19 Chapter 19
I was three months into making the Strength Of A Hundred seal and a year out of the Academy.
Things were going well, I spent plenty of time with my mom, Duy and Gai.
And my training was going well.
But my latest foray into medical ninjutsu had met with great success.
I had diverted a little chakra that was meant for the seal and used it to run the Diagnostic Jutsu on different people.
People like Kushina and myself with healing factors have an abundance of stem cells that are responsible for the regeneration of any injury that occurs.
Normal people still have stem cells but to a much lesser extent then Kushina and I.
I believe that as long as my stem cells can continue to divide and replace any of my dying cells, I'll probably never die.
Your cells could only divide a certain amount of times before they die, that's essentially what aging is.
As long as I have stem cells available my body won't deteriorate in the same way a normal body would with aging…
So, I had an exciting thought, could I become biologically immortal if I found a way to keep my stem cells young?
I remembered something from my old world.
People were injecting stem cells into injured areas to heal the injury quickly.
Mainly because their body's natural cells didn't divide enough to heal the injury by itself, so, the introduction of new cells speeds up healing as they have a higher capacity to divide.
My body could be as young as my stem cells…
…
Could I introduce younger stem cells into my body and slow or halt my aging by replacing my old cells with young cells…
What if I lost my healing factor or my chakra changed with the introduction of new cells…?
I had high hopes that it wouldn't be the case…
I'd be able to experiment more when my chakra was not being used to make the seal, as it was my use of the diagnostic jutsu was the limit of what I could do.
…
Stem cells might be the answer to biological immortally…
It'd take a lot of stem cells to remake a whole body…
I might have to become a stem cell vampire to live forever…
…
My training continued, I did some much-needed stealth training and spent a good amount of time learning Konoha's sign language.
I was currently eating dinner with my mom when she gave me an unexpected offer.
"Shiro, when you rejoin the active shinobi forces are you interested in apprenticing under me?"
I blinked at her offer.
"Sorry, but I don't know what exactly you do."
Was she a frontline fighter? A medic of some sort? A scout?
"I specialize in hunting and tracking."
Meaning she hunted/chased missing-nin…
Which sounded better than escort and guard missions…
"Are you in Anbu?"
I knew Mist had hunter-nin. But did Konoha?
My question cracked her up and she snorted.
"No, I wouldn't have had a Genin team if I was in the Anbu."
Oh yeah… I forgot about that…
"I'd like to know more about what you do before I decide, I've got plenty of time anyway."
She nodded.
"That you do Shiro, that you do."
We went back to our meal.
…
I was sitting on my bed staring at my notepad of possible experiments.
It was written in a mix of French and half-remembered English.
I had quite a few ideas, most of the ideas were good, but all of them were poorly planned…
I was an idea guy, planning wasn't my strong suit…
Stem Cell Vampire
Replacing aging cells with young stem cells possibly restoring youth.
Pros: biological immortality.
Cons: not needed for a long time, need ways to store accumulated stem cells, possible cell rejection, could change body/chakra, could affect healing factor, expensive chakra and time-wise.
...
Super cool bone weapons.
Using stem cells to make bone weapons with my already impressive bones.
Pros: Stabby Stabby, cheap chakra conductive weapons, weapons easy to repair, biodegradable.
Cons: chakra expensive, uses lots of stem cells thus shortens life expectancy a bit, can only make kunai shuriken and senbon unless new weapon skills are learned.
...
Super cool bone weapons part II
Making super cool hidden bone weapons in my body.
Pros: can be my cool hidden move, possible wolverine claws, can use wolverine claws to extract stem cells (Stabby stem cell vampire).
Cons: must alter hand and body anatomy for claws, possible pain, no automatic sheathing of weapons, must learn to fight with hand-claws.
...
Biological absorption.
An ability used by a transformed Jūgo. Jūgo absorbs chakra and flesh and uses it to restore himself.
Pros: Cockroach (harder to kill), a possible improvement to stem cell vampire.
Cons: no idea where to start.
...
Human chakra batteries.
Tsunade can transfer chakra from her seal to allies. Can I do the reverse and steal chakra from enemies?
Pros: more chakra, possible way to introduce Otsutsuki chakra into my Byakugan.
Cons: The enemy must be unconscious and unable to fight back.
...
Dead pool immortality.
Cancer cells have unlimited division potential and are immortal.
Pros: Immortality, Dead Pool.
Cons: looking like Dead Pool, the possibility of becoming a giant tumor, very likely to go wrong.
...
The brain and intelligence.
The brains of some people just seem to work more efficiently. What makes their brains different? And can I do the same to myself?
Pros: Increased intelligence/cognitive ability.
Cons: possible brain injury, have to scan many brains, possibility of making test subjects smarter and thus dangerous.
...
Tailed beast immortality.
Can I turn myself into a chakra construct?
Pros: Immortality.
Cons: easy to seal, farfetched idea, no idea where to start, can be eaten by an Otsutsuki.
...
Flexibility.
Orochimaru is seen to have snake-like flexibility would the same benefit me?
Pros:?
Cons: Orochimaru comparisons, Taijutsu will have to be adjusted.
...
Removing fingerprints.
Its both extremely easy and relatively painless to remove fingerprints with Medical Ninjutsu.
Pros: I leave no fingerprints?
Cons: Might not be necessary, never seen fingerprints used for anything in Naruto-verse.
...
Otsutsuki limb/flesh graft.
Madara had Hashirama's cells grafted onto himself giving him wood release. Could I do the same with Otsutsuki cells?
Pros: Possible path to the Tenseigan.
Cons: No Otsutsuki until after Kaguya, I might have to take a chance and go for Kaguya's cells.
My ideas were listed according to how much I liked the idea, with stem cell vampire being my favorite and somehow getting Otsutsuki flesh being my least favorite.
The ideas were all cool and theoretically possible.
As all good ideas should be.
Sadly, they were just that.
Ideas…
And ideas they would remain, until I had access to my chakra.
Which wouldn't be for around three more months…
I was dying of boredom…
…
I was now trying to kill my boredom with the power of Youth.
Gai and I were currently running around Konoha trying to build endurance.
My endurance was supported by my healing factor most of the time but because of my shortage of chakra I was lagging behind my Youthful friend.
Which was unacceptable!
I must fan my flames of Youth!
…
"My most Youthful friend Shiro, I thought you said you were behaving Unyouthfully! That was a most excellent display of Youth!"
Indeed, it was.
"I reached deep inside myself and found a hidden well of Youthful enthusiasm and used it to fan my flames of Youth!"
Gai laughed.
"Hahaha… That's the spirt Shiro! We will never be young like this again, let's not waste our springtime of Youth!"
Gai did his new nice guy pose, a thumbs up, wink, and a winning smile.
"Gai your nice guy pose has gotten more Youthful! I feel like I'm falling behind! But I'm happy knowing that it's you who's surpassed me in Youthfulness!"
I gave my nice guy pose even though it now felt lackluster compared to Gai's.
"Shiro, how Youthful!"
Gai had a broad grin even though he was crying a river of tears.
…
"Shiro do you know what gender is?"
Indeed, I do.
"Yes?"
My mom managed to look both annoyed and amused.
"Why do you keep crossing out male and female and writing 'evil' as your gender?"
For my amusement of course.
"It's because I am not male nor female… I am Evil!"
I struck a pose, one hand on my hip the other twirling an imaginary mustache.
…
The silence was as painful as it was delicious, and the disapproving gaze sent my way only fueled my desire for more shenanigans…
"Although you made some paperwork ninja laugh you've also annoyed them."
Not my problem.
"I'm sorry to hear that, what do they want me to do?"
She blew a large breath out of her mouth.
"They just want you to fill out the forms correctly in the future."
That's not going to happen…
"Sure, no problem, I'll change my ways…"
My mother shook her head and left the room.
But little did she know…
Evil couldn't be stopped by mere words…
…
I looked at my calligraphy from three months ago and compared it to what I had done today.
Meh…
My calligraphy practice had been going well.
And by going well I mean that my writing was no longer chicken scratch.
It was still unusable for Fuinjutsu but at least there was visible progress.
…
I decided that was enough calligraphy for today, so I packed up my writing supplies and set off to the dining room.
…
Mom was seated at the Chabudai and enjoying some tea.
I think this is how she relaxes…
Well here comes a difficult topic.
"So… I wanted to talk about this apprenticeship…"
She hummed but didn't say anything, she just kept sipping her tea.
Alrighty…
"I wanted to ask you if you were interested in taking another Genin team."
The grimace I got in response told me how she felt about it.
I decided I'd take a step back, and go from there.
"If you're not interested that's fine."
I needed some friends and future allies, as I had very little social skills, teammates were ideal…
Though if my mother wasn't interested that was fine, I'd respect her wishes.
"Sorry Shiro, I'm not ready for another Genin team."
She looked tense and upset.
That's fine.
"No worries, I was thinking of ways to make friends and thought teammates were the ideal friends."
She blew a breath out of her nose and some of the tension left her body.
"It would be hard to make friends with a team who had just lost a member, so you wanted to create a new team."
She guessed my thoughts, for the most part, I also thought that by training them myself we could create a strong bond.
I had tried to make friends in my academy days…
But who knew making friends was so hard?
"Yes, that was exactly my thought, but if it makes you unhappy that's fine. You being comfortable and happy is more important than any potential friends I may make."
There were always other opportunities, I'd rather wait then cause mom any grief.
Mom relaxed further.
"Sigh… any potential teammates would be older than you as well, even if I took a Genin team I don't think you would have much luck making friends with kids three-plus years older then you."
Yes… something I hadn't considered…
Age…
I keep thinking I'm older than I am…
"That's something I didn't think about…"
Though I should have.
"Thanks mom, sorry for upsetting you."
I walked over and gave her a hug from behind.
She stiffened but then relaxed.
...
"It's alright Shiro, I'm just not ready for a Genin team."
That's fine.
"No worries, I'd rather have some time with just the two of us anyways."
No need for any cannon fodder to die and cause mom grief.
"Let's register for an apprenticeship then."
Yes let's.
"Sounds good."
Though I wouldn't be making friends via teamwork that was fine.
Maybe I'd find another way.
…
I was sitting in my room, curled up in my blankets, and fantasizing about bone weapons.
I wanted Wolverine claws.
My main problem was the retracting and extending of the claws.
It could probably be done with chakra…
So maybe it wasn't much of an issue…
I didn't want to have the claws extend from the knuckles, as that involved a lot of anatomy changes.
So, claws from the wrists or backhand…
But how do I stop them from being ripped from my hands upon contact with something hard…
After all it would only be a thin layer of flesh and muscle holding them there…
Unless I somehow made them part of the tibia or fibula…
Then again, they shouldn't get caught on anything if they are used carefully…
They would only be used as a last resort…
…
Wait are they still wolverine claws if they don't come from the knuckles?
Whatever…
…
There was also the matter of inviting foreign matter into my body via claws…
I after-all didn't want someone's blood being brought into my body…
Though perhaps my immune system would take care of it…
Maybe ill just stick with making some sort of bone blade within my forearm…
A hidden weapon that I can pull out when I need it…
Hmm…
Hidden weapons in the thighs and forearms…
That might be the way to go���
…
I guess it depends on how fast I can make bone weapons…
If it's fast enough I might just pull my spine out and use it as a sword, like the original Shikotsumyaku.
…
If it's too slow…
Then hidden bone weapons are the way to go…
I'm so bored I've started rhyming…
…
Is this why more people don't learn the Strength Of A Hundred seal…
Near crippling boredom…
…
I flipped my pillow to get to the cool side.
…That's the good stuff…
I wonder if there's anyone who doesn't flip their pillow over…
If there are, their filthy savages…
I don't think I can be friends with someone who doesn't flip their pillow over…
Who would hate themselves enough to not flip their pillow over?
Child molesters…
Yes, if you don't flip your pillow over, you're a child molester and you're punishing your self for past transgressions.
My logic is sound…
…
