In many respects, the experimental research Habara intended to conduct was quite significant. Correspondingly, however, he neither applied for any professional laboratory space nor purchased many specialized experimental instruments.
He simply arranged the room next to his office slightly and deemed it his so-called laboratory. Taking advantage of the current period of "world peace"—and the window where Konoha's internal atmosphere, though somewhat tense, involved only overt and covert standoffs rather than bloody conflict—doing more research seemed like a good idea.
Under normal circumstances, the research Habara wanted to conduct wasn't excessively hazardous and wouldn't produce catastrophic results, so its location within Konoha's central area wasn't problematic. He tried his best not to create extra work for the Konoha ANBU. And taking a huge step back, even if some "accident" occurred that could generate work for the ANBU, at this close distance, they could handle the incident—and claim the resulting performance metrics—in the most efficient and swift manner possible… This could truly be called Habara's gesture of public spiritedness.
After Habara had a thorough discussion with Tenzo and the two reached a basic consensus on "building a better Konoha," his preliminary work began.
Currently, inside his "laboratory," Hyuga Neji's small figure was busy carrying various bottles and jars, moving them from one side to another and arranging them neatly… He was Habara's disciple in name, but in reality, their relationship was more akin to that of a kindergarten teacher and a senior class student.
Habara sat quietly by the window, seriously flipping through a book on chakra theory and related medical effects… Given his style of 'temporarily embracing the Buddha's feet'—only looking things up on the spot when he needed to know something—one glance made him seem rather irresponsible towards the other participants in the research.
But he himself felt his attitude was quite rigorous. It took him about a week to finalize the research concepts and specific experimental methods.
In the realms of science fiction, or even metaphysics, research methods involving biotechnology tend to be either extremely precise or extremely crude… As they say, the poor rely on mutation; if the mutation succeeds, you become incomparably strong.
As for mutation failure? Well, that's not victory; that's the kind where no corpse remains.
The creation of the Curse Mark, or more accurately, the creation of a detoxified Curse Mark—enhancing a ninja's individual abilities is the superficial aspect. Substantively, it's about the rediffusion of specialized genetic information and its macroscopic expression. Simply put, it can be understood as a form of…
Gene modification therapy.
Therefore, the core "designated object" for this experiment naturally came from Habara. The primary research goal was the extraction, dilution, and stabilization of this designated object capable of carrying natural energy.
Extracting blood samples of varying activity levels, then performing separation to obtain the designated object with corresponding activity… In short, obtaining a designated object with higher activity, a more pronounced corrosive effect, and greater adaptability to natural energy was Habara's target.
As for the separation method, Habara didn't have many brilliant ideas; it was basically just sedimentation layering or centrifuge classification.
"Extraction" was self-explanatory. "Dilution" was intended to reduce the designated object's corrosiveness and lethality. Because even though Habara's version wasn't the natural, original adaptation, and he himself was already adapted, after one round of his "detoxification," the unique ability still possessed lethal potential.
As for "stabilization," the premise was to retain the unique properties of the designated object while removing its instability, making it less dangerous, so as not to cause others to instantly explode or mutate into "Xenomorphs."
Habara planned to use extracts from his own blood to create the substance for the "Curse Mark." However, his physical condition varied considerably, specifically influenced by the amount of natural energy in his body, causing his cell activity to fluctuate… This point alone made controlling the variables in this research difficult.
The stabilization step after obtaining the designated substance required a special stabilizing agent, and this was one area where Habara needed Tenzo's help… First Hokage cells and natural energy—put nicely, they complemented each other; put pessimistically, it was fighting poison with poison.
Habara's approach was so rudimentary, yet his methods were also unusually simple, even filled with a sense of everyday life—basically just adding more water to the flour, or more flour to the water.
The difficulty in the first step was essentially a "balancing" problem.
Unfortunately, a clear concept and method didn't guarantee quick positive results. Quite the opposite; countless attempts might be needed to achieve even a barely satisfactory outcome. Actions always needed to follow objective laws, so Habara didn't expect success the first time he tried "mixing the dough."
But when he was messing around blindly in his luxurious laboratory, he was actually quite excited.
"Alright everyone, attention. Preparing to begin."
Inside the lab, only Daigo was present. Before proceeding further, she meticulously recorded the details in her notebook.
"Self-X Energy Carrier #1, State 0, Concentration 001057, Trial 69.""Stabilizing Agent: X-gen XX-cell derivative, type 023, 0.25 class mixed tissue fluid.""Synthesis ratio: 13:21.""Predicted probability of intense rejection upon third-party inoculation: 76%..."
As she spoke, Habara pushed a half-full beaker containing an unknown reagent to the edge of the table. Then, holding a test tube with one hand, he slowly held the tube vertically, preparing to drip the liquid inside into the beaker.
He squinted, deliberately holding the test tube up to the window light to see the markings on it. Combined with his slow movements, he looked exactly like an old woman with failing eyesight threading a needle.
When a single drop of liquid fell into the beaker, the liquid inside instantly began to boil violently. This sudden, intense reaction made Habara, who was holding his breath, instinctively take a step back.
"Th-that intense?" Tenzo would have been glad Habara wasn't the type to skip preliminary steps and go straight to human trials.
Wasn't it intense? The whole thing looked like a middle school chemistry experiment… What happens when you throw a piece of sodium into water?
"How can you say it's not rigorous? In the spirit of science, I am being extremely rigorous."
Hearing Habara say this, Tenzo first focused intently, but then his brow furrowed again.
"But… that shouldn't happen, right?"
Tenzo wasn't without experience regarding natural energy. While the current experiment differed from natural energy fusion, the essence was connected. There shouldn't be such a strong reaction; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to borrow strength to use more powerful Wood Release techniques back then.
"It is a bit beyond comprehension."
Habara thought for a moment, then said, "Perhaps it's like this: the current experiment is purely external. Meaning, my extract isn't under my control, and his cells aren't under his control, so everything ran wild… Still, it's within the realm of explainable phenomena. It seems we really do need to further reduce the activity level."
What needed to be done next was continuous experimentation, mechanical trial and error, just like searching for a suitable light bulb filament.
This process was relatively tedious. Fortunately, Habara had the help of "artificial intelligence," so he didn't need to stay in the lab twenty-four hours a day… Daigo could help him complete the repetitive experiments; after all, she was idle anyway.
Based on this research approach, Habara could be called a normal researcher conforming to ethical and worldly standards. If it were Orochimaru, he wouldn't care about adaptability; only those who survived were qualified test subjects. Otherwise, weren't they just trash?
Just like that, time passed imperceptibly, and a month later...