Kotoe had carefully prepared a large spread of dishes for Ye Zi. Her cooking skills had improved significantly, and the food was becoming more and more delicious.
Although the presentation was still a bit lacking, the taste was excellent.
Ye Zi hadn't been particularly hungry at first, but the sight of the steaming, aromatic dishes caused his appetite to surge. Grabbing a wooden bowl and chopsticks, he began devouring the food on the table.
Kotoe sat across from him, resting her chin on her hands and tilting her head slightly as she quietly watched Ye Zi eat with gusto. A faint smile played on her lips, and she seemed a bit mesmerized.
Her thoughts drifted to an imagined future, and a light blush spread across her face.
If… they could one day settle in a place far from conflict and grow old together, how wonderful would that be?
But such thoughts were merely fantasies, unable to become reality.
Even in her daydreams, she reminded herself that it was all just a dream, something that could never happen.
She sighed deeply in her heart. The closer she got to Ye Zi, the more greedy she became.
"Things are good as they are now," Kotoe thought as she gazed at Ye Zi devouring the food. Her smile grew warmer, spreading from her lips to her entire face.
Ye Zi was completely focused on the food and seemed thoroughly satisfied.
After polishing off what could easily feed ten people, he let out a small, contented sigh and sincerely complimented Kotoe.
Seeing how much Ye Zi enjoyed the meal, Kotoe was overjoyed. All her effort in improving her cooking had been worth it.
After finishing the meal, Ye Zi thought of helping Orochimaru with his work.
When he initially established the new base, he hadn't considered setting up a private lab for Orochimaru. Fortunately, the base had plenty of rooms, and they could easily repurpose one. However, they would need to allocate equipment from Nanako's lab.
Kotoe stayed behind to clean up while Ye Zi informed her of his plans and then left to find Orochimaru.
As always, Orochimaru's private lab was adjacent to his living quarters.
When Ye Zi arrived at the room Orochimaru had chosen as his lab, he found him standing alone in the center of the empty space, lost in thought.
Noticing the movement, Orochimaru turned to look at Ye Zi with a hint of surprise. "What brings you here?"
Leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, Ye Zi replied, "I came to see if you needed any help."
Orochimaru smiled faintly and said, "Perfect timing. Help me set up a workbench and some tables and chairs."
As expected, Wood Release was proving incredibly useful.
Following Orochimaru's instructions, Ye Zi used Wood Release to create a proper workbench and matching tables and chairs. Afterward, he accompanied Orochimaru to Nanako's lab to allocate the necessary equipment.
When Nanako saw Ye Zi, she seemed to have something to say but held back when she noticed he and Orochimaru were busy setting up the lab. She decided to wait until they were finished.
With Nanako's help, the equipment was quickly sorted, and Orochimaru's lab was established.
Nanako also shared her recent research notes with Orochimaru. He accepted them and gave her a nod of thanks.
After helping Orochimaru set up the lab, Ye Zi also crafted several wooden cabinets along the walls at Orochimaru's request, placing them near the tables and chairs.
"That's enough. You can leave now," Orochimaru said bluntly after everything was done.
Rubbing his forehead at Orochimaru's lack of courtesy, Ye Zi said nothing and left the lab.
He hoped Orochimaru could quickly uncover the secrets of Jūgo's body and its connection to the mysterious energy.
Next, Ye Zi headed to Nanako's lab. While moving the equipment earlier, he had sensed that she wanted to speak with him. Unsurprisingly, it was likely about the experiment involving transplanting Byakugan into a clone.
It had been about six months since he assigned that task to Nanako. The experiment could have only two outcomes: success or failure.
When he arrived at her lab, the beautiful woman with silky, flowing hair was engrossed in her work, writing notes at her desk. So focused was she that she didn't notice Ye Zi entering the room.
Ye Zi walked quietly to the side of her desk and stood there, silently watching her focused expression without disturbing her.
Scratch, scratch, scratch...
Her pen moved fluidly across the notebook, writing without pause. What she wrote was no mindless doodling.
The notes, simple sketches, and personal annotations in her notebook were treasures for any researcher involved in human experiments.
These invaluable insights were being recorded seamlessly, reflecting the fact that most of them were already well-formed in Nanako's mind.
The quiet lab was filled only with the soft sound of pen on paper.
Immersed in her work, Nanako remained entirely unaware of Ye Zi's presence.
A man stood silently, waiting for a woman who had lost herself in her work.
Three hours later, Nanako let out a small sigh and finally put down her pen, gently massaging her wrist.
"Ye Zi…" She finally noticed him standing by her desk, and the sudden realization startled her. She froze momentarily, unable to react.
Ye Zi looked at her calmly and asked, "Finished?"
"Huh?" Nanako was momentarily stunned. She nodded instinctively, wondering how she hadn't noticed Ye Zi and when he had arrived.
"When did you get here?" she asked.
"Not long ago," Ye Zi replied casually.
Without further ado, he got straight to the point. "Did the Byakugan transplant experiment succeed?"
Hearing this, Nanako immediately shifted into work mode, dropping the previous topic.
"It succeeded, but I only transplanted one Byakugan into the subject," she said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Her expression resembled Orochimaru's when he was engrossed in his experiments.
Ye Zi's eyes lit up slightly. "As long as the Byakugan's abilities can be utilized, whether it's one or two doesn't matter especially since we don't have many Byakugan to spare."
Nanako nodded. "The clone with the transplanted Byakugan can use its power perfectly, but the downside is that it consumes a significant amount of chakra. I'm trying to find a way to mitigate this, but I haven't made much progress yet."
After all, a clone isn't a natural human body, and its potential for modification far surpasses that of a normal person. Additionally, the body of a clone is more specialized than that of an ordinary ninja.
If Nanako and Orochimaru were willing, they could even alter the clone's physiology, enhancing abilities at the cost of life force, for example, by improving regenerative abilities.
"I see..." Ye Zi murmured thoughtfully. A clone's limited chakra was already a major weakness. If using the Byakugan required significant chakra, it would only exacerbate the issue, making it a serious problem.
Chakra-boosting drugs could temporarily multiply chakra reserves several times, but they had time limits. Once the time expired, the body would collapse. Such drugs could only be used during the most intense battles.
Rather than deploying clones with Byakugan in combat to exhaust themselves while taking down enemies, Ye Zi felt it would be more efficient to use them for reconnaissance. With the Byakugan's superior observational capabilities, they would excel in scouting missions, especially given the limited supply of clones and Byakugan.
Still, the chakra deficiency needed to be addressed.
As for combat, Ye Zi leaned more toward transplanting Sharingan into clones instead.
The problem, however, was the lack of Uchiha Sharingan. Conducting a large-scale raid on the Hidden Leaf Village was impractical.
To obtain Sharingan, the only feasible option would be to ambush and kill Uchiha ninja who ventured outside the village.
If Sharingan were combined with chakra-boosting drugs, the clones would gain an impressive burst of combat power.
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Currently on Chapter 430 - Encirclement