The Tenseigan

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From what Naoki remembered, Toneri Otsutsuki on the Moon had gone through a fairly long adjustment period after replacing his eyes and evolving the Tenseigan.

That was precisely why Naoki had delayed the Tenseigan plan for so long.

But the situation now was different. He could not guess exactly what the village intended to do, but he was certain of one thing: danger was closing in.

During a solo patrol, Naoki went to a remote stretch of desert he had chosen long ago.

He scanned the area with his Byakugan. After confirming that no one else was nearby, he immediately formed hand signs and summoned the one-eyed viper Orochimaru had left behind to monitor him.

Poof.

As the smoke dispersed, the one-eyed viper lazily slithered up to Naoki and spat a scroll from its mouth.

The scroll containing the genetic solution had been kept by that viper all along.

It was a measure born of necessity. Only by storing it inside the one-eyed viper could Naoki retrieve the precious genetic solution anytime and anywhere through the Summoning Technique.

Naoki was not too worried about Orochimaru intercepting it.

Long ago, he had started storing all sorts of miscellaneous experimental materials inside the viper's belly. Orochimaru had secretly checked them several times, but after finding only worthless odds and ends, he gradually stopped paying much attention.

On top of that, Orochimaru had only recently defected. He was probably still entangled with Jiraiya and would not have time to worry about Naoki for a while.

After taking out the genetic solution sealed within the scroll, Naoki's expression turned grave.

Evolution at the genetic level carried far too many uncertainties. The solution in front of him might be the key to changing his fate, or it might be poison that would bury him.

Without live experiments, there was no data. At this point, Naoki could not even estimate his chance of success. But he had no time left. He could only take the gamble. Whether he could one day control his own fate, live with dignity, and escape the helplessness of being ordered around by others would all depend on this vial.

He did not hesitate long. Steeling himself, he injected the genetic solution into his body.

A scream tore out of him almost at once.

Pain.

Bone-deep pain.

Pain that drilled straight into his heart.

After being a shinobi for so long, Naoki had thought his tolerance for pain was already strong. Pain, of all things, should not have been enough to shake him. Only now did he realize pain could reach this level.

Slowly, he felt the chakra inside his body begin to collapse.

'No!'

The situation had already slipped out of his control. With the last of his remaining chakra, he hurriedly released the Summoning Technique and sent the one-eyed viper away.

Almost at the same moment the viper disappeared, the little chakra he had left completely scattered. Then his body seemed to begin breaking down as well. He could feel signs of his flesh starting to dissolve.

'Why is this happening?!'

With that fierce unwillingness burning in him, Naoki's vision went black, and he collapsed in the desert.

He did not know how much time had passed before he slowly opened his eyes and found himself back inside the outpost.

Beside him, Captain Chuichi Mitsui stared hard at him and asked coldly, "What happened? Why did you pass out in the desert?"

Naoki's mind was still foggy, so he gave a vague answer. "I... I don't know why..."

Mitsui frowned. "Were you attacked? By who? Sand shinobi?"

Naoki shook his head. "No one attacked me. Something went wrong with my own body. I... I think I'm sick."

Shinobi could get sick like anyone else. In the shinobi world, that was perfectly normal. Bloodline shinobi could even suffer from all kinds of strange kekkei genkai diseases. Kimimaro and Itachi were classic examples.

Mitsui still had doubts, but when he saw how weak Naoki looked, he stopped questioning him.

Only after Mitsui left did Naoki carefully inspect his own body.

The reaction after injecting the genetic solution had been far more violent than he had expected. It gave him a completely new understanding of how dangerous it was to activate the special genetic sequences inside his body.

'At least I survived.'

As he let out a long breath, waves of fear rose in him after the fact.

Although he had no precise data, his own experience told him that surviving the activation and restructuring of the special genetic sequences had to be an extremely low-probability event. He had clearly felt his body teetering on the edge of collapse during the process. It had been like being taken apart into countless pieces, then assembled all over again. The feeling was pure despair.

At the same time, it made Naoki deeply aware that when it came to genetics, he was still a novice.

After calming himself, he began analyzing the effect of the genetic solution based on what he had personally experienced.

His body had nearly collapsed because the dormant special genetic sequences inside him were being activated. In other words, the number of activated sequences he lacked determined how many activation-and-restructuring cycles his body would have to endure.

Naoki had been missing sixteen sequences.

That meant he had endured sixteen full activation-and-restructuring cycles out in the desert.

Each cycle had been a brush with death, and Naoki had survived sixteen of them in a row.

Surviving it had been nothing short of luck.

With all thirty-three special genetic sequences now activated inside his body, Naoki could feel that he was completely different from before. That change was still continuing. The most direct sign was his chakra. He could feel it growing constantly, as if there were no end to it.

He got out of bed and slowly walked to the mirror.

Lifting his goggles, he saw that his once-pale eyes had become somewhat transparent, as if they held stars within them, flickering with an unusual light.

'Beautiful.'

Even Naoki found himself drawn in.

Just as he leaned closer, wanting to see more clearly and in greater detail, a powerful wave of dizziness suddenly engulfed him. At the same time, a violent stabbing pain tore through his eyes.

It took a while for the dizziness and pain to fade.

Naoki braced himself against the wall and slowly stood. He understood now. During the adjustment period, he could not use his eyes at all. Even the simplest act of looking was too much.

He closed his eyes and put his goggles back on.

Once he lay back down on the bed, he quietly began to think.

The Tenseigan was evolving now. Whatever the future might hold, in his current state, he was even weaker than before. This was not the time to celebrate.

He needed to find a way through this difficult adjustment period.

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