Chapter 61 Cognitive Bias and Franchise

Chapter 61 Cognitive Bias and Franchise

"Conducting experiments?" The familiar voice startled Kenichi, causing him to flinch and used the Body Flicker Technique to move forward, bumping into the table.

Turning around, he discovered that the previously empty experimental base now had an additional occupant—his teacher, Orochimaru.

His teacher stood with arms crossed, wearing an odd expression as he looked at Kenichi. This made Kenichi nervous, as he knew the reason for his teacher's sudden appearance—he must have discovered the missing laboratory.

"Teacher, there was a problem with the previous lab. I accidentally blew it up during an experiment," Kenichi confessed honestly. He had no choice but to come clean, as his teacher had ways of finding out anyway.

Kenichi believed it was better to be truthful than to create a web of lies. Otherwise, the situation might take an unexpected turn.

"I see," Orochimaru replied calmly, showing no signs of anger. This made Kenichi breathe a sigh of relief.

"There wasn't anything particularly valuable in that lab. What were you writing just now? I saw something about explosives," Orochimaru inquired, looking at his disciple with interest.

He knew his student had unique insights into science, so when he returned and saw Kenichi writing, he purposely came closer to take a look. To his surprise, he couldn't understand it.

It wasn't that he couldn't understand explosives, but rather that he couldn't comprehend his student's strange ideas.

"Yes, teacher. It's something I've... developed on my own. I was in the middle of testing it," Kenichi replied honestly.

He wondered if his teacher had studied in Gotham City, given his penchant for appearing silently behind people.

Of course, this was also partly due to Kenichi being deeply focused on his research and not paying attention to his surroundings.

"Next time, you need to be more careful. Otherwise, you might end up being stabbed from behind, which would be quite embarrassing," Kenichi thought, remembering Madara Uchiha's death at the hands of Black Zetsu.

"Tell me about it," Orochimaru said noncommittally.

Initially, upon discovering his missing laboratory, Orochimaru had been furious. However, after angrily seeking out his student, his curiosity overcame his anger.

So Orochimaru decided to wait and see what unique ideas his disciple might have before deciding whether to lose his temper.

As for explosives, Orochimaru was familiar with them, as some mining companies used them for excavation. However, due to their high level of danger, ninjas generally didn't carry them around.

Moreover, the power of explosives was limited compared to high-level ninja techniques, so Orochimaru couldn't understand why his student was researching them.

Seeing his teacher's interest, Kenichi had no choice but to explain briefly. However, since thermobaric weapons didn't exist in this world, he wasn't sure how to describe them.

So he could only say that he had seen someone use them during a previous mission and wanted to research if he could increase the power of explosives and apply them elsewhere.

"Your idea is not bad. The owner of Konoha Mining Company did similar research before," Orochimaru commented, not showing much interest.

He believed researching ninja techniques was more valuable than studying explosives, as fire-style jutsu could achieve greater power than explosives.

However, seeing his student's enthusiasm, Orochimaru didn't want to discourage him. So he decided to share what he knew to help his student avoid unnecessary detours.

Kenichi listened attentively, realizing that if he could find previous records and experiments, it would be the best option. Having predecessors' papers and experimental records could save a lot of time for future researchers.

"Although explosives are relatively stable, they react when fused with chakra, causing them to become completely ineffective. Only fire-nature chakra..." Orochimaru explained in detail.

Kenichi couldn't help but glance at his teacher, wondering if he had researched this topic himself. How else would he know so much about it?

However, Kenichi also noticed a discrepancy between what his teacher was saying and his current situation.

According to his teacher, the explosives should become ineffective when fused with chakra, but in Kenichi's case, it led to a violent reaction.

What could explain this difference?

Could it be because he was using thermobaric explosives, which had different properties? Kenichi thought this was quite possible.

The Naruto world clearly hadn't paid much attention to this area of research. In the future, only Deidara, with his special abilities, would show the ninja world the art of explosion.

To be honest, Deidara's explosions weren't very replicable, and other ninjas couldn't really learn them. The power and yield were also relatively weak compared to weapons from Kenichi's previous life.

Only the versatility and portability of the explosive clay were somewhat noteworthy.

"By the way, since you're back, how did the fund collection go?" Orochimaru asked, getting to the point. Kenichi then took out all the money he had obtained from Gato earlier.

He had no intention of holding anything back, especially considering that he had blown up a laboratory earlier. It was already generous of his teacher not to make him pay for the damages.

If this had happened in his previous life, it might have cost him a lifetime of savings.

"One hundred and twenty million. Not bad, although it's a bit low for two people. On my way back, I also acquired some from a wealthy merchant," Orochimaru nodded and tossed out a scroll.

It contained money as well, a total of over fifty million ryo. Together, it was a considerable sum, at least enough to complete the Akatsuki's mission.

Kenichi remained calm upon seeing this. He had known before that sometimes ninja villages would send ninjas to rob wealthy individuals from other countries.

As long as it wasn't too excessive, all ninja villages tacitly accepted this practice.

After all, robbing the wealthy would lead them to seek help and protection from ninjas, allowing the village to profit. A portion of the stolen goods could also be confiscated for public use.

It felt somewhat like the British Crown's practice of issuing letters of marque to privateers.

Watching his teacher seal the money into a scroll, Kenichi had a bold idea.

Although he knew it was dangerous, he couldn't resist the urge to try.

This was to verify a scientific theory.

So he reached out his hand towards his teacher's head.