Casually throwing Yamada Juichi onto the ground, Orochimaru curled his lip slightly: "Trash!"
Watching Yamada Juichi, who had been thrown to the ground by Orochimaru and passed out directly, Delta in the air frowned.
A 'Six Paths Level' combatant was knocked out by a single punch from Orochimaru; this was indeed somewhat trashy.
Orochimaru immediately changed his expression and said to Delta in the air: "Sorry, it seems I played a bit too rough."
Seeing that the battle was over, the Research Institute's airship in the sky and the medical team on the ground all rushed over.
After the airship landed, Amado immediately came to the unconscious Yamada Juichi. After checking and confirming that Yamada Juichi was still alive, he breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up and asked Orochimaru: "What happened?"
Orochimaru immediately brought out the excuse he had prepared long ago: "The previous testing methods failed, so I wanted to test him with the threat of death to see if it could stimulate him to awaken a Shinjutsu. The result is what you see!"
Sasori chuckled lightly: "Sure enough, he's a piece of trash!"
Tsunade squatted beside the unconscious Yamada Juichi. While examining his body, she muttered: "Eh, with his constitution, he shouldn't have fainted so easily!"
Orochimaru explained: "Perhaps it's precisely because he's too weak that he couldn't awaken a Shinjutsu! After all, even I didn't awaken one, so why should he!"
Currently, among the three people who successfully survived the ritual, only Owl had awakened a Shinjutsu. Therefore, no one refuted Orochimaru's words. After all, from the Research Institute's perspective, surviving the ritual did not equate to definitely awakening a Shinjutsu.
After an examination, Tsunade frowned: "He's injured quite badly; even his chakra presence is weakening!"
Amado asked: "Is his life in danger?"
Tsunade shook her head: "His life shouldn't be in danger, but it might take some time for a full recovery!"
Amado waved his hand, signaling the medical team to take Yamada Juichi away.
Watching Yamada Juichi being taken away by the medical team, Tsunade's furrowed brows did not relax: "It's really strange. Judging from the physical injuries, they are clearly just taijutsu damages. Why is there a sign of decline even in his chakra?"
Orochimaru gave a sheepish smile: "Maybe I didn't control my strength well and hit too hard."
Tsunade glanced at Orochimaru, didn't say much more, and quickly followed the medical team.
Amado didn't say anything either. He just instructed the assistant beside him to arrange manpower to clean up the battlefield and analyze the battlefield data, then turned and left.
Although this disturbance was caused by Orochimaru acting on his own initiative, firstly, it didn't cause major losses, and secondly, Orochimaru himself was one of the high-level officials of the Research Institute and an important combat force. Therefore, even Amado had no way to punish Orochimaru.
Since there was no way to punish him, there was no need to dwell on it.
Watching the high-level officials of the Research Institute leave one after another, Orochimaru's suspended heart finally settled down.
He knew better than anyone that the reason Yamada Juichi fainted was not the final blow to his chest, but because Yamada Juichi's Shinjutsu, 'Immense Strength', had been absorbed by him.
Like other Shinjutsu, 'Immense Strength' was not a physical talent, but an extreme application of chakra. Once the user activated it, they could obtain unparalleled immense strength. Smashing a mountain with one punch like Yamada Juichi did earlier was just the crudest manifestation.
A few days later.
Orochimaru completely mastered the Shinjutsu 'Immense Strength' and gained a brand-new understanding of this Shinjutsu.
He spread his hands, and instantly, a whistling gale erupted within the gloomy underground training ground.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
As long as he wished, he could cause this sturdy underground palace before him to collapse completely just by stimulating the airflow!
The Shinjutsu 'Immense Strength' was not limited to physical strength. As long as it was applied correctly, whether it was airflow or water flow, it could be driven by 'Immense Strength' to exert unexpectedly terrifying power.
Restraining his emotions, Orochimaru inspected himself.
Excluding his own Shinjutsu 'Absorption', he now possessed two other Shinjutsu: 'Claw Marks' absorbed from Gen'yūmaru, and 'Immense Strength' absorbed from Yamada Juichi.
Coupled with the 'Shinjutsu Chakra Mode' he comprehended himself, his combat power had achieved a leap-forward improvement.
If before, Owl and Yamada Juichi were only inferior to him in combat skills and experience, now, there was a difference in tiers between him and experimental subjects like Owl and Yamada Juichi who had merely survived the ritual.
"Uchiha Shinji..."
Orochimaru's gaze deepened a bit.
He began to assess the gap between his combat power and Shinji's. After a moment, he shook his head with a grave expression.
Even after successively absorbing the two Shinjutsu, 'Claw Marks' and 'Immense Strength', he still didn't have complete confidence in defeating Shinji.
At this time, Yakushi Kabuto's hurried footsteps came from the underground palace.
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows.
Kabuto had a calm personality. Unless he encountered a very tricky major event, he generally wouldn't be this flustered.
Sure enough, Kabuto walked quickly to Orochimaru and reported: "Lord Orochimaru, something happened at the Research Institute!"
It turned out that the Research Institute had just uncovered an incident involving a private ritual.
The culprit was a team leader of a research group. He was bribed by the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning to use the Research Institute's research results to privately prepare a ritual for the Land of Lightning's Daimyo.
As a result, not only did this ritual fail, but the experimental subject conducting the ritual also went berserk. The matter blew up and was finally discovered by the Research Institute.
After hearing this, Orochimaru sneered: "Such audacity!"
Kabuto echoed: "Indeed, to actually dare to plot against the Research Institute!"
Obviously, the Land of Lightning side had inquired about the Research Institute's recent achievements, so they wanted to use the Research Institute's technology to cultivate a 'Six Paths Level' combatant belonging to the Land of Lightning. That was why they spent a heavy fortune to bribe the internal personnel of the Research Institute.
It was just that they clearly underestimated the danger of the experiment. The experimental subject went berserk on the spot, and the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning had no ability to suppress the berserk subject at all, turning an experimental accident quickly into an experimental disaster, leading to a large number of innocent casualties.
Orochimaru asked: "How does the Research Institute plan to handle it?"
Kabuto replied: "The Institute intends to thoroughly reckon with the Land of Lightning, root out the Daimyo's lineage entirely, and support a branch family member to take the position."
Acting against a Daimyo used to be a taboo in the Shinobi World. But the situation was different now. The Research Institute dominated the era, and since the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning jumped out voluntarily, the Research Institute could use this opportunity to liquidate the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning to deter other Daimyos with ulterior motives.
Kabuto paused, then said in a low voice: "In addition, the Institute is going to launch an internal self-investigation. Our ritual might be affected!"