The night in Konoha tonight was exceptionally dark, as if soaked in ink.
And in the thick darkness of the Forest of Death, outside a stone cave embedded in the fault of a slope, snake shadows meandered and flowed in the bushes.
Hiss…
hiss…
As if sensing something, the snakes raised their heads slightly to look around, flicking their blood-red tongues.
On the distant trees, several masked black figures appeared silently like owls, without arousing the alertness of the snake swarm.
“Is it here?”
Leading the group, Hiruzen Sarutobi, clad in light armor, had a gloomy expression.
Standing on the tree and looking at the bottomless cave in the distance, his muttered words were heavy and complex.
“Scatter,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice.
Swish!
Swish!
The black shadows behind him instantly broke into parts and scattered all around, spreading out like giant black wings, enveloping this entire area under their sharp beaks and claws.
This was the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad (Anbu), famous for being efficient, ruthless, and calm.
Recently, many genin, chunin, and even Anbu ninjas in Konoha had disappeared without a reason.
One must know that a ninja who can join the Anbu is at least a chunin with a special skill, considered a pillar-like existence even in Konoha.
Even with Danzo Shimura covering it up in the dark, it was impossible to completely erase all traces.
This matter finally alarmed Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been busy dealing with border conflicts in the Land of Fire, and he instantly thought of the news regarding Orochimaru’s abnormal movements some time ago…
“Orochimaru…”
After a moment of silence, the figures of Hiruzen Sarutobi and two Anbu members disappeared, leaving only a sigh that seemed like disappointment and regret.
At the same time, underground leading from the cave, within the complex, cold, and damp drainage system.
Drip…
drop…
Only the sound of dripping sewage creating ripples in the stagnant water could be heard.
But an empty and dark space here had already been transformed into a secret experimental base.
“No matter how many times I look at it, I am amazed by the exquisiteness and magic of this body.”
Looking at the lifeless yet complete corpse on the operating table, the desire and greed in Orochimaru’s heart almost overflowed.
He had also traveled all over the ninja world and seen many well-preserved ancient corpses, but either their skulls were distorted and eyes bulging, or their limbs were swollen enough to burst their clothes.
But the corpse in front of him was completely different.
Its appearance was exquisite, unlike a mortal; its skin was fair, its dark hair was moist, and even its eyelashes had not fallen off.
Its closed eyes made it look as if it had merely fallen asleep.
However, the withered torso showed signs of dehydration, and the muscles of the limbs had also atrophied.
Orochimaru was certain this young man was dead, yet this body still possessed a certain level of vitality.
The feeling it gave Orochimaru was as if the “soul” had broken free from its restraints, leaving only the empty shell of a body…
“So this is the Otsutsuki clan.” Orochimaru’s chest heaved slightly as he licked his dry lips with the tip of his tongue.
After all, according to the ancient texts of the Hyuga clan, they were the powerful race that created chakra and ninjutsu, so it was normal for them to possess immense vitality and powerful souls.
However, even the Otsutsuki clan bled bright red blood.
According to his speculation, if he could transplant all the organs of this body, he could even reverse-engineer and modify his own constitution and bloodline, gaining an incredibly powerful ninjutsu aptitude and vitality.
This kind of surgery could only be performed by him, someone skilled in organ and cell transplantation technology.
Even Tsunade couldn’t do it.
It was as if this had been prepared specifically for him.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru looked at the figure on another operating table beside him, meeting a pair of white pupils that seemed to tremble with fear.
The latter was a boy who was only fifteen years old, coincidentally around the same age as the corpse.
His long, silk-like black hair fell loosely, his immature face was pale and tense, and the “swastika” shaped curse mark on his forehead was exceptionally glaring.
In all of Konoha, and even the entire ninja world, only the Hyuga clan possessed such pure, snow-white eyes, and only branch family members would be implanted with the ugly Caged Bird curse mark.
Yun Chuan Hyuga.
That was this boy’s name.
The corpse of this Otsutsuki clan member, as well as the ancient texts recording the ancient secrets of the Hyuga clan, were all voluntarily offered to him by Yun Chuan Hyuga.
According to the secrets recorded in the ancient text, the Hyuga clan were direct descendants of the Otsutsuki clan, so the transplantation effect would presumably be the best, and rejection reactions or various complications wouldn’t easily occur.
“Yun Chuan, only the heart is left now.
Are you ready?”
Orochimaru wore a soft and gentle smile on his face, deliberately omitting the surname and honorifics, calling him directly by his first name.
This form of address usually indicated an intimate relationship or a vast disparity between superior and subordinate.
Clearly, the two were not intimately related; it was an arrogance of “everything you have belongs to me.”
And this was indeed the fact.
Orochimaru had already planted a curse mark on him.
Once the organ transplant surgery was fully complete, he would develop the soul reincarnation ninjutsu, find a way to break the [Caged Bird] curse mark, and then seize this perfect body.
With the “curse mark” in place, Orochimaru wasn’t worried that things would slip out of his control.
He was merely a “piece of trash” in the eyes of the Hyuga clan, after all.
“Lord Orochimaru, please begin.”
Yun Chuan Hyuga’s expression was fearful, but his tone was incredibly firm.
The eyes looking at Orochimaru were full of admiration and gratitude: “You killed that old bastard and avenged my parents.
I am willing to offer this involuntary body to you.”
Hearing this, Orochimaru smiled.
Sneaking into the Hyuga compound and killing a main branch elder had indeed taken quite a bit of effort.
He figured his good teacher should have discovered it was him by now.
It couldn’t be helped.
He not only needed to perfectly complete the surgery but also had to maintain the life-support sealing jutsu.
He had to fully concentrate and give it his all, leaving no spare energy to control a genjutsu, meaning the recipient had to remain fully conscious.
So he could only fulfill Yun Chuan Hyuga’s request and kill the main branch elder who forced his parents to death; only then would the boy willingly cooperate.
But it didn’t matter.
He had long been tired of everything in Konoha.
As long as he could obtain the secrets of the Otsutsuki clan, even defecting was worth it.
“Lord Orochimaru, what are you trying to do?”
Inside the laboratory, the last person finally spoke.
It was an old man in a white lab coat, the missing director of the Konoha Hospital.
In reality, he was a medical talent cultivated by Danzo, codenamed “Owl.”
At this moment, the look Owl gave Orochimaru contained, besides shock and anger, mostly fear.
But Orochimaru completely ignored him.
This old guy would obediently listen in a bit anyway.
Thinking this, Orochimaru discarded his last shred of distracting thoughts.
After confirming everything was ready, he activated the complex sealing formula under his feet.
Buzz!
Black formula lines covered Yun Chuan Hyuga’s body, supplying him with chakra while restraining his body.
At the same time, the established extracorporeal blood circulation device was activated; the aortic cannula and superior and inferior vena cava were all hooked up to tubes.
By now, Yun Chuan Hyuga’s kidneys, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and other organs had already been replaced by the internal organs of the Otsutsuki corpse.
Only the most important and dangerous organ remained: the heart.
Slash.
A chakra scalpel formed in Orochimaru’s hand.
The tip of the blade wandered along Yun Chuan Hyuga’s bones and flesh, opening the chest cavity to reveal blood-red internal organs.
Then, focusing intently, he cut off the living heart, keeping only a portion of the posterior wall of the left atrium and the right atrial tissue.
Turning around, he took the Otsutsuki heart out of the corpse.
Looking at the heart, which was peaceful yet still blood-red, Orochimaru’s lifting motion with both hands was almost devout, but his hands didn’t tremble in the slightest.
The heart belonging to the Otsutsuki clan was, at this moment, placed into Yun Chuan Hyuga’s body.
“You’re actually trying to do a heart transplant?” Owl, who had been silent, suddenly said with a trembling voice.
“Do you think we can handle this with just the two of us?”
“I think you can.” Orochimaru raised his eyes to look at the old man, saying coldly, “Because if you can’t, what follows might get a bit bloody.
Don’t you think so?”
Owl’s old, sagging facial skin twitched slightly, but he still obediently stepped up to the operating table.
Orochimaru began suturing the blood vessels.
His methods were extremely primitive and crazy; a problem with just one blood vessel would push the recipient to the brink of death.
But under the precise operation of Orochimaru and Owl, a massive amount of chakra poured into Yun Chuan Hyuga’s body, continuously providing strong vitality, practically hanging onto his life like a miracle.
Time passed minute by minute, and Orochimaru’s accumulated chakra was gradually depleted.
Fortunately, the blood vessels had begun to heal, and even the cross-shaped incision on the chest was gradually closing under the power of the Mystical Palm Jutsu.
“Only the last step is left.
I will undo the life-support barrier.”
Because of the excessive chakra consumption, Owl could barely stand.
Orochimaru’s already pale face had also turned deadly white.
He stared fixedly at Yun Chuan Hyuga’s body and whispered, “Yun Chuan, do not disappoint me.”
Whether it would succeed now depended on whether Yun Chuan Hyuga could withstand this power.
The power of the Otsutsuki clan.
Thump!
A muffled heartbeat resembling a war drum resounded.
Veins and blood vessels crawled up Yun Chuan Hyuga’s body, slightly bulging and slightly bluish, like densely packed leaf veins.
On the monitor, the vital signs, having lost the maintenance of external force, immediately showed violent fluctuations.
“Ah!!”
Even though Yun Chuan Hyuga had made psychological preparations, the severe pain that felt as if it were going to tear his entire body apart still made him let out a hysterical scream in an instant.
The blood pumped by the heart seemed to gallop and burn in his veins.
A large number of capillaries on the exposed skin surface ruptured and cracked.
His body temperature instantly rose to a scorching hot level, as if what flowed in his veins was no longer blood but boiling molten iron!
“Use your chakra!
Use your chakra to suppress and control the heart, make it calm down!” Orochimaru said deeply.
Buzz!
A massive amount of veins crawled out around Yun Chuan Hyuga’s eye sockets.
The chakra erupting from his body made Orochimaru’s pupils shrink.
But soon, Yun Chuan Hyuga’s struggling body stiffened.
The rapidly climbing vital signs on the monitor suddenly stalled, and then decayed downwards at an even more terrifying speed.
A piercing beeping alarm sounded in the laboratory.
“Damn it!” Orochimaru’s face instantly turned ugly.
“The Hyuga clan should be the most compatible recipients.
How could he fail to hold on so quickly!”
If even Yun Chuan Hyuga couldn’t survive this, he would have no choice but to go snatch someone from the Hyuga main branch.
There was no other way.
Now he could only cut the heart out and re-preserve it before it became necrotic.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru was about to use his remaining little chakra to form a scalpel.
Thump…
A faint sound reached his ears, making his original movement suddenly stall as he abruptly looked up at the boy in front of him.
Thump!
Yun Chuan Hyuga still had his eyes tightly closed, but a muffled sound came from his chest, much clearer this time than the first.
The laboratory was terrifyingly silent; only the heartbeat was the most ear-piercing.
Thump!
Thump-thump!
Gradually, that muffled heartbeat changed from the initial patter of rain on banana leaves to a deafening drumbeat, throbbing forcefully in his chest cavity.
“This is…”
An uncontrollable joy rose on Orochimaru’s face.
He stepped lightly closer to Yun Chuan Hyuga’s body, as if walking towards all the truths of this world.
His golden longitudinal pupils subconsciously looked at the monitor.
Sure enough, the vital signs had gradually stabilized.
Various values were even close to inhuman, incredibly active, and terrifyingly extreme.
That is to say, finally…
“Yes.”
Someone answered Orochimaru.
The voice was very soft, like narrating a beautiful fairy tale.
“Finally, it succeeded,” he said.
The pleasantly surprised Orochimaru was stunned for a moment, and then he saw the figure on the operating table slowly open his eyes.
He met a pair of familiar yet unfamiliar pupils.
Those originally pure white pupils, illuminated by the shadowless lamp at this moment, emitted a highly layered iridescence, flowing like molten glass, somewhere between pale cyan and white.
But this was not the source of the strong sense of incongruity Orochimaru felt.
It was that there was almost no emotional fluctuation revealed in those eyes; they were as calm and deep as a pool of unfathomably deep, dead water.
The spurting blood was instantly evaporated by the high temperature.
A blood-red mist rose from his body, shrouding that face in a hazy red fog.
Blood surged in the veins like thawing spring water.
Every cell breathed freely like spring shoots breaking through rocks.
Peerless power surged through his limbs and bones.
“You…”
To the side, Owl, seeing this scene, had his pupils suddenly dilate, opening his mouth to say something.
But, the next moment.
Slash!
This strike was very fast.
When it passed, there was no pain, only cold death.
One could only hear a wind blowing, seemingly calmer than the night breeze.
The sound of piercing flesh was very light, silently dissipated by the wind just like that.
Almost entirely out of instinct, Orochimaru turned his head.
Following a faint tearing sound, he only felt a slight sting on his cheek.
A red line gradually crawled across his face, spreading and cracking bit by bit, inch by inch, stopping when it reached his cheekbone.
The blood blossomed and was blown away like reed catkins, the moisture sliding down his cheek.
And Owl, standing beside him, in a daze, only felt his field of vision flip and fly upside down.
Thud!
The headless body knelt on the ground.
Blood spurted from the severed neck, and a red rain fell in the laboratory.
The head crashed to the floor with a crisp sound like a falling watermelon, rolling on the ground and leaving a trail of blood.
The face on the head still carried a hint of confusion, dying with unclosed eyes as it rolled into a pool of blood.
And from the neck separated from it, blood bloomed like a fountain, causing a shower of blood to fall here, dripping on the only two remaining figures.
“I have waited for this day for too long.”
Yun Chuan Hyuga sat up, looking at his palm that had formed a chakra scalpel, watching the blood roll down his fingertips like spring water rolling off green leaves.
He raised his eyes to look at Orochimaru in front of him and smiled: “Such a night, it should be silent.”
Three years, three years and another three years…
He had finally completed the talent of this frail body, obtaining the true Otsutsuki bloodline that belonged to him, and…
[Your lie [Otsutsuki Corpse and Descendant] has been judged as [Entering the Board Personally] [Honey-Mouthed and Dagger-Hearted] [Making the Fake Real].
Orochimaru produced strong emotional fluctuations, reaching the level of [Deeply Convinced], obtaining 10,000 realization points]
[Evaluation: A deceptive trick, like a floating shadow on a wall.
Even a short person can cast a huge shadow]
[Remaining realization points: 10041]
“…”
Orochimaru looked at that immature face.
In his memory, cowardice and shrinking fear always hung on this face.
But right now, the curse mark on his neck was gradually fading, and a deep smile hung on his face.
Like a child playing a prank by pressing down on an ant’s back, watching the ant struggle at his fingertips, before gently crushing it.
Incredibly pure evil.
(END CHAPTER)