Chapter 28

The children were still fuming over Nara Shintaku's "rude words." But when Orochimaru asked them to leave, they felt an even deeper sadness, as if they had been abandoned by someone they deeply admired.

"Humph, I don't believe that guy knows anything about research!"

"Exactly! We had to study for years and pass all kinds of tests before we were allowed to run a lab!"

"He's just a kid! What could he possibly know?"

"Is he just putting on an act to get Orochimaru's attention?"

Their faces reflected disdain and disbelief.

Suddenly, the door of the laboratory opened, and Orochimaru emerged.

"Lord Orochimaru!" the children called out, rushing to salute him.

"Yes," Orochimaru acknowledged them with a pleased expression. "Set up the spare laboratory."

"The spare laboratory?" one of the children repeated, confused.

"Yes, I need it," Orochimaru responded, his tone growing impatient.

"But... what about the main laboratory?" the leading child asked, still perplexed.

At that moment, Nara Shintaku walked out of the main laboratory and answered the question himself, "I will be using the main laboratory."

"What?!" The children were stunned.

"That's right," Orochimaru nodded, smiling. "The main laboratory is for Shin."

Shin was Nara Shintaku's pseudonym.

The children were even more taken aback. Lord Orochimaru was willingly giving up the main laboratory to use the backup himself. Why? Was this child, younger than them, truly that capable?

The shock on their faces was palpable. But neither Orochimaru nor Nara Shintaku paid any attention to their emotions.

"Go and get it ready," Orochimaru ordered, before leaving with Nara Shintaku to check on Jūgo's condition.

The hallway fell into an awkward silence, the children glancing at each other, unable to speak for a long time.

---

Later that evening, in the main laboratory, Nara Shintaku stood before a small white mouse. His eyes gleamed with admiration.

"What an excellent physique."

The mouse had been injected with Jūgo's body fluid, causing it to grow to several times its original size, almost as large as a cat. Its eyes turned red, and its aggressiveness surged, but soon, it succumbed to organ failure.

"Jūgo is like a natural energy filter, a human who can process and moderate its effects," Nara Shintaku mused. "Not only can he activate natural energy, but he also reduces its violent tendencies. Although still dangerous, the risk is halved!"

It didn't take much effort for Nara Shintaku to develop a plan.

His goal? Imitate Jūgo's unique physiology.

Just as humans in his past life had imitated bats to create radar, dragonflies to design helicopters, and flies' compound eyes to develop cameras, in this world, they could imitate Jūgo's body to develop a similar technique.

In fact, there was an idea from the Quincy system that fit perfectly into this concept.

"The Quincy's final form!" Nara Shintaku said each word deliberately.

While he didn't have detailed information about this form, the memories of watching anime in his previous life, along with inspiration from Kurotsuchi Mayuri's techniques, made it easy for him to recreate it.

"Now the question is, how do I replicate its effects?"

"The principle of the Quincy's final form is to forcefully absorb surrounding spirit particles using the spirit-dispersing gloves. This is akin to forced slavery—absorbing spirit particles and then releasing them to form a high-density field around the body."

"A field of high-density spirit particles creates a buff in a range, enhancing all the Quincy's abilities!"

Nara Shintaku's expression grew more thoughtful.

In the Naruto world, there were no spirit particles, but natural energy could be used as a substitute.

Jūgo's body had already proven that natural energy could be tamed. The key was balancing the energy—a hedge using life energy and spiritual energy to temper its violent nature.

Jūgo could channel natural energy at the cost of his own sanity, but at least it didn't tear his body apart.

"The Sage Mode of the Three Great Lands uses a similar method," Nara Shintaku noted. "They also hedge natural energy to extract senjutsu chakra. Although their method doesn't cost sanity, it's extremely difficult to master, and the chakra extracted is only temporary."

"Both Jūgo and the Three Great Lands' methods reveal the same flaw."

Nara Shintaku's eyes shone as he reached a conclusion: The strength isn't enough!

The energy they use to hedge isn't enough to fully neutralize the violent nature of natural energy. This is the core risk.

"So, I can attempt to add something extra to completely neutralize that violence," Nara Shintaku thought for a moment.

The answer wasn't far from his grasp.

"This additional element? It's not more energy."

"Sage Mode, at its core, involves integrating natural energy into the human body. Increasing external energy isn't the solution—it would only dilute the power of the Sage Arts."

"No, the correct approach is to refine the process of energy hedging!"

Suddenly, an idea sparked in Nara Shintaku's mind.

In his previous life, particle colliders had struggled with the problem of length. Physicists had solved this by creating circular tracks and using magnetic fields to keep particles on course.

Could something similar be applied here? A circular track for energy, designed to safely guide the violent forces of natural energy into alignment, reducing its harmful effects while amplifying the power of Sage Mode?