Chapter 158: Obstacles to the Evolution of Shikotsumyaku.
"I missed you so much!"
Upon returning to the underground base of the Sound Village, Naruto grabbed Hyuga Hinata, who was blushing furiously, and spun her around three times before pressing his lips against her soft, warm ones.
After a long while, Naruto lifted his head, smiling as he looked at Hyuga Hinata, who was burying her face in his chest.
"Naruto... it's only been a day... you..."
"For you, it's been a day, but for me, it feels like over a decade has passed." Naruto gently stroked Hyuga Hinata's growing hair, his movements tender and filled with attachment.
At this moment, their hearts were very close, and Hyuga Hinata felt it even more intensely.
Her soft, boneless body leaned its full weight against Naruto. Having grown accustomed to Naruto's frequent sweet attacks, Hyuga Hinata's threshold for shyness began to rise infinitely.
People grow, and Hyuga Hinata was no exception.
"Naruto, I really wish it could always be like this."
"Hmm, after the coming-of-age ceremony, I'll take you as my wife."
"Ah!" Hyuga Hinata exclaimed. Although she had long fantasized about that day, hearing it actually spoken from Naruto's mouth still left her too shy to process it for a moment.
"What about now, then?" Naruto gave a wicked smile. Having experienced four worlds, with ten to twenty years spent in each, Naruto could no longer suppress the hormones in his body, and his wicked right hand couldn't help but creep upwards.
"Hinata has really grown up!"
One hand could not hold it all, and a flash of fiery intensity flickered deep within Naruto's eyes.
As for Hyuga Hinata, having her defenses breached once more by Naruto, her threshold was exceeded. Overcome with shyness and a skyrocketing body temperature, she fainted in Naruto's arms.
...
Watching Hyuga Hinata occasionally look up at him, only to quickly lower her head, blushing, whenever his gaze landed on her, Naruto's mouth curled into a meaningful smile.
Time spent in sweet bliss always passes quickly. After returning to the Ninja World, Naruto still had many things to handle, especially Orochimaru, who had been struck by the Kotoamatsukami genjutsu, which was one of the things Naruto was most concerned about.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Before he could even lead Hyuga Hinata deep into Orochimaru's laboratory, a bout of coughing that sounded like grinding metal reached Naruto's ears.
He couldn't help but be curious: what was Orochimaru messing around with again?
The answer soon appeared before Naruto's eyes. Orochimaru lay on the bed, his body connected to various tubes, looking like a dying man.
"Do you not want to live anymore?"
It wasn't that Naruto was being particularly sharp-tongued; it was just that with Orochimaru looking like this, it was hard not to make a sarcastic remark.
"Cough, cough..." Orochimaru tried to speak, but a violent fit of coughing followed, causing Yakushi Kabuto, who was operating various monitoring instruments nearby, to become inexplicably nervous.
"Lord Orochimaru, you should perform the reincarnation as soon as possible. This body could collapse at any moment!"
"Wait a little longer... If you don't personally experience the danger of gaining power, you will never understand the awe of power."
"Speak like a normal person!" Naruto frowned. He had gone to great lengths to obtain Uchiha Shisui's eyes; he couldn't let his designated powerful helper die just because of his own reckless behavior.
"Don't be so anxious, Naruto-kun." Orochimaruappeared indifferent. "You will be interested in the power of this body!"
Having said that, Orochimaru raised his right hand, and a gray, broken bone protruded from his palm, then shot out at a speed that wasn't particularly fast.
Naruto originally didn't want to dodge. After completely resolving Ashura's influence, his body had completed more than half of its Sage Bodytransformation in just half a day.
Naruto believed that within three days, he would be able to completely evolve into a Sage Body, fulfilling his wish from many years ago.
However, as that gray, broken bone drew closer, alarm bells rang in Naruto's mind, and the hairs on his back stood on end.
Abandoning the idea of testing it himself, Narutograbbed Hyuga Hinata behind him and dodged with a flash.
"This..."
After dodging, the gray, broken bone embedded itself into the laboratory floor, and a terrifying scene appeared before Naruto's eyes.
The floor seemed to reach the end of its life. With that gray, broken bone as the center, a corrosion zone with a radius of about one meter appeared, and that small area had already turned to ash.
This was being completely deprived of the right to "live"!
Everything in the world has life. This does not refer to life signs in the narrow sense, but rather that all things have a durability.
Just like the floor in front of them, to completely wear out its lifespan, it would take ten or fifty years before solid wood flooring would show signs of decay or annihilation.
But under the influence of that gray, broken bone, this process of decay and annihilation was instantly accelerated. If it were used on a person...
"Is this an advanced Bloodline of Shikotsumyaku?"
"Heh, if it were an advanced Bloodline, this body wouldn't have turned out like this."
Orochimaru raised the right hand he had just used to fire the bone. The skin, resembling cracks on granite, was clearly visible, and the entire right arm was as thin as a piece of firewood, while the skin color also appeared a deathly gray.
"Is this a failed product?"
"Yes, it failed, and the bloodline disease is even more severe than Kimimaro's." Orochimaru was clearly enduring immense pain, his usually indifferent expression completely twisted. "I only used the ability three times, and the vitality in my body was almost completely drained. If there were one more time... my fate would be the same as that piece of floor."
Naruto also frowned. He knew what Orochimaruwas currently researching.
He wanted to use scientific research methods to trace the source of power in the Ninja World and replicate the goddess of the past—the Rabbit Goddess, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
"What do you think is missing from this replica body?!" Naruto also had that ambition; after all, everyone hopes for their power to advance further.
He wanted to help Orochimaru as much as he could, which could also be considered helping himself in disguise.
"A lot is missing!" Orochimaru's weak voice suddenly rose. "But there are three things I feel could temporarily suppress the bloodline diseasebefore the evolution of Shikotsumyaku is complete."
"What are they?!" Naruto's tone also grew more urgent.
"They are immense vitality, a massive amount of Chakra, and the Yin-Yang Release, where Yin and Yang are united!"
"This..." Naruto immediately understood Orochimaru's intention; he had set his sights on him!
"Hehe, don't be afraid, Naruto-kun. You are someone I truly recognize; I wouldn't be willing to use you as experimental material."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"I remembered my former classmate and friend, Hiruko." Orochimaru couldn't help but lick the corner of his mouth, but then the intense pain made him almost bite his tongue.
"Hiruko was once ordered by the three of us to be killed because of the forbidden Chimera Technique, but he managed to escape in the end..." Orochimaru beckoned to Yakushi Kabuto. "However, the price he paid was the original, first-generation version of the Chimera Technique."
Yakushi Kabuto respectfully took a scroll from his person and handed it to Naruto. Naruto flipped through it with some curiosity, but the more he read, the more surprised he became.
This was a person who was very talented in forbidden techniques and Bloodline research!
"I was the same as Naruto-kun is now; I had the same idea back then." Orochimaru admitted frankly. "Hiruko is a severely underestimated Genius, and only he can perfect the Chimera Technique."
Naruto was actually able to see a look of mutual appreciation on Orochimaru's face. Was this Hirukoreally that capable?!