Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 173 The Deal with Orochimaru

Leaving aside the excitement on Shimura Danzo's side, the Ninja Hawks, carrying scrolls, finally arrived at the Land of Hot Springs front after a long flight.

After obtaining the sealed scroll, Uchiha Myokkei pondered for a while, then summoned his girlfriend, Uchiha Chiri, before opening the sealed scroll.

"Mingjing-kun, it's been a long time. You look surprisingly disheveled!"

The revealed Orochimaru shadow clone glanced at Uchiha Myōkyō and the other person, his smile quite sincere.

"You're still the same, you haven't changed."

Uchiha Myōkyō smiled, a rare occurrence for him. He had a fairly good relationship with Orochimaru, having exchanged ideas quite a few times in the past. Orochimaru was also very interested in the Sharingan, but he always maintained his own restraint.

"You should have seen the Third Master's reply, so I won't go into details. But I have a decent arm here that might alleviate the side effects of the Kaleidoscope. Would you like it, Myokyō-kun?"

Orochimaru got straight to the point, and as he spoke, he untied the sealed scroll he always carried, revealing a sealed nutrient tank containing an arm.

Even though it was sealed away, Uchiha Myokyo could still feel the vigorous life force in that arm.

Uchiha Chiri was quite taken aback by it and was very tempted.

The side effects of the Kaleidoscope are indeed deadly, especially since Mingjing-jun currently possesses four eye techniques, and the consumption required for future bursts of power will inevitably be even greater.

If we had this arm, it would certainly be able to support and maintain the load much better.

What do you want?

Turning his gaze away, Uchiha Myōkyō's expression became serious.

He knew Orochimaru's personality somewhat; this man was not one to selflessly dedicate himself.

"I want the eyes of Mingjing-jun's father."

Without pausing for a moment, Orochimaru stated his desired objective.

He also understood Uchiha Myokyo's personality, knowing that this person disliked beating around the bush.

Moreover, he believed that Uchiha Myokyo would definitely be interested in this arm, especially during this time of war.

The situation here is not good right now; one wrong move and the whole army could be wiped out. Uchiha Myokkei certainly doesn't want that to happen, and this is exactly what we can use to our advantage.

After a long silence, Uchiha Myōkyō raised his hand, bit his finger, and formed hand seals to perform a summoning jutsu, summoning a crow that he had specially raised.

Orochimaru's gaze was instantly drawn to the crow's eyes, but those were not crow's eyes; they were a pair of Sharingan with three tomoe.

"He's yours now."

After removing the two eyes and handing them over, Uchiha Myōkyō agreed to the deal.

The kaleidoscope eye technique and eye power in these eyes have been extracted, leaving only the basic three-tomoe form. For me, they are more of a memento, and it's worth it to use them in this transaction.

"Mingjing-kun will definitely not regret it."

Orochimaru's smile deepened as he took those eyes.

Orochimaru immediately performed a transplant surgery on Uchiha Myokke. Since he brought a whole arm, while Uchiha Myokke had only had half of his arm severed, Orochimaru also cut off and sealed off the remaining half of Uchiha Myokke's arm, and started transplanting it from the shoulder joint.

Neither Uchiha Myokkei nor Uchiha Chiri said anything about this, which can be considered as tacit approval of Orochimaru's actions.

This arm originated from an elite Jonin of the Senju clan, and was implanted with specially treated First Hokage cells.

The First Hokage's cells were primarily corrosive due to Wood Release. To address this, he used various methods to separate out the Wood Release elements, leaving only the pure Senju bloodline power, which gave them vigorous vitality.

As for the remaining corrosiveness, Uchiha Myōkyō's Mangekyou Sharingan power was more than enough to suppress it easily.

"Mr. Mingjing, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

After confirming there was no rejection reaction, Orochimaru's shadow clone dispelled itself with a smile.

As for those eyes, he had already hidden them using a spirit snake.

Of course, he didn't return completely. Instead, he attached a portion of his chakra to a small snake and headed towards the Cloud Village Ninja Camp.

I've missed Haojun so much.

"How is it?"

After Orochimaru's shadow clone dissipated, Uchiha Chiri, who had been watching closely, hurriedly stepped forward to inquire with concern.

"Very good. The vitality of this arm is incredibly strong, and the chakra refined from it can even fuse with my chakra. I really don't know how Orochimaru created this arm."

Moreover, the chakra generated by this arm seems to be able to nourish and repair the eyes, and even accelerate the fusion of pupil power.

Afterwards, you can extract some flesh and blood and fuse it to your arm; this will definitely repair your eyes as well.

Uchiha Myōkyō was deeply impressed as he moved the transplanted arm around his body. This arm was perfect for him, even better than his original arm.

"This vigorous vitality is somewhat similar to that of the Senju family. Could this arm originate from the Senju family?"

Uchiha Chiri had a guess; this vigorous vitality was familiar, as the Senju ninja also possessed such vitality.

"That's none of our business. Our goal is to win this war and then bring our people home."

Uchiha Myokyo didn't care about that; he was only focused on the war.

"We'll definitely get home."

Uchiha Chiri was absolutely certain that they would return home.

Leaving aside the thoughts of the two on this side, Orochimaru, controlling the small snake, finally managed to infiltrate the Cloud Village Ninja Army's camp after wandering around for most of the day, and found Mr. Tian who was training there.

"Lord Orochimaru?"

Sensing Orochimaru's chakra, Tamura Hao stopped his sword practice and looked at the small white snake that poked its head out of the grass.

The little white snake did not immediately approach, but instead slithered deeper into the grove, with Tamura Hiroshi following closely behind.

After arriving at a secluded spot, the little white snake stopped and swam around, coiling itself around a tree branch, keeping its eyes parallel to Tamura Hiroshi's.

"Haojun, it's been a long time. You've grown a lot."

Orochimaru was amazed as he looked at the boy in front of him.

He originally only valued the boy's intelligence abilities, but who would have thought that he was also a genius in cultivation and was now a powerful figure.

Even if I faced that attack head-on, I might not be able to withstand it. It's hard to understand how that old man Danzo could cultivate such an outstanding talent.

"Lord Orochimaru, you flatter me!"

Tamura Hao feigned modesty for a moment, then said meaningfully, "Lord Orochimaru must have brought some nice gifts with him."

"It seems Haojun has a nice gift too."

Orochimaru smiled; he enjoyed this kind of direct communication and transaction.

"Last time in Konoha, I obtained a necklace from Nawaki. After research, I found that it was a crystallization of the First Hokage's chakra. It was something the First Hokage condensed during his lifetime. I believe Lord Orochimaru would be very interested in it."

As he spoke, Tamura Hao took out a small bottle from a sealing technique on the snakeskin scales. The bottle was covered with densely engraved technique patterns and contained a ball of green chakra.

This was deliberately left behind.

This mass of Hashirama chakra is extraordinary; it was condensed during his lifetime and contains a trace of Ashura chakra, far surpassing the chakra extracted from his cells after death.

Even the chakra of someone resurrected through Edo Tensei cannot compare to it; its value is immense, especially for a researcher like Orochimaru.

Sure enough, Orochimaru's snake eyes lit up, showing great interest. He could also sense that the chakra was different from the chakra refined from the First Hokage's cells; it was not only more powerful, but its vitality was also purer and stronger.

With this chakra, the research progress of the First Hokage's cells will definitely be greatly accelerated, and even the project on the Perfect Body can be launched.

"I'm very happy with this gift. What would you like, Hao-jun?"

Spitting out his forked tongue, Orochimaru was determined to obtain this chakra.

"I want the magical energy of the White Snake Sage in Ryuchi Cave."

Having revealed his target, he set his sights on the White Snake Immortal of Dragon Land Cave, or rather, the three great immortals of the three holy lands.

Because from Gamabunta and Manda's memories, we learned that neither the Great Toad Sage nor the White Snake Sage possessed chakra; they only had the purest Sage Mode power.

Studies of slugs have also revealed that slugs themselves do not possess chakra, but only the purest natural energy.

That's why the slug can't heal others on its own; it needs Tsunade and Sakura's chakra to guide it.

Although that pure Sage Art power is also integrated with spiritual and physical power, it is not chakra.

Although he didn't know why the three hadn't obtained chakra, he was very envious of their power, especially that of the White Snake Sage.

He wanted to use the power of the White Snake Sage to enhance the essence of his twin dragons in his Sage Art Seal form, and see if he could evolve them.

The most important thing is to see if we can acquire the Snake Sage's levitation and invisibility abilities.

"That person's power is not easy to obtain; we'll have to wait a while."

Orochimaru did not refuse, but indicated that he needed time.

The only way to obtain that person's energy is through cultivating immortal techniques. He is not ready to cultivate the immortal techniques of the Dragon Cave right now; he will have to wait until the research on the first generation cells makes further progress.

By harnessing the power of the first generation cells to enhance themselves, they gained the confidence to cultivate the immortal arts of Ryuchi Cave.

"I await Lord Orochimaru's good news."

Tamura Hao was quite satisfied with the answer and handed the bottle of Hashirama chakra in his hand to the little snake.

The little snake opened its mouth and swallowed the small bottle. After giving the boy a deep look, it turned into a cloud of mist and disappeared, returning to Ryuchi Cave, where Orochimaru summoned it.

"The chakra of the First Hokage before his death."

In the laboratory, Orochimaru, having stopped studying those eyes, took the bottle of chakra from the small snake's mouth, his snake eyes filled with excitement and fascination.

This is a wonderful surprise!

"With this chakra, we can fully awaken the First Hokage's cellular potential and create a perfect clone."

With burning eyes at the ball of chakra, Orochimaru decided to immediately begin the research and clone a perfect body.

He knew long ago that he couldn't learn all the ninjutsu in the ninja world on his own, because there were also bloodline limits in the ninja world, which couldn't be obtained through learning.

Especially after learning the secrets and origins of the immortal bloodline, he had a crazy and audacious idea: to use biotechnology to create a perfect body.

If we're talking about the most perfect body at this stage, it has to be the First Hokage. At the same time, the First Hokage also possessed the most perfect Sage Mode power.

However, none of the cells he possessed were living cells. Although the First Hokage's cells possessed strong vitality and continued to function even after death, they were still not as potent as they were in life.

Now, this chakra from the First Hokage's lifetime gives him hope for a perfect clone.

As long as he cultivates a perfect clone and then uses that forbidden technique to possess it, he will have the qualifications to step into the pinnacle of the ninja world.

Even if he doesn't end up as good as the First Hokage, he won't be too far behind.

"First, complete the research on the kaleidoscope."

Suppressing his excitement, Orochimaru carefully sealed away the chakra and continued his research on the eyes.

"He doesn't have the power of the Kaleidoscope, but he can definitely summon Uchiha Kagami's soul. Did he transfer that power?"

Orochimaru looked at the spirit of the dead beside him with a puzzled expression, and thought of the information about Uchiha Hikaru.

"Mingjing-kun, I didn't expect you to surprise me like this."

Orochimaru licked his lips, anticipating what was to come.

If Uchiha Myokkei really did that, then those eyes would be incredibly valuable, perfectly suited for integration into his perfect body in the future.

Without delay, Orochimaru transplanted the eyes into the eye sockets of an Uchiha clansman, then released the Impure World Reincarnation of Uchiha Kagami, and then used that Uchiha clansman as a sacrifice to resurrect Uchiha Kagami using the Impure World Reincarnation.

They immediately incorporated a specially made talisman into a ritual to suppress Uchiha Kagami's soul, so that the subsequent manipulation experiments could be carried out more easily.

Previously, they only conducted a simple verification to confirm whether the eyes belonged to Uchiha Kagami, and the offerings used were of very poor quality.

Now that this has been decided, we should naturally use slightly better offerings.

Using talismans to manipulate the Impure Earth Mirror, he infused the pupil power from his soul into those eyes.

This is the discovery of his research: the Uchiha ninja resurrected through Edo Tensei also possess the Sharingan, although their eye power is not as strong as it was in life, but they still retain some of it.

I just tried it out, and Edo Mirror can even use the Mangekyou Sharingan's eye techniques, which I injected into those eyes, turning them back into Mangekyou Sharingan.

Once the pupil power was integrated, the eyes indeed displayed a kaleidoscope pattern.

It didn't stop; Orochimaru continued to nourish those eyes with the infinite chakra he controlled using the Edo Tensei Mirror.

It then went to adjust another experimental subject.

That was the Senju ninja test subject whose arm had been cut off earlier; he was the most stable to fuse with the First Hokage's cells.

This arm was originally intended for Danzo Shimura. Previously, Myokasa Uchiha had lost another arm, which happened to be different from the right arm that Danzo Shimura needed.

It took Orochimaru several days to adjust himself before he was finally ready, while Edo Tensei Kagami on the other side had also exhausted his chakra.

Orochimaru's method of nurturing Susanoo was very simple and brutal: he activated Susanoo and used the infinite chakra properties of the Impure World Reincarnation to develop Susanoo to the limit that his eyes could bear.

"Impure World Reincarnation has its limits?"

Seeing that the Edo Tensei Mirror could no longer unleash its chakra, Orochimaru became increasingly disappointed with this forbidden technique.

I originally thought that the chakra of this forbidden technique was truly limitless, so even if I couldn't unleash my peak strength before I was born, it wouldn't be too bad.

But who would have thought that even the advantage of unlimited chakra wasn't absolute, so there was no need to invest too much energy in this research in the future.

"Without wings and much smaller in size, Madara Uchiha's eyes are definitely not ordinary kaleidoscopes."

Orochimaru turned his gaze to the enormous Susanoo. He had read detailed records of Madara Uchiha, which included a record of his Susanoo.

Madara Uchiha's Susanoo was comparable in size to a tailed beast and had wings that allowed him to fly.

However, Uchiha Kagami's eyes are significantly inferior, clearly indicating that the two are not on the same level.

This made him somewhat disappointed with Uchiha Kagami's eyes, while at the same time making him even more eager to see Uchiha Myōkyō's eyes.

With a sigh, Orochimaru formed hand seals and manipulated the Edo Mirror to transform Susanoo into pure power. He then used a sealing technique to slowly absorb the eyes into them, finally removing them and transplanting them into the eye sockets of Hashirama's face on the Senju test subject's arm.

That's where the primary cells were transplanted, and it's also the area where the primary cells are most abundant.

With the implantation of a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan, the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan and the chakra of the First Hokage's cells clashed.

Fortunately, Orochimaru was prepared for this. He activated the implanted vortex cells, which extended a Vajra Seal to wrap around his arm and seal the two unclaimed chakra.

With the suppression of the Adamantine Sealing Barrier, Orochimaru began to guide the two types of chakra to blend together, and finally, things gradually stabilized.

"It's even more perfect than the last piece."

Orochimaru, having completed the entire transplant surgery, let out a long breath and looked at Shimura Danzo, who had arrived at some unknown time.

"Does it require a long adjustment period?"

Danzo Shimura seemed to understand something, realizing that those eyes had not yet merged with the power of the First Generation's cells, but had only reached a balance.

"That's all the surgical methods can do."

Orochimaru has done his best in this regard; the rest cannot be accomplished through surgery.

Moreover, those kaleidoscopes were not complete and could not be considered truly perfect.

Danzo Shimura didn't say anything, but he understood that this was indeed a limit.

"The research is temporarily over. I'm going to try to cultivate immortal techniques. Don't bother me unless necessary."

"I used Tsunade's slug cells to create a Sage Art seal between the eyebrows of that arm, representing the First Hokage's face. You can try activating it once you've mastered that arm to a certain extent."

After saying this, Orochimaru turned and left, without mentioning the arm transplant.

He knew that Danzo Shimura didn't trust him, so he secretly trained that young girl to master the techniques of surgical transplantation.

He didn't care about this. Compared to obtaining bloodline limits through surgical transplantation, his cloning technology was more perfect and stable, and he no longer looked down on that kind of bloodline transplantation surgery.

Shimura Danzo didn't say much about it, but sent someone to take the experimental subject away and let his trusted pharmacist, Nonou, perform the transplant.

Because Orochimaru had already treated the arm, the transplant surgery went very smoothly.

Even with the help of the first-generation cells and the self-healing ability of the thousand-armed body, the surgical incision healed quickly.

"This is the pinnacle of power in the ninja world."

Feeling the power in his arm, Danzo Shimura couldn't help but get excited.

He had finally taken the first step on his path to immortality; all he needed to do now was continue slowly.

"Perhaps it's time to try and experience that power."

Looking at the Mangekyou Sharingan on the arm and face of the First Hokage, Shimura Danzo got up and eagerly headed towards the deepest part of the base, where the Elysium Box he brought back from Hozuki Castle was sealed.

Ordinary vessels would find it difficult to bear such extreme dark power, but he wanted to see if the Susanoo of the Mangekyou Sharingan could bear it.

The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan is inherently dark and evil, similar in nature to the dark power within the Box of Elysium, and perhaps it can bear it.

Most importantly, he didn't have time to slowly integrate the three powers in his arms. Although Hiruzen's words were more of a tactic, he was prepared to try and win them over.

Otherwise, whether Hiruzen continues to sit in the Hokage position or someone else is chosen as the Fourth Hokage, it will be difficult to make any changes for a long time to come.

We'll probably only have another chance when we have another Shinobi World War, so we must seize this opportunity and at least give it a shot.

Anyway, it's just an arm. Even if it fails and is ruined, the loss won't be significant. My true future is the plan to become an immortal, and this arm is just a temporary measure.

Furthermore, even if his arm is ruined, he can make another one. He has the First Hokage's cells, and the Uchiha clan still has several pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan. That's enough to make a desperate attempt.

To become the Fourth Hokage, he needed to achieve enough merit, which meant defeating the Sand Village's ninja army. This required immense strength, and he needed to quickly integrate and fuse the power in his arm.

The best course of action now is to find a stronger force to suppress or connect the three, forcibly merging them.

The ultimate dark power of the Box of Elysium possesses a terrifying corrosiveness, surpassing that of the first-generation cells, which may allow for the forced fusion of the three powers.

(End of this chapter)