Chapter 456: The Imminent Resurrection of Kurama Yakumo
Technology Development Bureau.
Inside a laboratory.
Within a massive fluid chamber stood a young girl.
Her physical form resembled that of a six-year-old child.
Orochimaru gazed at the data streaming across the screen, a subtle smile touching the corners of his lips.
"It is finally complete. We simply need to wait for her incubation process to finish, and a brand-new life will be born."
The girl inside was the subject of the research project Tobitake Tonbo had entrusted to him years ago—the Kurama Yakumo Experiment.
Tonbo had provided Orochimaru with her memory data, while Orochimaru utilized those memory parameters alongside a trace of biological tissue extracted from Yakumo's physical body to construct an artificial human—or rather, a clone.
This time, Orochimaru had refrained from splicing any unnecessary modifications into her body.
Instead, he produced a clone created purely from her biological genetic code and her original memory data.
In that sense, she differed slightly from Mitsuki.
Standing beside him, Tonbo looked at the young girl inside the chamber and let out a soft sigh of nostalgic wonder. "It's been so long. How nostalgic... I've grown older, while Yakumo has become even younger!"
After all these years, he had finally realized his original concept.
He truly hoped her innate capability would not fade from her being.
After all, a Kekkei Genkai capable of erasing reality itself was extraordinarily valuable to the Shinobi World.
Perhaps they would need her in the future to erase upcoming threats entirely.
Hearing this, Orochimaru remarked, "Older...? Your body is unlikely to age anytime soon. It should remain far more vibrant than this current body of mine, and your lifespan will be vastly superior as well."
He looked at Tonbo's physical form with a trace of envy.
It was truly remarkable how someone could drive their own evolution to such absolute perfection.
Moreover, as time progressed, Orochimaru noticed that Tonbo's body was becoming even more flawless.
And this was far from his limit.
He seemed capable of continuing his progression indefinitely.
"Forget it. My evolutionary path cannot be replicated—not even by you, Orochimaru," Tonbo said, shaking his head.
For Orochimaru to replicate his specific path of evolution, it might take thousands of years—or perhaps he might pull it off in a few short years.
However, Tonbo had no intention of letting Orochimaru experiment on him; protecting himself remained his top priority, even with impending global threats on the horizon.
Orochimaru licked his lips. "Fair enough. By the way, you mentioned that your future-sealing mechanism is now permanently active? I certainly can't tell from looking at you."
He scrutinized Tonbo carefully. He felt none of that overwhelming, suffocating sensation of information surging uncontrollably into his brain.
Even when he looked directly at Tonbo, he wasn't caught in that genjutsu known as Unlimited Void. How could Tonbo claim it was fully complete?
How could a technique like that cast a genjutsu on a potential pair of eyes observing from afar?
"Don't worry. If the enemy's precognitive ability operates under the exact principles you described, they will absolute take the bait," Tonbo stated.
After so many years, he had finally perfected yet another new technique.
It was completed far faster than he had anticipated—likely because the emergence of so many gifted minds in Konoha had provided endless inspiration, combined with his own ever-increasing intellect and refining research capabilities.
That was how he had managed to complete the upgraded version of Unlimited Void so rapidly.
As he stood now, a powerful genjutsu was permanently active around his presence.
No matter who attempted to observe him, unless he explicitly granted them conscious clearance, the technique would launch a random attack on the observer.
Developing this jutsu had cost him an immense amount of effort.
Orochimaru added, "Coincidentally, I have also completed the laboratory's barrier coverage. Precognition will no longer work against my facility."
Through years of dedicated research, Orochimaru had completed the first sealing barrier capable of thwarting precognitive abilities.
Hearing this, Tonbo had to admit that Orochimaru was truly incredible.
To complete such a monumental research project at nearly the exact same time as him was nothing short of astounding.
"Excellent. Next up is researching countermeasures against the so-called omniscient and omnipotent enemy. We'll set that as our primary target and develop defensive precautions."
Now that their core jutsu were completed, they could analyze the enemy's capabilities and prepare hidden contingencies.
The opponent was said to be omniscient and omnipotent.
Orochimaru chuckled lightly. "You really are something... To gather so much intelligence, I almost suspect you're the actual enemy, using me just to acquire crucial technologies."
"Give me a break. If I were omniscient and omnipotent, I wouldn't be standing here playing science with you—I'd have used genjutsu to control you long ago," Tonbo replied, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"Dad! Master Orochimaru! Mine is complete too!"
At that moment, Keigo Tobitake came bursting in from outside, practically beaming with pride.
Hovering between his palms was a massive sphere of brilliant light.
Cradling the light sphere, Keigo called out excitedly to them, "Look at this! It's a Kekkei Tota—Light Style! I'm going to become super powerful, maybe even rank as a Two-Star Research Shinobi!"
Oh?
Keigo's declaration instantly piqued the interest of both men.
Tonbo patted his son's head approvingly. "As expected of my proudest son! To actually develop a Kekkei Tota on your own—that's seriously impressive!"
Incredible, Tonbo shouted internally.
Although he hadn't personally spent time developing a Kekkei Tota because it served little purpose for his own path, he had thoroughly studied the principles behind it.
Even for him, creating a Kekkei Tota without investing massive amounts of time would have been impossible.
Gazing at the sphere of light in his son's hands, Tonbo pondered the implications.
Once the discovery of the Shinobi World's second Kekkei Tota was made public, it would undoubtedly send shockwaves through the entire world.
And Tonbo would gain a massive boost in prestige once again.
After all, this wasn't developed by him, but personally engineered by his own son.
His son was truly remarkable.
Orochimaru examined the sphere of light closely. "Hmm... Right now, it's merely a basic fusion of nature transformations. You still need to construct usable ninjutsu for this Kekkei Tota. For now, I can only call it average."
He saw through it at a single glance.
The nature transformation fusion of the Kekkei Tota in Keigo's hands was not yet fully perfected.
Having the foundation to cast ninjutsu was one thing, but developing functional jutsu from it was another task entirely.
After all, this was not a simple Kekkei Genkai.
"Ah, that's true. I've only completed the first step, but I'm already prepared to execute step two.
Because this involves the nature transformation of light, it's completely different from traditional basic element transformations. My recent analysis showed that using standard hand seals to cast Light Style makes it extraordinarily difficult to control.
So, I came up with a solution: leveraging the power of Scientific Ninja Tools.
I'm going to use a Scientific Ninja Tool as an intermediary relay to stabilize and control the volatile Light Style," Keigo explained with a grin.
At twelve years old, he had finally brought his Kekkei Tota development to fruition.
Heaven only knew how much effort he had poured into achieving this moment.
Working on research day in and day out, he had burned through a sum of money that an average person couldn't spend in a lifetime.
Only then did he produce this semi-finished breakthrough.
The subsequent research would likely extend over a long period.
As for using Scientific Ninja Tools to manipulate Light Style, it was an idea he had come up with on the fly.
Given Konoha's rapid technological advancement and his own role as a leading mind behind numerous high-tech breakthroughs across various laboratories, utilizing Scientific Ninja Tools came naturally to him.
Clap, clap, clap!
Orochimaru applauded gently. "A very creative approach. Keep up the good work—and don't go embarrassing me."
"Hey, what do you mean your embarrassment? He's my son!" Tonbo interjected.
Orochimaru replied smoothly, "Hmm... I am his master. You are merely his father."
"...Whatever, I'm not going to argue with you about that. Next, let's make sure Yakumo's experiment goes smoothly without any hiccups. After all, I'm an old acquaintance of hers, and she trusts me implicitly," Tonbo stated.
Keigo asked, "Is she the Sister Yakumo that Brother and Sister mentioned? I heard that when they were little, they used to visit her house all the time to play."
Perhaps owing to the talent for genjutsu shared by Tianyu and Maki, in the years following the resolution of the incident, they had gradually begun to recover their lost memories.
As a result, they remembered Kurama Yakumo clearly.
This also signaled to Tonbo that the curse hanging over the Kurama Clan was slowly dissipating.
Its lingering influence was no longer as potent as before.
Whether due to the passage of time or other underlying factors, the curse was gradually fading away.
"That's right. You'll get to meet her when the time comes. She's a remarkably gentle girl."
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