Advancements...!

Many things happened in the following month.

I spent most of my days in the lab, occasionally coming out to oversee crop production and take on a few missions with my squad. All things considered, my plans were slowly showing signs of fruition.

We had finally sold the first batch of crops to the village, surprising my father. He was happy to buy all of our products because we sold them at reasonable prices.

This, in turn, had a ripple effect, causing some villages and influential people to send in multiple spies. Although Rasa held a tight lid on these things, the village wasn't completely bulletproof, resulting in a few spies probably having made their way in.

Because of this, I doubled the security in the greenhouses. Since I didn't want any of that nosy ninja interfering with my plans, I laid out a few seals that locked them out... Now, unless you were an approved supervisor, there was no way to get near the crops.

Getting this issue out of the way, the village continued to stride forward. In just two months, the economy had experienced positive growth and we no longer relied on the exportation of gold dust to stay afloat. Missions started coming our way, and the village got back on its feet.

One reason for this sudden improvement might have been the newly formed alliance with the leaf; Rasa had negotiated with the recently appointed Hokage, Senju Tsunade, reaching an agreement. Konoha and Suna were now officially allied.

While all this happened, I remained holed up in my laboratory. Sometime two weeks ago, I had finally reached a breakthrough.

After tirelessly experimenting for days, I fused the Sharingan with my old eyes and then transplanted them into the clone. This enormous success only furthered my desire to pull through.

Shortly after that... having gained greater expertise and knowledge, I successfully replaced my clone's arm with one made of Hashirama cells. The only thing remaining would be the assimilation of both Sasuke's and Naruto's flesh.

As I carefully studied Sasuke's tissues, I came across a groundbreaking discovery, followed by an incredible idea.

Sasuke's flesh contained the genetic code for Orochimaru's curse mark, and still maintained some of its chakra. This reminded me of how Kabuto assimilated Jūgo's ability, making him capable of passively absorbing nature energy.

What was incredible was that he had managed to remove the body and mind-altering side-effects of the ability, effectively perfecting Orochimaru's curse. This made me think... The probability of me acquiring sage-mode was slim, in order to access nature-energy, a perfected curse-mark might just be the only way to go.

Fusing Sasuke's and Naruto's flesh into my clone, I kept a piece of the former's and continued experimenting with it for the next two weeks. To my surprise, the results were positive.

At first, I experimented with animals. Jūgo's DNA wasn't easy to work with, but with the help of the system, the task was less monumental. I needed to separate the secretion of the body-altering fluids from the absorption of natural energy.

It was a common misconception that Jūgo's body just didn't absorb the right ratio of natural energy, but that was not the case. What caused him to turn into a monster were the fluids his body produced... When exposed to natural energy, these fluids would cause prominent body dysmorphia.

After a few failed experiments and some mutated, Jūgo-looking birds, I managed to create the perfect curse-mark... Using only Fūinjutsu.

With this perfected curse-mark, the bird in question could passively absorb natural energy, enhancing its senses and physical capabilities... I had basically achieved pseudo-sage-mode.

At this point, I almost felt like throwing a party. This wasn't just good news... This was amazing news...!

Not only could I now use natural energy, but I could also use this on other people. Once I rule the village, creating a squad full of Senjutsu specialists didn't sound too bad... Then again, this was just a cheap copy of sage-mode. Although it had some advantages, it wasn't as broken as the original.

After making sure it was completely safe, I place the curse mark on a second clone to see how the human body would react. Thankfully, it had no apparent side-effects; The clone's senses and physical abilities were heightened to a frightening point.

Blowing up enormous boulders with a punch was as easy as breathing for the clone.

After confirming it carried no side-effects, I imbued the curse mark within my body... On my neck, a red, swirly pattern formed... Shining vividly indicating its awakening.

I could vividly feel the mark filtering natural energy, baptizing my body with its countless benefits. it could absorb natural energy at the perfect ratio, allowing me to passively store it within my body.

Enamored by the feeling, I decided to further test it out. Imbuing my sand with natural energy, I felt it's durability increase and its weight decrease. It had become a sharper weapon, that was easier for me to use.

Not to mention that I now had a practically infinite pool of natural energy, coupled with mine and Shukaku's tremendous reserves... I had really hit the jackpot this time.

Thankfully, my main experiment was also flourishing. Inside an enormous isolation tank, my dormant clone was floating in preservation fluid. His back had a white arm protruding out of it, making for a disturbing sight.

Through the System's analysis and calculations, I roughly estimated the amount of time it would take for my clone to awaken the 'Rinnegan'.

Madara awakened it in his deathbed, but his methods were crude... To top it off, he only had a small chunk of Hashirama's cells to work with. By using advanced Fūinjutsu and knowledge of the human body, I drastically reduced the time.

The system hypothesized that the chakras would fully merge and evolve into a 'Rinnegan' Within the next two years. The date wasn't exact, but it was roughly around that time.

This was the best news I had received since my reincarnation. Once I gained the Rinnegan, nothing could stop me... On my path to becoming the strongest ninja alive.

Smiling, I placed a hand on the isolation tank and focused my gaze on the floating clone.

"Soon...!"

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(AN: There are currently THREE advanced chapters available!

If any of you want to support me and get early access chapters, check out my p.atreon. at toxinfraser. Just type p.atreon.com/toxinfraser Link in the comments!

If we reach the goal, I'll increase my release rate!

Thank you for reading/supporting this fic.)