Chapter 354: Chakra Rice
"This rice... contains chakra?"
Hearing the Third Raikage's words, Dana also picked a head of rice curiously and crushed the grain. Sure enough, faint chakra dissipated from it. If he weren't observing up close, it would be hard to notice.
Curious, Dana put a few grains into his mouth and chewed. They weren't as hard and brittle as expected—probably because they hadn't been dried or processed yet. They tasted slightly sweet, and a tiny amount of chakra merged into his body.
It was truly tiny. With his massive chakra reserves, it was like a drop of water entering the ocean, impossible to find once inside.
But this was miraculous. No food in the ninja world naturally contained chakra; they were all ordinary. Some precious medicinal herbs had effects due to their medicinal properties, unrelated to chakra itself.
Dana pondered the significance of this.
Mamoru Anzai introduced excitedly:
"Through generations of targeted influence and selection, we constantly picked plants most sensitive to chakra ripening. Gradually, we found chakra residue in some plants. Then we analyzed them and hybridized them with different rice varieties provided by Dana-sama. With the extremely fast ripening speed, we completed over a dozen generations of breeding in a short time. Although... it wastes quite a bit of soil and fertilizer..."
Dana had to admire this. Completing over a dozen generations of cultivation in a few months... Chakra really defied logic. In his past life, how could similar research achieve such efficiency?
"We call it: Chakra Rice. With each generation, the chakra content gradually increases. Of course, many failed varieties were discarded. What you see, my lords, is the excellent variety selected layer by layer. Considering there is no precedent for chakra food in the ninja world, we cautiously conducted animal experiments."
Dana and the Third Raikage exchanged an awkward glance. They had both eaten some just now.
Why didn't you say that earlier?! I want to punch him!
Anzai didn't see their strange expressions. Led by him, they discovered a hidden door on the wall painted with blue sky and white clouds beside the field, previously hidden by the rice stalks.
Pushing open the hidden door revealed a laboratory. The style instantly shifted from warm pastoral to cold scientific.
Seeing the Consul and Grand General arrive, two researchers immediately stood up to greet them.
Dana noticed a small figure between them—a mottled ferret. The furry creature stood upright and bowed like the researchers, a roll of fat bunching up on its belly.
Anzai said:
"Low-level summoning beasts show significant intelligence improvement after consuming Chakra Rice long-term, evolving toward high-level summoning beasts."
Ninja summoning beasts were diverse. Putting aside the Three Great Sage Regions and some powerful races, there were many chaotic types like ninja hawks, crows, dogs, turtles, sharks, etc.
Among them, some were just enslaved by ninja and no different from ordinary animals, generally classified as low-level. The outstanding ones surpassed the intelligence and ability of their species, could even use chakra, and were generally classified as high-level.
Intelligence and combat power varied between species. For example, a talking Chihuahua with chakra might not beat an ordinary bear, but it was still a high-level summoning beast.
"This little guy is named Buru, the summoning beast of one of our researchers. It has been eating Chakra Rice for a month. Although its intelligence hasn't reached high-level standards yet, it has improved a lot. Checks show Chakra Rice is improving its body, transforming it toward a high-level summoning beast, and chakra reactions have appeared internally."
Anzai gestured for the researchers to continue their work. The mottled ferret actually helped, passing various tools to its master.
Anzai led the group to the deepest part of the secret room, where rows of cages and glass boxes lined the walls.
The smallest was the size of a shoebox; the largest was two meters high, containing various animals.
Anzai said, "We conducted seven groups of different experiments, from insects to mammals. Five groups showed significant improvement in ability and intelligence. The most outstanding one even reached the level of a high-level summoning beast, capable of speech and using chakra."
Anzai lifted the cover off the largest cage, revealing the contents.
A mandrill, half the height of a human, leaned against the wall with its hairy legs crossed.
As the cover was lifted, the mandrill turned its head indifferently and said one word to the crowd:
"Scram!"
Then it turned back, seemingly deep in thought.
The crowd outside the cage: "..."
Anzai said awkwardly, "This guy's personality is a bit... exaggerated and arrogant. We didn't notice when it couldn't speak. Don't know where it went wrong."
Anzai tapped on the cage. "What are you doing? Hungry?"
Without turning its head, the mandrill said indifferently, "Ignorant human."
Anzai narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed. This monkey was embarrassing him in front of the Federation's two big bosses.
He extended a finger. Black tendrils, identical to Yoshitoki's, wriggled out and reached toward the monkey in the cage.
"If you don't speak properly, you'll be punished!"
Evidently, Anzai still communicated with it like an animal.
The mandrill's expression changed. Cold sweat dripped from its furry face. Abandoning its pose, it shrank back into the corner.
"I understand! I will communicate with you frankly! Retract your evil tentacles!"
Seeing the stinking monkey act normally, Anzai retracted the tendrils.
"Anyway, this guy has great talent. It learns human language extremely fast; definitely a genius among animals."
Seeing it was safe again, the mandrill resumed its indifference, flipped the messy hair on its head, and said desolately:
"I did it with my life on the line. Don't use the word 'genius' to erase my hard work!"
Dana was astounded. This intelligence level... was already comparable to an ordinary human!
Although it seemed to have some kind of mental illness.
Anzai introduced a bit more, then said, "Alright, Sasuke, eat properly or you'll be punished. We're leaving."
The mandrill muttered in a low voice, "The snake crawling on the ground deludes itself into controlling the eagle? Little does it know it will eventually end up in the beak of the eagle soaring in the sky."
Dana froze. "What did you call him just now?"
Anzai smiled. "Sasuke. Just a random name, no deep meaning. But the guy seems to like it very much."
Dana didn't recover for a long time.
Returning to the field, Anzai said, "Regarding Chakra Rice, although current experimental data mainly comes from animals, I believe with your vision, my lords, you can see its future potential."
The Third Raikage asked, "If humans and animals who already possess chakra eat Chakra Rice, what will be the effect?"
Anzai replied, "There will be a slight improvement in various abilities, but the degree is very small. To have significant progress, it would probably require long-term consumption over years. Of course, we don't have test subjects who have consumed it for that long yet; this is just speculation."
Dana sighed. "This is truly... amazing..."
Anzai knew the Consul had quickly grasped the key point.
"From the current situation, long-term consumption of Chakra Rice can slightly improve strength, serving as a supplement for growth. But the greater use is that short-term consumption can allow life forms originally without chakra cultivation aptitude to possess a constitution capable of refining chakra..."
"In other words, if the experiment succeeds, theoretically, anyone can gain the aptitude to become a ninja through Chakra Rice..."
The Third Raikage paused. So that's it.
He was still hung up on whether the "slight improvement" was useful. Now he realized the truly impressive part wasn't boosting existing ninja, but enabling everyone to become a ninja...
This would have the greatest impact on the entire ninja world.
Anzai envisioned, "Plants are most easily affected by the environment and easy to hybridize and modify. Not just rice—theoretically, other crops too. With enough data and samples, maybe one day we can grow even more amazing things."
"Like a walnut that lets you learn a nature transformation in one bite, or an apple that gives you Jonin-level strength... It's just a pity that this method damages the environment too much and cannot be promoted on a large scale. Otherwise, it would cause irreversible impact on the entire ninja world's environment."
Dana froze...
A fruit that gives power when eaten...
Is it terrible tasting? Does the user become unable to swim?
Devil Fruits?!