chapter 3:twists and Turns
[Warning: Hashirama cell invasion in progress (12.3%), estimated loss of control time: 14 days 6 hours 23 minutes 15 seconds!]
Looking at the countdown on the panel, Bai Shi felt an urgent sense of crisis in his heart.
He was well aware of the consequences if the Hashirama cells lost control, so he had to find a way to save himself as soon as possible.
The quickest way to save himself was undoubtedly to expel the Hashirama cells.
However, with his current control over his body, he simply couldn't do that.
Since expulsion was not an option, he had to find a way to either eliminate or fuse with them.
If he chose to eliminate them, he would need to enhance his physique and strengthen his immunity, ultimately relying on his immune system to destroy the invading Hashirama cells.
The problem with this approach was that it was uncertain whether he could complete this step in time before losing control, and he certainly would have difficulty passing the test posed by Orochimaru.
He didn't believe that Orochimaru would fail to notice such a significant anomaly.
Therefore, his only choice was to find a way to fuse with the Hashirama cells.
Moreover, fusing with them would, in fact, serve as a form of protection for him.
With that thought in mind, Bai Shi focused his gaze on the [Cellular Adaptation] option.
Immediately, a line of text appeared:
[Do you wish to initiate adaptive evolution?]
Without any hesitation, Bai Shi instantly affirmed his decision.
Then, the line of text disappeared.
Next, another line of text appeared:
[Evolution initiated...]
In an instant, Bai Shi felt a cool sensation wash over his body, as if every cell inside him was cheering.
At that moment, the pain caused by the Hashirama cell invasion seemed to lessen a bit.
On the panel, the invasion rate of Hashirama cells dropped from 12.3% to 12.2%, and it continued to decline.
Correspondingly, the estimated control loss time was also being constantly pushed back; everything seemed to be developing in a positive direction.
However, this promising situation was abruptly halted by a new warning.
A series of texts appeared on the panel:
[Warning: Insufficient energy! Evolution will be terminated in 5 seconds!]
[Countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
[Evolution terminated!]
"Turns out that actively evolving doesn't come without a cost..." a thought flashed through Bai Shi's mind.
At that moment, he felt a wave of weakness engulf him, as if all of his strength had been drained away, and he involuntarily slipped into a state of unconsciousness.
While he was unconscious, however, his body seemed to act like a sponge, frantically absorbing the nutrient solution and energy from the maintenance equipment, causing the flow rate of the liquid in the hoses to increase slightly.
...
Uncertain how much time had passed, he heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Hmm, it's Orochimaru and Danzo."
Suppressing his urge to open his eyes, Bai Shi continued to feign sleep in the cultivation tank while listening intently to their conversation.
Although these two rarely spoke, there was still information that could be gathered, such as now.
He heard Orochimaru murmuring after inspecting the maintenance equipment, "Strange, this test subject seems to be consuming more nutrient solution than expected."
After that, he checked the data in the monitoring instruments.
After a long silence, Danzo was the first to ask, "What's going on? Is there a problem?"
His tone was somewhat anxious, showing his concern.
It wasn't surprising that Danzo was agitated; he saw hope in Orochimaru's experiments.
Back then, Konoha had mobilized the entire village, trying to replicate the First Hokage's Wood Release, but all attempts had failed, with those test subjects not surviving even a week.
But the current test subjects were different. After Orochimaru's meticulous cultivation over the past year, three days had passed since the experiment began, and not a single subject had died, with their conditions remaining stable.
If this continued, the probability of success looked promising, which was why Danzo was so invested in it.
If it weren't for this, in his previous life, he wouldn't have lost hope after Orochimaru announced the experiment's failure and personally come to check.
It was through this action that he ultimately discovered Yamato, the only survivor.
Hearing Danzo's inquiry, Orochimaru merely shook his head and replied, "It's nothing."
After that, he moved on to the next test subject.
Danzo cast a glance at the cultivation tank number where Bai Shi was located, noted it down, and followed suit.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the silent underground space until they completed their routine checks and left the experimental area. Only then did Bai Shi dare open his eyes.
The familiar pain surged back into his body, but Bai Shi didn't mind. He silently recited in his mind, "System, display my status."
Immediately, a familiar translucent panel appeared:
**[Host: Bai Shi**
**Age: 2/61↓**
**－－Basic Attributes－－**
**Strength: 0.1**
**Agility: 0.1**
**Physique: 0.2↓ (0.3)**
**Intelligence: 0.6 (3.0)**
**－－Special Enhancement－－**
**Cellular Adaptation: I (53.6%)↑**
**－－Abnormal Status－－**
**Warning: Hashirama cell invasion in progress (18.1%), estimated loss of control time: 13 days 8 hours 17 minutes 34 seconds!]**
From the system's recorded time, Bai Shi knew he had been unconscious for almost an entire day.
Within those 24 hours, the invasion rate of Hashirama cells had increased by about 6%, while the control loss time had been reduced by roughly 22 hours.
The two-hour discrepancy had mostly resulted from yesterday's enhancement of [Cellular Adaptation].
However, with just this, he could only last for about two weeks at most.
Yet, two weeks was far too short for [Cellular Adaptation] to evolve; without the evolution of [Cellular Adaptation], he wouldn't be able to significantly slow down the invasion of Hashirama cells.
This created a deadlock.
After pondering for a while and still having no clue, Bai Shi couldn't help but murmur in his heart: "I really don't know how Yamato managed to survive back then."
"Ah, now I can only take things one step at a time…"
With that thought, Bai Shi once again activated the evolution.
As before, a cool sensation surged into each cell, alleviating the pain, while the invasion rate of Hashirama cells decreased by about 0.2%, and [Cellular Adaptation] increased by 1.2%.
Eventually, just like before, energy depleted, and Bai Shi fell into a deep sleep once more.
...
A week passed like this, and the experiment reached its tenth day.
On that morning, Orochimaru and Danzo returned to the experimental area again.
However, this time, they weren't there for routine checks.
Orochimaru rolled a cart over to the first cultivation tank, glancing at the experiment subject inside, whose skin was turning green, with a slight shake of his head.
He knew very well that this test subject would definitely not last until the end, but he still injected a cell inhibitor.
No other reason; there is always the possibility for miracles to happen in this world, and he hoped that this subject could create one too.
Orochimaru continued without stopping, quickly arriving in front of the second cultivation tank, checking the test subject's state as per usual and injecting the cell inhibitor again.
After about half an hour, Orochimaru came to the thirty-sixth cultivation tank.
Looking at Bai Shi, who wasn't significantly better than the first test subject, he spoke with disappointment, "After consuming so many nutrient solutions, I thought there would be something special about you…"
Saying this, he shook his head and injected the cell inhibitor into the maintenance device.
The pale purple liquid slowly flowed through the hose into Bai Shi's body.
Immediately, Bai Shi convulsed, his small fist clenched tightly, seemingly a bit agitated, but soon he calmed down.
This scene went unseen by anyone.
Orochimaru and Danzo had already turned their backs and walked towards the thirty-seventh cultivation tank.
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