Escape from Konoha.

"Too slow! The sun's almost setting. What have you been doing?"

As soon as Shiraishi returned, Ruri frowned and asked.

"I'm sorry, because the medicinal herbs I need are quite rare, I had to search many places before I found one that sells them. Here, this is the natto you wanted."

After apologizing, Shiraishi tossed the bag of snacks containing natto to Ruri.

Ruri took the bag of snacks containing natto, and her expression softened slightly.

"By the way, if there's nothing else, I'll head back to the lab now. There's still a ton of work to do there."

Seeing that Ruri was still sitting there motionless, Shiraishi left the room.

Having collected Ayane's new physical data, the rest of the work can only be handled by myself.

Whether it's a caged bird or a perfect fusion of natural energy and ordinary chakra into Sage Chakra, you have to do it yourself.

It has been almost a week since we returned to Konoha after annihilating the Sand Village force in the Land of Fire. The next mission should be scheduled soon, and at the latest, we will have to leave the village again in about half a month.

No matter what, Konoha still had a tough war to fight. As one of Konoha's top elite Jonin, their Team 5 leader, Sakumo Hatake, naturally couldn't rest in the village for too long.

As for what the next mission will specifically involve, Shiraishi cannot deduce any useful information based on the existing intelligence, but it is certain that the mission difficulty will be at least A-level.

Back in the lab, Shiraishi opened one of the hidden doors, leading to a 30-square-meter room with a toilet and shower. The five people used for human experiments lived here.

The lights inside were on, so when Shiraishi opened the door, they could clearly see his appearance, and their bodies involuntarily trembled.

Then one person walked out in order, and although his spirit had recovered a lot after such a long rest, the terrifying memories that flooded his mind made him realize that he probably knew what he was going to do next with Shiraishi, and his face turned a little pale.

Shiraishi nodded slightly in satisfaction. That's right.

If you cooperate a little and don't resist, he can naturally bring you some rich and delicious nutritious meals, which is much better than the life of a bandit outside, constantly on the verge of death.

After that person left, Shiraishi looked at the remaining four people, took out two not-so-thick books from his ninja tool bag, and threw them in front of the four of them.

"Read more books when you have free time. Books are great for human progress."

The four prisoners inside looked at each other, wondering what Bai Shi was up to.

Shiraishi didn't explain anything. It was mainly because these guys seemed so boring, so he found a couple of books for them to read. This would not only help them pass the time but also greatly help them recover mentally.

Shiraishi closed the hidden door and turned around, only to find that the person who had just come out was now lying on the operating table, staring at the light above with his eyes open.

If you can't resist, then enjoy it.

Anyway, we have plenty of food and clothing here, which is definitely much better than the chaos outside.

"Lord Shiraishi, could you give me a little more anesthetic?"

Seeing Shiraishi walk up to him, he turned his head and asked in a low voice.

"..."

Shiraishi didn't know how to respond.

However, it was not done according to the test subject's own wishes.

Overuse of anesthetics can cause circulatory failure and lead to cardiac arrest; therefore, both dosage and method of administration must be carefully considered.

"Rest assured, this is a human experiment conducted on a humanitarian basis, and I will be responsible for your health and safety. Moreover, my experiment has made great progress compared to last time, so it should be less painful."

Shiraishi patiently offered an explanation.

Konoha did not issue any relevant guidelines for human experimentation, but Shiraishi has always acted in accordance with the rules of his previous life.

Human experimentation, in particular, is unethical and should not be applied in practice.

To protect the physical interests of the parties involved, to promote medical development, and to comply with scientifically established principles, Shiraishi adheres to these principles.

If the person shows signs of a mental breakdown, stop immediately and replace them with someone else.

And if the magic is successful, it can also drive the development of medicine, that much is undeniable.

The experiment itself is scientifically sound, based on a complete theory, and has accumulated a sufficient number of animal cases, so the risk is very low.

They did not start with the human body from the beginning, even though progress was slow.

Aside from violating the first principle of informed consent... However, in times of war, Shiraishi felt that it was better to act cheaply and there was no need for such detailed differentiation.

Shiraishi picked up a syringe filled with liquid of natural energy and began injecting it into the test subject.

To avoid problems, when injecting natural energy, Shiraishi always neutralizes the reaction based on the test subject's physical condition, including the maximum chakra that can be drawn from the body, creating complete Sage Chakra within the test subject's body.

After the Sage Chakra is formed, it is necessary to carefully consider the subject's rejection reaction to the Sage Chakra, the longest duration of rejection, and whether it will cause damage to various organs of the human body.

When he used animals to fuse Sage Chakra, Shiraishi already knew that the training of Sage Arts was fraught with unknown dangers.

Because it is unknown, we must be cautious and not take too big a step at once.

The experiment involved connecting the subject's entire body to a dense network of wires, with the terminals of these wires being a very large computer that could reflect various bodily data in real time and record them precisely in the computer's database.

The experimental subject was placed on the operating table, and data was recorded using a computer.

Shiraishi then began another experiment—breaking the caged bird puzzle.

The question of whether he would die after his chakra was depleted had been troubling Shiraishi in his mind.

However, this kind of experiment cannot be directly applied to humans; we must start with animals first.

Like humans, animals in nature also possess chakra.

To this end, Shiraishi prepared fifty mice suitable for the experiment to conduct the 'chakra disappearance' experiment.

If this experiment is successful, it will be of great help in solving the problem of caged birds.

Even if it cannot provide a perfect solution, it offers a reasonable approach.

An hour later, the experiment on the subject, which involved neutralizing Sage Chakra with natural energy and ordinary chakra, had ended.

In terms of the results of the experiment, there has been a slight improvement compared to the last time. At this rate, there is a high probability that he will be able to figure out a Sage Art system suitable for human cultivation before he leaves Konoha.

Remove the wires from the test subject and send him back to the room behind the hidden door.

Before returning, the test subject took two books from the bookshelf and secretly glanced at Shiraishi to see his reaction.

Shiraishi simply turned a blind eye to this and said nothing.

The books on the shelf cover a wide range of subjects, including history, geography, chemistry, and biology, but there are no important research materials on display.

Learning is a crucial process for developing human intelligence.

They have this kind of enthusiasm for learning, so Shiraishi is naturally willing to support them.

However, it is important that you still serve as a test subject when necessary.

Shiraishi looked at the white mouse on the experimental table that had died instantly from having its chakra drained, and shook his head.

The experiment failed.

Although they tried their best to save the mice's lives, the effect was still minimal.

Seeing that it was almost time, Shiraishi was about to leave the laboratory when a sudden, icy sensation touched his throat, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

The sharp kunai was held against Shiraishi's throat; a single, gentle swipe would wipe him from the world.

Chapter Fifty: The Question of Whether the Protagonist is the Top or the Bottom

"Um... Ruri, what are you doing? What happened?"

Shiraishi caught a glimpse of Ruri out of the corner of his eye, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

Speaking of which... Shiraishi sensed that Ruri's strength had increased considerably since she stood silently behind him.

The Uchiha bloodline is truly terrifying, and Ruri, who can easily control the power of this bloodline, is even more terrifying.

Ruri didn't remove the kunai from Shiraishi's throat; her voice was close to his ear, suddenly ringing out in the dimly lit laboratory:

"You haven't been hiding anything from me, have you?"

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Shiraishi was taken aback for a moment, then scratched his head, seemingly quite puzzled by Ruri's words.

"Your behavior today was a bit strange. Usually when you go out to buy things, you just leave without saying goodbye. But today, you came over and said goodbye first. So, I've been wondering if you're hiding something from me?"

Liuli's expression was nonchalant, and her eyes were no different from usual, but it gave people the feeling that nothing could be hidden from those eyes.

"Um... Ruri, when did you learn to joke? This was just a sudden whim."

Yes, it was just a whim. Shiraishi was also trying to convince himself.

"A sudden whim that only comes once every few years is really quite a coincidence. So I've been wondering if you've been meeting with someone behind my back."

"You've misunderstood me. You should know my social connections very well, shouldn't you?"

"That's true, but that's precisely why I feel something's not quite right. I always feel like you smell like someone else, even though you're a woman."

Liuli even took a few light sniffs on Baishi's shoulder.

"It's not like it's the Inuzuka clan's nose, you're a Uchiha!" Shiraishi was speechless.

Just as Shiraishi was about to say something again, Ruri removed the kunai from Shiraishi's neck, her tone no longer as cold as before:

"Never mind, who you meet with is none of my business, is it? I'm nobody to you."

As she said this, a faint smile appeared on Ruri's lips, which made Shiraishi feel even more terrified.

Generally speaking, Liuli doesn't joke around.

"Well, you're really overthinking it."

"You really didn't secretly meet with anyone?"

They say they don't care, but they clearly care a lot.

His eyes grew even darker, and a murderous aura almost burst forth from them.

"Of course, don't you know me? I never lie."

Shiraishi looked at Ruri with sincere eyes.

"So how do you plan to explain this photo?"

Ruri took out a photo showing Shiraishi and Ayane together. The photo was taken in front of Shiraishi's old residence, just as the two were about to go inside together.

"..."