New life of the Uzumaki Capítulo 9
In the dimly lit lab, the hum of machines and the soft glow of various holographic screens created an almost eerie atmosphere. Dr. Mobius stood at a central console, her eyes flicking over streams of data with an intensity that bordered on obsession.
Behind the woman, Klein, her loyal ELF assistant, hovered nearby, ready to assist the doctor but also quietly observing the data.
Silence filled the room as Dr. Mobius worked, her fingers dancing across the keyboard.
The only sound was the occasional beep of the equipment and the faint whir of cooling fans.
Klein watched as the doctor meticulously analyzed a sample of Naruto's blood, the boy who came from outside of their planet.
"Dr. Mobius, do you really think this boy's blood can hold the key to such a profound breakthrough?" Klein's voice broke the silence, her voice filled with curiosity.
Dr. Mobius didn't immediately respond.
Her eyes were glued to the screen, where intricate patterns and biological data scrolled past at lightning speed.
Suddenly, her fingers stopped, and a wicked smile spread across her face.
"Profound? Profound doesn't even begin to cover it, Klein," she said, her voice low and Klein could notice the excitement in it. "What we have here is nothing short of miraculous."
Klein floated closer, peering at the data.
"But what exactly does it do?"
Dr. Mobius straightened up and turned to face her assistant, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
"It's not just a cure, Klein. It's a revolution. The lab rat's blood...it takes in and destroys the old cells in the recipient's body and recreates them. It's as if it purges the body of all its ailments, all its imperfections, and then rebuilds it from the ground up. We're talking about complete cellular regeneration."
Klein's eyes widened.
"So, it could heal anything? Terminal illness...including...the MANTIS?"
Mobius nodded.
"I was a bit skeptical hearing that the first time and while there was a truth in what the boy said, it only applies to the people of his world." The doctor explained and when she saw the downtrodden look on her assistant's face, she continued. "However, after a few tweaks here and there, I managed to reconfigure his blood into a universal cure that would work for anyone...including the dead."
Klein's eyes widened.
"Doctor...that is..."
"I know, Klein." The woman stood from her seat. "But some deserve a second chance and we know several of them, one who exiled herself from humanity because of what they did to her sister." (Yae Sakura and her sister doesn't exist here, only SAKURA. Remember that this is a different reality and SAKURA didn't die and managed to stop RIN by killing her, not sealing it in a black box like canon timeline.)
Her feet brought her to the wall nearby and pressed some buttons on a terminal before a small pod containing the body of a girl no older than 12 with pink hair and a tiny bit of red on her bangs emerged from it.
Klein's eyes widened seeing the body that they thought to be destroyed when the incident happened.
"I know what you're thinking, Klein. I know what I did was wrong to SAKURA, but this is all for science...and if it works, SAKURA will have her sister back." Mobius proceeded to inject the serum into the pod and had the machine injecting it into the body. "And if it doesn't, she will stay dead as it should be."
Klein watched in anticipation only to be confused when Mobius turned around.
"Come, Klein. It will take a bit more time since she died a long time ago. We'll administer the serum to our other test subjects, this time, alive preferably."
She moved to a row of lab mice in sterile glass cages, each injected with a different terminal illness for research purposes.
"Are you sure this is safe, Dr. Mobius?"
"Science isn't about safety, Klein. It's about discovery. Sometimes, we must take risks to achieve greatness."
With that said, she injected the serum into a mouse with advanced cancer and missing its front and hind legs.
They watched in silence as the tumor began to shrink, rapidly dissolving and its legs regenerating.
Within a minute, the mouse was scurrying around its cage, healthier than ever.
Dr. Mobius blinked rapidly, not expecting the reaction to be immediate.
Klein, meanwhile, was astonished with the result.
"This is incredible. But what about long-term effects? We don't know how stable this cure is."
"Details, details." Mobius waved her hand. "Though it surprised me a bit to know the result was immediate...I thought it would be at least an hour or so..."
A few hours later, Dr. Mobius continued her experiments, testing the serum on various other mice.
Each time, the results were the same: complete and rapid healing including limb regeneration.
Except that she wanted to test the serum on humans.
She sighed inwardly.
If this was an emergency situation like 50.000 years ago, she would have many humans lining up as her test subject.
Klein assisted where she could, until a loud beep coming from the pod where SAKURA's sister resided startled them a little.
The two scientists headed for the pod.
It was there they noticed a finger twitching before bright blue eyes opened up slowly.
"Dr. Mobius...it works...you...really bring back the dead...is this...a miracle?"
Dr. Mobius turned to her assistant, her expression stern but triumphant. "There are no miracles in science, Klein. Only results. What we're witnessing is the culmination of meticulous research and the extraordinary properties of our lab rat's...no, the boy's blood."
She turned to the girl in the pod and murmured.
"Welcome back to the living world...RIN."
.
.
.
Naruto stirred in his sleep feeling something heavy on top of him.
He knew his master tended to have her arm over his body but this time he felt a full weight of a person's body and it was definitely not his master.
His eyes fluttered open before finding a tuft of gray hair right under his nose.
It didn't stop there as his eyes also found a light purple coloured hair beside the gray one and he could see horns coming out of it.
"Whoa...you're right...his chest is different from ours..."
A grope.
"I know right? I think I found a new hobby."
Another grope.
"It's hard and firm...almost no fat in them...I should grope some more before he wakes up..."
Grope, grope.
"...Stelle...Bailu..."
The two girls froze.
Their heads slowly looked up to Naruto's glaring blue eyes.
Stelle gave him a blank look with a thumb up while groping his chest with the Vidyadhara nervously doing the same.
"Morning, Naruto." Greeted the two.
Naruto swatted their heads.
They winced in pain.
"Perverts! And how did you get inside the room anyway!? Master wouldn't have allowed it and my seals should have prevented anyone from entering without Master's or my permission!"
Bailu stood up with a smug look while crossing her arms.
"Your master has always had a soft spot for me!"
The Uzumaki deadpanned before he felt Stelle poking his cheek.
"You have a guest by the way."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"It's that blonde femboy with the Drag Queen Jing Yuan." Finished Stelle before her hand reached to grope Naruto's chest once more only to be swatted away.
The girl puffed her cheeks.
"And what in my tails caused you to call the general a drag queen?" Asked Naruto, exasperated with how the girl behaved.
Was he this annoying before Kafka took him?
"Nah, you're a little bit better than her...though if you stayed in that place for another 3 years, I bet my fur you'll be worse than her..." Answered the Biju with a loud yawn.
'...I don't know what to say to that...'
Stelle pulled out her phone and swiftly scrolled her gallery before playing one video.
A video of one of the seven Arbiter Generals of the Xianzhou alliance's Cloud Knights dressed like Jingliu without a blindfold dancing rather cutely.
.
.
.
With Jingliu, Jing Yuan and his apprentice, Yanqing sitting at the table.
"What brings you here, Dozing General?" the woman asked, eyes still blindfolded as she sipped her tea.
Jing Yuan rubbed the back of his head bashfully.
He knew of his reputation to doze off but being called that by his old master was really embarrassing.
"I'm actually here since my apprentice wants a rematch with Naruto, and I have a small request."
The blindfolded woman turned to the boy beside her former apprentice and shook her head, disappointed that the boy didn't have much improvement.
"Naruto will just wipe the floor with him."
Jing Yuan chuckled lightly at the high praise for the whiskered redhead while Yanqing was vexed hearing the old hag in front of him demeaning his ability.
Truthfully Jing Yuan felt the same as his former master.
He had seen how the boy fought the first time and even though Naruto had gaps here and there in his fighting style, he moved fast and knew where to hit, thus resulting in Yanqing's defeat.
The boy beside the General gritted his teeth and was about to open his mouth before something interrupted him.
~~~~~~~~ "BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" ~~~~~~~
"..." Yanqing looked at the shoji (paper door) in surprise.
"...what was that?" Jing Yuan followed up with a question.
"I believe that's my apprentice but it's rare for him to laugh that way...I wonder if Baife–Bailu has something to do with it..."
Jing Yuan chuckled, hearing his master almost slip up.
"She seems close to your apprentice, and that girl too, Stelle, isn't it?" Jingliu nodded at the inquiry with an unnoticeable small smile on her face. "Not to mention the Helm Master and the Amicassador of the Sky-Faring Commission from the rumors I've heard."
Jingliu nodded again before her tea glass cracked, surprising Jing Yuan and Yanqing whose eyes widened.
"How long has it been since the incident again?"
"...A-around a week ago?" Answered the general nervously which somehow calmed the woman.
"I see. There are still 3 weeks to go before those hussies start bothering us."
The general shook his head.
While he pitied the boy, he was glad that it wasn't him getting his master's affection.
That was when Naruto, now fully dressed in his training outfit opened the door and greeted the three inside the lounge.
The redhead turned to his master before bowing at her.
"Master." He turned to the guests and the corner of his lips twitched rapidly before greeting the two. "General, Yanqing."
"Naruto." Jing Yuan smiled at him before the redhead took a seat beside his master.
Soon after that, Bailu and Stelle joined the lounge with Bailu slipping in between Jingliu and Naruto while Stelle took his empty right side.
Unbeknownst to them, since Stelle was suspiciously quiet, Yanqing had his eyes on her and gasped at how pretty she was.
And unknown to the boy, Stelle was actually trying to grope Naruto's thigh under the table while maintaining an aloof look even with the redhead swatting her hand away.
She didn't give up though.
"Naruto." The redhead turned to Jingliu. "The young boy here wants a rematch against you."
His attention shifted to Yanqing except the boy wasn't paying attention to him now but Stelle.
The blonde-haired pretty boy even had his cheeks tinted with red hues.
Unfortunately for him, Stelle didn't care about it at all and was still trying to touch Naruto's thigh.
"Really, you two?" Bailu sighed exasperatedly at her old friends. "Still trying to compare which of your students is the better one? We got the result the last time they had a spar, remember?"
Jingliu turned her head away while Jing Yuan chuckled sheepishly.
"Actually, old friend, I believe Yanqing has improved since then and since Naruto is somewhat his rival, a spar between the two can serve as motivation for the both of them." The general reasoned.
Bailu deadpanned at him.
She turned her head to Yanqing with the same look before shaking her head.
"Nah, he'd lose again."
Jing Yuan sweatdropped at the harsh comment.
'Do they not believe in my teaching?'
Bailu, noticing that the young boy beside the general wasn't commenting on their conversation like usual leaned over to the redhead beside her before whispering to him.
"Pssst, Naruto."Said redhead turned to the Vidyadhara on his left. Apparently, Bailu too noticed something was wrong with Yanging. "Why is he looking at Stelle like that?"
Naruto shrugged.
"Dunno..."
"Do you think he likes her?"
Naruto was about to answer the dragon lady before turning to Stelle and whispering at the girl.
"Hey, Stelle."
The gray-haired girl closed in to Naruto though her hand was still fighting against Naruto's, trying to rub his thigh.
"Bailu says Yanqing likes you."
Stelle turned to the boy across the table whose eyes swiftly looked away.
That was when her prankster nature arose. The corner of her lips curled into a mischievous grin before she asked Naruto to lean to her side and kissed his cheek.
The deed surprised the redhead Uzumaki and by chain, Yanqing, whose face was as red as a tomato because of anger and jealousy.
He shot up from his seat and yelled at Naruto.
"I challenge you for–"
"Nope!" Naruto shot down the demand before he could finish and pinched Stelle's cheek. "She's only baiting you! She has been trying to rub my thigh ever since we sat down!" The Uzumaki deadpanned at the dumbfounded boy.
"She can be cute when she's quiet, but you don't know what kind of pranks she's cooking up in her mind." Added the redhead as he swatted the gray-haired girl's hand.
Bailu and Jingliu nodded sagely with their arms crossed at Naruto's statement.
"T-then, she can rub my thighs all she wants!" Said the boy desperately.
Stelle shot him a dry look.
"...eeeww."
Yanqing froze in his spot before dropping back to his seat.
Jing Yuan let out a chuckle at his pupil before turning to his old master and friend once more.
"Anyway, besides the matter with my pupil wanting a rematch with young Naruto here, I have a request for you and Naruto..." Jing Yuan turned to Bailu with a smile. "I'm sure Healer Lady here received an invitation too, correct?"
"Invitation?" The Vidyadhara tilted her head to the side. "What for?"
The General sweatdropped before clearing his throat.
"For the opening of the Casino owned by the IPC...I'm certain you received one this morning..."
Bailu rubbed the back of her head sheepishly before answering her friend.
"Actually..."
"She was already here at dawn, I don't think she even checked in with her guards." Supplied the blindfolded woman beside the embarrassed Dragon Lady.
Jing Yuan sighed at that but he nodded, something just never change.
"Anyway, master, I wouldn't be able to attend the opening ceremony, thus I'd like you to attend with Naruto and Stelle here in my place." The general finished before sliding an envelope to Jingliu.
"The IPC..." Jingliu murmured as she gazed at the black envelope with golden ornament.
"Yes. There are also famous people coming to Luofu for the invitation and as a General myself, I have to provide the best security for them, therefore I couldn't attend the ceremony."
"Famous people?" Naruto parroted with a tilted head while swatting Stelle's hand.
"Yes, for example, the new rising star, Robin–"
"Oooh!! I know her!" Bailu jumped from her seat. "Despite only having one song for now and being the same age as you and Stelle, Naruto, she claimed the first place in the billboard for 6 months in a row!"
Naruto raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"What's a billboard?"
Bailu sweatdropped.
"Anyway!" She continued, ignoring the redhead's question. "She's really pretty too, like a doll, if I may add! In fact, the video Stelle showed us earlier had her song as the background music!"
"Oh?" Bailu's statement piqued Jingliu's curiosity.
She wouldn't have it if Naruto gained an interest in this Robin as there were already 3 women that she needed to fend off, namely, Kafka, Yukong and Tingyun. Not that she could do anything to the first one since the woman was basically Naruto's favorite. "And what video might that be?"
Stelle didn't waste any time in showing the woman the video they had just watched.
"Speaking of, how are you going to watch it if you're blind?" Asked the gray-haired girl.
Jingliu removed a small bit of her blindfolded, her crimson eyes glaring at the girl.
"Oh...you're not blind..."
The Sword Champion put her blindfold back on, confusing Stelle once more.
"...how are you going to watch with it if you put them on?"
"...it's see-through."
The children except Bailu sweatdropped at the woman.
As soon as the video and the background music started, Jingliu's body started to tremble, confusing Jing Yuan.
The General noticed the corner of his ex-master's lips twitch rapidly, as if fighting back amusement, while the two youngsters and the Vidyadhara were laughing their heads off.
The laughter snapped Yanqing from his shock before the boy looked at his master in confusion wondering why the three in front of him were laughing boisterously.
"I..." Jingliu started before looking up at her former student. "...didn't think that you have such a hobby, General." Finished the woman before showing Jing Yuan the phone's screen. "Do you admire your master so much that you dressed yourself like her?"
The man's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates while his face quickly turned pale in horror and panic for his secrets being found out. It didn't stop there as Yanqing was also in the video dressed in a cute girl outfit that resembled a schoolgirl's.
"B-b-but...how!?" Jing Yuan asked the girl who had a smirk on her face.
FLASHBACK
"You're...saying you want me to hack the General's personal phone?" Asked Silver Wolf, dumbfounded by how bold the gray-haired girl was.
"Yup. If you do that for me, I'll send Naruto's nude photos to you." Answered the voice through the phone.
"...sold."
'And just like that, I have Wolfie's blackmail material~' Stelle hummed mischievously, thinking that Kafka would be proud of her for easily manipulating the hacker.
FLASHBACK END
"It doesn't matter." Stelle shrugged. "What matters now is, you're mine to command unless I spread this video to everyone in the Luofu."
Except for Jingliu, who smiled slightly, the group whipped their heads at Stelle, all thinking the same thing.
'This girl is pure evil!'
"Don't worry, I won't always demand anything outrageous...maybe." An ominous smile
reached her eyes, scaring the General further.
Thus one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of Xianzhou Alliance and his apprentice were in Stelle's grasp to command. (Reminder, Stelle's a kid, she is unruly and without any adults supervising her, she acts on her own to impress Kafka.)