บท 5: chapter 5: Evolution

"System, show my status," Bai Shi silently commanded in his heart.

Immediately, a familiar translucent panel floated into view:

[Host: Bai Shi

Age: 2 / 60 ↓

---- Basic Attributes ----

Strength: 0.1

Agility: 0.1

Constitution: 0.1

Intelligence: 0.7 ↑ (3.0)

---- Special Enhancements ----

Cell Adaptability: I (98.9%) ↑

---- Abnormal States ----

Warning 1: Unknown drug effect ongoing, foreign cell activity reduced by 80%, expected duration: 7 days, 21 hours, 14 minutes, 30 seconds!

Warning 2: Foreign cell erosion ongoing (90.3%), expected loss of control time: 9 days, 6 hours, 47 minutes, 12 seconds!]

He could see that the system estimated the time until he would lose control had already shrunk to less than ten days. While he could hold on until just before the next scheduled supplement of the inhibitor in eight days, he definitely couldn't survive beyond that.

In other words, at most, he had twenty days before he would end up like the experimental subject he had just seen, dead from losing control.

However, this outcome was based on the assumption that there would be no variables, and what Bai Shi had always worked toward was to create variables.

His gaze shifted upward, finally locking onto [Cell Adaptability].

Looking at its 98.9% progress, he silently issued an instruction: "Initiate evolution!"

[Evolution has been initiated…]

A familiar cooling sensation surged into his cells; Bai Shi felt as if he had returned to his mother womb, his entire body warm and comfortable.

At this moment, he forgot about time and pain, leaving only an indescribable feeling of bliss in his heart.

······

"Ding! Objective achieved, evolution has been terminated!"

Accompanied by a cold notification sound, Bai Shi awakened from the bliss of evolution.

Because the evolution had been prematurely interrupted, he felt extremely weak but, unlike before, he didn't directly fall asleep.

Struggling to gather strength, he eagerly reopened the panel.

As he expected, [Cell Adaptability] had leveled up, and not only that, the special enhancements column now included two new abilities, specifically as follows:

[Host: Bai Shi

Age: 2 / 60 ↓

---- Basic Attributes ----

Strength: 0.1

Agility: 0.1

Constitution: 0.1

Intelligence: 0.7 (3.0)

---- Special Enhancements ----

Cell Adaptability: II (0.1%) ↑

Chakra Affinity: Water: I (1.5%) ↑ Earth: I (1.6%) ↑

Wood Release: I (0.2%) ↑

---- Abnormal States ----

Warning 1: Unknown drug effect ongoing, foreign cell activity reduced by 80%, expected duration: 7 days, 21 hours, 9 minutes, 16 seconds!

Warning 2: Foreign cell erosion ongoing (89.3%), expected loss of control time: 9 days, 18 hours, 27 minutes, 35 seconds!

Warning 3: Foreign cell fusion ongoing (0.1%), expected time needed: 99 days, 15 hours, 16 minutes, 12 seconds!]

The panel clearly displayed that [Warning 3] indicated the impact of the upgrade in [Cell Adaptability] on him.

That is, with the assistance of the cell inhibitor, his cells were beginning to fuse with Hashirama's cells.

And this would serve as the foundation for him to escape his predicament.

Additionally, due to the cell fusion, he also inherited Hashirama's bloodline limit—namely, the Wood Release ability.

However, as this was still the early stage of fusion and the genetics were somewhat unstable, there was a risk of losing control at any moment.

This could be seen from the fact that his loss of control time had hardly changed.

Fortunately, a new dosage of the inhibitor would be supplied in eight days, which should give him enough time.

As long as he survived this dangerous period, with his current cell adaptability, the rate of Hashirama's cell erosion would gradually decrease.

Once a certain critical point was reached, the degree of erosion would also begin to fall. Soon, his body should return to normal.

Furthermore, due to inheriting the Wood Release, his body exhibited special affinity for water and earth chakra, indicating that learning relevant ninjutsu in the future would be significantly easier.

Having gained a clear understanding of his own status, Bai Shi began to ponder the next direction for his enhancements.

Undoubtedly, the most critical matter at the moment was still to resolve the erosion issue posed by Hashirama's cells, allowing him to survive this dangerous period.

If he could not hold on until his body improved, then no discussion would even be relevant.

Currently, there were two paths to solve this problem. The first was to continue enhancing [Cell Adaptability], gradually accepting and fusing with Hashirama's cells through improved adaptability.

Choosing this path had both clear pros and cons: the pros were stability and safety, while the downside was that it would take too long.

As for the second path, it was to directly strengthen his [Wood Release] ability.

By choosing this route, his body's cells would rapidly replicate and evolve based on the completed fused cells.

This way, his resistance to Hashirama's cells would significantly increase, and perhaps in a short time, he could turn the tables and eliminate the threat.

However, this method carried considerable risk.

After all, the degree of erosion from Hashirama's cells was profound; if he recklessly turned a protracted battle into a decisive confrontation, it was likely that his body would collapse first.

Therefore, after much consideration, Bai Shi ultimately decided to forgo this tempting idea and proceed cautiously, prioritizing the resolution of Hashirama's cell erosion.

In any case, since he couldn't leave for the time being, why not choose the safer option?

Moreover, while enhancing [Cell Adaptability], his [Wood Release] ability would also benefit—killing two birds with one stone, wouldn't that be better?

With the decision made, Bai Shi wasted no more time and directly initiated a new round of evolution.

Although the previous evolution had consumed quite a bit of energy, he persevered for a considerable period before succumbing to sleep.

As for the reason, it was simple: after gaining the [Wood Release] ability, even without intentionally refining chakra, the energy from his physical body would naturally mix with his mental energy, generating chakra.

These chakra reserves had allowed him to extend the duration of his evolution somewhat.

And it was foreseeable that chakra would become his primary energy source for future evolutions.

······

Time flew by, and it was now eight days later, the time for receiving the inhibitor again.

However, not every experimental subject would be able to wait until this moment.

In the past eight days, five more experimental subjects had lost control.

In fact, one of them had been right next to him.

Looking at the empty, devastated cultivation tank in front of him, Bai Shi couldn't help but feel a sense of sorrow for the fallen.

He still vividly remembered waking up from a sleep yesterday, only to find his surroundings in chaos, not even knowing when the other had died.

In the past, watching anime, he hadn't thought much of such experiments, but now that he had become one of the subjects, he finally understood the cruelty involved.

And experiments like this were not limited to the Hidden Leaf; other ninja villages, large and small, were conducting similar research, leading to countless innocent lives lost.

Moreover, this was just part of the ninja world; the large-scale ninja wars that occurred every decade or even every few years claimed even more lives.

"It's no wonder everyone in the ninja world wants to be a savior…" Bai Shi shook his head, lamenting.

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