Chapter 28

For the time being, the war had nothing to do with Bai Shi. Although the impending war made him somewhat uneasy, even if he were to go to the battlefield, it would not be until two years later.

Be optimistic, maybe the war will be over in two years, right?

Moreover, the war had its benefits. Due to the war, the manpower in Konoha was somewhat insufficient, and the ANBU Black Ops under the Hokage would definitely be busy every day. Who would pay attention to a small, unnoticed student like him from the Ninja Academy?

The attention of the Hokage and other high-ranking officials was all drawn to the Sand Hidden Village ninjas.

— In the underground laboratory of the Ryū family in the Uchiha clan area.

The laboratory, about a hundred square meters in size, was equipped with complete electrical facilities, illuminating it as bright as daylight.

In the middle was an open space for people to walk, and electronic testing equipment and operating tables were also placed there.

Large transparent cylinders filled with green liquid contained parts extracted from animals. After unknown levels and methods of catalysis, they had transformed into extremely bizarre forms.

Bai Shi held a glass test tube in his hand, which contained a highly condensed light green liquid energy. This was the natural energy that Bai Shi had extracted from the earth and air.

"How is it going? Any progress?"

Ryū, who had come down from above, asked about the progress of the natural energy research.

To help Bai Shi conduct his research stably, whether it was equipment or materials, Ryū would find a way to obtain them.

The manpower and funds spent on this were incomparable to the small-scale experiments of the past.

"It's not working. Although the natural energy lasts a bit longer than before, the time it remains materialized is still too short."

Bai Shi sighed, put down the test tube, and the light green liquid energy inside began to dilute without warning, becoming lighter and lighter until it turned blank, leaving the test tube empty.

The natural energy had already evaporated completely.

If the natural energy was not fused with other substances while it was materialized, this situation would occur.

Of course, it was not impossible to use it. As long as it was utilized before it evaporated, it could still be used.

However, the efficiency of sustainable use would be slightly lower.

After all, the process of receiving, refining, and solidifying natural energy was very complicated, and it required some metals with ultra-high chakra conductivity as auxiliary materials.

Therefore, refining natural energy was not only a complex process but also very expensive.

"Moreover, the most important issue is not this."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, these various animal parts have been transformed into these bizarre forms after being infused with natural energy on the basis of chakra, forming sage chakra and being absorbed."

Bai Shi walked to a large glass cylinder and tapped it with his finger, producing a crisp sound. The creature inside showed no reaction, as if it were a lifeless object.

"What does this mean?"

"In other words, using sage chakra comes with a very terrifying risk."

Bai Shi's eyes became deep, with an indescribable color.

He walked to a bookshelf, picked up a scroll, and spread it out on the table, pointing to a line of text.

"Dragon Cave, Mount Myōboku, and Shikkotsu Forest are called the three sacred places. It is said that one can cultivate sage techniques in these places. However, the sage techniques passed down from the three sacred places seem to be different from our human processing systems. After learning them, corresponding biological characteristics will appear."

At this point, Bai Shi couldn't help but sigh.

"The Uchiha clan's collection of books is truly rich. Although the specific cultivation methods have not been investigated, these materials have given me a lot of inspiration. In other words, the sage techniques of the three sacred places may not be suitable for humans. We need to find a correct and suitable sage technique system for humans from multiple paths... the workload is unimaginably large."

Bai Shi had concrete evidence that the sage technique systems of the three sacred places were not suitable for the human body.

Because the biological structures of frogs, snakes, and slugs were completely different from human life structures.

Sage techniques suitable for frogs, snakes, and slugs might conflict with the human processing system, which would greatly increase the mortality and failure rates of humans cultivating the sage techniques of the three sacred places.

The creatures in the large cylinders, which had transformed into bizarre forms after absorbing sage chakra, were the best proof.

For example, using rats as the source of sage chakra and then transferring this sage chakra to a snake's limb resulted in the snake exhibiting some characteristics of rats.

Similarly, using snakes as the source of sage chakra and transferring it to rats resulted in the rats exhibiting some characteristics of snakes.

The bizarre creatures in the large cylinders came from this process.

This was the reason Bai Shi concluded that the sage technique systems of the three sacred places were not compatible with humans.

The human body structure is more complex and diverse than that of frogs and other creatures. Once an error occurs, the consequences are unimaginable.

Without complete confidence, Bai Shi would not personally try it.

So, for now, Bai Shi could only experiment with animal bodies, and when the risk was minimized, he would then experiment with human bodies.

However, such inhumane experiments were something Bai Shi rejected.

But to master sage chakra without risk, human experiments were inevitable.

Life is not something to be taken lightly.

Saying this might sound a bit hypocritical.

However, reality has developed step by step in this way.

The more advanced medical and life sciences are, the more they cannot avoid human experiments.

All valuable experiences are built on the countless sacrifices and deaths of predecessors.

Fortunately, his sage technique research had just taken the first step. Using human experiments would be many years in the future.

Moreover, even if he could not use sage chakra, the applications of natural energy were very broad.

The vitality contained in natural energy was enormous, with extremely high medical value.

Therefore, slowing down the research on sage chakra was a very wise choice for him at present.

What he needed to do now was to maximize the utilization of natural energy to enhance his own strength.

"Ryū, can you help me find some medicinal herbs? I want to refine a new drug that can enhance physical abilities using natural energy as the base."

"What about the sage chakra experiments?"

"We need to collect more sage technique data before I can proceed with the next step of the experiment without any risk. Otherwise, the experiment of fusing sage chakra is too dangerous, and a slight mistake could lead to death. Unfortunately, we don't have much data on the sage techniques of the three sacred places, so we can only take it slowly."

Bai Shi was not eager to use sage chakra. Being able to apply natural energy was already a great bonus.

"Is that so? Sure, write down the names of the herbs you need and give me a list. I will have the ninja cats purchase and collect them as soon as possible."

Ryū had her own private channels to obtain various materials from outside without being noticed by anyone in Konoha, so purchasing medicinal herbs was not a difficult task.

Moreover, to protect the secrecy of the laboratory, Ryū had set up a large number of explosive tags around it. If outsiders intruded, Ryū would sense it and immediately activate the seals, causing all the explosive tags in the laboratory to detonate, destroying everything and the intruders along with it.

"Thank you. If war is inevitable, we need to be prepared. I have a feeling that this war will be very brutal."