Konoha's lexicon of ninjas

Chapter 86 Orochimaru's Temptation! (Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets)

After Danzo left, Orochimaru looked at Hoshino Shuichi and said with a meaningful smile, "Shuichi-kun, you certainly did not disappoint."

"However, being a double agent is not easy."

Hoshino Hideaki said, "Who in this world understands Danzo better than the Third Hokage?"

Orochimaru paused for a moment, then nodded in deep agreement.

Hoshita Shuichi turned to look at Orochimaru and said meaningfully, "As long as I put the Third Hokage and the village's interests first, no one will doubt my loyalty."

Orochimaru, of course, understood Hoshino Shuichi's underlying meaning and chuckled softly, "In terms of relationship, my connection with the Third Hokage is much deeper than yours, Shuichi-kun."

He has placed Hoshino Shuichi on a relatively equal footing, without any sense of superiority.

In the ninja world, strength is always the best way to earn the respect of others.

Turning to leave, Orochimaru continued, "Is Shuichi-kun's ideal to master all types of ninjutsu?"

Xingxia Xiuyi followed a step behind: "If possible."

"However, human life is ultimately finite, and from ancient times to the present, all kinds of ninjutsu and secret techniques have emerged one after another. If one wants to explore them all, it is probably impossible to do so in a lifetime."

Orochimaru wholeheartedly agreed: "That's absolutely right."

However, he immediately changed his tone, adding enticingly, "But Shuichi-kun's knowledge is still too limited. There are quite a few beings in this world with extremely long lifespans, aren't there?"

Hoshita Shuichi feigned ignorance: "Lord Orochimaru, are you referring to those with special physical constitutions?"

"I've heard that the Uzumaki clan has an extremely long lifespan."

Orochimaru turned to look at Hoshino Shuichi and laughed, "No, even the Uzumaki clan are just mortals."

Hoshino nodded and pondered, "Indeed."

"As long as you are human, you cannot escape the limitation of the number of times your cells divide."

"This is why, in medical ninjutsu, techniques that allow cells to divide rapidly come at the cost of life."

"I have also studied many other animals, and even flesh and blood cannot escape this constraint."

Of course, there is a difference between cell division and cell renewal/metabolism.

Tsunade uses chakra to maintain her appearance in her thirties, and this is not just for the sake of a beautiful face.

More importantly, it uses chakra to keep cells active, or rather, to slow down the rate of cell aging and extend the cell renewal cycle, thereby reducing the number of cell divisions and thus extending lifespan.

But this obviously doesn't allow people to live forever, let alone achieve something like Kaguya Otsutsuki or Black Zetsu.

It would take 500 years to achieve that.

Because chakra ultimately originates from the body and mind, and while organ aging is irreversible and its consumption is minimal, it continues to exist.

"Celestial arts..."

Hoshino Shuichi's thoughts wandered, and he thought of Sage Mode and Kabuto Yakushi's state.

Then I thought of Jugo.

Both of these individuals could save lives through cell transfer, and both of them saved Uchiha Sasuke.

"In the ninja world, it seems that the only ways to achieve immortality are the Divine Tree and Sage Mode..."

To be honest, this was the first time Hoshino Shizuka had ever thought about the question of immortality.

He's just too young.

All he could think about before was how to save his own life.

Orochimaru's gaze swept over Hoshino Shuichi's pensive face, and he saw the glint in the latter's eyes. He was all too familiar with this state.

"It seems that Shuichi-kun has learned a lot; Tsunade has taught you quite a bit."

Orochimaru laughed.

Hoshino Hideichi modestly replied, "It's not much of a gain, just a small idea that can slow down cell aging and extend the cell division cycle."

Orochimaru listened with great interest: "Oh?"

"May I know?"

"Of course, I will repay you with something of equal value."

This was exactly what Xingxia Xiu wanted to hear, and he immediately laughed and said, "Of course, there's no problem with that. It's nothing extraordinary or confidential."

After saying that, Hoshino Shizuka explained his plan one by one.

Orochimaru listened very attentively, even offering suggestions on some details. Although this level of information wasn't what he wanted, some of it might be useful.

And that is indeed the case.

There are still many aspects of Hoshino Shizuka's design that he could learn from.

After listening, Orochimaru laughed and said, "That is indeed a very interesting and innovative idea."

"Shuichi-kun truly deserves to be praised as a genius by both Tsunade and Jiraiya."

Hoshino Shuichi was a little embarrassed by the praise.

However, he had already developed a thick skin and didn't blush. Just as he was about to speak, Orochimaru stopped in his tracks: "We've arrived!"

Looking down at Xingxia Xiu, he saw a prominent entrance in front of him.

Did they bring me to the experimental base?

Hoshita Shuichi looked around and asked, "Lord Orochimaru, is this Root's secret base?"

Orochimaru laughed and said, "No, this is where I do my research."

As he spoke, he led Hoshino Shizuka into a long passageway from the entrance.

Hoshino Shuichi could sense that the passage was generally extending downwards, branching off after about twenty meters, and then many rooms appeared.

Upon entering one of the rooms, Xingxia Xiuyi's eyes were opened wide.

Shelves were filled with glass jars of various sizes, containing all sorts of strange and unusual things.

The eyeball is a part of the body that can be human or from other animals, and so on.

Of course, what Xingxia Xiuyi saw most often were various snake samples, especially white snakes.

"Software modification, the beginning of Orochi's rise?"

Hoshino Hideichi muttered to himself.

At this moment, Orochimaru came to a glass jar and said, "Here, this is what I'm going to show you."

Hoshino Hideichi stepped forward, his gaze falling on the contents of the jar, and he paused slightly, "A cow...horn?"

Orochimaru smiled mysteriously, "These aren't ordinary bull horns!"

Hoshita Shuichi feigned ignorance: "The horn of some powerful summoning beast?"

"Eight Tails!"

Orochimaru said, "You should have heard of him, right? Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of the Cloud Ninja."

Hoshino Shuichi looked surprised, then nodded: "Minato-sensei did mention it, saying that the Eight-Tails is a terrifying monster with extremely amazing chakra, so it was sealed in a human body and used as a powerful weapon."

This was indeed a popular science article written by Minato Namikaze.

In this day and age, there are quite a few Jinchuriki who are Tailed Beasts appearing on the battlefield.

Especially the Cloud Ninja and the Rock Ninja.

In reality, Kushina Uzumaki has now had the restriction on leaving the village lifted, and she occasionally goes on missions.

Of course, they are usually protected while carrying out their missions!

However, Minato Namikaze didn't go into too much detail about the concept of Jinchūriki.

Perhaps Minato Namikaze's understanding of Jinchuriki or Tailed Beasts was not as good as Shuichi Hoshino's!

Orochimaru laughed and said, "Minato is absolutely right."

"Tailed beasts not only possess astonishing chakra, but they also have unparalleled lifespans."

"It is said that they have lived since the time of the Sage of Six Paths, and that they can be resurrected every time a Jinchūriki dies."

Hoshita Shuichi perfectly feigned shock, his gaze fixed intently on the still-small bull horn inside the glass jar: "The legendary era of the Sage of Six Paths... that's incredibly distant, isn't it?"

"Is it really possible that it has survived until now and keeps coming back to life?"

"Lord Orochimaru, how did you obtain this?"

"Minato-sensei said that the tailed beasts all have the power to destroy cities."

Orochimaru smiled with a hint of pride: "Jinchūriki, or rather tailed beasts, are indeed very troublesome, but there are still ways to obtain some cells from them."

Hoshita Shuichi exclaimed in surprise, "Did you, Lord Orochimaru, cultivate this using the Eight-Tails' cells?"

"That's truly amazing skill. Even Lady Tsunade probably can't compare to you in this area."

Orochimaru nodded: "We are not going in the same direction."

"Unfortunately, the power of the tailed beasts is too violent and is not suitable for transplantation into the human body at present."

He truly regrets this.

Even so, he still intends to continue training this eight-tailed horn.

Although the power of the tailed beasts is extremely violent, it also has many wonderful uses.

With this, many experiments that were previously difficult to conduct can now be carried out.

Turning to look at Hoshino Shuichi, Orochimaru smiled and said, "Shuichi-kun, you have amazing ideas, which are very suitable for research. How about it, are you interested in researching with me how to make the human body immortal?"

"I believe this will be a very great undertaking."

"With the development of such technology, some injuries that were previously intractable will no longer be a problem."

Orochimaru's voice was seductive and contained hidden information targeting Hoshino Shuichi.

Hoshita Shuichi withdrew his gaze from the Eight-Tails' horn and said with a wry smile, "Lord Orochimaru, of course I'm willing."

"However, as you know, I've now become a double agent, so the situation here is probably unavoidable..."

Orochimaru chuckled softly, "Just tell the Third Hokage about the situation here. There's nothing you can't say."

Upon hearing this, Hoshino immediately bowed and said, "Then, I look forward to your guidance from now on, Lord Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru smiled and nodded, then turned around: "Come and see my research; consider it my way of repaying you for what you did before!"

……

It was already dark when he left Orochimaru's experimental base. As he headed towards the Hokage Building, Hoshishita Shuichi secretly wondered, "Did Orochimaru really recruit me for experiments because of my talent?"

"Still for the Nine-Tails?"

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was a secret among many Konoha ninja, but Orochimaru was definitely not one of them.

"This little scheme shouldn't escape the Third Hokage's notice, right?"

Hoshita Shuichi thought to himself, "It seems Orochimaru is plotting something aboveboard."

"This is meant to subtly influence me, drawing me deeper and deeper into this research path, and then..."

"That's truly a far-sighted plan."

"However, there are indeed many things I can learn from Orochimaru. When it comes to research on the human body, cells, and cloning, Tsunade is far superior."

Thinking it over, Hoshino Shuichi focused his attention on the terms in his mind.

A new term has been triggered!

(End of this chapter)