Escaping the Mist Ninja starts with backstabbing your teacher.

Chapter 89 The Gap Between People!

The transaction was over, but the night remained deep.

Orochimaru did not go to Tanabata Street to look for Tsunade; in fact, it could be said that he had to avoid being discovered by Tsunade.

This clandestine transaction involves extremely sensitive matters.

If there is anyone in this world who is least able to know the inside story, it is Tsunade.

Even though the original intention of this deal was to rescue her from Izumi.

"Hopefully she'll learn her lesson —"

Orochimaru gazed into the distance toward Tanabata Street, where lights flickered in the night.

"Next time, it probably won't be that simple."

He whispered something, and his figure silently disappeared into the darkness, like a snake entering the grass, without a sound.

He could understand Tsunade's thoughts.

For her, Konoha was a place of sorrow, a place where the most important person to her was buried, and where memories she could not face were buried.

They didn't want to go back, they didn't want to face those people, not just Tsunade, but even Jiraiya who was always laughing and joking around.

That guy is probably still searching everywhere for Tsunade's whereabouts!

And what about Konoha for him?

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

These two words no longer hold any binding force for him.

The reason I stay there now is simply because it's convenient—it's convenient to access resources, convenient to conduct research, and convenient to save time that would otherwise be spent traveling around.

That's it.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but recall the transaction he had just made.

Izumikawa's understanding of immortality truly opened a new window for him.

That guy's thinking was completely different from his; instead of pursuing the eternity of the soul, he tried to become an existence like a tailed beast.

The body and soul are sublimated, becoming an aggregate of chakra, a near-immortal life form.

The existence of the Tailed Beasts is evidence that this path is feasible.

but----

Orochimaru frowned slightly.

Given the nature of ninjas, it would be almost impossible for them to reach that level.

The route forward is invisible, the direction is unclear, and even the starting point is unclear.

But what if we take a different approach?

His steps faltered slightly, and a glint of light flashed deep within his pupils.

If it were possible to create such a body, using fragments of a tailed beast as a base, nurturing, growing, and perfecting it, and then transferring a soul into it—

Once the thought entered my mind, it wouldn't leave.

He recalled the jar in the laboratory that sealed the fragments of the Eight-Tailed Fox, his gaze becoming incredibly deep.

"That could be a backup plan—"

He murmured, his smile deepening.

Take good care of this thing and let it grow.

Perhaps this is another path to immortality.

The laboratory was brightly lit.

Izumi has returned to the base and is now standing in front of the lab table, gently rubbing the small vial of first-generation cells between his fingertips.

Inside the bottle, the cells were still undulating slightly, like dormant life waiting to be awakened.

He stared at it for a moment before placing the vial into the incubator.

Primary cells are indeed important. That's beyond doubt.

But truly mastering this power is not so easy.

Especially since he doesn't have the Sharingan yet.

-

Izumi's gaze darkened slightly.

Suppressing the activity of primary cells requires a great deal of effort.

This thing is like a raging fire; if you're not careful, it will backfire on you. Even he dares not be careless.

Fortunately, it has been optimized.

Although this ability seems simple, it is essentially about guiding everything in the direction he desires.

Based on their own capabilities and the potential boundaries of knowledge, they select the optimal branch from the infinite future.

Furthermore, if he is willing to expend mental energy and chakra, he can skip the long process and directly reach the final result.

"Let's train them first."

He muttered to himself and started the incubator.

"Then—try partial fusion with your own cells to see how feasible it is."

The incubator emitted a soft humming sound as the nutrient solution began to be slowly injected.

Inside the transparent container, the first-generation cells seemed to sense something, and their fluctuations increased slightly.

Izumi looked at it for a while, then turned around and picked up the document Orochimaru had given him.

As the scroll unfolds, a dense array of characters comes into view.

This is Orochimaru's analysis and testing data on the First Generation cells.

From cell structure to chakra response, from activity threshold to mutation probability, everything is recorded in great detail.

Izumi's gaze swept over the rows of data, his brows gradually furrowing.

The content here involves rather complex biological knowledge.

Moreover, because of the variable of chakra, many reactions become unpredictable, and the complexity increases exponentially.

Even though he had learned a great deal about medical ninjutsu from Tsunade and had a fairly deep understanding of human anatomy.

Looking at this document now, I still find it quite difficult.

"—As expected of you, Orochimaru."

He sighed softly, a complex smile playing on his lips.

The differences between people can sometimes be that obvious.

However difficult it may be, the things that need to be done still need to be done.

The first thing he looked for was the culture method of the first generation of cells, how to make these cells proliferate, and how to make them more numerous.

The method is clearly written: add a special nutrient solution and activate it with chakra.

The cells will continue to proliferate until the chakra is completely depleted.

The key is to carefully maintain the original shape of the cells and prevent them from mutating.

Izumi's gaze fell on a line of special annotations beside him, the handwriting slightly messy, clearly added by Orochimaru later.

"It is extremely easy for it to mutate during the cultivation process, turning into an unusable mass of flesh with disordered gene sequences, possessing only the instinct for disordered growth."

He raised an eyebrow, able to imagine how much Orochimaru had suffered during his research.

Each of those mutated first-generation cells probably represents a failure, or even a dangerous loss of control.

but----

Izumikawa snapped out of his thoughts and focused his gaze on the incubator.

With optimization at his fingertips, he can make precise adjustments to maintain the original state of the cells.

This is probably his biggest advantage right now.

He reached out and placed his hand on the outer wall of the incubator, then closed his eyes.

The spiritual energy slowly seeped in, and the chakra began to establish a connection with those first-generation cells.

The cells in the culture vessel undulated at an accelerated frequency, as if they had sensed some kind of call.

Izumi's lips curled up slightly.

Take it easy.

These things will eventually become what he wants them to be.

The next day, Konoha.

The Hokage's office was filled with smoke.

The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, wisps of white smoke rising from his pipe.

The sunlight streamed through the window, casting deep wrinkles and shadows on his face.

The ANBU member in front of him was kneeling on one knee, reporting: "Around midnight, we received intelligence that Lady Tsunade had appeared."

The voice from the shadows was devoid of any emotion, delivering its message with machine-like precision.

"The location is Tanabata Street. According to witnesses, Lady Tsunade stayed at a hotel there."

"Later, for unknown reasons, most of the building was destroyed, and then the person quickly left with Silent."

"No fatalities have been reported, but several people have been injured and one person has been frightened and is still unconscious."

Upon hearing this, the third generation frowned slightly.

Damaging the hotel—that's in line with that girl's style.

However, since they have the strength to make such a commotion, they should be alright.

"We received another message from Lady Tsunade this morning."

The operative continued, "The message is simple: tell them they are safe, there's no need to worry, and there's no need to search for them."

The third generation paused slightly in his hand holding the pipe. Had he escaped on his own?

The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly realized something was amiss.

The person who kidnapped Tsunade is incredibly powerful; even the Anbu couldn't find any clues about him. How could they have escaped so easily?

There's probably more to this than meets the eye—it's not that simple.

"After experiencing something like this, should you continue wandering around outside?"

The third generation's tone turned somber, carrying a hint of displeasure, helplessness, and barely concealed worry.

"Dispatch the Anbu to check on Tsunade's current condition, and then—"

He paused halfway through his sentence.

And then what? And then what?

Should we forcibly bring her back?

He knew that girl's temper all too well; if she didn't want to come back, sending more people wouldn't help.

It might backfire and make her run even further away.

The third generation sighed, took a irritated drag on his cigarette, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

"never mind."

He waved his hand, his tone full of helplessness.

"Let Jiraiya go. With Tsunade's temper, you won't get a good look from her, let alone find out what happened back then."

The Anbu were silent for a moment, seemingly well aware of Tsunade's personality.

"Step down."

As soon as he finished speaking, the figures of the Dark Guards vanished instantly, as if they had never existed.

Only one person from the third generation remained in the office.

He leaned back in his chair, gazing at the sky outside the window, his brow still furrowed.

He desperately wanted to know what had happened back then, what the guy who kidnapped Tsunade's purpose was, and how Tsunade managed to escape.

These mysteries lingered in his mind like smoke, impossible to shake off.

Even after what happened, Tsunade was unwilling to return to Konoha.

Perhaps it's still because of those past events.

The death of Rope Tree, the death of Broken Tree, and those people she didn't want to face, those memories she didn't want to touch.

The third generation gently shook his head.

As for Orochimaru—

He exhaled a puff of smoke, his gaze somewhat complicated.

Because of the Nawaki incident, the relationship between Orochimaru and Tsunade has always been awkward.

Although Orochimaru can't be blamed for that incident, some rifts are hard to mend once they're formed, and Tsunade probably doesn't want to see him either.

"We have no choice but to send Jiraiya."

He muttered to himself.

Although that guy is usually carefree and irresponsible, he's always reliable when it comes to things like this.

The third generation took another drag of his cigarette, his expression relaxing slightly.

However, the fact that Tsunade is safe now is good news.

At least we can finally give an explanation to the daimyo.

The clouds drifted slowly past the window, casting shadows that flowed through the office.

Looking at the cloud shadows, the third generation suddenly felt somewhat tired.

These young people—when will they ever stop causing us any trouble?