Looking at the report submitted by Tsunade, the Third Hokage furrowed his brow slightly. "Uchiha Shinji again?"
"Yes, this drug formulation was completed solely by Uchiha Shinji. Without him, our progress wouldn't have been this swift!"
Tsunade gave a fair response.
Setting the report down, the Third Hokage remarked with a sigh, "It seems he truly has remarkable talent in medical ninjutsu!"
Tsunade nodded in agreement. "He's an exceptional child!"
"Such a pity," the Third Hokage shifted the topic. "Arrange for the drug's live experiments as soon as possible. Conduct them discreetly this time, without fanfare!"
"Understood!"
Tsunade nodded and turned to leave the Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage's "such a pity" resonated deeply with her. If the advisory council hadn't already pulled Uchiha Shinji to their side, she would have eagerly recruited him under her wing and mentored him closely.
With the Third Hokage's approval, the live experiments for the Third-Generation Aging Agent began quietly.
The location was the same cave as before. To ensure the Upper Moon Five wouldn't break free as it had last time, the research group redesigned the containment cell, reinforcing the restraints to completely immobilize the massive Upper Moon Five.
With everything prepared, Tsunade announced, "Begin the experiment!"
At her command, Mute operated the machinery, injecting the Third-Generation Aging Agent into the restrained Upper Moon Five within the cell.
This live experiment lacked the ease of previous ones.
The terrifying physiology of Upper Moon Five was still fresh in their minds, so no one worried it would die outright from the experiment. Instead, they were apprehensive, fearing that even the optimized Third-Generation Aging Agent wouldn't be enough to handle it.
Under the tense scrutiny of the group, the Third-Generation Aging Agent was successfully injected into Upper Moon Five's body.
"Woo… woo…"
Bound in the cell, unable to speak or move, Upper Moon Five could only watch as the drug was administered, emitting muffled roars from its mouth.
Compared to the others in the group, Shinji was far more anxious.
Unlike them, his true target wasn't the Upper Moon Five before him but the mysterious figure who had escaped back to the Demon Slayer world.
Boom!
Soon, the drug took effect. The body of Upper Moon Five, locked in the cell, began to react, its massive frame trembling violently, shaking the entire cave.
Amid the tremors, no one panicked.
Those monitoring the instruments kept their eyes glued to the screens, those maintaining the cell stood steadfast around it, and those recording data continued their meticulous work.
As time ticked by, about three minutes later, Upper Moon Five's skin began to swell. Its flesh could no longer contain the decay, and copious amounts of pus oozed from its wounds, filling the cave with a pungent stench.
The research group was prepared, promptly donning gas masks.
They were well aware of the enhanced toxicity of the optimized Third-Generation Aging Agent. Even the pus leaking from Upper Moon Five's festering wounds, or the odor it emitted, likely carried toxins unbearable to ordinary people.
"Instrument failure—data loss detected."
"Same here."
"Me too!"
Soon after, Upper Moon Five's vital signs fluctuated drastically, causing the monitoring instruments to fail for various reasons.
Tsunade frowned slightly.
This was within her expectations. These instruments were designed for the shinobi of the ninja world, and their creators had never anticipated a creature with such exaggerated flesh power. When the values became too extreme, the instruments malfunctioned or broke down.
"Switch to visual observation!" Tsunade activated the contingency plan.
Several medical shinobi with extensive clinical experience immediately positioned themselves around the cell, observing Upper Moon Five's condition from different angles.
Yakumo, with her Koryugan dojutsu as a Bloodline Limit shinobi, hurried to Tsunade's side. Through her Koryugan, she described the changes occurring within Upper Moon Five's body as best she could.
In a corner, Shinji quietly activated his Sharingan and, using the Byakugan wielded through Susanoo Tomoshibi, observed Upper Moon Five's internal state.
Undoubtedly.
The Third-Generation Aging Agent lived up to his expectations. Upon entering Upper Moon Five's body, it unleashed its full might within the high-ranking demon. On the surface, Upper Moon Five's body was rotting, a gruesome sight.
In reality, its internal state was even worse. Were it not for the demon's tenacious vitality holding it together, it would have likely disintegrated into a pool of gore like the demon codenamed "Monster" in the lab previously.
Moreover, due to the neurotoxin, Upper Moon Five didn't gain the extraordinary boost from rapid cell division as it had last time. By all measures, the Third-Generation Aging Agent had performed admirably.
The live experiment lasted approximately thirty minutes.
After enduring the initial onslaught of the drug, Upper Moon Five gradually stabilized. However, the excessive depletion of its flesh power left it a shadow of its former self. Its once-massive frame had shrunk significantly, now barely three meters tall, with its aura greatly weakened.
"It's been crippled," Shinji remarked indifferently.
Ravaged by the Third-Generation Aging Agent, Upper Moon Five had been reduced to an ordinary demon. Unless fed vast amounts of flesh, it could never regain its former strength.
"This counts as a success, right?"
"But it's still alive."
"It's an Upper Moon, after all. Getting it to this state can hardly be called a failure, can it?"
Looking at the now-subdued Upper Moon Five in the cell, stripped of its former ferocity, the research group members began whispering among themselves.
Mute turned to Tsunade. "Lady Tsunade, have we succeeded?"
Tsunade didn't answer immediately. She first checked the cell's damage, confirming that Upper Moon Five, despite being dosed with the Third-Generation Aging Agent, hadn't managed to damage the containment.
This proved the Third-Generation Aging Agent had not only critically wounded Upper Moon Five but also suppressed its abilities. On a battlefield, this would be more than enough to sentence Upper Moon Five to death—after all, shinobi weren't to be underestimated!
Thus, under the eager gazes of the group, Tsunade loudly declared, "The live drug experiment… has succeeded!"