"Lord Aoi!"
Orochimaru's voice held a hint of excitement. It had been fully two years since they last parted ways.
Although he had never truly believed that Aoi was dead, his emotions still surged uncontrollably at the sight of him.
In Orochimaru's eyes, Aoi was nothing less than a god.
"Orochimaru, I've brought you something interesting again this time." Aoi smiled and took a glass vial out of his storage space. Inside, a strange piece of flesh—about half the size of a finger—slowly wriggled, radiating a powerful, vibrant life force.
"What is this?"
Now nearly six years old, Orochimaru had delicate, fine features. He examined the culture flask with a look of curiosity. "What kind of tissue is this? It possesses such immense vitality..."
"It is Hashirama's cells."
"Impossible!" A researcher standing beside Orochimaru blurted out in shock. "Hashirama Senju was long ago absorbed into the giant tree on the borders of the Land of Fire..."
A tree... has no flesh or blood left.
"Foolish!"
Orochimaru's hand shot out, gripping the researcher's throat. "Lord Aoi is a divine being. A matter of this magnitude is nothing to him. Anyone who doubts the will of a god deserves to die!"
In Orochimaru's heart, there was no feat too great or impossible for Aoi to accomplish.
True, absolute loyalty was this overbearing and uncompromising.
"Let him go, Orochimaru." Aoi chuckled and pressed the vial into Orochimaru's hands.
"I need a much larger supply of these cells. I am leaving this task entirely to you."
Hearing this, Orochimaru released the researcher. He accepted the vial with great solemnity and determination. "I shall not fail you, my Lord!"
Orochimaru's research task: +1.
After carefully storing the precious sample, Orochimaru spoke up, his tone bright with pride and excitement.
"Lord Aoi, as you commanded, over these past two years I have secured firm control over one-tenth of the entire Land of Water."
"However..." Orochimaru's tone turned regretful. "The White Snake Sage is no longer able to sustain the creation of more Cursed Seal warriors. Otherwise, I would have conquered the entire nation by now."
"This is more than enough."
Aoi shook his head with a smile. Attempting to conquer the Naruto world simply by branding ordinary people with cursed seals... that method has already failed once before. I have no intention of repeating those mistakes.
"Orochimaru, for the time being, keep your focus primarily on research and development."
Aoi was no fool. In the original story, how many scientific miracles had Orochimaru achieved in such a short time?
Artificial humans, cloning technology, cell proliferation, reincarnation techniques... an endless stream of unimaginable breakthroughs.
Orochimaru was never truly a combatant. To be precise, he was a genius scientist who had mastered core technologies spanning biology, engineering, and countless other fields!
Putting a genius like that on the front lines to fight... that would practically be a sin against nature.
"Lord Aoi... will you stay this time, and not leave again?" Orochimaru looked up at him, eyes filled with hope.
"No."
Aoi smiled and shook his head. "I came here this time because I need to travel to the Land of Craftsmen."
"The Land of Craftsmen?"
Understanding suddenly dawned on Orochimaru. The Land of Craftsmen lies southwest of the Land of Water.
Compared to traveling all the way to the Land of Wind, crossing several nations, coming here first via my serpent transport undoubtedly saves a great deal of travel time.
So...
He only stopped by to see me because it was on his way...
Orochimaru's mood sank slightly, but he quickly rallied his spirits.
Lord Aoi is going to the Land of Craftsmen to have ninja tools forged, of course. But what if I were to forge them for him instead...?
"Very well... you may try."
Aoi naturally wouldn't refuse him outright. If Orochimaru could solve the problem, there would be no need to waste time traveling to the Land of Craftsmen at all.
---
Two days later...
"This is the alloy coil I have crafted for you." Orochimaru's eyes were dark and ringed with exhaustion as he held out an electromagnetic coil shaped like a silver bracelet.
"I developed an entirely new alloy formula specifically for this."
"Alloy technology..."
Aoi couldn't help but grin, drawing a sharp breath in awe. As expected of Orochimaru. He managed to develop an entirely new alloy technique in just a few days.
As for the coil itself...
The only way to know is to test it.
__________________
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