"Honestly," Ryu grumbled, loud enough for Shizune to hear from the hallway, "I should have known better than to constantly bring up Auntie Tsunade's gambling habits. Now look at me."
Shizune, passing by the door, stifled a giggle, a small, suppressed sound that still reached Ryu's ears.
"I'm stuck with 'The Gambler' as a nickname!" he sighed.
Ryu sighed dramatically, picking up his bounty poster from the bedside table. The photo, likely recreated using some form of transformation jutsu, was surprisingly iconic: Ryu holding a playing card in front of his face, reminiscent of the Joker from the Dark Knight trilogy.
"R.I.P Heath Ledger," he thought, a wry smile touching his lips despite his feigned frustration.
"This has got to be the work of Mr. Beginning and Mr. End," Ryu muttered to himself, a faint grin playing on his features. "At least the photo is great."
Ryu was still in the hospital. Apparently, Tsunade had effectively taken over the entire medical facility, asserting her authority with such an iron will that no one dared to question or go against her. She had not yet cleared Ryu for discharge, citing a need for "further observation," which Ryu figured was a tactical play, a way to make his miraculous recovery seem less… sudden and also to keep him resting for now. Ryu spent his time sitting, seemingly calm, meditating, and wandering around his mental workspace.
Ryu then looked at the floating screen in front of him inside his [Mind Palace]. He decided to decode the Jisatsu Seal he had recorded from the Chunin leader of the Jisatsu squad he had killed. Ryu consciously willed his mind's eye to engage in this complex analytical task.
- [Temporary Enhance] running on [Fast Thinking] and [Parallel Thinking]
- [Overclocking] enabled
- Analysing the unnamed seal
- Progress: 1%… 2%… 15%… 45%… 78%… 99%…
- Explosion Seal codes detected
- New remote trigger mechanism identified, linked to subject's biological vital signs
As he decoded it, he found parts that were entirely new to him. Of course, there were [Explosion Seal] codes embedded within it, but a significant portion was a remote trigger seal he had never encountered before. This particular seal had a sophisticated mechanism designed to sense the vital signs of the body upon which it was placed, the very core of its unusual biological triggers.
Ryu immediately thought of the immense potential of this seal. Beyond its use in lie detection and advanced medical diagnostics, one could clearly craft weapon-grade cursed seals, much like the Jisatsu Seal, but with effects far beyond mere explosions. Since his overclocking was still active, he continued his analysis and discovered that he could detect many kinds of bio-neurological signals using this seal—heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, anxiety, and many more.
He even mused about creating a seal that could administer an electric shock to people when they lied or signal the caster of the seal. "That would be incredibly beneficial when dealing with spies from Root. Even if they cannot tell the truth due to the case seal, I can still know the information through their lies and well-crafted questions," he thought, a mischievous glint in his eye.
- Isolating the core bio-sensor component responsible for vital sign detection
- Repurposing the vital sensing mechanism for multiple biometric data recording
- Success! [Lie Detector Seal] created
- [Lie Detector Seal]: This innovative Fuinjutsu seal is designed to detect and record various bio-neurological signals, including heartbeat, breathing rate, blood pressure, and indicators of anxiety. By analyzing these subtle physiological responses, it can reliably ascertain the veracity of a subject's statements, making it an invaluable tool for interrogation and intelligence gathering
"This will be an excellent tool for interrogating high-value and non-cooperating targets," Ryu thought to himself, a sense of satisfaction washing over him. "The Information and Interrogation Department of ANBU would find immense value in this seal. After all, not every squad had a Yamanaka clan member in their ranks, and even if they did, there's always the risk of mental traps, not to mention the diplomatic complications that render Yamanaka techniques useless in certain scenarios. This seal bypasses all of that."
In another room, Shizune presented and discussed Ryu's medical reports with Tsunade. They compared the accounts from his guards with the medical reports. His reported injuries were incredibly severe, yet he had healed completely from them, much to the profound surprise of both Tsunade and Shizune. Tsunade then steered the discussion towards the Uzumaki clan, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow.
"The Uzumaki clan possess life energy at the level of the Senju clan, even without special training," she explained to Shizune, her voice taking on a more academic tone. "Even my grandfather, the First Hokage, had to constantly train to reach the level where he could heal himself without any hand seals. For that level of medical ninjutsu, one needs absolute control over their chakra."
She paused, a distant look in her eyes as she recalled the past. "It was during his rigorous training in search of absolute control that grandpa discovered he could combine earth and water nature transformations to generate the Wood Release element." A sigh escaped her lips. "Others attempted to replicate automatic healing and the Wood Element," she lamented, "but even Grand Uncle Tobirama, the Second Hokage, was unsuccessful. Even I failed, but I was able to craft [Hundred Healing Seal] with the help of Grandma."
Shizune then suggested, "Tsunade-sama, there may be something else, something truly special in his chakra."
Tsunade considered these thoughts and recalled her intense fight with Ryu.
"Ryu might indeed have something similar," she mused aloud. Tsunade then gave Shizune a grave order: "Cease all medical reports on Ryu. All blood samples, everything related to him… even his clothes and hair strands… Destroy everything."
Shizune nodded. She understood Tsunade's intentions implicitly. She then asked, "Does he also have a bloodline factor?"
Tsunade replied, "Maybe… Or maybe it's just his superior focus combined with his healing ability and vitality-filled chakra." She continued, her voice grim, "Whatever it is, we need to keep those who were attached and witnessed his fight from discovering more, and we need to get our hands on his medical reports. It's not every day an academy student becomes so strong out of nowhere."
Tsunade then instructed Shizune to inform the hospital staff about patient-doctor confidentiality. "Just tell them not to blabber," she added with a sigh, "not that it truly matters in front of ninjas."
Shizune nodded once more.
***
Somewhere deep within a clandestine underground laboratory, Orochimaru meticulously scrutinised Ryu's bounty poster. A scroll, filled with all public and secret information Root had compiled on the boy, lay unfurled beside it.
"Hehehe… I remember this kid," Orochimaru murmured to himself, a chilling smile playing on his lips. "So… he survived."
A subordinate, Tatsuma, stepped forward from the shadows. "Not only did he survive," Tatsuma stated, "he has become a significant problem for the Root."
Orochimaru's thoughts drifted. "Ryu… he reminds me so much of Nawaki," Orochimaru said aloud, his gaze distant. That loss had been the final straw, fuelling Orochimaru's abhorrence for the mortal nature of human beings. After Nawaki's death, he had plunged into illegal experimentation, driven by a relentless desire to free the human body from the shackles of mortality.
"No wonder she took him under her wing," Orochimaru mused aloud, a hint of something unreadable in his tone.
"Yes, her, and her little brother you let die," Tatsuma interjected, his voice dripping with an almost imperceptible venom, a calculated jab.
Orochimaru released a suffocating wave of killing intent, but Tatsuma was not far behind the Sannin in terms of power, so he resisted. They were clearly not on good terms. Tatsuma used to view Orochimaru as a rival for Root's leadership, while Orochimaru, for his part, had never truly respected anyone.
"You don't need to be on edge," Tatsuma said, attempting to regain his composure. "I didn't say anything wrong… did I?"
"If you want to live a long life... Don't remind dangerous people of their failures," Orochimaru hissed, his voice cold and menacing. "and someone like you, who failed to kill a simple kid… You definitely are not someone who should remind others of failures."
Though irritated, Tatsuma accepted the insult because he could not defeat Orochimaru.
"I will take care of the kid," Orochimaru declared. "He will be my next specimen… Since he shares roots with the Senju clan… he will be the perfect candidate for Project Nursery."
"You are still continuing with that project, even after so many failures?" Tatsuma dared to ask.
"Didn't I tell you not to mention failures of dangerous people...?" Orochimaru's voice was dangerously low. A snake then lunged at Tatsuma from the shadows of Orochimaru's sleeves, and he dodged by jumping back.
"Besides," Orochimaru added, a predatory gleam in his eyes, "failure always teaches you something new… he he he."
"You immortality-obsessed bastard… Even Sensei isn't that obsessed with living forever," Tatsuma said.
Orochimaru had deduced that cellular regeneration programmed in the cells of the First Hokage was key to immortality… He was researching all ways to live forever.
"You are right. I am obsessed with it… but not as much as before… As I have already achieved it," Orochimaru said with a disturbing smile.
The revelation made Tatsuma feel a profound chill, a dread that seeped into his very bones. His blood ran cold, a sickening realisation blooming in his mind.
"This cannot be... He actually... did it."
A/N:
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