui's gaze remained fixed on the dummy in the center of the field.
His hands flew, Cheng Sui quickly formed hand signs, and the Chakra within his body began to surge.
Ox—Dog—Dragon—Rat—Dog—Boar—Snake—Tiger.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!
But Cheng Sui did not pull a shuriken from his pocket; instead, he pulled a Glock Pistol from his waist.
Grasping the Glock with one hand, Cheng Sui aimed at the dummy and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!" A flash of fire erupted, and the bullet shot out of the barrel rapidly.
While the bullet was in flight, plumes of smoke burst around it, and dozens more bullets appeared out of thin air around the one Cheng Sui had fired, shooting toward the dummy at the same speed.
All the Glock bullets were vented onto the dummy, riddling it with holes.
Another burst of smoke erupted, and the bullets Cheng Sui had created using Chakra vanished, leaving only the original fired bullet in the dummy.
Cheng Sui let out a long breath. His skin was slightly red, and his body heat evaporated his sweat, causing white steam to diffuse around him.
This was Cheng Sui's fourth hour in the basement. Cheng Sui had been experimenting with his various Ninjutsu and attempting to further develop them.
For example, applying the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to a pistol, as he just did, was a successful re-development of Ninjutsu by Cheng Sui.
It's the 21st century; who still uses iron throwing stars?
Sir, times have changed!
However, looking at the devastated basement, Cheng Sui felt a pang of heartache. How much would the repair fees be?
[Danzo Shimura used Root to thoroughly investigate your background, ruling out the possibility of you being a spy from another village, and was astonished by your growth, internally acknowledging you as a genius of Konoha Village.]
[Mission Complete: Dissipate Danzo's suspicion regarding your identity and gain Danzo's trust.]
[Mission Completion Reward: Hashirama cells transplant (no rejection effect), Wind Release: Vacuum Great Ball.]
Cheng Sui raised an eyebrow. It seemed his blood test results were out. He wondered what expressions the Principal and the Night Watchman would have when they saw his pitifully low dragon gene content.
What Cheng Sui didn't know was that his status in the Night Watchman's mind was constantly rising; the Night Watchman had even formulated a reason for his sudden increase in strength.