Genie Lamp looked up and down at the thing, very surprised. "Are there monsters in a place like the ninja world?"
Even though there are already plenty of strange things in the ninja world, like thousand-year-old snake spirits, slugs of unknown size, and toads that can make predictions... Genie Lamp really didn't expect to encounter this kind of thing here.
No matter how special snakes, slugs, or toads are, they are still evolved from natural creatures. But a kappa... no matter how you think about it, it's a fantasy creature, definitely not a normal living thing in the natural world.
"Do you know this thing?"
Just as Orochimaru asked, the little monster couldn't help it. A long tongue covered in sticky liquid shot out, rushing straight towards Orochimaru like an arrow.
This thing also seems to have a common biological instinct. It immediately identified the ninja in the group with the highest threat level.
Bang!
A stone wall suddenly rose up, blocking the long tongue's attack path. However, the moment they collided, a large hole exploded in the stone wall.
"This power... is no less than that of an elite ninja. It seems I need to get a little serious."
Orochimaru jumped onto a tree trunk, clasping his hands together.
The mud on the ground instantly surged up, trying to swallow the 'boat' above like a wave. However, the kappa's body was clearly small and hunched over, but its movements were surprisingly fast. It dodged and weaved, finding a chance to escape towards the lake.
"Get back here!"
Orochimaru said softly, and a giant hand made of dirty water suddenly formed on the lake, slapping down hard.
Bang!
The strange kappa was knocked back onto the shore, crashing into the dirt.
The earth flowed like it was alive, and four earth-based chains quickly imprisoned the strange thing.
"Ahhh..."
The kappa struggled hard, but couldn't break free. Its hands and feet were bound by the quickly made chains, unable to move.
Seeing Orochimaru walking toward it, the kappa opened its beak and stuck out a bright red toad-like tongue.
Thud...
This time, Orochimaru didn't give it time to speed up. It had barely launched when it hit a stone wall, and the wall changed shape, turning into another chain that pulled the tongue up, preventing it from retracting.
"What exactly is this thing?"
During the brief exchange, Hyuga Hizashi had already taken care of his injuries. Now, he looked up and down at the monster that came out of the water, his eyes filled with amazement. "It's just like something from a ghost story."
Orochimaru was also curious, turning his gaze to Genie Lamp beside him, asking for information.
He had just heard Genie Lamp say the thing's name, so it seemed to know something about it.
"Don't look at me, I don't know much."
Genie Lamp shrugged, looking at Orochimaru. "I only know that this thing is called a kappa, a legendary monster. But on the other hand, are there monsters in the ninja world? Does the term 'monster' even exist?"
"Yes, there are."
To Genie Lamp's surprise, Orochimaru gave an affirmative answer.
"West of Iwagakure, there is a Land of Demons..."
Orochimaru started to speak slowly, as if confirming something himself. "In the Land of Demons, there is a profession called Priestess, who are highly respected there."
"According to some strange historical records, the reason for this is that those priestesses can defeat Moryo."
"I originally dismissed this as nonsense, but now it seems..."
Orochimaru turned his gaze to the roaring kappa in front of him, and said calmly, "It's not all absurd."
"The Land of Demons' priestesses? I have some memory of that too."
Genie Lamp asked in confusion, "But according to what you said, if there are priestesses who defeat monsters, then there should also be monsters. But you seem to know nothing about monsters."
"Legends of monsters disappeared long ago. The information I have is the most recent, and it's already old from the Warring States period."
Orochimaru shook his head. "Even the profession of priestess has declined in the Land of Demons. As far as I know, there is only one line of them still being passed down."
Orochimaru knew very little about Moryo, but he knew more about the situation in the Land of Demons, which was real information.
Currently, there is only one family of priestesses in the Land of Demons, and their position is equivalent to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
However, there are still differences between the two. Compared to the Daimyo, the priestesses of the Land of Demons have real power. The sealing techniques they pass down are even comparable to the Uzumaki Clan.
"If there are no monsters, then there is naturally no need for priestesses. The decline of the priestess line in the Land of Demons is certainly not unfair."
After making that comment, Genie Lamp asked with some confusion, "But according to this, monsters haven't caused trouble in the ninja world for at least a hundred years. Why did one suddenly appear now?"
"It didn't suddenly appear. This kind of creature may have been living here all along, but just hasn't been discovered."
Orochimaru looked up and down at the kappa, frowning slightly.
"Even I probably wouldn't have been able to discover this thing if I hadn't entered Sage Mode."
For ninja who rely on Chakra to sense, if the other party has no Chakra reaction, it's almost equivalent to not existing.
And in the ninja world, you can count the number of people who have mastered natural energy. With so few people, it's almost impossible to find this thing unless they happen to get lucky.
"It's also possible it's not just luck."
Orochimaru turned his gaze to the large box that had been interrupted earlier and was now half-exposed on the surface of the water.
"This thing was probably attracted by the Box of Paradise."
Just to be sure, when he looked at the box, he faintly noticed that, whether it was Chakra or some other kind of energy, something inside the box was leaking out.
But this idea was really strange. A few days ago, he had praised this ninja tool made by the Sage of Six Paths.
"I think your feeling might be right."
Genie Lamp spread his hands. "If this Box of Paradise is so magical, when the Kusagakure ninja found it, they could have just released 'Satori' inside. There would have been no need to bother collecting Chakra."
From this perspective, it is more logical that the Box of Paradise has been leaking all along.
Of course, it may also be that driving 'Satori' is like driving a car, requiring some kind of fuel to be burned.
"Whether it's true or false, we'll know once we test it."
Orochimaru glanced at Genie Lamp, then turned his gaze to Hyuga Hizashi, instructing, "Tell the old man to have Yamato come here. I need him to do something."
"Yes!"
Hyuga Hizashi answered and disappeared on the spot.
A moment later, the young man with slightly dull eyes flew over and landed on the ground, bowing slightly. "Orochimaru-sama."
"Use your Wood Release to see if you can absorb the Chakra inside the Box of Paradise."
Orochimaru pointed to the box that had been moved to the ground, and said, "Be careful. Don't directly absorb it with plants made from your body."
Using Wood Release can either cause seeds in the soil to sprout, or turn your own cells into plants. In this situation, the former is undoubtedly safer.
"Yes!"
Yamato didn't hesitate. He clasped his hands together and immediately used Wood Release.
Dense branches and leaves pushed open the soil, instantly covering the Box of Paradise. Countless tiny roots stretched out, forcefully drawing out Chakra.
Almost immediately, changes occurred in these tree trunks and vines. The fresh green leaves, the brown-yellow trunks... all were stained black, and danced wildly, attacking everyone around them indiscriminately.
Yamato's expression changed slightly. He immediately gave up trying to control them, retreating with Orochimaru and the others, and then said,
"Orochimaru-sama, the Chakra inside the box is interfering with my control."
"It doesn't matter, at least it proves one thing."
Orochimaru looked at the plants that were still growing wildly, frowning slightly. "This Box of Paradise really can't perfectly store Chakra."
Or rather, at least the storage method Konoha used before was completely useless. The Kusagakure ninja were able to control 'Satori', so they might have special methods.
But this isn't all bad news. At least if we can find a way to completely get rid of the Chakra inside, we won't have to worry about it suddenly going out of control in the future.
With this in mind, Orochimaru gave the order, "Continue to use Wood Release to absorb this Chakra."
"I understand." Yamato also knew that this was important, so he did his best to get the job done.
He no longer controlled the strange trees that had already grown, but controlled new trees and vines to constantly sprout from the soil, allowing them to automatically absorb the Chakra overflowing from the Box of Paradise.
There was no problem with this approach, but it was almost like raising poisonous insects.
Countless plants, with the Box of Paradise as their core, engaged in a life-or-death struggle with each other.
Almost every moment, countless seedlings would die, while other plants would become increasingly prosperous because they gained 'nutrients' and 'space'.
And at some point, seemingly unsatisfied with the Chakra overflowing from the Box of Paradise, countless branches extended outward, even beginning to treat Orochimaru and other onlookers as prey.
"Retreat!"
After giving the order, Orochimaru quickly retreated with the kappa, but kept his eyes fixed on the plants growing on the Box of Paradise, watching with great interest.
He wasn't surprised that they had developed consciousness. The vast amount of energy itself was the initial driving force. It was normal for anything to happen after that. The Box of Paradise, after all, had Chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast inside. It wouldn't be surprising for these plants to gain consciousness like Tailed Beasts.
Orochimaru was curious to see what extent they could change.
After all, there was no Sage of Six Paths around to create a bodily form with Yin-Yang Release. Whatever they became, they had to do it themselves.
But to Orochimaru's disappointment, in the end, this thing was just a mass of crazy plants, not showing any non-plant form.
"Forget it, burn it."
After entering Sage Mode, Orochimaru directly used an enhanced Fire Release.
Although that black plant was more resistant to burning than ordinary trees, that was all it was. It couldn't resist the flames empowered with natural energy at all.
After burning fiercely for a while, until those plants were turned to ashes, Orochimaru signaled Yamato, "Try again."
Yamato followed suit and used Wood Release again, but this time, the tree trunks and branches under his control were no longer able to extract even a trace of Chakra.
Whether the Box of Paradise had none left, or it had already leaked everything it needed to, there was no longer a risk of leakage.
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows. "Now is a good time to calmly arrange the seal."
As long as you ignore the constant wear and tear of Chakra, the seal on the Box of Paradise itself is very simple. You could even just leave it like that without any problems.
After thinking about it, Orochimaru first had Genie Lamp scan the surroundings to make sure there were no White Zetsu clones monitoring the area. Then, he simply set up a barrier to conceal the Box of Paradise's presence.
After doing all this, he sank it into the lake.
This way, unless White Zetsu clones searched the entire lake bottom inch by inch, they wouldn't be able to find the Box of Paradise.
"Also, what exactly should we do with this thing?"
After solving the Box of Paradise's affairs, Orochimaru turned his gaze to the kappa.
Dropping the Box of Paradise into this lake is like using bait, but now they've accidentally caught a strange creature. They can't just put it back, right?
At least this thing has the attack power of an elite ninja. Not to mention, it just absorbed Chakra from the Box of Paradise. Regardless of what it was like before, it's very likely that it will become vicious and actively attack ninja in the future.
"It's a pity that Konoha doesn't have a circus, or else we could send it over to perform there."
Genie Lamp grinned. "Jokes aside, let the experts handle expert matters. You can ask the professionals how to deal with this kappa."
"Are you talking about the priestesses of the Land of Demons?"
Orochimaru's eyes lit up. "That is indeed a good idea."
Orochimaru didn't care about a mere kappa, but he was concerned whether this kind of thing was not an isolated case.
Although it can be expected that even if there are still monsters in the ninja world, the number will definitely not be very large, but in any case, they are a variable that cannot be completely ignored.
"I don't need to do these things. It should be the Hokage's headache."
Orochimaru turned his gaze to Hyuga Hizashi and gave some instructions about the kappa and the priestesses of the Land of Demons. "Tell the old man that this matter cannot be taken lightly."
"I will make sure the Hokage understands the importance of this matter."
Hyuga Hizashi responded solemnly, and quickly headed towards the village with a few subordinates, taking the kappa with them.
Whether it was the Box of Paradise or the kappa, Orochimaru only planned to treat them as an after-dinner snack, paying attention to them casually.
He now urgently needs to solve the problem of the First Hokage cells. Performing surgery on himself as soon as possible is the top priority.
"Yamato, there's nothing for you to do here either."
Seeing Yamato standing there blankly, Orochimaru asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Sir, it's like this."
Yamato hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "During the previous battle, Kakashi-senpai had his Sharingan stolen by the enemy, and he seems to be very depressed. I also have a pair of Sharingan, so giving him one wouldn't be a big deal."
"I was wondering if it would be possible for..."
"Give one to Kakashi? You are generous."
Orochimaru smiled, his expression becoming slightly serious. "But this matter has nothing to do with the Sharingan."
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