Orochimaru looked at Fūma Ichirō, who was surrounded by researchers conducting tests in the distance, the covetous look in his eyes hard to conceal.
For a moment, he felt as if he was possessed. If he couldn't absorb the Shinjutsu from Fūma Ichirō, he felt like he would die.
He expended a great deal of willpower to barely suppress this inexplicable impulse, preventing himself from showing too much abnormality in front of everyone.
Just as he was about to look away, Fūma Ichirō in the distance seemed to sense something and looked at him.
Instantly, their gazes met.
While Orochimaru was secretly guessing the other's thoughts, Fūma Ichirō grinned, revealing a weird smile towards him.
"What does this guy want?"
Orochimaru's heart shuddered, and he hurriedly looked away.
He felt somewhat guilty, and at the same time, curious about why the other party smiled at him like that.
Not long after, the group packed up and left the Land of Wind.
Having mastered the Shinjutsu 'Claw Marks', after returning to the Research Institute, Orochimaru quietly left and arrived at his underground laboratory located overseas.
Seeing Orochimaru, Yakushi Kabuto hurriedly went up to greet him: "Lord Orochimaru!"
Orochimaru asked: "How are the preparations?"
Kabuto pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose: "Everything is ready. The ritual can begin tomorrow!"
"Very good!"
Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction.
To prepare for his ritual, Orochimaru used his identity as a high-ranking member of the Research Institute to arrange an external assignment for Kabuto, allowing Kabuto to temporarily leave the elite squad of the Research Institute and wholeheartedly prepare the ritual for him.
And Kabuto did not disappoint him. In a very short time, he had prepared the second ritual after Gen'yūmaru.
Sensing the doubt in Orochimaru's eyes, Kabuto asked: "Lord Orochimaru, did something happen at the Research Institute again?"
"En!"
Orochimaru nodded and recounted the matter of Fūma Ichirō.
Kabuto uttered a soft sound of surprise: "Otsutsuki characteristics becoming more and more obvious? According to the ritual process, this situation shouldn't occur, right?"
Orochimaru said: "The Research Institute is also having a headache over this matter. Fūma Ichirō's performance was somewhat unexpected. Even Uzumaki Naruto, who followed the Sage of Six Paths for training and reached 'Six Paths Level', lost to Fūma Ichirō. This is very unusual."
Kabuto understood the implication: "You suspect Fūma Ichirō awakened a Shinjutsu?"
"Not suspect!" Shaking his head, Orochimaru said: "I am certain he must have awakened a Shinjutsu. It's just that what kind of Shinjutsu it is, cannot be judged for the time being."
Speaking of this, Orochimaru recalled Fūma Ichirō's meaningful smile towards him earlier.
Kabuto analyzed: "You are certain Fūma Ichirō awakened a Shinjutsu, yet he concealed this from the Research Institute, indicating that this guy must have sensed something. Lord Orochimaru, did the previous Yamada Juichi and the others return to the Research Institute?"
Orochimaru shook his head.
Kabuto's face darkened: "That person wouldn't take Yamada Juichi and the others away for no reason. He should also have his eyes on the Shinjutsu on them. If that's the case..."
Orochimaru took over the conversation: "We don't have much time!"
Seeing that Orochimaru seemed to have made some kind of determination, Kabuto exclaimed: "Are you... are you ready to defect from the Research Institute?"
Orochimaru said indifferently: "Do I still have a choice? On this path, only one person can stand at the peak. Uchiha Shinji can, why can't I?"
Kabuto bowed: "I am willing to serve you and help you ascend to the peak!"
Orochimaru instructed: "Go prepare the ritual!"
"Yes!"
Kabuto responded, immediately turning around to prepare.
In a blink of an eye, time came to the next day.
Because of the Research Institute's optimization of the ritual, the ritual's dependence on celestial phenomena became smaller and smaller. So this time, Orochimaru chose a remote island as the ritual location again.
The ritual process was very smooth without any twists and turns. Orochimaru and Kabuto successfully created an experimental subject.
Still following the previous rules, Orochimaru handed the experimental subject to Kabuto, letting him test the subject's abilities and assist the subject in awakening Shinjutsu.
And this time, the experimental subject encountered the same problem as the Research Institute: the Otsutsukification was more severe.
Compared to the first Gen'yūmaru, this experimental subject obviously looked more like an Otsutsuki. Moreover, Kabuto originally expected it would take a week to assist the subject in awakening Shinjutsu, but it turned out the subject only took less than three hours to successfully awaken a Shinjutsu.
Kabuto also keenly sensed something was wrong and reported to Orochimaru: "Lord Orochimaru, something might have gone wrong with the ritual!"
"En!"
Orochimaru nodded slightly.
This ritual had gone through his strict review. The process was exactly the same as Gen'yūmaru's last time, with minimal differences. Yet the effect of the ritual was the same as the Research Institute's; the experimental subject also showed severe Otsutsukification. This undoubtedly indicated that a force was secretly influencing the ritual.
Kabuto continued: "If we continue, I'm afraid problems will arise!"
At the same time.
Tsunade said at the high-level meeting of the Research Institute: "The ritual must be stopped. If we continue, the consequences will be unpredictable!"
Many high-level officials attending the meeting nodded in agreement.
Fūma Ichirō now looked like a real Otsutsuki. Even the occasional expressions he showed were exactly the same as those Otsutsuki like Momoshiki and Urashiki who viewed humans as nothing. So even the most fanatic researchers began to feel apprehensive at this moment.
Facing everyone's opinion, Amado couldn't ignore it either, so he had to say: "Alright, the ritual is suspended temporarily."
After the meeting ended, Tsunade found Amado: "I heard from Naruto that Fūma Ichirō is somewhat abnormal. Did he awaken a Shinjutsu or not?"
Amado shook his head: "I'm not sure!"
Regarding Shinjutsu, as long as the person intentionally concealed it, the Research Institute really didn't have any means to distinguish it for the time being. Plus, Yamada Juichi didn't awaken a Shinjutsu either. If they really wanted to suspect, even Yamada Juichi had to be suspected together.
Tsunade frowned: "Fūma Ichirō is very dangerous. If he deliberately conceals it, then we must be even more vigilant!"
Amado said: "I know."
Sending Tsunade away, Amado returned to his office with a bitter face. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Shinji sitting inside looking through Fūma Ichirō's file, so he hurriedly closed the door.
Shinji put down Fūma Ichirō's file and said: "It seems there is a problem with the ritual."
"I was just about to report to you!" Pausing, Amado said: "Given the severe discrepancy in the ritual results, I suggest suspending the ritual."