47. Cells Made of Silicon

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Naruto entered his private laboratory on Red Lantern Street after a long absence. He immediately noticed Kenzo and the rest of the scientists working diligently, all sporting a few extra wrinkles on their faces compared to the last time he saw them.

"How's it going? You all look like slaves getting barely three hours of sleep a day," Naruto remarked.

"Naruto-sama...?!" Kenzo almost jumped in surprise at the sudden voice behind him.

"I didn't notice you, sorry," he quickly apologized, bowing his head slightly.

"Don't worry, just give me a report on the past few months," Naruto waved his hand dismissively, getting straight to the point.

"Ah, yes. In short, we finally succeeded in genetically altering elements within cells. Despite some minor complications, everything went as planned. As you know, initially, it was assumed that silicon cells wouldn't synchronize well with Chakra, and it was found that silicon was inferior to carbon in this regard. However, that wasn't entirely true. We had to reanalyze a species of fish created entirely from silicon and begin their breeding. We discovered that the lake in the Water Country where they previously inhabited was filled with uranium for some reason. Uranium, as you know, disrupts Chakra and is somewhat radioactive. These fish had traces of crystallized uranium along their spines, yet it didn't kill them or cause illnesses. In fact, these fish have incredible adaptive abilities and adapted to the radioactive uranium in their bodies, which was the reason for silicon cells. Silicon has much better adaptive abilities than carbon and is inherently superior to it in every way as a cellular building block, except for its synchronization with Chakra. Well, that's actually a misstatement, in short, a mistake."

"So, it was the uranium, not the silicon cells, that was the cause?" Naruto grasped.

"Yes, I had suspicions earlier, but my research was interrupted, and experimenting with genetic alteration of elements in cells was prohibited when I was still working in the Research and Science Department," Kenzo sneered bitterly, but the thought of the success achieved now brought an arrogant smile to his face.

"In the fourth generation of fish we bred, we managed to produce several specimens without crystallized uranium in their bodies, proving that silicon cells synchronize with Chakra just like carbon-based cells," Kenzo explained, adjusting his slipping glasses.

"Go on, I'm curious about this success," Naruto said, examining the living product of their recent experiments, marveling at its perfection in almost every aspect. The amount of work required to perfect such a creation was unimaginable.

"This wolf is a male named SC79. It's made up of 99% silicon, with an additional 1/1000 of its body composed of Chakra cells. We managed to discover a new way to produce them, which was actually tested before, but only silicon-based cells made it possible," Kenzo proudly smiled, recounting everything to Naruto.

"Oh, I see... that's remarkable..." Naruto murmured, glancing through the window at the white wolf, which observed him cautiously.

"It has an incredibly developed instinct, and its intelligence surpasses ordinary animals; it's on the verge of the level of summoning animals. However, it can't communicate through our speech; perhaps it will learn it in the future... if it survives to see that day," Kenzo noted, indicating that its future was still uncertain. After all, the experiments were not yet concluded, and it was just another experimental product, one of many.

"I understand. From now on, I'll regularly participate in the experiments; keep me informed of any changes and schedules," Naruto commanded.

"Oh, sure," Kenzo nodded understandingly.

Naruto-sama... he regained his previous sharpness in his eyes. Kenzo thought. When they first met, Naruto's eyes were as sharp as a razor, freezing ordinary people in place with just a glance. However, when his mother fell ill, he slowly lost that sharpness, but now his gaze was as sharp as before.

Kenzo felt elated because of it. With Naruto, he achieved more than he would have by continuing to behave like an ignoramus.

Naruto began reviewing documents from the past few months to learn in detail about the activities and discoveries made by his employees.

He was most intrigued by the method of producing Chakra Cells. For previous experimental subjects, Kenzo infused Chakra Cells into organisms without Chakra Systems. He dispersed two Energies and slowly synchronized everything together. This was until they genetically changed the elements in the cells from carbon to silicon. Carbon, as the primary building block of living cells, is the most basic and general building material. Nature or evolution, whatever it was, used it as a convenience and made humans and other species from carbon because it was the simplest. Being the most basic means it's at most average; it's not bad as a cell-building material, but it's not outstanding either; it's just average.

Creating organisms from other elements as the main building block is definitely more difficult and demanding. It's possible that evolution will eventually reach a point where it starts producing humans or animals from other elements, but for now, there's no indication of that. However, if that were the case, these species would be completely different from others; for example, these fish created entirely from silicon, their organism's structure was so unique and different from the rest that when Naruto looked at them, he was somewhat overwhelmed by their advancement as a life form on Earth.

Naruto's scientists examined many elements and compared them to each other. They reached several conclusions, including which elements are better suited for cell building than carbon. Probably the best is silicon, called the element of life. For other organisms, it may be a different element, but for humans, silicon is definitely it. It is the most suited in every way to the human body, has good synchronization with Chakra, and additionally has great adaptive abilities.

It's possible that someday they will discover new elements that are not yet known to humanity and turn out to be better than silicon for cell building, but for now, silicon is the best.

Experimental subjects that were genetically modified, having cells made of silicon instead of carbon, had better adaptive capabilities for evolution. In other words, these cells mutated into Chakra Cells more easily than Chakra Cells made from carbon. Kenzo didn't infuse these organisms with Chakra Cells like the previous experimental subjects. Chakra Cells made from carbon wouldn't integrate into an organism made from silicon. He had to find a way to produce Chakra Cells, and even if it wasn't his main goal, he had to study and experiment on organisms made from silicon. In this way, he found a certain way to mutate silicon cells into Chakra Cells.

Here's the translation:

It wasn't actually the correct way of producing Chakra cells; it was more of a side effect or an attempt to save the cell's life. It didn't work with carbon-based cells, but it did with silicon-based cells because they were much stronger and had better adaptive abilities. Kenzo destroyed cells, causing their death, to quickly merge them with Chakra. He didn't heal those Chakra cells, didn't fix them; he simply used a massive amount of Chakra to connect Chakra with the cells. These cells didn't contain Physical Energy; the sent Chakra didn't take physical form, it just momentarily merged with the cells, maintaining their efficiency so they could perform the last commanded action, and then Kenzo forced the cells to divide.

A destroyed cell, connected to a large amount of Chakra, divided, creating an incomplete Chakra cell. After division, the first cell died, the Chakra stopped forcibly maintaining it, and transferred to the divided cell, becoming a Chakra cell.

Such a produced Chakra cell was incomplete. It wasn't a fully functional Chakra cell; it lacked many elements, but it was several times stronger than usual and at the same time much weaker than a normal Chakra cell. Such a Chakra cell was much easier to manipulate than a regular one, and Kenzo could study such a cell on a broader scale with great ease.

The research didn't last long, but it already brought a vast amount of new information. It's possible that within a few years, maybe a year, they would find a way to produce a normal Chakra cell.

If Naruto wanted to genetically change the main building block of his cells from carbon to silicon now, it would be very difficult. Not impossible, but too risky. Therefore, it's best to wait another six months, maybe a year, to gain more experience in this area, and further research will reveal new information.

It's not like Naruto is in a hurry; he still has a few years of life left, so he can wait to be more certain. After all, he won't be performing this operation himself, but his employees will, so he must be a hundred percent sure of success.

Naruto also needs to increase the number of scientists in his laboratory; Kenzo and the remaining four aren't enough for the amount of work currently underway. Recently, they've had several breakthrough moments and discovered many new things, so there's plenty of work, and there will be even more.

Naruto also needs to finally sort out the issues in the Black Market. Although he initially took over all the influence, the Hokage has begun to intervene again, but apparently, he's more observing everything than attacking.

Naruto already knows the reason for such behavior from his Tou-san and just needs to eliminate one small problem.

After spending a few hours in the laboratory, Naruto left to accomplish his first goals. Acquiring more loyal employees will be quite difficult; there aren't many talented scientists in Leaf Village willing to delve into the dark and immoral experiments Naruto conducts. All of his current employees/scientists were former subordinates of Orochimaru, so they have no qualms about following his orders, but if Naruto wanted to hire someone from the Research and Science Department, it wouldn't end well, even if he forced them.

It would be best to raise a few geniuses with the right mindset and morality from childhood, but it would take too long. Probably, Naruto will have to look for a few more missing Orochimaru subordinates if they're still alive and hire them. There's also the possibility of looking for someone outside of Konoha, but for now, that's out of the question.

Well, let's deal with something simpler for now...

Naruto appeared at the hidden base of the "Dragon," from which he commanded all the new criminal groups in the Black Market. Maybe not new, because these groups existed before, but now they have different leaders.

The "Dragon" wasn't aware of the guest's arrival; he thought he was alone, pouring expensive alcohol into his glass. In his office, he was completely alone; only a few of his subordinates were behind the door, serving as his bodyguards and backup in case of emergency.

Naruto stood hidden in his shadow, without making any sound, drew a hidden blade from his clothes and plunged it into his neck.

The blade pierced his throat and came out the other side. The Dragon's eyes filled with blood, and a few drops of blood flew from his mouth.

"Don't worry, it's my fault for letting you betray me," Naruto replied before life left the Dragon's body.

The body fell lifelessly to the floor, and Naruto sat in the Dragon's place. He took his glass of alcohol and poured it over the Dragon's face, trying to aim the liquid into his mouth.

"These are your last drops; you served well until you were loyal to me," Naruto said to the dead body.

He put the glass back in place and poured himself some alcohol to try. However, he quickly grimaced after taking a sip and gave up further tasting.

"Really, how can you adults drink this...?" Naruto sighed.

The Dragon swore his loyalty to Naruto and was supposed to have control over the criminal groups Naruto took over. Each group had a new, local leader appointed by Naruto, but the Dragon gave them orders passed on by Naruto. It was much easier and better to manage because Naruto always had little time and couldn't get too involved. Additionally, the Dragon was experienced in managing a criminal group, so even without Naruto, he could lead them properly.

Everything was fine until Naruto fell into depression for a few months due to his mother's illness. The Dragon probably noticed his lack of involvement and might have thought he had abandoned them or something. The Fourth Hokage, having his connections in the Black Market, probably noticed it too and seeing an opportunity, bribed the Dragon to control everything from the shadows.

Naruto doesn't know the details of how it happened and why, actually, he doesn't care too much about it, besides, the Dragon is already dead. Naruto found out about it quite accidentally when he was an assistant to the Hokage, filling out some papers and overheard a conversation between Minato and someone associated with the Black Market, who maintained good relations with the Dragon and passed on orders from the Hokage.