I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 246 "Uchiha Clan Clinical Trial Plan" Finalized

With the appearance of Uchiha Hikaru and his group.

The people in the Sound Village gradually noticed the commotion, and those who were not in danger began to rush over in groups.

The entire Sound Village is only this big, about the size of a modern high school, with a total population of only about a hundred people. It's easy to spot people arranging fights on the "playground."

Among these.

Karin looked extremely excited.

Then they saw this red-haired little girl, pulling Kimimaro and Jugo along, squeeze through the crowd and rush to Uchiha Hikaru. She looked up at her and called out, "Hikaru-neechan, you're back!" Then she looked at Esdeath and Orochimaru in the arena with a face full of curiosity: "Huh, is this blue-haired lady going to fight Orochimaru-sensei?"

"Yes."

Uchiha Hikaru glanced discreetly at Kabuto Yakushi, Kidomaru, and the others not far away, and said calmly, "Watch carefully, learn well. Such a battle between strong individuals is a rare sight."

"Yes, I will!"

Uchiha Hikaru was just saying it offhand.

Karin took her words seriously, nodding vigorously, and then stared intently at the arena, a serious expression on her face. Kimimaro beside her also watched the battle with wide eyes, completely absorbed.

To be fair, Orochimaru's strength is not weak.

Aside from being countered by Sharingan genjutsu, his ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu are all top-tier in the ninja world, making him superior in all aspects and possessing exceptional survival abilities. Even Naruto in his Four-Tails form would find it difficult to defeat him in a short time.

but……

His opponent is Esdeath.

Moreover, Esdeath had traveled to the Dragon Ball world with Uchiha Hikaru and had already learned "ki".

At first, Esdeath wanted to test Orochimaru's abilities, so she didn't go all out.

After witnessing the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, Kusanagi Sword: Sky Blade, and the Ten Thousand Snake Formation, she had a general idea of ​​what to do and then attacked with murderous intent. First, she unleashed "Frosty Purgatory," freezing the entire training ground and breaking the "Ten Thousand Snake Formation" on the spot. Then, she activated "Ice and Snow Demon," wielding two forty-meter-long ice blades to launch a series of slashes!

A tremendous roar could be heard continuously.

Orochimaru attempted to block the ice blades with ninjutsu, but was quickly sliced ​​in two, forced to use a substitution jutsu to escape. Esdeath's attacks, however, were relentless and relentless, like a storm. In the blink of an eye, the training ground was transformed into a scene of billowing dust, as if it had been bombarded by artillery fire.

At last.

Esdeath snapped her fingers, creating an ice meteorite over 100 meters in diameter out of thin air, which almost covered the entire training ground and crashed down from the sky!

"...Triple Rashomon!"

As the meteorite fell, three massive gates engraved with the characters for Prajna and Asura rose from the ground. Then came a deafening roar, like Mars colliding with Earth, accompanied by a powerful earthquake!

……

Karin and the others outside the training ground were stunned.

The little girl stared wide-eyed at the scene, her mouth agape. It took her a while to react before she tugged at Uchiha Hikaru's sleeve: "Hikaru-neechan, this…"

"Don't worry, Orochimaru won't die."

It seems to be to confirm Uchiha Hikaru's judgment.

As the smoke cleared, a pale-faced Orochimaru covered in white, sticky fluid crawled out from a pile of rubble and flesh, wriggling away from Esdeath. His wounds healed rapidly within half a minute, but his chakra levels had clearly shrunk by more than half, and a hint of fear appeared in his eyes as he looked at Esdeath.

of course……

There is also covetousness.

Esdeath's strength has exceeded Orochimaru's expectations of a "vessel," and if possible, he wouldn't mind replacing his body with such a vessel.

However, due to Esdeath's displayed strength and murderous aura, Orochimaru did not dare to speak easily.

the other side.

Esdeath dispelled the Ice Demon, landing on a thin layer of floating ice from the sky, a subtle expression of disgust on her face, before turning to look at Uchiha Hikaru:

"What kind of technique is this? It looks disgusting."

"Substitute Technique".

"Hmm? But it wasn't like this when you used it, was it?"

"It's just a personal characteristic."

Uchiha Hikaru shrugged.

To be honest, the "Orochimaru-style Substitution Technique" is actually quite useful. It can be used by performing hand seals, and its damage immunity is top-notch, almost comparable to Obito's Kamui Hollowfication.

But it is truly disgusting.

Aside from Orochimaru, most people would probably find it hard to imagine someone covered in slime crawling out of "their" body. Uchiha Hikaru imagined it for a moment and got goosebumps.

At this point...

The outcome is already decided.

After a few moments of hesitation, Orochimaru admitted defeat in a hoarse voice: "As expected of the powerful warrior who defeated the demon in the Land of Demons some time ago, I am ashamed of my own strength, Lord Ai."

"...Do you know about 'Wraiths'?"

Esdeath frowned slightly, a dangerous look on her face.

Orochimaru replied as instructed: "Of course, several ninja villages have been involved to some extent in the affairs of the Land of Demons. I have some connections outside, so I have heard about it to some extent."

"Oh……"

Esdeath nodded first, then gave a heavy, cold snort: "So, you knew perfectly well who I was, but you pretended not to know me just now, is that it? And don't think I didn't see the covetous look in your eyes when you were looking at her... As a subordinate, harboring improper thoughts about your superior, don't you know what death means?!"

Although she had been playing a supporting role alongside Uchiha Hikaru during this time, Esdeath was still essentially the imposing Imperial General.

At that moment, as her expression darkened, an aura of murderous intent surged forth like a tidal wave, sweeping across the entire training ground. Everyone, including Orochimaru, felt as if their faces were being cut by knives.

"besides……"

Esdeath spoke again, her voice as cold and hard as ancient ice: "Only she can call me 'Little Esdeath,' you can't. If you overstep your bounds again, even if you're Hikari's subordinate, I'll personally gouge your eyes out."

"..."

now.

Hikaru Uchiha, who was standing on the sidelines, blinked.

Esdeath is...

Should we proactively protect her?

She had known for a long time that Orochimaru coveted her body, and she was already used to it.

After all, this covetousness stems from one's own heart, and even the "Eight Thousand Spears" cannot reverse it unless Orochimaru's original consciousness is completely erased.

However, this was the first time Esdeath had accompanied her to the Sound Village, met Orochimaru, and witnessed the greedy look in his eyes as he gazed at Uchiha Hikaru. This behavior was undoubtedly a blatant transgression, and it made Esdeath, who had once served in a high-ranking position in the Empire, somewhat worried about Uchiha Hikaru's ability to manage his subordinates.

The reason she acted so ruthlessly just now was partly due to this point.

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly tense, Uchiha Hikaru coughed and stepped in to smooth things over.

then.

She stretched her neck and looked at the Daki siblings not far away: "I'll take the next round. I want to personally check the condition of the 'Dragon's Curse Seal'."

Daki and Gyutaro: "?"

Next.

Uchiha Hikaru personally stepped in to test the skill level of the Daki siblings.

Well...

The original Daki and her brother were at best two special Jonin. The older brother, Gyutaro, had decent combat skills, but Daki was basically just there to make up the numbers. Let alone Uchiha Hikaru, even Tanjiro in his current form could easily kill her.

However, after activating the "Dragon's Curse Seal," the brother and sister transformed into small dragon-like beings covered in scales and purplish-black runes, their faces even concealed by "masks" filled with bony protrusions. Correspondingly, their strength increased dramatically; according to Uchiha Hikaru, they were approaching the level of Upper Moon One, Kokushibo. It's likely that none of the current Pillars would be able to defeat them individually.

This amplification effect is quite impressive. It's stronger than the "Earth Curse Mark" in the original storyline, almost a qualitative leap.

and……

This is only "Dragon's Curse Seal I".

According to Orochimaru, with enough Dragon King blood samples, he could create "II" and even higher versions. By then, mass-producing Kage-level ninjas might be unrealistic, but elite Chunin and Jonin could still be artificially created using the Cursed Seal.

"good."

Uchiha Hikaru planned to go back and say hello to Erii, then go to the Dragon World to find the Natsumi siblings and get some blood and body tissue from them so that Orochimaru could continue his research on the Cursed Seal.

Once this thing has sufficient stability, it's not impossible to consider encapsulating it and promoting it outside of the Sound Village.

such as……

How many should be planted in the Uchiha clan?

Speaking of the Uchiha clan.

Uchiha Hikaru then remembered another purpose for his return trip—

"Here are Dr. Brief's research materials."

"During this period, Dr. Brief studied the gene sequence samples of the Uchiha clan and analyzed and compared them with the samples of the Uzumaki clan. Through batch experiments, he developed a 'gene-targeting drug' that can theoretically be used to repair gene defects in the eye cell structure of Uchiha people, thereby eliminating the bloodline disease that lies dormant in their blood."

"However, Dr. Brief's research is still in the laboratory stage and hasn't been tested on real humans. Therefore, a clinical trial is needed to verify the drug's effectiveness and improve it if any problems arise. Orochimaru, what are your thoughts on this?"

Training field side.

Uchiha Hikaru made an excuse to send Karin and the others away, then dismissed his attendants and took out a stack of documents, placing it in front of Orochimaru.

Upon hearing her words, Orochimaru looked surprised for a moment before slowly saying, "Dr. Brief, you've even made this kind of medicine... In that case, I'm willing to cooperate with you on this task."

Although I am now a rogue ninja of Konoha, I still have some people I trained in Konoha back then, and two hidden laboratories remain in the village. If Lord Hikaru needs them, I can reactivate them.

"Oh?"

Uchiha Hikaru narrowed his eyes slightly: "You mean Mitarashi Anko?"

"No, Hongdou is just my student. Moreover, she was quite young when she started working for me, and she was not qualified to be my assistant in any way, so she was unaware of the backup plans I had made."

Orochimaru spoke up and offered a few explanations.

Although he appears somewhat down on his luck now, Orochimaru was once a near-Fourth Hokage and, as one of the Legendary Sannin, led several major battles in the Third Shinobi World War. His influence in various areas is considerable.

Even after his defection, when these former connections were investigated and purged, Orochimaru could still find a group of loyal people whenever he wanted.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to successfully launch the "Konoha Crush Plan" years later.

Red copper armor, sword Mei Cheng.

These two genin who participated in Naruto's Chunin Exams along with Kabuto in the original storyline were one of Orochimaru's backup plans.

"Both of them were trained by me privately. They are clean and reliable. I will send a message to them later and ask them to clean out the laboratory to serve as the site for the clinical program."

Orochimaru said that.

In fact, the place with the most abundant medical resources in the ninja world today is undoubtedly the current Otogakure (Village of Sound).

During this period, Uchiha Hikaru, through the Snake Clan, acquired a large number of scientific and medical instruments from the Dragon World. In addition, with the spoils he found at the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters during his trip to the Dragon Ball world, the Orochimaru Research Institute's equipment level was almost a decade ahead of the entire ninja world.

However, clinical trials are a very time-consuming process, and it is somewhat unrealistic to bring large numbers of Uchiha clan members to Otogakure for drug use, observation, and feedback.

They had no choice but to settle for second best and open Konoha's secret laboratory.

As for the person specifically in charge of the "clinical trial plan"...

"For the time being, I can release a shadow clone to infiltrate Konoha Village and conduct this experiment."

"However, I am not a member of the Uchiha clan, so I may not be able to gain Fugaku's trust. I would like to ask you, Master Hikaru, to act as a go-between to make this possible."

Orochimaru thought for a moment: "As for what comes next, Kabuto Yakushi can be my successor. She has considerable medical skills and has served as my assistant for several months. In addition, she is a ninja from Konoha. Even if she appears in Konoha Village, she will not arouse suspicion."

"Um……"

Kabuto Yakushi is indeed a good candidate.

However, this guy's identity is rather complicated. On the surface, he is Danzo's man and serves as a spy for Orochimaru. But in essence, all of this is being orchestrated by Uchiha Hikaru behind the scenes. If he were to go to Konoha and make contact with the Uchiha clan, he would become a true four-way spy, and it's hard to guarantee that no new complications might arise.

(End of this chapter)