"Power is the truth!"
"Eternal life is the truth!"
Inside the spacious laboratory, Orochimaru and Hiruko were at loggerheads, neither willing to yield.
To some extent, their words represented their divergence in philosophy.
Orochimaru pursued eternity; power was merely a secondary pursuit in his quest for it.
Therefore, when conducting experiments, he tended to value the stability of the results more.
Stability first, then the pursuit of power.
In contrast, Hiruko was clearly much more radical.
"Hmph."
Hiruko gave a cold snort and said, "Eternal life without the power to protect it is merely a false eternity. A powerful person could kill you with a single thought."
"And with the method you've chosen, it's not even certain if you can achieve eternal life."
He sneered, "Constantly seizing the bodies of others—while you can reincarnate repeatedly this way, your spirit will inevitably suffer contamination."
"If this continues, forget eternal life; you'll likely go mad sooner or later."
"As long as one's will is strong enough, mere spiritual contamination can be solved in many ways."
Orochimaru was equally blunt: "And is your Ghost Bud Technique really without any risk?"
"Forcibly seizing the Bloodline Limits of others causes the body to suffer intense rejection reactions. Once or twice might be fine, but if you want to achieve what you've described—gathering five or even more Bloodline Limits into one body—your body will eventually collapse."
"Even if such power is feasible, it's only temporary. There will come a day when the body can no longer endure it."
"When that time comes, no method will be able to save you."
"You!"
Hiruko and Orochimaru glared at each other.
As members of the same laboratory, they had both been deeply involved in each other's experiments and were all too aware of the flaws in each other's researched techniques.
Generally speaking, Orochimaru's Reincarnation Jutsu and Hiruko's Ghost Bud Technique each had their own defects.
One focused on the possession of the soul, which would lead to the continuous erosion of one's spirit. It might be fine in the short term, but if it continued, there would eventually be a day when one could no longer hold out. True eternity was still a long way off.
On the other hand, Hiruko's Ghost Bud Technique focused on the devouring of Bloodline Limits.
But as Orochimaru had said, blindly devouring Bloodline Limits would lead to severe rejection reactions in the body. If things went wrong, it would cause the body to collapse. It was also a technique with quite serious side effects.
The flaws of both techniques were obvious, and they were far from being perfected.
"You two are truly disgusting!"
Not far away, Tsunade listened to their conversation, her face showing clear repulsion. "One of you covets others' bodies every day, and the other covets others' Bloodline Limits. Do you have to be so gross?"
"I am the esteemed Princess of Konoha! Why do I have to be on a team with you two guys?"
Looking at the increasingly eccentric Orochimaru and Hiruko, Tsunade felt it was somewhat unacceptable.
Overall, she was still a normal person. Although as a Ninja her capacity for acceptance was much higher than others, it didn't go to this extent.
She really couldn't stand how Orochimaru and Hiruko talked every day about possessing other people's bodies and Bloodline Limits.
"This is the supreme art! What does a vulgar person like you understand, Tsunade?"
Orochimaru and Hiruko spoke in unison, now glaring at Tsunade.
"I don't understand anything about art or research,"
Tsunade flexed her fist. "But you two just mentioned the Senju and Uchiha, didn't you?"
She wore a smile, but her entire being exuded a dangerous aura. "Standing before you right now is the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the inheritor of the purest bloodline of the Senju Clan."
"Are you two planning to discuss possessing my body or devouring my Bloodline Limit?"
"And the Uchiha's Sharingan... Yuu has those on him, doesn't he? You wouldn't be thinking..."
""
"We were just giving an example, just an example!"
Hearing this, Hiruko waved his hands repeatedly, quickly distancing himself from his previous words. "I wouldn't dare covet Teacher's Sharingan!"
"Orochimaru, you just said you wanted to possess others' bodies to gain powerful Bloodline Limits, right?"
Seeing Hiruko back down, Tsunade turned her gaze toward Orochimaru.
"I never said that."
Orochimaru waved his hand. "Besides, even if I wanted to do such a thing, I would certainly use Ninja from enemy Villages."
"To be honest, the Ice Release of the Yuki Clan and the Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya Clan... those Bloodline Limits are also quite good."
"At least you know your place."
Tsunade snorted and didn't say anything more.
"What are you all chatting about?"
From behind, Minamikawa Yuu's voice drifted over.
The expressions of the three people present changed instantly.
Tsunade's expression shifted rapidly from her previous ferocity to a sudden, exceptional tenderness: "Yuu, you're here!"
"Orochimaru and the others were just discussing academic topics."
She glanced at Orochimaru and Hiruko before speaking.
"Oh?"
Minamikawa Yuu immediately became interested. "What academic topics?"
The expressions of Orochimaru and Hiruko changed sharply.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Tsunade spoke directly, recounting exactly what the two had just said.
"You two..."
Standing there and listening to Tsunade's recount, Minamikawa Yuu was somewhat speechless. "It's not good to say such things directly in the laboratory."
"Do you know what would happen if the words you just spoke were leaked?"
As Ninja Clans, most value their own family's Bloodline Limits immensely. Any leak would inevitably cause a massive uproar throughout the entire clan.
In such an environment, what Hiruko and Orochimaru had just said appeared quite serious. If it were spread, they would likely be immediately labeled as coveting other clans' Bloodline Limits.
By then, the reputation of these two would probably become quite terrible.
"We understand."
Seeing that Minamikawa Yuu wasn't angry because of their words, Orochimaru and Hiruko finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Neither of them was a fool; once they regained their composure, they knew their words had been very inappropriate.
The reason they had spoken like that was simply that they had become too excited during the academic discussion.
For them, this only happened during academic debates.
Normally, no matter the situation, they were calm and rarely had such large emotional fluctuations over anything.
"Both the Ghost Bud Technique and the Reincarnation Jutsu have major flaws."
After hearing their report, Minamikawa Yuu summarized: "Once the Ghost Bud Technique begins devouring Bloodline Limits, the body's stability will inevitably deteriorate. The more it devours, the worse it gets."
"This is an unavoidable drawback; no matter how much it's improved, it cannot be avoided."
"Therefore, instead of finding ways to improve it, it's better to use it only once or twice at most."
"Using the Ghost Bud Technique to devour two Bloodline Limits should be the limit without endangering the body. I wouldn't recommend trying any more than that."
"Hiruko, you can think about which two Bloodline Limits are most suitable for you."
He said, "More Bloodline Limits isn't necessarily better. Having more doesn't mean you'll be stronger."
"Lord Hashirama, who founded Konoha back then, only had Wood Release. The famous asura of the ninja world, Uchiha Madara, also only had the Sharingan, yet they became Gods of Shinobi who suppressed the Ninja World."
"Yes."
Hearing Minamikawa Yuu speak thus, Hiruko opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to argue, but in the end, he nodded and didn't say much. "I understand."
No, you probably don't.
Looking at Hiruko's expression, Minamikawa Yuu knew he likely hadn't taken the words to heart and was still sticking to his own ideas.
But that made sense.
Outstanding researchers were often obsessive.
If he could change his mind because of a single sentence, Hiruko wouldn't have been able to become such an excellent researcher.
"Orochimaru, the same goes for you."
After finishing with Hiruko, Minamikawa Yuu turned to Orochimaru. "Even if your Reincarnation Jutsu is successfully perfected, do not use it too frequently."
"With every reincarnation, you will be influenced by the original owner of the body. If you reincarnate too many times, whether you will still be yourself or become someone else with your memories will be a major problem."
"I understand."
Orochimaru was stunned for a moment, then nodded solemnly, taking Minamikawa Yuu's words to heart.
After finishing his exchange with the two, Minamikawa Yuu continued, "The testing of the Ghost Bud Technique is complete. It's about time to perform a real attempt."
"Let me do it."
At the mention of this, Hiruko was eager to try: "Teacher, I'm ready!"
The Ghost Bud Technique was a forbidden jutsu perfected over the last two years, and currently, only the four of them knew it.
Since Minamikawa Yuu wanted to conduct a test now, he naturally had to choose one of the four to attempt it.
For this candidate, Hiruko felt he was the most suitable.
The Ghost Bud Technique was his idea, and he had completed most of the research on its details.
To put it bluntly, he was the person who understood this technique best.
In terms of strength, he was the lowest among the three including Orochimaru, and he also had the most urgent need to perform the Ghost Bud Technique.
"Fine."
Looking at Hiruko, Minamikawa Yuu thought for a moment and then agreed to his idea.
He indeed needed someone to truly attempt the Ghost Bud Technique.
Only in this way could he observe the entire process personally and then proceed with improvements and enhancements.
From this perspective, Hiruko was a good candidate.
As for the Bloodline Limit that needed to be devoured, Minamikawa Yuu had already chosen it for him.
Wood Release!
The performance of the Ghost Bud Technique did not require a living person; it only required flesh and blood with sufficient vitality as material.
In this regard, the Wood Release bloodline from the First Hokage was undoubtedly the most convenient.