Starring:
Date: October 2, 2016
Summary:
Awaking after being critically wounded reveals that Yasuo was in a similar position to how he was in the past, captured and experimented on by the scientists that first purchased him. However, the experiment lead to unexpected results from both parties.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Project Akumu - Metamorphosis"
Land of Snow, Underground Hideaway
Silence. Darkness. And then, glimpses of consciousness. Yasuo could hear the sounds of the cart he was placed in moving, and then consciousness faded again. Such an awakening happened quite a few times afterwards. It wasn't until a drop of water landed upon the bridge of Yasuo's nose that he had fully awoken to his condition. Surrounded by all four sides by bars littered with seals meant to keep him inside. Floor made of thick stone that would take hours to dig away at. He was underground, and he could smell the mold all around him, as well as the grunts of others in other cages in the room he was situated in…
This feeling is not unfamiliar to Yasuo. He would almost seem not to react to it at first and only observes to see if he is in the same place as before… Of course not. The place was deserted after he escaped so he couldn't come back and attack there or lead Konoha there for an attack. Most likely this is a hidden lab within the Land of Snow or somewhere nearby…
The next thing the Hyuuga surveys is his bodily condition… That fight took it out of him pretty badly. He's going to have to mend himself up if he's going to survive what Koruso and the others have planned for him. But first…
Pushing through the pain, Yasuo would activate his Byakugan to try and scan the base around him. Hopefully he can see who's all here and how many experiments… and hopefully find where they are keeping Totoro.
There was much to see. The room surrounding him, for instance, was filled with experiments that had been pushed to their upper limit. Much like those that attacked him before. All of them had lost their humanity. Yasuo would push further out, and find one scientist that seemed covered from head to toe, lopping off a limb it seemed, before injecting said limb with some concoction. His subject thrashed around, as the limb started to regrow rather quickly. The bone forming first, then the flesh, then the skin… This seemed… repeated ad nauseum.
Further out, a female scientist would be running tests on Totoro. Likely checking on the progress of the child and making sure the combat did not kill the unborn babe. Yasuo would eventually be able to find the exit, too. Yet, his senses seemed… Skewed… when he attempted to look into a particular room. The chakra there was flaring, and making vision difficult. He might be able to make out the meteor, and perhaps the third scientist, whose name he knew as Koruso… Just then, Yasuo could see a flicker. The first scientist suddenly appeared before him. "Project Akumu." The man called from behind his covered body. The mask upon his head seemed to be covered in a freakish display. His mouth and eyes sewed shut. He would attempt to reach into Yasuo's cell, attempting to place a hand upon him. Diagonstic Jutsu, likely…
The information he gathers is about what he expects, though it does bring a slight frown. It seems the experiments have gone into full gear. The forced regeneration is an interesting one, but it will not likely be used for the betterment of mankind versus creating monsters that are nigh immortal for combat use.
As he spots Totoro being checked out, he lets out a sigh… She is in good condition it would seem at least… They can't stay here long, though… His brows furrow at the sight of that mass of chakra, but then comes the person in front of his cell. The Hyuuga lifts an eyebrow but does not move forward to allow himself to be touched. "…. Don't trust my ability to heal myself anymore, or are you simply checking for my compatibility with your next experiment?"
"You misunderstand me, Project Akumu… No… That's the name of an experiment. Hmm. Yasuo was it? That's what your 'partner' called you. Hyuga Yasuo." The man lowers his head a moment and reaches a finger up to tap his chin. "I don't want you anymore. I had a change of heart in the direction of my studies. Sharingan, Byakugan, Nejigan, Rinnegan… My research determined it wasn't what I wanted. I'm more interested in finding the 'ultimate cure'. Since you are no longer any interest to me, you will be free to go along with your 'mate'… Of course… there is one stipulation. I'm sure it won't be a problem." The man slipped his arms behind his back. "I'll event throw in a bonus to sweeten the deal."
Yasuo blinks a few times as the scientist actually calls him by his name, which he assumes he already knew long before Totoro said anything. He was in this lab for over a decade, after all… The more the man speaks, the more this looks like a trap. There's no way they're actually letting him go or giving him any kind of bonus because they know he's not leaving here with them still alive.
Still, he may as well play along. If he can at least get near Totoro, he may be able to get them out of here despite the trap. "… What is that then?" he asks, lifting an eyebrow as he looks the man over, still keeping his distance.
That's assuming that he actually remembers Yasuo, like Koruso clearly does due to his obsession. The Head Scientist is one whose name Yasuo likely remembers. Isuno was his name. He happened to be the one who experimented with Yasuo the least. Which isn't saying much. "You, and the woman, are free to go. The 'bonus' is that you may have my life. Tear my heart out and rip my body to shreds. It will be a good experiment for something I've been testing. You came to us, hoping to kill us because we caused you pain… When all we truly did was improve you. We didn't chase you, really. Honestly, the only thing you've ever given me was a hard time. So, I'll let you cause me more of a hard time before you leave. You can take out all your deep-seated aggression upon me. Koruso won't touch you. However… For all that we're giving you. Your life, your mate's life, and my life. Technically. All we require is your unborn child. We have the ability to grow them outside of the mother's womb, of course." They don't even want Yasuo's Byakugan anymore. They just want his child. An easily manipulable child whom they can perform ceaseless experimentation on in spite of Yasuo…
"The Alternative is that you suffer for the rest of your short life. I hear that Koruso is extracting the meteor's chakra. He plans on injecting it en-mass on you, just to see the effects of chakra overload on one's chakra network. I hear it obliterates a shinobi's ability to ever use chakra again…"
Yasuo is not so foolhardy as to think this will not come with a serious catch. It all sounds too good to be true, especially when he offers his own life in place. "You think I'm after you because you caused me pain? I knew there was darkness coming for me from the moment I gave myself in place of my cousins to that poacher that brought me to you," the Hyuuga points out, his tone dark as ever, inflectionless really. "However, you are a threat that cannot be abided, and I will not allow my child to grow up in the same Hell I did." With that he takes another step back, gathering chakra before beginning to strike his own tenketsu points to heal his body… a trick that was created in a lab much like this one. As his wounds begin to heal, he stares directly forward at the man.
"You do realize trying to put chakra in an incompatible vessel is a complete waste?" he asks as he glances in the direction of that room. "You're burning out your experiments for nothing without so much as testing? Or perhaps Koruso is simply working out the process until he figures out if it's compatible with me since there's no doubt he still holds some of my cells."
"No doubt. He actually holds them within himself. He's currently testing it on himself to assure that there is compatibility. I'll have you recall that you are no longer any of my concern. I don't want your eyes… I am busy attempting to right my wrongs before I die. I don't have time to burn out my experiments while I'm busy hacking their limbs off, and having them regrow said limbs… A real shame you did not accept, but it is your problem not mine. The child will end up being used anyways. Your mate will be disposed of, too. Goodbye Project Akumu… Yasuo…" Isuno would take his leave, stiffly… Yasuo can make his closing remarks of course, but it wouldn't be long before the man flickered back to his studies… That left a room full of cages like his own. With people whom have been experimented to the points that they are losing their minds…
"With all that regrowing of limbs, I assume you are looking for immortality, so you don't actually plan on dying. You just want to see if your experiment works to that degree and are willing to gamble your life on it because you assume you can be brought back," Yasuo says, shaking his head. As the man walks off, the Hyuuga looks back toward where Totoro is being held and furrows his brows slightly. Perhaps he should have played along more, but there's a good chance the child would have been extracted from Totoro right at that moment had he agreed to Isuno's plan. And then they'd have probably been killed on the way out anyway. For now at least there is time…
And now Yasuo has taken his own gamble with his life and his ability to use chakra. He knows that chakra will either obliterate him or push him further down the abyss to become a more powerful monster that these people can then try to replicate for themselves if he is not successful in escaping…. Either way, this at least gives Totoro and the child a chance. He will have to just wait…
It was only about ten minutes after Isuno left, many of the people who were in the cages surrounding Yasuo seemed to stare at him, pleadingly. As if he could do something to help them, sans killing them on the spot. So tainted were most of their minds, that they couldn't reject any sort of order. Yet, they still had their sense of self…
From the room where the meteor's chakra seemed to blank out Yasuo's perception, the chakra pulses finally stopped. Koruso seemed to be charged with energy, though it seemed to have taken it's toll on the integrity of his chakra pathway system. It seemed as if it was near to bursting… It also seemed as if he wasn't satisfied. His cold steps seem to sound through the hallway as he slowly made his way towards Yasuo's cage. As soon as he entered the room, with his half-smirk, all the other experiments recoiled to the point in their cage furthest from Yasuo. "Well, well, well… Project Akumu. Just the person I wanted to see…"
Unfortunately Yasuo hasn't had enough time to regather chakra to heal himself thanks to the extent of his injuries. If he'd had a day or two, maybe he couldn't just ripped this place apart, but Koruso and his men wouldn't be so foolish as to allow that to happen before they've had their fun. The Hyuuga can only assure himself that he's done the right thing by not giving up and just handing them what they wanted just because they offered him an easy out from this situation.
As the scientist makes his way up to Yasuo's cell, he would find he currently sits on the floor almost in meditation, yet the look on his face does not say he is looking for any sort of inner peace… If one had to guess, they might say the Hyuuga is embracing his demons instead. There are dark times and dark deeds to come… and, if Yasuo has his way, they will not all be those of the scientists here.
"… Oh, did you miss me already?" Yasuo asks as he looks up at Koruso, lifting an eyebrow. "Come to ask me to leave peacefully, or have you tired of putting chakra from that rock in your lesser experiments?"
"None of them are compatible with this kind of chakra. I'd be wasting experiments. I'm a scientist, not a butcher. I only make tests when the gains are meaningful. Which, is partly why I am here. This chakra is almost alien. I can feel it eating my network from the inside-out. It's… beyond my comprehension. I figure that It won't harm your eyes, though… If it does, there really isn't a problem. I have backups on the way!" He seemed to blatantly try to anger Yasuo by mentioning his unborn child. The man seemed to pull out a syringe. The same one that put him out earlier. "Hmm… " Yellow eyes stared at Yasuo, as his other hands slicked his yellow hair back. His blue highlight didn't seem to want to stay down. "How am I going to get this in you? You look like you can defend yourself now… I don't want to break another needle. I have so very few these days."
Yasuo almost snorts at Koruso saying he's not a butcher, shaking his head at the man. "So your own chakra network is dying because you played with something you haven't fully tested yet?" he asks, seeming quite amused, though then he frowns at the mention of the 'backup' on the way. Part of him really want to reach through the bars and rip his head off right now… but his body has not recovered enough. Sure he might by some chance manage to kill Koruso, but, in his condition, he would never make it out of the base alive, and so neither would Totoro or his child…
"… There's no need. I managed to get out while still damaged last time, but I assume you figured out how I did that by now and have measures in place," the Hyuuga says with a shrug of his shoulders. "If you want a chance of someone being able to survive this experiment in the next twenty years, you're going to need me awake to be able to make the chakra flow as it should."
GAME: Save complete.
"I suppose I could kill you if you tried to run. You weren't exactly at my level when I took you down earlier…" The scientist would tap his chin. "Well, science has never been done without taking chances." He reached over and dispelled the lock on Yasuo's cage with a hand-seal. "Follow me. Just remember, the head scientist won't tolerate you running amok…" As the cage opened, he waited for Yasuo to attack. He even raised his arms. "I would hate to have to put you to sleep and then run the experiments. You're absolutely right. The chakra pathways close when someone is unconscious!"
Yasuo definitely was not at Koruso's level earlier… that is part of why he's taking this gamble. Perhaps, if he can assimilate the chakra from the rock, he might be able to be to take him and the rest of them down. Of course, it's likely to take some recovery time, but they'll most likely want to observe him after the chakra has been infused and see what effects it has on him as well as his eyes.
With a simple nod Yasuo steps out of the cage and looks toward the place where the rock is. "… Let's get this over with then," he says as then would start to move that way, a stern look in his eyes as he ponders what's to come. This is quite likely to be a very unpleasant experience, painful to say the least… but he's made his choice, and there's no turning back now. His stoic face remains forward, seemingly ignoring the pleading looks from the other prisoners as he walks forward into the fate he's assigned himself to preserve the life of his mate and child beyond this lab.
The Otsutsuki chakra was unstable. His power had increased, but it also threatened to burst out of him. He must have felt invigorated. No one expects the chakra to actually have any affect on Yasuo, because this was likely the first time this was ever done. With no backing evidence to suggest otherwise, this was just a test to overload Yasuo's chakra network, not provide any untold powers. Why would they want to create something they knew they could not control?
Either way, it could predictably be a very horrendous few hours. Koruso slipped his hands behind him as he raised his head enough that his glasses bounced the light off it's lenses. "You know where to go, I assume. I'll follow you dear Project Akumu…" He could see the meteor before he even entered the room. It was undoubtedly hooked up to chakra absorbing machinery, and the 'body' inside was still full of energy. It's still a wonder what the person inside was, or if the tenketsu network of the rock was even a person. "I suppose we'll start by applying small amounts until your entire network has been replaced by the meteor's chakra. Will that kill you? Well, I won't let it, anyways."
"…." Yasuo simply nods and continues walking toward that room. He indeed saw it earlier and knows what has been going on. People's chakra networks overloaded and burned out. It likely won't be long before Koruso's own chakra network is destroyed, hopefully quicker than Yasuo's own if his own network turns out to be incompatible as well as they likely expect. That will at least give him time to kill him, but who knows… Koruso might figure out a way to repair himself.
He scans the room over as he enters and then looks at the rock and the machinery it is hooked up to to transfer chakra from it to test subjects. "… Very well." With a simple nod he would turn and make his way to what seems to be the receiving part of the machine and wait to be strapped in and hooked up so this torturous process can begin.
Needle upon needle is inserted into Yasuo. It was careful enough that he could feel the chakra begin to flow into his network. A foreign chakra, yet so familiar at the same time. Yasuo's byakugan remained unaffected by the chakra, allowing him to watch as Totoro was quite literally squeezing the female scientist by the neck. A big grin on her face as she did so. The female scientist, however, did not seem to be reacting. In fact, after a while… Totoro's hands would phase right through her neck, turning her grin into a look of incredulousy. Words were exchanged it seems, but it must have been worrying to see… Perhaps as Yasuo continued to watch, he would find his vision fading. As the chakra entered his doujutsu, he suddenly found himself blind.
In fact, that wasn't the only change happening to his eyes. Behind the closed lids, his Byakugan was disappearing, slowly replaced with white nothingness… and a building pressure and pain. "Nothing seems to be happening. As I thought. It's because of chakra mixing. I'm not going to get anything done unless I replace your chakra completely." Koruso would move over and place his hands on the meteor, guiding the chakra to Yasuo in greater amounts the string carrying the chakra would glow an almost ominous black color. This foreign chakra struck Yasuo, cleaning his chakra network of his original chakra rather quickly. It tainted his network, and even started to disrupt it.
Then, a wave of pain overtook his body. "What's this? Why did the chakra turn black when the meteor linked with your body? Hmm… I had better set up my sensory equipment…"
Yasuo smirks slightly as he sees Totoro fighting the female scientist to no avail. He doubts she'll ever stop fighting. There seems to be no real reaction as needle after needle enters his skin, the Hyuuga quite used to pain from experiments done when he was younger. As the chakra begins to flood his system, his eyebrows furrow a bit, especially when his all-seeing eyes are suddenly replaced with nothing but white.
This is rather troubling, but luckily he's familiar enough with his own chakra pathway from medical practice that he is able to guide the chakra that enters his body properly so it doesn't overtake him and burn his tenketsu out like it has the others. As the chakra enters his body, he can feel his chakra network being rewritten, which is by no means pleasant. Still, despite the immense pain, he only tenses up and grimaces as his chakra is replaced.
Yasuo would feel as his eyelids were spread. "No! This can't be! What is happening!? Your eyes! I don't want to wait another eighteen years!" The scientist said, clearly not expecting what he saw. The whites of Yasuo's eyes, that is, the entire eye was slowly being overcome by black. Swirling black chakra writhes upon it's surface, coating it in such a color.
"I have to abort… I have to abort now!" Needles were felt leaving yasuo's body en-mass as Koruso freaks out over the possibility that he would not get his Byakugan, all the while the pain began to grow worse. A pulsating pain that became quicker and quicker until it felt as if lightning was tearing his body apart.
"I… I don't know how to stop this! #$^@!" He cursed.
When the needles at last leave his body, Yasuo lets out a growl as the pain worsens, causing his body to spasm and writhe a bit on its own as the foreign chakra continues to cleanse and rewrite his chakra network into its own image. It would seem it's far too late to abort the process as the jolts of chakra tear through his system.
"… There's… no… turning… back… now," he growls out through the pain as he sits up, grasping the sides of the table as the black chakra floods his body, and he can't tell at this point if it's going to be balanced if he stays the course or if he's going to wind up exploding and destroying everything in a five mile radius at this point.
The instability of the chakra this point, and the loss of his future eyes have caused Koruso to freak out. "Transfigured it! Project Akumu! You worthless fool! Even I could take more chakra than you did!" Koruso could feel the chakra seem to well within Yasuo, and his eyes were almost completely blackened over with chakra. Once that happened, a pain greater than Yasuo had ever felt before struck him. It was as if a god had plunged his blade between Yasuo's eyes, specifically, the optic chiasma. The chakra had burned his optic nerves to the point of disuse. At least, as far as Koruso could tell.
What truly happened was that his nerves had opened to commendate his new eyes. For as soon as the greatest pain had come, something miraculous happened. After reaching a point of rock-bottom, Yasuo now ascended. The black chakra upon his eyes was dispelled, as lines started to form upon the inky darkness. Like two flowers imposed upon one another, these white lines appeared upon his iris as it surrounded his pupil. The perfect lines would soon bleed into the blackness, staining the darkness with red. Yasuo was exhausted, but he could now see. He could see even better than he could before.
Koruso wasn't sure what he was seeing. "Is this… The discovery of a new Doujutsu?" He was against the wall on the far side of the room, hand upon it as he spend this time mulling while Yasuo's eyes formed something completely different than they were before. It was… a permanent change.
Yasuo seems to have basically tuned Koruso out at this point as the pain has taken over his body, that massive burst causing him to growl out as it strikes him. He feels as if his eyes will never work again and that this may have been too great a gamble to taken, and then…
His eyes open in a way they never have before, seeing beyond the reach of Byakugan and into things he had never even imagined. A trail of blood runs from his eyes down his cheek as he looks up and stares directly at Koruso as if he can see directly into his soul as the whispers from the soul trapped in the meteorite enter his mind. It is as if the pain that wrought his body and awakened these new eyes brought forth an entire new side of the Hyuuga.
And yet his body is still ravaged with wounds, even moreso now from this process…. He could use this new power to get himself out of here possibly, but he is not in good enough condition to extract Totoro safely at this point… He will have to bide his time and heal up while learning to use this new dojutsu so he can get them out of here before they decide to remove the child from her womb and dispose of her.
Koruso, fearful that his eyes were gone, slowly walked around to face Yasuo with an incredulous look. He seemed to stare with sudden fasciation when he notices that Yasuo's eyes were not broken, just changed… It was then, with the Murasame cells implanted upon his body that he created a seal, and extended the metal of the table to wrap Yasuo up. "What is that, Yasuo? Look at you… You've become so much more valuable! I think… I'll need to run some tests… Immediately!"
The scientist claps his hands together, rubbing them as he looks for a spare needle. "Let's see… Ah… Here it is.." He said as he reached out to grab it, and another seal-based sensor apparatus. "Now we'll…"
A few moments later blood starts to drip from the side of his mouth. "… Later, then… Perhaps all that chakra is starting to tear me apart…" In fact, Yasuo could tell that his soul was chipped and fractured. It was if the chakra was burning away his entire being, and every time he used a jutsu his chakra pathway would degrade. Yet, it was clear based on the fact that his jutsu was -very- precise. The binds that had grasped him on the table were very ornate, and efficiently tight… Not to say that Yasuo could not escape from them of course, but it seems he had a few moments of respite.
Watching as Koruso grabs that apparatus to try and bind him, Yasuo lifts an eyebrow over his darkened eye and continues to stare at the man as if into his soul. He looks it over as he ponders whether to allow the test to be run… Seeing that it is basically just a sensor tool, he decides it best to wait it out for now… and let Koruso's chakra network degrade further while his own enhances with the birth of this new dojutsu.
The Hyuuga… former Hyuuga… whatever he is now, he lays his head back and seems to look up at this ceiling. What he actually does, however, is use the whole new level of clarity provided by this jutsu to map out the facility and figure out how best to get to Totoro and keep her protected while he annihilates this place and those who run it along with those in its depths who have lost all hope of returning to humanity…
