Naruto: The Ninja World's Life Buyer

Chapter 40 Human Body Adjustment

8 PM. Orphanage.

Sosuke sat at a wooden table in the basement, holding a silver needle, searching for nerve nodes on a frog's leg.

Nono went out on errands.

Sosuke was sitting opposite Chiba, who was engrossed in reading an anatomy book that was bigger than his face.

"The third branch nerve," Chiba said without looking up. "If you want its leg to straighten instead of curl up, you should insert it two millimeters, not three."

Sosuke adjusted the depth of the silver needles.

The frog's legs suddenly straightened, stiff as iron.

"Oh, right." Chiba pushed up his glasses, a slight smile appearing on his lips.

This child is a freak.

Other children would cry or feel disgusted when they saw a frog being dissected.

Chiba only gets excited.

It was as if what he saw was not flesh and blood, but a sophisticated mechanical structure.

"Your intuition is terrifying." Sousuke pulled out the silver needle, and the frog's legs went weak. "If you become a puppeteer, everyone in Sunagakure will lose their jobs."

"I don't like puppets." Chiba closed the book. "Puppets are inanimate objects. Life is the most perfect machine."

The candlelight in the basement flickered.

Sosuke looked at Chiba.

This six-year-old child's eyes lacked the innocence of childhood; instead, they held a yearning for truth and a desire to explore the essence of life.

When Nono was not around, some of his traits gradually became apparent.

"Lord Orochimaru once visited the orphanage."

Chiba suddenly said.

Sousuke understood.

Sure enough.

Orochimaru.

In present-day Konoha, this name represents the glory of being one of the "Three Legendary Sannin," and signifies ruthlessness and genius.

But at the same time, he represents touching the taboo.

"When did you arrive?" Sosuke asked.

"Six months ago," Chiba pushed up his glasses, his tone as flat as if he were talking about the weather, "he came to see Dean Nonou. But the way he looked at us kids... was the same way you look at a frog."

"What kind of look?"

"A look of disassembly."

Chiba pointed to the frog on the cutting board.

"He seemed to be wondering, where are the limits of this body? Can a part be replaced? Is immortality possible?"

Sousuke was surprised.

"How did you know that Lord Orochimaru is researching immortality?"

"I've heard of it."

Sosuke fell silent.

This six-year-old child is alarmingly sensitive.

"I don't like that look in his eyes," Chiba said softly. "He treats people like mere raw materials. But I think people are sophisticated instruments, machines with souls."

What's the difference?

"Materials can be consumed at will; they can be thrown away when they break. But instruments should be maintained."

Chiba raised his head and looked directly at Sousuke.

"Mr. Sosuke, you and he are the same kind of people. But you have one more thing than him."

"What?"

"You don't want to rewrite your life, you just want to... take advantage of it."

Chiba's intuition is very accurate.

Yes.

Whether it's ninja beast meat, silver liquid, or even Sousuke's own body, they are all tools for him to achieve his goals.

"you're right."

Sosuke did not deny it.

He pulled out a piece of paper covered with acupuncture point diagrams from his pocket.

"Since it's an instrument, it needs to be calibrated."

"Chiba, do me a favor."

……

They arrived at the warehouse in the west of the city.

Chiba knelt on a wooden stool, holding a brush dipped in ink.

Before him stood Sousuke, who was shirtless.

Sosuke's back was covered with intricate lines and black dots.

This is not a tattoo; it is a sophisticated human body circuit diagram.

"The nerve plexus here connects to the Dazhui acupoint."

Chiba's pen stopped just below Sosuke's cervical spine.

"Theoretically, if an electric current is used to stimulate this area, the signal will be transmitted directly into the spinal cord, bypassing the 'thinking' process of the cerebral cortex and directly triggering a muscle reflex."

"The reaction time will be shortened by two-thirds."

Chiba's voice was calm, as if he were discussing how to fix a broken alarm clock.

"But it also means that if the current is too strong, you will be like a frog with its head cut off; even after you die, your body will still be thrashing around."

"Continue." Sousuke said with his eyes closed, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"You're crazy."

Chiba pushed up his glasses and continued drawing lines.

"I've heard that even Lord Orochimaru initially used other creatures for his experiments, while you used yourself."

"Because I know my body better than anyone else."

Sousuke had the confidence to do so because he had mastered the healing chakra and could heal himself.

He entrusted it to Chiba with peace of mind.

Although Nono is a professional, she has her bottom line. As a medical ninja, she is there to save lives, and she will not allow such near-self-harming modifications.

But Chiba is different.

This six-year-old child has not yet developed that kind of worldly morality.

In his eyes, the human body is a machine, and cells are its parts. He'd try anything to make the machine run faster.

This is the difference between geniuses and ordinary people.

Ordinary people value ethics, while geniuses value efficiency.

"It's finished."

Chiba put down his pen.

"There are twelve nodes in total. They control the explosive muscle groups of the limbs and the core conduction tracts of the spine."

He took a step back and looked at the ink marks on Sosuke's back that looked like scribbles.

"This is beautiful," Chiba murmured to himself. "This is the most efficient structure."

Sousuke opened his eyes.

He picked up the two silver needles that were connected to the battery.

This is his specially made "Lightning Release Simulator".

Since there is no lightning-style chakra nature transformation, let's use physical electricity instead.

As long as the voltage and current are controlled properly, the effect is the same, or even more controllable.

"I'm going to begin."

Sosuke turned his hand over and inserted the first silver needle into the Dazhui acupoint.

pain.

It wasn't just the pain of needle pricks, but also a feeling of soreness and distension, as if some deeply buried string had been touched.

Immediately afterwards, the second one was inserted into the Yaoyangguan point.

These are two important acupoints on the Governing Vessel.

Once connected, the current will flow through the entire spine.

"The switch is right next to you." Chiba sat back in the corner, hugging her knees. "If there's any danger, I'll unplug the power for you."

Sosuke took a deep breath.

The switch was pressed.

Nourishes—

A blue arc of electricity flashed across the dimly lit basement.

"Well--!!!"

Sosuke's body suddenly arched, like a fully drawn bow.

The spine emitted a series of cracking sounds.

The feeling was like someone had shoved a live electric eel into his spinal cord.

The electric current rushed along the nerve bundle.

Without the brain's permission, the latissimus dorsi and erector spinae muscles in the back instantly contract and tighten, becoming as hard as iron.

The pain signals were drowned out by the violent electric current.

Sosuke bit the cork out of his mouth.

He is guiding.

He guided the Yang Release chakra within his body to envelop the damaged nerve sheath.

Destruction and repair go hand in hand.

This is extremely dangerous.

In the corner, Chiba stared intently at the bulging muscles on Sousuke's back.

He was observing.

He is studying.

He was recording the human body's reactions under these extreme conditions.

ten seconds.

Those ten long seconds felt like an eternity.

pat.

The switch tripped.

Sosuke slumped in the chair, his body emitting white steam, his skin displaying an eerie flush.

"Mr. Sosuke, are you alive?" Chiba asked.

Sosuke remained silent.

He tried moving his fingers.

That feeling was strange.

Previously, when the brain issued a command, the fingers moved, with an extremely small delay in between.

But now.

The sense of delay disappeared.

Or rather, it has become shorter.

The thought had barely formed when his finger had already flicked out.

It's like a congested signal corridor that has been forcibly widened into a highway.

"Living...very well."

Sousuke replied hoarsely.

He stood up.

Although his body was still trembling slightly from the residual current, he could feel that his nerve conduction speed had increased by at least five percent.

Don't underestimate this five percent.

In the world of ninjas, this is not just a difference between fast and slow, but also a boundary between life and death.

Moreover, that's not all.

Sosuke removed all the silver needles from his body.

His body swayed slightly, but he regained his balance.

He casually picked up a glass marble from the table.

I didn't watch it.

He simply threw it behind him based on instinct.

The marble hit the wall and bounced back.

Without turning his head, Sosuke suddenly clamped two fingers together behind him.

Snapped.

Hold it firmly.

"This is... the result after debugging?"

Sosuke looked at the marbles in his hand.

"The world has slowed down."

This is, of course, an illusion.

The world hasn't slowed down; it's just that his processor has been upgraded.

"This is the payment."

Sosuke took out a wad of banknotes from his pocket and placed them on the table.

"Buy some meat. You're too thin."

Chiba didn't look at the money.

He looked at Sosuke's back, which was covered with needle marks.

"Mr. Sosuke."

"Um?"

"If one day your nervous system breaks down..." Chiba's voice was soft, "please leave your body to me."

"I want to dissect it myself and see what the human nervous system is really like."

Sosuke was taken aback.

Then he smiled.

"it is good."

"If that day ever comes, I will be yours."

"But is that enough?"

Chiba paused for a moment.

Sosuke patted him on the shoulder.

"You have brains and vision, but your body is too weak. Without chakra, you'll always be just a theorist."

"Teacher Nono taught me the extraction method," Chiba said, lowering her head. "But I'm very slow at it. And... it's exhausting."

That was due to long-term malnutrition.

Before Sosuke's financial assistance, the orphanage's food was barely enough to sustain them, not enough to support the ninjas' training.

Although the situation has improved somewhat, the food is still ordinary, and the children cannot become strong in a short period of time.

"From now on, come to my shop to pick up your meals every day."

Sousuke said.

"I won't raise you for nothing. In exchange..."

He pointed to the acupoint chart on his back.

"You need to help me develop a more efficient 'electric stimulation program'."

Chiba, holding the book, nodded.

It's also a deal between two outliers, or perhaps an alliance.