Surgery Site: A basement belonging to the Yamanaka Clan, deep in the mountains.
It wasn't being conducted in the Uchiha compound, even though the facilities there were far superior—simply because Shien didn't want the Uchiha to find out.
Not that he distrusted his fiancée, of course. It was just that the Uchiha compound sat right in the heart of the village—far too easy for secrets to leak.
During the Warring States Period, the Yamanaka were a minor but respected clan. Over the years, but they had fallen into obscurity. Now, there were barely a handful of them left—maybe ten people in total.
Among them, Yamanaka Koji was the most gifted in ninjutsu, the one upon whom the clan pinned all its hopes. Even when times were hard, the clan would scrape together enough money to buy him strengthening potions and proper meals—anything to ensure he passed the Ninja Academy entrance exam.
Some even starved to death for his sake.
So now, wasn't it clear why Yamanaka Koji was so obsessed with reviving his clan—so much that he'd risk his life to do it?
Never, ever, judge the Shinobi World with the morals of your former life.
The underground lab was crude and narrow. The harsh white light of the shadowless lamp illuminated every detail in the room.
"Shien-kun, everything's ready!"
Hyuga Aotsuki approached, carrying a tray of surgical tools.
They couldn't get their hands on any advanced instruments, of course. But basic scalpels, gauze, and other surgical necessities were easy enough to purchase.
As for money—Shien had received a hundred million ryō as his share of the spoils earlier. Every last coin had gone into building this lab.
A cunning rabbit has three burrows!
The Uchiha lab might already be under surveillance, for all he knew. Having a private, hidden facility was absolutely necessary.
This lab had been remodeled by Hyuga Aotsuki, while Yamanaka Koji handled the cover operations. Its location—on the edge of the village—was extremely well-concealed.
"Alright then, let's begin."
Shien nodded and stepped toward the right-hand bed, where a figure lay unconscious under anesthesia.
It wasn't Yamanaka Koji. He was on the left bed.
The Second Heart!
Naturally, such a thing required a heart to begin with.
Shien wasn't a saint—he had no qualms about experimenting on humans. His only rule was not to use innocent people as test subjects.
This particular chunin had been acquired from Konoha Prison—through Uchiha Shizuka's connections. A murderer, a butcher with countless lives on his hands—Shien had no psychological burden using him.
Ordinary humans were fundamentally different from ninja. That much was obvious, given that Kakuzu's collection of spare hearts all came from ninja.
This one's chakra nature was Wind. The donor heart was Wind-natured too.
Shien wanted to see if that might also boost Yamanaka Koji's own potential.
The lab looked like a shabby home workshop, and the most valuable items inside were probably the few giant jars of nutrient solution.
But Shien had cheats.
Between the Healing Elixir, the Regeneration Serum, and the beginner-level medical ninjutsu he'd mastered, failure was almost impossible.
Whether Kōji would actually grow stronger, Shien couldn't say for sure—but he had absolute confidence he could keep the man alive.
Of course, that was because Kōji was his best friend. If it were someone else? If they died, they died. No way he'd spend millions saving them.
The cost was astronomical— Healing Elixir, Regeneration Serum, every ingredient top-grade—the surgery alone cost over ten million ryō.
And that wasn't even counting the lab itself—excavating the underground space, reinforcing the walls, installing protective seals… not cheap. The nutrient tanks alone cost millions per jar—if you could even find them for sale.
Only now, spending his own money, did Shien truly understand the phrase "money flows like water."
—Shick!
He deftly sliced open the prisoner's chest and extracted the still-beating heart. Since the man's survival didn't matter, there was no need to waste time or effort—he only had to keep the organ intact.
Before, his surgical skills existed only in theory. But with a steady stream of "practice material" from the prison, he'd become quite proficient.
The Clarity Formula had made his medical knowledge unparalleled, and with so many test subjects, mastery had come naturally.
The freshly extracted heart still throbbed faintly. Hyuga Aotsuki carefully poured a vial of Healing Elixir over it to maintain its vitality.
Shien then made an incision in Yamanaka Koji's chest— This time, his movements were far gentler—and began connecting the new heart, vessel by vessel.
A few months ago, he would've never been capable of this. But now, armed with all that theoretical knowledge, his unique bloodline "plug-ins," and the extraordinary resilience of ninja physiology—it was possible.
Normally, even if the transplant succeeded, the heart would never function properly.
But that was fine. Shien had something else.
He took out a syringe filled with a strange purple liquid.
"What's that…?" Hyuga Aotsuki asked curiously.
"Transcendence Serum," Shien replied, not elaborating further.
He'd developed it specifically to disguise the effects of his own blood—just in case. Not that he didn't trust Aotsuki—but in this world, with all its jutsu and forbidden techniques, even the dead couldn't keep secrets. Better to be cautious.
The serum's effect was simple— To conceal the presence of his blood.
Shien carefully injected the Transcendence Serum into Kōji's body.
Moments later, as the fluid coursed through him, the two hearts—one native, one transplanted—began to beat in unison. Their rhythm grew stronger and steadier. The surrounding blood vessels thickened and toughened, while the displaced organs rearranged themselves as if guided by invisible hands.
Don't think it impossible to fit a second heart inside the human body. In his previous life, surgeons had removed tumors weighing over ten kilograms from patients—compared to that, one extra heart was nothing.
Adaptive Evolution!
That was the key principle at work here. Just as humanity had evolved from apes— Life always finds a way.
Given time, life naturally adapts to its environment.
And that was the true miracle of Shien's bloodline.
"Not enough?"
After watching for a moment, Shien injected a second vial.
Evolution required time—and enough of his blood. Without sufficient quantity, the process wouldn't take hold.
Each vial of Transcendence Serum required 200 milliliters of his own blood to create. And once separated from his body, its potency faded quickly. So both vials had been freshly made that very day.
Fortunately, the second dose stabilized Kōji's condition.
Stability meant no further mutations—his body had successfully adapted to its new state.
"It's… over?" Hyuga Aotsuki asked in disbelief.
The whole procedure had seemed absurdly simple.
If Shien knew what she was thinking, he'd laugh. The difficult part wasn't the surgery—it was the blood.
Without his blood, not even Orochimaru or Tsunade could have pulled this off.
In truth— When it came to biological modification, Shien's bloodline made him god-tier, utterly unrivaled.
But Aotsuki wasn't just here to assist today.
"Your turn."
Shien took out another vial—this one filled with a shimmering blue fluid.
Thanks to the advanced instruments in the Uchiha lab, he'd successfully extracted genetic essence from Hyuga blood samples.
The serum itself wasn't the challenge— The real problem was preventing genetic collapse after injection.
That's what the Transcendence Serum was for— It ensured Aotsuki wouldn't die from genetic overload.
In the Shinobi World, research was all about bold experimentation. Fortune favors the reckless! The overly cautious never achieved breakthroughs.
He disposed of the prisoner's corpse, replaced the bloodstained sheets with fresh ones, and had Hyuga Aotsuki lie down.
Forget sterile environments or advanced equipment— This was raw, straightforward science at its finest.
When you've got cheats, you can do whatever you want.
First came the Gene Serum, then a freshly made dose of Transcendence Serum. Two injections later, both surgeries were complete.
The price: Shien's face had turned deathly pale.
He'd lost six hundred milliliters of blood—enough to fill a soda bottle.
Now all that was left— Was to wait for the seeds he'd sown… to sprout and bloom.
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