Orochimaru was taken aback. Fox was voluntarily requesting to become a test subject?
A living, Elite Jōnin-level test subject?
Orochimaru's mouth twisted into a smile.
"I never expected this, Fox. You're a creature driven by power after all," Orochimaru said:
"I heard Lynx became the Anbu Deputy Commander. Did that incident provoke you?"
Yōkō shook his head: "A Anbu Deputy Commander position isn't enough to make me risk my life.
I'm about to go investigate the rogue ninja Uchiha Madara.
The pressure from Uchiha Madara is forcing me to take this risk.
Lord Orochimaru, if you agree, let's each make our preparations and perform the transplant tomorrow."
For the Wood Release experiment, Orochimaru wouldn't give up on such an excellent test subject as himself.
As long as he could get access to the Hashirama Cells, even if Orochimaru had other ideas, he was confident he could snatch the Wood Release bloodline from the tiger's mouth.
Just in case, Yōkō prepared to send a Shadow Clone to monitor Orochimaru using the Ephemeral Technique, ensuring Orochimaru didn't try anything tricky or attempt to kill him on the operating table.
"Good!" Orochimaru said, "It seems my experiments are about to make major progress. I'll prepare as well and transplant the Hashirama Cells for you tomorrow."
Yōkō turned and left, disappearing into the wall.
Once outside, Yōkō breathed the fresh air, contemplating how to increase the transplant's success rate.
If he died on the operating table, it would be from Orochimaru's injection, meaning he would die by Orochimaru's hand.
He had already died once at Orochimaru's hands; dying a second time would be beyond saving, not even the system could save him.
Therefore, this month's resurrection chance was invalid for Orochimaru's transplant.
Yōkō kept calculating, finally setting his sights on Konoha Hospital.
It was time to find Tsunade and extract the Senju bloodline power from her.
If the Senju of the Forest Bloodline improved further, surely it could withstand the side effects of the Hashirama Cells, right?
Yōkō stealthily infiltrated Konoha Hospital.
Very skillfully, the Sewer Battle God smoothly reached the top-floor restroom.
Releasing a slight amount of chakra, Tsunade in the next room immediately noticed the abnormality. Every late night, Tsunade would catch up on medical records in her office.
Tsunade left her office, entered the restroom's anteroom, and stood in front of the mirror.
Tsunade waited patiently, unsure what Fox wanted to tell her this time.
She still didn't know about the major events in Konoha's Anbu – Yellow Dog becoming Commander, Lynx becoming Deputy Commander.
"Lord Tsunade, I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you."
Tsunade's eyes instantly brightened; she had long suspected Fox was on her side.
Fox wasn't just Anbu's top fighter; he had also secretly helped the Senju clan and Kushina.
Was he finally going to come clean?
She could finally learn Fox's identity. She very much wanted to know if Fox had some final arrangement from her father, Senju Rinoki, before his death.
Tsunade's eyes were full of expectation. Father must have thought of something. Father is gone, but some of his arrangements have been helping me all along.
Yōkō stepped forward, moving extremely fast, and placed his hand on Tsunade's chest.
"Princess Tsunade, the heart-to-heart talk I want to have is..."
When Tsunade saw Fox step forward, she thought he was going to whisper something.
When she saw Fox raise his hand, she thought he was going to use some technique to prove his identity.
But!
When Fox's hand pressed against her chest, Tsunade instantly had a stress reflex!
Jiraiya has wanted to do this for so many years but never dared!
It's hard not to be tempted. Yōkō just made the mistake all men make.
Tsunade raised her fist and, in her stressed state, slammed it hard into Fox's chest!
Yōkō's words were only half-spoken.
"Princess Tsunade, no more pretending. Actually, I..."
The next moment, Yōkō was sent flying backward.
Tsunade was horrified to discover that Fox's chest was sunken in by over ten centimeters!
Literally, his front chest was touching his back.
Had she punched Fox to death?
Didn't Fox have Absolute Defense?
Tsunade regretted it. Even if Fox was speaking with his hand on her chest, he didn't deserve to be beaten to death.
[Host death detected. Mochizuki's Arc System starting up...]
I just wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with you, but you literally went for my heart.
Is that any way to behave?
Yōkō's vision went black, and he found himself half an hour earlier, just after finishing the talk with Orochimaru, leaving the Root laboratory.
[Mochizuki's Arc activated!
The host has only one resurrection chance per month, reviving on the previous full moon night after death.
Reward: One draw chance:
1- Secret Technique: (Super Strength);
2- Elite Jōnin-level Chakra Reserve (stackable);
3- Senju of the Forest Bloodline (Pure Grade, can be purified further).]
The first option, Secret Technique: Super Strength, wasn't needed for now.
Yōkō's current combat system was primarily ninjutsu-based. Super Strength was powerful but couldn't bring a qualitative improvement.
The second option was Chakra Reserve, which didn't quench his thirst.
The third option made Yōkō's eyes light up repeatedly.
What great luck!
Senju of the Forest Bloodline, Pure Grade!
Yōkō's previous Senju of the Forest Bloodline was Mid-High Grade, stronger than the average, mediocre Senju clansman, roughly equivalent to a Senju clan Jōnin's level.
Whether it was the Senju clan or the Uchiha clan, within their large families, there were some ordinary shinobi or even regular people.
Now, with the Pure Grade Senju bloodline, his physical constitution was further enhanced.
The Senju of the Forest Bloodline could actually be purified further; there was a grade higher than Pure.
How high could it go? Could the highest be Ancestral Grade?
Reverting to the Sage of Six Paths level?
After selecting the third option, Yōkō's whole body shuddered.
The strength of all his cells instantly increased – muscle cells, organ cells, nerve cells – an all-around enhancement.
Slowly raising his trembling arm, Yōkō saw the muscles on his forearm visibly squirming.
After the squirming, the muscles not only grew slightly larger but, more importantly, became more compact.
The power contained within the muscles grew stronger and stronger.
After years of tempering, this body had finally become a top-tier Senju clan physique.
This kind of physique was not inferior to Tsunade's, second only to the legendary Senju Hashirama's Sage Body.
Chakra is a mixture of mental and physical energy. As his physique strengthened, Yōkō's chakra reserve also rapidly increased.
Glancing at the system panel, his chakra reserve had almost doubled.
From 3.6 times Elite Jōnin-level, it directly became 1.2 times Kage-level!
Genetic lottery, this is the genetic lottery.
Simultaneously, in his secret technique section, the speed of Self-Healing Recovery changed from 'Slow' to 'Faster'.
Yōkō tried using Earth and Water Release; the power of both nature transformations had increased by a notch.
In this timeline, Yōkō did not go to find Tsunade for a heart-to-heart talk.
He was eager to test his new strength.
So...
After scouting, he used Reverse Summoning to leave Konoha, arriving outside the Uzumaki hideout.
The light rain fell on him but couldn't extinguish the fire in his heart.
Yuka quickly led Fox, running towards their secret treehouse.
Half an hour later, Yōkō confirmed his strength; he was very satisfied with his physique.
With the Pure Grade Senju bloodline, plus Localized Copper Light, plus Yōkō's now superb technique, he achieved an exchange ratio of 1 to 3 with Uzumaki Yuka.
***
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(End of Chapter)