Chapter 135: Orochimaru’s Research Results
Konoha Year 55 was relatively uneventful compared to other years.
After Itachi Uchiha reported to the Third Hokage the intelligence about Shura and Uchiha Hikari visiting Fugaku, no major events occurred.
Itachi Uchiha’s activities after joining Anbu were mainly led by Kakashi, and he would also carry out surveillance missions on the Uchiha Clan, reporting the radical voices within the clan to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Although Shisui Uchiha lost one Mangekyo Sharingan, he remained an elite Jonin, and because he wanted to ease the contradictions between the village and the Uchiha Clan more than other Uchiha clansmen, he was increasingly valued by Fugaku.
Days passed like this day by day, and Menma wandered between Konoha and the Land of Stars, occasionally going out to play with Naruto and Hinata.
However, he learned some news from Hinata’s mouth, it seemed her mother was pregnant again.
It seemed because Hinata’s dual personality was unstable, making Hiashi somewhat worried; moreover, after Shura gouged out the eyes of the older generation of elders from the Hyuga Main Family, they basically retired, and the Hyuga Main Family’s morale was somewhat low.
So Hiashi decided to have another child, to see if it would be a boy; if so, and with a good personality, he could inherit the position of Main Family patriarch.
Little Hinata didn’t understand these things, but Big Sister Hinata knew very clearly, although she also had a sister Hanabi in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, she was still a bit unhappy.
This day.
Menma, as usual, was in the capital city of the Land of Stars, conducting various research.
“Hmm, it’s already very stable. From now on, you can move around the surroundings of the capital city, but if you feel any discomfort, remember to tell me.” In the medical department’s laboratory, Menma, wearing a white coat and a white mask, put away the testing instruments and said to Gōta.
“Thank you, Lord!” Gōta got up from the hospital bed, happily fastening his open clothes.
After more than half a year of experiments, Gōta, who was injected with the bloodline gene regulation fluid, had stabilized physical characteristics, so Menma decided to let him walk in the sunlight.
“Wait another half year, then select three clansmen for injection of the bloodline gene regulation fluid.” Menma took off his mask and said to Gōta: “No rush, take it slow. At the current progress, in a few more years, all your clansmen should be able to walk in the sunlight.”
“The Iburi Clan will serve Lord generation after generation!” Gōta excitedly knelt on the ground.
After sending Gōta away, Menma also changed out of his white coat and headed to the Uzumaki House mansion.
Uzumaki Kushina’s home had now become half a kindergarten.
Besides Karin Uzumaki, Kimimaro and White also lived here, usually taken care of by Uzumaki Kushina.
Menma hadn’t gotten close yet when he noticed a thick fog around the Uzumaki House mansion.
Then he saw Kimimaro and White conducting combat drills in the thick fog.
Karin Uzumaki sat on the veranda, eating snacks while curiously watching the sparks flying in the fog.
Although she didn’t have Byakugan and could only vaguely see outlines.
“Hey! Menma brother!” Seeing the person suddenly appear beside her, Karin enthusiastically called out.
Kimimaro and White, who were conducting combat drills in the courtyard, also stopped.
The thick fog dispersed, and Kimimaro, covered in bones like a little porcupine, walked out, with several senbon stuck in his body; a pair of Byakugan paired with his pale skin looked a bit eerily creepy.
“Lord.” Kimimaro still liked to address Menma this way, viewing Menma as his goal to follow and serve to the death.
White also walked over and slightly bowed to Menma.
Although the two were only five or six years old, they already had chunin-level strength, and were very proficient in both bloodline limits and ninjutsu usage.
And since Kimimaro got a pair of Byakugan, his bloodline disease was alleviated; with Corpse Bone Pulse plus bloodline limit, his combat power exploded in growth, and even White could only serve as his sparring partner.
Menma pondered that Kimimaro could perhaps be handed over to Uchiha Hikari and Kakuzu for training.
The former was the strongest ninja under him, the latter had lived seventy or eighty years and seen many ninjutsu and bloodline limits, able to properly teach Kimimaro.
“Where’s Kushina?” Menma didn’t see Uzumaki Kushina and asked.
“Mom hasn’t gotten off work yet.” Little Karin handed over the bag of potato chips in her hand.
Menma took a piece and said to the three little ones: “Play well, cherish the current time; next year you’ll go to school.”
The Land of Stars’ education system had been running for over half a year, selecting the first batch of children with ninja talent nationwide, about thirty or so, ages from five-six to sixteen; these children were uniformly arranged to study at the ninja school in the capital city.
And seeing that Kimimaro and White’s conditions had improved a lot, Menma planned to send them, along with Karin who would be five next year, to study together.
“Ah! I don’t want to go to school QAQ” Karin pulled a long face, instinctively rejecting school.
Kimimaro and White looked at Little Karin hugging Menma’s leg and both showed gentle smiles.
They doted on this little sister very much and loved their current life even more.
“Good girl.” Menma reached out and patted Karin’s head.
In the evening, Uzumaki Kushina got off work and came home, buying a lot of vegetables to prepare a sumptuous dinner.
At the same time, she brought Menma a letter.
“Lord, this is a secret letter from Orochimaru.” Uzumaki Kushina handed the letter to Menma.
“Oh?” Menma took the letter; there were no elaborate patterns on it, just a few lines of concise text and a familiar snake-shaped mark.
Opening the letter, there were only a few words inside, yet they revealed shocking information.
Orochimaru’s cloning technology had made breakthrough progress, and there were two interesting things he wanted to invite Shura to discuss.
Between the lines, it exuded Orochimaru’s usual cunning and confidence.
The corner of Menma’s mouth curved into a playful arc: “Indeed, it’s been half a year since we parted in Kirigakure; Orochimaru should have new products by now.”
He had always been interested in Orochimaru’s research achievements, and even more expectant of the ‘two interesting things’ Orochimaru mentioned.
After all, in this era, only Orochimaru could combine science and ninjutsu to such perfection.
The next day.
When Menma arrived at Orochimaru’s base in the Land of Fields again as Shura.
This once small village now had a signboard for Otogakure, and a wall had been built around the village outskirts, with two ninjas wearing Otogakure headbands standing guard at the gate.
Menma had no interest in playing games with these little ones.
His figure shuttled like a ghost along the edges of Otogakure, avoiding all patrols and surveillance, and went straight to Orochimaru’s secret base deep underground.
Just entering this vast and complex underground labyrinth, he smelled the air filled with disinfectant, blood scent, and some indescribable rotten smell, mixed with the unique aura of chakra experiments, chilling to the bone.
Menma passed through heavy stone doors reinforced with sealing jutsu, finally arriving at a spacious laboratory.
In the center of the laboratory, Orochimaru’s slender figure had his back to him, busy among countless culture dishes and experimental equipment.
Orochimaru wore a white lab coat, long black hair draped over his shoulders, a winding purple rope at his waist, and those snake-like cold vertical pupils, all so familiar, reminding Menma of Orochimaru’s appearance during the Konoha Collapse Plan.
Hearing the footsteps, Orochimaru slowly turned around, a corner of his mouth hooking into an inscrutable smile.
“Welcome, Shura.” Orochimaru’s voice was hoarse and low, carrying a unique seductive power.
Menma didn’t exchange pleasantries; he walked straight to Orochimaru, his gaze sharply scanning the surrounding experiment benches.
In several culture vessels, various bizarre-shaped tissues floated, but none were what he wanted.
“I’m only interested in valuable things, Orochimaru.” Menma’s tone was steady, yet carried the unquestionable aura of a superior.
“Of course.” Orochimaru stuck out his tongue to lick his lips, the action carrying a hint of excitement and evil grin.
He led Menma to several glass culture tanks.
The liquid inside the tanks was light green, with bubbles constantly rising, and in the center of the liquid, blood-red eyeballs were prominently suspended, faintly showing tomoe patterns on them.
“Sharingan?” Menma’s pupils contracted slightly.
Although these eyeballs were still in cultivation state, the clearly visible one-tomoe patterns and the unique Yin Release chakra fluctuation indicated their identity.
“That’s right, this is the latest result of my research—cloned Sharingan.” Orochimaru’s voice carried a trace of barely concealed pride; although he couldn’t see Shura’s expression under the mask, he must be somewhat shocked.
Orochimaru was very satisfied with his research, but this pride soon turned to regret: “However, currently we can only replicate one-tomoe. Generating two-tomoe, or even three-tomoe, requires deeper gene modification and chakra compatibility research. This involves more intricate study of Yin Release chakra, far more complex than imagined.”
Orochimaru picked up a one-tomoe Sharingan, holding it between his index finger and thumb, pupil facing Shura.
The eyeball shimmered with eerie red light under the lights, the one-tomoe pattern clearly visible, as if it could spin at any moment.
“Although just one-tomoe, it can already be mass-produced on a small scale; truly a qualitative leap.” Menma praised.
It had to be said, worthy of Snake Aunt.
As long as combined with the bloodline limit switch technology he mastered, Menma could create an army capable of using basic Sharingan abilities.
This would undoubtedly be a huge supplement to the Land of Stars’ power system.
If Sharingan can be cloned, what about Byakugan? Red Eye? And Blood Dragon Eye!
Such eye bloodline limits existed in only four clans in the entire ninja world, and the Red Eye Clan and the Blood Pond Clan of Blood Dragon Eye had dwindled to single-digit clansmen.
Thinking of several years later, his Land of Stars deploying large numbers of Sharingan ninjas, Byakugan ninjas, Red Eye ninjas, Menma couldn’t help but want to see the reactions of other ninja villages.
‘Right, where was the Blood Pond Clan again?’ Menma couldn’t quite remember; it seemed to appear in some theater version or Sasuke’s novel?
“With these ten pairs of one-tomoe Sharingan, you should be able to do many things. Of course, as a trade, you need to provide me with some live Uchiha samples, especially cellular tissue from those ninjas with powerful eye power.” Orochimaru’s gaze sharply stared at Shura’s White Three-Eyed Fox Mask, as if trying to see through his thoughts.
The White Three-Eyed Fox Mask hid Shura’s face and expression; a cold voice came from under the mask: “Is this what you call a ‘major breakthrough’?”
Orochimaru showed a mysterious smile: “This is merely an appetizer; the more exciting one is over there.”
He turned, leading Shura to another laboratory.
The two entered a new laboratory, where a boy around ten years old lay quietly on an experiment bench, connected to several thin chakra tubes; the boy had delicate features, pale skin, eyes tightly closed, as if merely asleep.
“His name is Shin. A… very special experimental subject.” Orochimaru’s voice lowered a bit, carrying near-mad excitement, even his tongue couldn’t help extending a bit.
“Shin?” This name stirred Menma’s memory.
Seemed like, probably, a villain?
Orochimaru continued: “I discovered him by chance; his body possesses near-perfect biological adaptability. Any organ, any bloodline limit, as long as transplanted into him, produces no rejection reaction at all. I tried implanting various different bloodline limit cells into him, and the results were astonishing; he’s like a living, perfect vessel capable of bearing everything…”
As Orochimaru explained, Menma also remembered.
Uchiha Shin.
Once one of Orochimaru’s experimental subjects; later, it seemed because Orochimaru transplanted a Sharingan into his arm and traded it to Danzō, so Uchiha Shin left with a group of clones.
In side stories and Boruto, he appeared as a villain wearing Akatsuki attire, body transplanted with Sharingan all over, like a hundred-eyed demon.
He claimed to be Orochimaru’s disciple, obsessively infatuated with Itachi Uchiha, even changing his surname to Uchiha.
From the trade of his arm with Danzō, it could be judged that Shin left after the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall.
Because that transplanted arm had many three-tomoe Sharingan from the Uchiha Clan, gains from Danzō during the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall.
Although not that shocking, Uchiha Shin indeed deserved the ‘major breakthrough’ mentioned in Orochimaru’s letter, worth Menma’s personal visit.
If he could obtain his flesh and blood tissue for research, and fuse with Hashirama Cells and White Zetsu Cells to produce clones…
Right!
Oni-Roga Technique!
What if the Oni-Roga Technique was performed on Uchiha Shin’s body tissue or clones?!
Thinking of the Oni-Roga Technique, Menma became somewhat expectant.
This Uchiha Shin was simply a perfect “human laboratory.”
“He’s just a child now, not fully grown yet. But his potential is infinite.” Seeing Shura unmoved, Orochimaru licked his lips, eyes flashing with greedy light.
“With him, many previously impossible experiments will become possible, such as… developing clones perfectly fusing Hashirama Cells and White Zetsu Cells as experimental vessels! Of course, all this needs time.”
Menma walked to the experiment bench, carefully observing Uchiha Shin with closed eyes.
He used Kagura Shingan to sense the unique vitality in Uchiha Shin’s body and the enormous potential hidden deep in the cells.
This body was simply born for all bloodline limits and forbidden jutsu in the ninja world, perfect material for Kekkei Mōra!
“So, the cost?” Shura’s White Three-Eyed Fox Mask tilted slightly toward Orochimaru, asking in a deep voice.
He knew Orochimaru daring to bring out Uchiha Shin meant he wanted something badly from him.
Having sheared Orochimaru’s wool several times before, this time give him a little sweetness.
