Chapter 200: The Fans Who Came to Our Door?
"This is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious."
Kenichi laughed out loud as he stared at the white mouse that had just set a new record for fastest death. He was genuinely speechless. His idea had produced results, but the results were the exact opposite of what he wanted.
After he tried refining genetic programming with Yin Yang chakra, the mouse's genes stabilized for a brief moment. Then a chain reaction began.
Almost instantly, everything collapsed. The lab rat melted into a puddle of liquid again, because every cell in its body failed and dissolved, like pulling the one crucial block out of a stacked tower.
"Still, this proves the idea has potential."
Kenichi calmly poured what was left of the mouse into the nearby trash can, then wiped his hands as if he had done this a thousand times.
In truth, if he could use a real Yin Yang Release technique, this step might have succeeded. Unfortunately, he did not possess Yin Yang Release. So he could only keep testing, slowly and carefully, one crude attempt at a time.
"It's been over a month already. The rice should be ready soon."
He glanced at the calendar, then froze.
More than a month had passed. Almost two months since he finished that talk with Shisui.
Time inside a laboratory was a liar. Kenichi had been certain only ten days had gone by at most, yet the calendar slapped him with reality.
He stepped out of the lab in a daze and stretched under the sunlight, squinting as warmth hit his face.
The shinobi world's sky was strangely familiar. A sun. A moon. Even the same rhythm of day and night as his previous life, except the moon here was artificial.
That only made the sun more unsettling.
It looked no different from the one he remembered.
Kenichi found himself wondering which star system this planet belonged to, and whether there was another blue planet somewhere in this universe.
But those questions were far beyond what he could prove right now. If he wanted real answers, he would first need an astronomical telescope. After that, he would need satellites. And if he wanted to research further, he would eventually need spacecraft.
Those dreams were still sitting on the far side of reality.
Back inside the base, his teacher still was not around. Only Koji and Kenichi's shadow clones remained, buried in their own projects. The rice fields were growing well, but the newly numbered improved strain still showed no obvious change.
Kenichi exhaled and rubbed his eyes.
Then he noticed something.
He circled the soundproof barrier his teacher had set up and spotted faint signs that it had been breached before.
Someone had broken in.
Kenichi's mind snapped fully awake.
He followed what little remained of the tracks. At first, the trail was clear, then it was quickly erased and overwritten by signs of a fight.
That made his expression sink.
Something was wrong.
He moved faster, tracking the direction until he reached the area Sasori had been using.
The crater Sasori had once blasted out was gone, filled in as if someone wanted to hide the mess. Sasori's presence was not where it should have been either.
"It's too quiet today."
Kenichi stretched again, twisting his neck. He had gotten used to hearing explosions in the distance, Sasori treating detonations like a personal hobby. This kind of silence felt unnatural.
"What's going on?"
A small laboratory sat ahead. Sasori was outside, talking to someone shorter than him.
When Sasori saw Kenichi, he waved enthusiastically.
Kenichi slowed, eyes narrowing.
The visitor was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, and something about the figure felt familiar. The posture, the back, the shape of the head. Kenichi recognized it before the person even fully turned.
Then the boy faced him.
Kenichi froze for a heartbeat.
He knew that hair color. He knew that face.
Even if this was not the future version, he could still identify him at a glance.
"Deidara?" Kenichi blurted out. "What are you doing here?"
Deidara was supposed to be from Iwagakure. Kenichi had met him once before, back when he traveled to the Land of Earth to do business with the Third Tsuchikage.
Deidara's eyes lit up like he had been waiting his whole life for this moment.
"Yes! I want to follow Senior Kenichi and learn the art of explosions!" he declared, practically vibrating with excitement.
Kenichi's mouth opened, then closed.
He suddenly felt tired.
Following him all the way from the Land of Earth to the Land of Rain was already ridiculous. Seeing him standing here in an Akatsuki cloak made it even harder to process.
Sasori sighed, sounding half amused and half helpless. "This kid insisted on coming to find you. He even barged in and got into a fight with me."
As Sasori spoke, Deidara turned toward Kenichi again, eyes burning with worship.
"I want to follow in the footsteps of my idol, Heavenly Demon!" Deidara announced proudly. "Let's study the art of explosion together!"
The moment Kenichi heard his own title spoken like that, he felt his scalp tighten.
Behind the scenes, Amegakure had already suffered for it.
Nagato's body had been growing weaker and weaker ever since he connected to the monster known as the Gedo Mazo. He looked like a starving ghost now. If it were not for his massive chakra reserves, he likely would not have lasted this long.
Konan had watched it happen, silent and grim, unable to do anything except help him carry out his plan, and by extension, Yahiko's wish.
But even as Nagato prepared for the future, trouble arrived early.
A ragged boy who looked like a refugee had shown up in Amegakure. Nagato noticed him but did not care much at first. Refugees were common there, especially after wars between the great villages. Amegakure was used to desperate people drifting in.
Then the boy caused chaos.
He showed off what he called art, right in the middle of Amegakure.
Nagato, already strained and irritable, had to suppress the urge to personally crush the nuisance.
"This Jade, even if he's not here, can still cause me trouble," Nagato muttered darkly, staring at the mess Deidara left behind.
Deidara did not stop at one stunt.
He created a huge clay bomb and poured chakra into it like he was trying to drown it. The result was an enormous, bloated creature, and the explosive power was considerable.
Even though Nagato intervened quickly, explosions still happened.
Worse, Deidara could form a strange white bird, fly into the sky, and drop those bizarre bombs from above.
It was enough to make Nagato pause.
A bloodline limit like Explosion Release was not common. Even Sasori, who fought the boy when he barged in, recognized the potential immediately. Deidara's strength was not high yet, but the path in front of him was dangerous.
In the end, Nagato recruited him into the Akatsuki. The ability was useful, and the organization could make use of him.
Deidara received an Akatsuki cloak prepared by Konan, and Konan even gave him a manicure after he joined.
Nagato's face had darkened the entire time.
"This is so annoying," he said, voice flat with exhaustion.
Deidara, of course, immediately ran off afterward.
He announced he was going to find his idol, Heavenly Demon.
Nagato, already regretting everything, still pointed him in the general direction of Kenichi's location. If the brat insisted on becoming a problem, then at least he could become someone else's problem.
Back in the present, Kenichi stared at Deidara and forced a laugh.
"Hahaha. Doesn't this prove I still have some popularity?" he said awkwardly.
Deidara's fanatical gaze did not blink once.
Kenichi felt a faint, unpleasant twist in his stomach. Being worshipped like this was strange enough. Being worshipped like this by someone who had joined his own organization was even worse.
Kenichi rubbed his face. "So you just joined the organization like that?"
Deidara puffed up, clearly proud of it.
Sasori clicked his tongue and looked Kenichi up and down. "I didn't expect you to have fans."
Kenichi pretended he did not hear the teasing tone. He turned back to Deidara, trying to drag the situation into something he could control.
"Deidara, what kind of explosives can you make now?" Kenichi asked, curiosity surfacing despite himself. Explosion Release was rare, and Deidara had always been one of Kenichi's research targets. If the boy had walked straight to his door, it would be a waste not to take advantage.
"I'm developing the most powerful explosive!" Deidara declared. "I've named it G1!"
Kenichi raised a brow. "G1? How powerful is it?"
Deidara immediately launched into a demonstration.
After watching it, Kenichi understood the concept. Deidara's so called G1 was essentially a giant clay bomb, then dumping chakra into it until it threatened to burst.
"…Who would have thought that kid had that kind of power," Konan had once said, half amused and half exasperated, back when the village was still dealing with the aftermath.
Kenichi looked at Deidara again. "Do you think an explosion is entirely determined by yield?"
Deidara blinked, confused. "Isn't it?"
Kenichi smiled, then shook his head. "If yield alone decided everything, there would be no point in making different explosives."
He spoke simply, like a teacher correcting a student who had memorized the wrong answer.
"A black powder bomb and a thermobaric bomb aren't the same thing. They're not even close. And neither of them can be compared to what happens when you touch the edge of a nuclear weapon."
Even explosives with the same weight could produce wildly different effects.
Deidara hesitated, pride fighting honesty on his face.
Kenichi watched him quietly.
Finally, Deidara lowered his head and shook it. "No. My G1 isn't as powerful as yours."
Kenichi nodded, satisfied. Then he glanced at Deidara's hands, at the unusual details, at the way chakra lingered around him like it belonged there.
He was already thinking ahead.
Deidara coming here on his own was convenient. Later, he could draw some blood, isolate the genes, and see whether there were abnormalities tied to Explosion Release.
Still, Kenichi could not help feeling that this entire situation was absurd.
Deidara joining the Akatsuki was supposed to happen in the future. Instead, it happened early, because Kenichi's own actions had accidentally created a "Persona" powerful enough to attract a lunatic admirer.
Kenichi scratched his head, staring at the boy's shining eyes.
"Senior!" Deidara said again, still excited. "I came here to follow you and discuss explosions together!"
.....
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