Chapter 99 Resonance Test

"Are you ready for the resonance test tomorrow?" Madara asked after a long silence.

He skillfully put a spoonful of stew into his mouth, his movements so graceful that Obito was somewhat envious. When he ate now, his hands would still tremble slightly, but even though Madara was over two hundred years old, his movements were still as agile as when he was in his forties, as if time had frozen in him.

Obito never asked Madara's age because he didn't want to anger this powerful man, but he knew history and how to inadvertently touch other people's emotional minefields, especially after he deliberately tried countless times, he had become very good at angering Kakashi.

Obito felt that there seemed to be more past between Madara and Hashirama that he didn't know about. Perhaps it was not just a simple feud between families. Especially when Madara mentioned Senju Tobirama, the angry expression on his face made Obito convinced that there must be more stories between them.

"I think so. I just need to sit still and let Zetsu poke me with his probe as usual, right?" Obito replied in a flat tone.

Madara chewed the food, swallowed it slowly, and then spoke:

"The test requires you to channel and maintain chakra flow for a long period of time. If you feel uncomfortable now..."

"Old man, I'm full of chakra right now. It's about to overflow. I'm fine, I promise." Obito interrupted him, assuring him that he could withstand the test.

The old patriarch snorted, his tone containing both annoyance and a hint of imperceptible fondness.

"I say this because tomorrow's test will not be held at the base, and your 'Jue' will not be able to cheat for you under my nose. Besides, I will be away for a few days, and it will be too late to do the test when I come back."

Madara has begun to call Tobi "Obito's Zetsu" because this friend with a spiral mask follows Obito almost every step of the way.

Considering that the hive consciousness connection between Afei and Zetsu was getting weaker and weaker, Madara simply "gave" him to Obito.

"He can do it." Obito replied, scraping the bottom of the bowl with his spoon, trying to drink up the last bit of broth. "If anything happens, there are other Zetsu nearby. I will be fine."

Spot nodded in agreement, and the conversation ended there.

The next morning, Fei woke up Obito and took him to the testing room. Obito sat down in the testing room and Fei began to prepare for the resonance assessment, a test that would tell them how much control Obito had over the Wood Release Ninjutsu that the cells of the First Hokage gave him.

According to Madara, this ratio should be between 30% and 60%, 30% is the proportion of cells in Obito's body that were replaced by the first generation of Hokage cells. Bai once said that Madara's own resonance is about 74%, and the highest value known so far is a child in Konoha Village, reaching an astonishing 91%, although Obito doesn't want to know who this child is.

Obito stared at the resonance basin on the floor, filled with a clear, slightly silvery liquid, with various cables attached to it to measure chakra output, composition, and bio-impedance.

As Fei activated the console with his natural chakra, the liquid began to glow with energy.

"How's the hive mind? Gurgle?" Obito tried to break the silence as Afei was carefully checking the test specifications.

"The strange thing is, I feel like it's getting farther and farther away from me." Ah Fei said in a low voice.

"Does this bother you?"

"A little," Tobi admitted. "But less than I thought. Come on." He handed Obito a breathing mask. "Go in, and start channeling chakra."

"So domineering," Obito said jokingly, but he still put on the mask obediently and slid into the resonance basin.

The liquid felt cool against his skin, a little strange on his newly transplanted right side, but other than that, it felt good. He began to direct chakra through his body, and the liquid around him began to ripple with energy.

He kept the chakra flowing until the energy gradually faded. Thinking the test was over, he stood up from the water and took off his mask.

Ah Fei froze in place, his eyes fixed on the chakra console, his hand hovering over the readout.

"What's wrong? Gurgle?" Obito urged, "You look like you swallowed a slug."

Ah Fei seemed to wake up from a dream.

"Uh, I think I may have messed up. Can you try again?"

Obito blinked his one eye and tilted his head.

"Okay... since you said so."

He shrugged, put his mask back on, and sank into the cool liquid again.

He waited patiently for the process to repeat, trying his best to keep the chakra flowing steadily through his body, the sensors around him vibrating with the fluctuations of his energy. When the humming sound of energy gradually faded, he stood up again, but this time, he waited until all the vibrations died down before surfacing.

He took off his mask, his wet black hair fell down, covering his eyes, and he used his hands to push his hair back. He looked up at his companion and found that Ah Fei was still in the same position as before, as if he was fixed by something.

"Can I come out now?" Obito complained, but soon realized that something was wrong.

Ah Fei's mask is stiff and cold, making it impossible to discern his expression, so Jue can usually only express his emotions through rich body language or exaggerated changes in tone of voice.

And now, he was bent over motionlessly, staring at the paper recording the test results, as if he was looking at something incredible.

"Afei?" Obito asked with concern.

"This is impossible..." Ah Fei muttered to himself, but then he looked up and said firmly, "Try it again, I promise. Then you can get rid of this cold and wet torture."

"Three times is enough, Gurgle Gurgle." Obito warned. "My chakra is almost exhausted. One more time will be my limit."

They repeated the same steps as before, and this time, when Obito emerged from the resonance basin, he climbed out directly to prevent himself from falling due to exhaustion.

"Are you hiding something from me, little brother? Because this reading just doesn't make sense."

"What are you talking about, Afei?" Obito was confused.

Jue walked over to him, sat down cross-legged, and handed him a long note.

Obito stared at the note, reading the words and symbols scribbled on it.

Most of it made no sense to him, the technical terms were more familiar to Jue than to most living people, but the string of numbers at the very bottom made it clear what Fei meant.

Obito grabbed the bottom of the paper and pulled it closer to his eyes, in case the lack of depth perception was clouding his judgement. "That can't be right."

"The results of the three tests are the same. I have checked the equipment twice. This is not a machine failure. It is running well." A Fei insisted.

At the bottom of the note, a number was clearly written in front of the percentage sign: 300.

"That doesn't make sense. 100% should be the value of the First Hokage, right?" Obito asked. He carefully checked the other readings, trying to find a reasonable explanation.

"Yes, that is the original level of Wood Release Ninjutsu, and it is also the unique chakra when the first Hokage died. After being adjusted by Madara-sama, it should be the highest threshold."

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the machine?"

Ah Fei snorted in dissatisfaction.

"Of course I'm sure, otherwise why would I let you do it twice?"