Chapter 69: The True Madman Who Dared to Bathe in Benzene

Chapter 69: The True Madman Who Dared to Bathe in Benzene

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, wasn't about to randomly show up at the lab for a transplant surgery. Instead, he opted to have his arm sent back for the procedure. 

This made sense. If Kenichi were in Sarutobi Hiruzen's shoes, he wouldn't want to meet Orochimaru alone either—especially not in the awkward situation of needing a new arm.

If the old arm couldn't be used, forming hand signs with just one hand would undoubtedly affect his combat ability, though it wouldn't stop the Third from beating up other ninjas. 

But when facing someone like Orochimaru, a Kage-level fighter with considerable strength, the situation could get pretty dangerous.

"So, what's your plan, Sensei?" Kenichi asked, watching his teacher as Orochimaru strapped Boshun Nobu down to the operating table.

The man trembled, but bit down hard without saying a word, making glance at him again. 

 Kenichi had already figured out that this man had volunteered to be a test subject mainly because he wanted to learn cloning techniques—proof that he was quite the madman.

 Kenichi admitted to himself that he couldn't be that ruthless. Even if he wanted to learn cloning, there were other ways besides turning himself into a test subject.

"See if you can induce cancer in his arm as well," Orochimaru finally said, offering an answer had somewhat expected. It left him both amused and exasperated.

In his arm, huh?

 Kenichi hesitated. Most people associate cancer with organs, but he did think of a type of cancer that would fit the situation.

The issue was the carcinogen.

Lung cancer is typically triggered by things like cigarettes—nicotine, tar, and such. But what about bone cancer?

"Sensei, do you have any crude oil here?" Kenichi suddenly thought of a possible carcinogen and quickly asked his teacher.

"Crude oil? What do you need that for?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, giving his disciple a strange look.

 Kenichi nodded, confirming his plan. Crude oil could be processed to extract benzene, a known carcinogen that could induce bone cancer. It seemed like a good fit, and the materials were easy to obtain. After all, there were oil-based fuels in the world of Naruto, so crude oil had to exist as well.

But after talking it through with his teacher, Kenichi realized he had been overthinking things.

This world had fuel, so how could it not have benzene? The only difference was that people here didn't call it "benzene"—they called it "fragrant oil."

Yes, fragrant oil.

To make things even more bizarre, it was a luxury item for the rich, something ordinary people couldn't easily afford. Upon hearing this, Kenichi's expression turned into what could only be described as "the old man with a cell phone on the subway."

Given the properties of benzene, though, it wasn't too surprising it was used as a high-end fragrance. After all, at room temperature, it's colorless and emits a strong scent.

"That's terrifying." Listening to Orochimaru mention that some wealthy individuals even bathed in benzene, Kenichi felt like he couldn't breathe.

He couldn't understand why anyone would use something so pungent for bathing. Didn't they find the smell overwhelming?

If someone had done that in his previous life, Kenichi would have quietly called a mental hospital and had the person committed as soon as possible.

But then he recalled how people once added the radioactive element radium to cosmetics when it was first discovered, believing it had beauty benefits. With that in mind, he became a bit more composed.

It would probably take years before people in the ninja world realized the dangers of benzene and stopped such practices. But considering that most shinobi didn't live very long anyway, it might take even longer.

With benzene in hand, the procedure became relatively straightforward. After administering anesthesia, Orochimaru made a long incision in Boshun Nobu's arm, allowing Kenichi to proceed with his experiment.

Inducing bone cancer with benzene was a bit tricky, but having previously worked on lung cancer, successfully completed the procedure.

Bone cancer was now growing in Boshun Nobu's arm bone.

"Sensei, I'd like to extract a sample," Kenichi asked Orochimaru, eager to research the cancer cells. After all, Boshun Nobu, being a national treasure-level experimental subject, wouldn't reject any transplants, making his cells particularly valuable for study.

Orochimaru didn't object. He simply brushed back his hair before nodding in agreement.

But Kenichi gave his teacher a curious glance. Was Orochimaru really brushing his hair? The gesture seemed oddly feminine.

Could something have gone wrong with his Living Corpse Reincarnation technique?

 Kenichi wasn't sure, but he made a mental note to investigate further. Orochimaru didn't seem aware of any changes, which made Kenichi all the more cautious. Researching souls clearly required extreme care, as mistakes could be catastrophic.

After leaving Orochimaru's operating room, Kenichi returned to his own lab. He needed to culture the cancer cells while they were still alive—if they died, it would be a real hassle.

Cancer cells are a strange phenomenon. Inside the body, they run rampant and are nearly unbeatable, but outside the body, they become incredibly fragile.

Most cells and bacteria, when cultured in vitro, tend to behave like delicate, frail beings. Yet, once they're exposed to harsher conditions, they suddenly start living by the motto: "Life finds a way."

After coating the cancer cells with Yang chakra, Kenichi saw them begin to multiply and let out a sigh of relief. Everything was going according to plan.

He placed the petri dish in a specialized incubation room and then left, intending to finish working on his thermobaric bomb and test its power.

As for the chakra-infused thermobaric bomb, he planned to first test the regular version before moving on to the chakra-enhanced one.

Once the thermobaric explosive problem was solved, building the bomb itself wouldn't be too hard. Following the blueprint, he could assemble it without much trouble.

"Does this count as hand-crafting a thermobaric bomb?" Kenichi wiped the sweat from his brow, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

The industrial system of the Naruto world was peculiar, but with chakra and the Sharingan, Kenichi felt confident he could pull it off. He just had to be careful.

He couldn't afford an explosion in the lab.

Looking at the thermobaric explosives in front of him, Kenichi licked his lips nervously. If this thing exploded in the lab, there would be no escaping the consequences.

Recently, the world had been in chaos over the claims of a certain country achieving room-temperature superconductivity.

But whether it was true or not remained to be seen. So far, there had been no definitive proof.