Chapter 103: The Plan That Is Finally About to Begin
"It seems Naruto-kun has had quite a good harvest!"
Orochimaru watched Naruto walking toward him, involuntarily sticking out his tongue to lick the corner of his mouth. "Then you should also fulfill the terms of our cooperation; after all, integrity is very important."
Naruto naturally had no reason to refuse; besides, it was just some flesh and blood samples, and the fact that he possessed the System could not possibly be exposed because of this.
Moreover, the reason Naruto came to the Sound Village in his main body to see Orochimaru was partly for Zabuza Momochi, and the other purpose was naturally the request Orochimaru had made.
Of course, Hyuga Hinata, whom he thought about day and night, was also one of Naruto's ultimate goals.
"Is it necessary to take this much?!"
Watching Orochimaru fill yet another test tube with blood, Naruto couldn't help but frown; he always felt that Orochimaru was hiding something from him.
"It is very necessary!" Orochimaru didn't stop his movements, but fearing he might anger Naruto, he gave him a brief explanation. "The cell activity in your blood is already on par with Hashirama cells, and in some aspects, it even exceeds them."
"So?"
"I intend to use the cells from your blood to cultivate some stem cells to research an entirely new project!"
"It's to create a human body..." Hyuga Hinata, who was studying under Orochimaru, chimed in from the side. "Orochimaru-sensei's wild... his ideas are very profound and also very unconventional."
Hyuga Hinata was in a very good mood after waiting for Naruto's main body to arrive.
She was originally a gentle, kind, and somewhat rigid girl. Although her appearance was very cute, enhanced by her gentleness, her nature was somewhat earnest; being able to evaluate Orochimaru like that was already her limit.
"Sensei wants to use Naruto-kun's cells to create a perfect body for his research into the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu."
"You really are a crafty old fox!" Naruto said, giving his evaluation right in front of Orochimaru. "But I'm warning you, just don't create a body that is exactly the same as mine!"
"Exactly the same?" Orochimaru wanted to laugh a little. "How could it possibly be exactly the same? I have discovered something special in Naruto-kun's cells, and this thing cannot be replicated!"
"What is it?!"
Naruto became interested. The reason he was cooperating so much with Orochimaru's research on his body was that the cooperation terms were just an excuse; the real reason was that Narutowanted to use Orochimaru's help to figure out what exactly had changed in his body.
It had caused his Heart-Nature to undergo such drastic changes in a short time, to the point where he couldn't suppress it without using the Mangekyo Sharingan.
And this was also the reason why Naruto risked being discovered, sending a Shadow Clone to Konoha while his main body came to the Sound Village.
The Mangekyo Sharingan had to be kept activated at all times to suppress the restless subconscious within his body.
"Follow me; I think Naruto-kun will be interested!"
After finishing the blood extraction, Orochimaru led the way, while Naruto and Hinata followed behind, walking hand in hand at a leisurely pace.
...
"Are you talking about this Chakra?"
"Yes, exactly this Chakra." Orochimaru took a small, well-sealed transparent container from Naruto's hand. "What's very interesting is that this Chakra hidden deep within Naruto-kun's cells does not belong to the Nine-Tailed, nor does it belong to Naruto-kun himself."
"If it weren't for the subtle connection between this Chakra and the Hashirama cells, and the fact that I happened to observe it, it would have been truly difficult to discover."
"It... possesses some kind of consciousness?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, then quickly hid it, and subsequently nodded, acknowledging what Naruto had just said.
"It does indeed possess some kind of consciousness, or rather, some Soul fragments so minute they can be ignored."
Naruto's brow furrowed even deeper. He had an intuition that this consciousness hidden deep in his cells was the culprit behind his recent personality changes. But what kind of method could allow such conscious-carrying Chakra to invade the base layer of his cells without him even noticing?
"Is there any way to strip it away?"
"There is currently no way, and I wouldn't advise Naruto-kun to strip it away." Orochimaru continued to explain, but how much he was hiding in his words was unknown.
"I have discovered that this Chakra with its own consciousness has an inexplicable promoting effect on both the Hashirama cells and Naruto-kun's own cells. If Naruto-kun wants to take his constitution to the next level, it would be better not to do anything."
Orochimaru's words made Naruto's heart tremble inexplicably; this was very likely the key factor the Little Nine-Tails spoke of for evolving into a Sage Body!
However, what followed was a headache, the kind of headache that makes one's head feel as big as a bushel!
"Is there no way to have both?" Naruto was somewhat unwilling to accept that.
"There is! And I am already researching it!" Orochimaru told Naruto the good news, but then immediately poured cold water on it. "But this involves knowledge regarding the Soul, and even I only know a little bit about the surface."
"But your Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu..."
"Hehe, if it weren't for Uchiha Itachi, I wouldn't even know the biggest weakness of the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu to this day. Why would Naruto-kun think that I had researched the Soulbefore?!"
False and true, true and false; Naruto couldn't distinguish whether Orochimaru was telling the truth or not, so he could only look at Hyuga Hinatawith a pleading gaze.
But the latter also gave him a helpless look.
Hyuga Hinata had talent, but she didn't belong to the category of being exceptionally brilliant. Moreover, she hadn't been studying with Orochimaru for long, and regarding such profound questions, she was just as clueless as Naruto.
"It seems the matter of obtaining Shisui's eyes cannot be delayed any longer!"
Naruto hated things that were out of his control, and Orochimaru's research was closely related to his own physical problems. In such matters, besides his parents and Hyuga Hinata, Narutocouldn't trust anyone!
"But Uchiha Itachi... is indeed a difficult character to deal with..."
Although Naruto knew that Uchiha Itachi's weakness was Uchiha Sasuke, and he was confident he could defeat Uchiha Itachi, he believed that Uchiha Itachi would definitely not hand over Shisui's Mangekyo if he confirmed them as enemies.
As for the reason, it was naturally because the genjutsu "Kotoamatsukami" was simply too overpowered; if used properly, it was definitely an existence that could turn the future around at a critical moment.
Uchiha Itachi would obviously not hand over such a Sharp Weapon to Naruto of his own accord, and even with coercion, the hope was very slim.
"Since you still have no clues regarding Soulresearch, let's leave this matter here for now." Naruto didn't intend to continue entangled with Orochimaru on this matter and instead told Orochimaru some news. "Konoha will be jointly holding the Chunin Exams in a few days, and I think the plan should be set in motion."
"In that case, I will have to trouble Naruto-kun to accompany me to the Hidden Sand Village!" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of sharpness passing through them.
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