"Orochimaru, what are you doing?"
Roshi immediately stood up from the stove, his heart full of confusion and doubt.
More than a year was enough time to get familiar with another person's habits.
Orochimaru's daily actions were extremely regular due to some unknown research. This behavior now was very abnormal.
What was he going to do? Did he want to try something new like the Slug Sage?
"Roshi, I need your help with something."
Orochimaru put his hands together, a smile on his face.
"You..."
Seeing the eye shadow appear on Orochimaru's face, Roshi was startled. He knew the other party had entered Sage Mode and quickly pushed away the confused thoughts in his mind, releasing the red tailed beast Chakra.
However, before he could take any further action, layers of golden particles climbed onto his body.
An extremely strong binding force came from the gold dust. Roshi was shocked to find that his tailed beast Chakra was being forced back into his body.
"I have some things to do, so you'll stay here for now."
Orochimaru added a layer of Four Symbols Sealing above and below the completed gold coffin, then nodded with satisfaction.
Taking advantage of the element of surprise and working with the gold dust carrying the sealing jutsu, suppressing a Jinchuriki who had not transformed into a tailed beast was not too difficult.
And this process was so simple, thanks to the peaceful year that had passed, which allowed Roshi to let down too much of his guard.
A slug clone climbed onto Orochimaru's shoulder and asked curiously, "What are you doing?" She was also a little confused by the scene before her.
"The research on the split jutsu has yielded some results."
Orochimaru tilted his head and smiled, "This experiment is not like before. If this guy suddenly causes trouble, there might be a problem."
Even though Roshi had behaved very obediently for the past year, Orochimaru would never overlook him because of it.
He could tolerate the high degree of freedom the other party had in Shikkotsu Forest. While this was also based on trust, it was trust in his own strength. During the actual experimental process, he would not have the spare capacity to be vigilant of Roshi.
"I'll leave the following matters to you. Help me keep an eye on him."
Orochimaru glanced at the gold coffin, then dragged his snake tail towards the corner of the cave.
The Slug Sage's methods were limited, and a rampaging Jinchuriki could not be easily dealt with. However, with an added sealing jutsu, the matter became much simpler.
"Leave it to me."
Another slug clone climbed onto the gold coffin and said to Roshi, who only had his head showing, "You heard him. He'll let you out when his experiment is finished, so don't do anything useless now. How about we get along peacefully?"
"That scoundrel Orochimaru..."
Roshi glared with his glasses, grumbling, but while his heart was filled with anger, there was also a hint of pride.
— Orochimaru couldn't completely ignore him.
"..."
Orochimaru didn't know what Roshi was thinking. After returning to his living quarters, he immediately entered Sage Mode.
Unlike the White Snake Sage path, the slug-based Sage Mode absorbed pure natural energy, not second-hand processed energy.
However, in actual application, the effect was similar. Once it entered the body, it was immediately converted into natural energy similar to that of the Slug Sage.
After succeeding in Senjutsu training in the three great Sage Realms, one's physique would change.
It's just that Ryuuchi Cave directly used secondary natural energy, Mount Myōboku used 'toad oil', and Shikkotsu Forest used the transmission gem to first bring one's spirit into a slug, and then gradually infect the body.
Just like now, after entering the slug-type Sage Mode, all the snake scales on his body seemed to have softened, and the boundaries between them became blurred.
"Sage Art: Great Snake Splitting Technique!"
Orochimaru put his hands together, his body surface emitting a soft white light that shimmered and pulsed like ripples of water.
As this light appeared, Orochimaru's entire body seemed to shrink slightly. On the contrary, his abdomen bulged out as if he had grown a lump. However, Orochimaru's appearance was faintly visible, and it became more and more like him as time passed.
The Slug Sage, watching from the side, was stunned and exclaimed, "He can actually succeed?"
Although this kind of Senjutsu originated from her, she had never expected other creatures to learn it.
The Splitting Technique involved first determining a blueprint, then dividing all types of cells in the body into corresponding portions, and then rearranging them.
This was an extremely complex matter. She could do it entirely out of instinct.
Although the transmission gem allowed others to experience this instinct, they experienced the splitting process of a slug.
Compared to slugs, humans were more than ten or even a hundred times more complex in structure.
"..."
Orochimaru slowly performed the split with his eyes slightly closed.
Normally speaking, 'Slug Splitting Technique' was indeed difficult to learn and could not be replicated in humans. Attempting it rashly could even be life-threatening.
But with the existence of the transmission gem and the Genie, the outcome was completely different.
Although it was only in an illusion, he had indeed learned the Slug Splitting Technique. In other words, if he had a slug's body, he could successfully perform it.
This was a skill. Although he had never used it before, it was a skill recognized by the Genie.
Therefore, with the Genie present, skill replication was not a problem.
Humans were indeed more complex than slugs, but splitting based on a blueprint simply meant slower speed and longer duration, making it unusable in actual combat, which was not a big problem.
Orochimaru did not spend too much time on this in the past year. Most of his time was spent deducing another matter—the problem of the 'little Orochimaru' after splitting.
Whether this individual, who possessed his own cells and Chakra but was independent of himself, would be completely controllable.
Orochimaru would not naively assume that just because the Slug Sage's experience was very smooth, his own would be the same.
Because he had experienced soul splitting, Orochimaru initially thought that the Slug Sage's splitting jutsu also split the soul.
But after actually operating it, he finally determined that the split was just a smaller body. By carefully observing and analyzing the other party's behavior, Orochimaru discovered the problem.
Leaving aside other details, the Slug Sage's clones completely shared vision and thought information.
This could not be explained by soul classification. At least, based on Orochimaru's own experience, the split souls were independent of each other, and only when they merged did they completely share information.
And with the Slug Sage, whether it was in Konoha, a thousand miles away, or in Shikkotsu Forest, or anywhere else in the ninja world, it was as if there was a public network, invisibly connecting all of the Slug Sage's clones.
How this was achieved, Orochimaru did not know. The Akatsuki and the transmission gem did not show the reason; it seemed to be the Slug Sage's own uniqueness.
After all, it was just a gallstone. Orochimaru was content to have learned the splitting jutsu and Sage Mode cultivation methods from it. He could solve this problem himself.
As of today, he was no longer ignorant in soul research.
"..."
The splitting proceeded in an orderly manner and took a full hour to complete. As initially envisioned, it was completely unusable in combat, but the effect was still very good.
Wiping the mucus from his face, Little Orochimaru, now fully formed, slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of golden irises.
He pushed himself up with his hands on his snake scales, broke free from Orochimaru's body with his snake tail, lowered his head, and looked at his own body.
"This is truly a wonderful experience..."
The Genie's gaze swept across the two figures, one large and one small, then suddenly spun around. A half-smoky body emerged from Little Orochimaru's back.
"Is there any problem on my end? How do you feel?"
"It's hard to say. It feels very strange, as if I have four eyes at the same time, and my body feels a bit weird. I don't know which limbs to move."
Orochimaru repeatedly turned his head, hands, and feet, trying to adjust. However, from his movements, it was evident that controlling it was still a bit chaotic.
"These are minor issues."
The Genie spun around again and appeared in front of Orochimaru, smiling, "Just practice diligently. Look at how Nagato controls six bodies with ease. Your potential is far beyond this."
Imagine wreaking havoc across the ninja world with hundreds or thousands of 'little Orochimarus'. It sounded very promising.
"It's not as simple as you think. It won't be possible for a long time."
Orochimaru looked down at his back covered with curse marks. "The upper limit of the soul body also does not allow it."
Nagato controlling the Six Paths of Pain relied on the black rods created by Yin-Yang Release as signal receivers. Essentially, it was still based on Chakra. Orochimaru, on the other hand, relied on a modified 'soul curse mark'.
Both had their advantages and disadvantages. Although the Six Paths of Pain had distance limitations, within the appropriate range, the Chakra between the main body and the objects was completely shared. Orochimaru, although unable to transmit Chakra to his clones, broke through the distance limitation by strengthening the soul connection.
The difficulty of control was hard to say. However, compared to the Six Paths of Pain, which could be operated by infusing Chakra, Little Orochimaru, who had to squeeze a part of his soul into the clone, was not limited by how many could be made.
Of course, strength was another matter entirely.
This clone, apart from its Chakra reserves being incomparable to the main body, had an instant burst of destructive power that was no less than that of any Kage-level ninja.
However, measuring Little Orochimaru by combat power would be a complete waste of his potential. He had never intended to use him as a combat unit.
His knowledge and intellect, identical to the main body, were his greatest value.
"..."
After half a day of adaptation, Orochimaru finally gained some skills in controlling his body and gained a deeper understanding of his own body.
"The splitting technique is complete. It's time to return to Konoha."
The Genie surveyed Shikkotsu Forest. "This place lacks too many things for further growth."
"Indeed, there's no need to stay in Shikkotsu Forest any longer."
Orochimaru nodded slightly, his peripheral vision catching sight of the snake tail beneath him. He frowned, "But before that, I need to restore my human body."
This was not too difficult. The 'Sage Art: Mystic Body Transformation' could accomplish this. The main body had not done so because it was unnecessary.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru looked up in the direction of the village.
He had been away from the village for over a year. He didn't know the specific situation there. It was impossible to say he wasn't worried at all.
So many excellent test subjects, it would be heartbreaking if too many were lost.
"Tsk tsk..."
...
"Stop!"
In the Land of Hot Water, Uchiha Jinsuke, who was soaring through the forest, suddenly called out, and he also stopped on a tree trunk.
Thump, thump, thump...
A series of footsteps could be heard, and three ninja squads also stopped, forming a defensive formation simultaneously.
This was a caravan-like mercenary mission, aimed at delivering high-grade minerals produced by Kumogakure.
The Land of Thunder had numerous mountains and perilous peaks, as well as constant lightning that tempered the rock. The quality of the ores ranked at the top in the ninja world.
Using these as raw materials and then processing them in the Land of Artisans, the weapons produced were of the highest quality.
Under normal circumstances, the Land of Thunder produced and consumed its own goods, and did not sell them to outsiders. It was only after losing the war a few years ago that these things were agreed upon in treaties. Otherwise, Kumogakure would not have supplied these to their enemies.
Even so, they had dragged on for so long.
Of course, although it was late, Konoha still valued this batch of minerals highly, and specially dispatched several Anbu teams.
Kakashi, another Anbu captain, looked up at Uchiha Jinsuke, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What is it? Did you find something?"
"Not yet, but something feels wrong."
Even so, Uchiha Jinsuke believed his intuition. He turned to the third ninja captain, a member of the Hyuga clan. "How about it, have you found any enemies?"
Hyuga Homura shook his head. As soon as Uchiha Jinsuke ordered them to stop, he had already begun to scan their surroundings. "There are no enemy figures within a three-kilometer radius. The underground is also empty, with no White Zetsu clones."
As soon as Hyuga Homura said this, Uchiha Jinsuke and Kakashi exchanged glances, both of their expressions darkening.
The absence of enemies was also a form of information.
After more than a year of combat, Konoha had learned about the enemy's reconnaissance capabilities. White Zetsu's sensing range was about two kilometers, and this range would increase as they approached the surface, but at most it was about two thousand five hundred meters.
White Zetsu clones monitored almost the entire area of the Kusagakure Ninja Alliance, and the Land of Hot Water was naturally included. In such a large area of three kilometers, there should be at least two White Zetsu clones.
Now that not a single one was visible, it meant they were lurking outside the Byakugan's field of vision, carrying out optical obstruction.
In other words, a black spot had appeared on the map of the Land of Hot Water, and the Konoha team was that black spot that urgently needed to be dealt with.
Kakashi immediately said, "I propose to temporarily postpone this mission and rendezvous with Jiraiya-sama on the border line, and then we can make plans."
They had discovered the situation in time, and had not ventured too deep into the Land of Hot Water. A direct retreat had a high probability of success.
Hyuga Homura nodded. "I second that. Continuing forward is indeed not a good idea. This operation might even involve Kumogakure's participation, so we cannot count on their assistance."
"I agree to retreat, but we cannot go back the way we came."
Red light flashed in Uchiha Jinsuke's eyes. "The enemy may not have countermeasures if they discover us. Choosing to bypass through the Land of Hot Water is a better option."
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