77 Chapter – 77: Grave robbing again

[Rei POV]

There are a couple more things of importance in the stats window this time, the obvious one being that the eye remodeling has been stuck at fifty-five percent even after activating more genes; meaning that it can most probably only improve after getting EMS. The other being that, I am very close to getting all five nature affinities! By the time I complete the activation of the twenty-third gene, I should have all five…

The last one and the most important one is with my Spirit attribute increasing by leaps and bounds, I can now simultaneously control Seven clones!

Coming to clones, I have already brought a couple of nutrition chambers a few days ago, adding another hole to my already sinking boat of reserves which I was more than happy to do actually.

'Let's get started…'

…

Two weeks later.

I am currently standing in front of seven large transparent cylindrical containers looking at the results of my two weeks of hard work. Each of these seven nutrition chambers houses an embryo that I am planning to clone.

The first six embryos are made from cells that have all inactive genes of two of the Otsutsuki clan descendants. Given that there are Four different clans, we have six options; Uchiha-Senju, Uchiha-Kaguya, Uchiha-Hyuga, Senju-Kaguya, Senju-Hyuga, and finally, Hyuga-Kaguya.

Surprisingly, I was able to successfully create artificial cells for each of these combinations and although it took a lot of testing and calibrations, the embryo was able to successfully house and nurture all of them!

However, it is still too early to celebrate as I don't know what the resulting clones will be like. I can make a guess for the Uchiha-Senju and Hyuga-Kaguya ones, but others can turn out to be just duds; without the ability of both clans… no one can be sure without actually seeing it…

Anyway, that's the story for the first six embryos. The last embryo is a bit special. What do you think I would do once I get my hands on some Hashirama's cells? Other than studying the genes, of course, I would clone it! And that is exactly what I did, the seventh embryo is actually from just Senju Hashirama's cells.

There was just one problem that was holding me back from doing it till now; once I make a clone from someone's cells, they are shackled to the power level of the person at the time when the cell is extracted. Meaning, the clone from Senju Hashirama's cells will always be stuck at what his power was when these cells were taken and there will be no further improvements in strength for this clone as Hashirama is already dead! However, the strength Hashirama displayed before his death is already enough for me to invest my time and money on cloning his cells… hence the seventh spot was allocated to it…

'Two to three months, ha?' I murmur looking at the data being displayed by the A.I chip.

'Assuming these clones can activate more genes with the seal, the current Seal of Ouroboros needs around two months to activate a gene… meaning I would need around three years for it to unlock mangekyo? Mmm… kind of long actually… let me see if it is possible to reduce it… but even if I cannot, it's fine…'

'I and Obito are close to ten years old currently, that means there are about another three years for Obito to 'die' during the Kannabi-Bridge mission… I can afford to wait till then…'

'My main priority now is getting my hands on the last three active genes. As I don't know how much of the Zetsu army Madara has with him, I don't want to take the risk and expose the fact that someone knows about him being alive and is after him…'

'So, for the last three genes…'

I just activated the Twenty-First gene two weeks ago and with the active ones I have in my collection, I will need at most six to seven months before I have to look for them. I have already checked almost everyone in the clan who has activated the Sharingan and thus far, I have been unsuccessful in finding them. However, there is one place that I have not checked so far, The Uchiha Cemetery!

Like the Senju, the Uchiha also have our own cemetery for our Ancestors, and since the Senju cemetery had a grave for a previous Ashura incarnation, why can't it be the same for the previous Indra's incarnations?

Although I am pretty sure I will not be able to find all three of the missing genes as I believe Hashirama and Madara are unique and only they activated all the genes, still if I can find one or two, it will be worth it. So, I start making plans to raid the Uchiha cemetery too…

'Time for another round of grave robbing I guess…' I chuckle.

…

The Uchiha cemetery is not hidden like the Senju one as it is right behind the Naka Shrine. Although people rarely visit the graves these days, it is still something that is in plain sight and hence, harder for others to get here without getting noticed. However, the Uchiha seem to not place much importance on protecting this place, mainly because there is nothing to rob here as even the Sharingans would have decomposed by now and it could also be because they are so confident in themselves that they think no one will ever dare to come here…

'How about that… just from this, one can see the differences in mentality between the clans… Senju who value love above all else, place so much importance on these small matters regarding family which the Uchiha who value power thought was unnecessary…'

'Anyway, why would I complain if it makes things easier for me…'