"Oh, it's you, Kenichi."
Sensei casually waved at Amamiya Kenichi, perfectly calm, as if standing there with a severed arm in hand was the most normal thing in the world.
Kenichi, on the other hand, didn't even scream.
He was used to this.
In this lab, seeing random limbs lying around was perfectly normal.
If he ever walked in and saw Orochimaru cooking though—that would be truly terrifying.
One glance at the arm, and Kenichi more or less guessed what was going on.
They'd defected from Konoha, sure…
But there was still a certain big shot in the village who needed their help, wasn't there?
"Sensei, is this from the Third Hokage's latest 'order'?"
Kenichi set the tiny flake of Zetsu's skin into a test tube, letting it soak.
Before he could extract any genetic material, it needed to be properly processed first.
"Yes. The Third wants a better arm this time."
Orochimaru was carefully examining the left arm's compatibility, injecting it with something as he spoke.
Kenichi clicked his tongue.
Hadn't the Third already received a replacement arm not long ago?
Why was he changing again? In such a short period of time there shouldn't have been any irreversible rejection reactions yet.
For someone who kept a wanted notice on them, the old man really was as two-faced as they came.
Mouth says "criminal," body says "please help me, my arm hurts".
"Sensei, how's the village now? From what I've seen, it looks like they're about to go to war with Kumo."
Kenichi walked over, lending a hand to steady the arm.
Konoha really was cursed.
Even with savior Uzumaki Naruto already born, he was still just a clueless little baby.
What could he do right now? Cry louder?
And with Kenichi thrown into the mix, who knew what direction the future of the ninja world would go?
Still, the small story beats probably wouldn't change too much.
Give it some time and they'd probably still get the classic:
Hinata kidnapping incident, Kumo playing the victim, and Hiashi's brother dying to clean it all up.
"It's as festive as ever on the surface," Orochimaru replied lazily. "But Danzō and the Third seem to be getting along a bit better."
He didn't particularly care about that decaying village.
If he didn't have business there, he wouldn't bother with them at all.
"As expected of the Third… still smoking?" Kenichi smiled. "How's his health report looking?"
At that, Orochimaru's expression brightened slightly, clearly pleased with his results.
"The Third coughs quite often nowadays," he said. "But since he always smokes, no one finds it strange."
Kenichi nodded.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and his son Asuma both had a deep, emotional relationship with cigarettes.
If Orochimaru hadn't left the village as early as he did, Asuma would've definitely been targeted too.
"That's good. Since Lady Tsunade isn't in the village, no one's going to notice anything's wrong for a while."
Tsunade was gone, and had shown no signs of returning. That made things a lot easier.
"How did things go after you went to Akatsuki?"
Orochimaru burned the useless arm with a simple jutsu.
This one wasn't going to work.
"Not bad. They brought in a new member—Sasori of the Red Sand from Sunagakure…"
Kenichi gave a quick summary of what had happened at the Akatsuki base.
He mentioned Zetsu and Obito as well, but kept it vague.
Sharing too much now would only paint a target on his back.
It was far safer to pretend he didn't know anything.
"Looks like that organization really is going for an elite-only structure," Orochimaru murmured, watching the flames devour the flesh.
Kenichi didn't comment.
Akatsuki was elite-focused, and they'd never had that many members to begin with.
He just wasn't sure whose place he'd taken in the original lineup—
or if they'd simply make more rings in this timeline.
"Kenichi," Orochimaru suddenly said, "do you think rejection happens in every living thing?"
Kenichi's expression turned serious.
"Sensei… for the vast majority of people, yes. Almost everyone experiences rejection reactions. But this world is huge. I can't rule out the existence of someone with no rejection at all."
Rejection was fundamental.
Even highly compatible donors still triggered it, which was why anti-rejection drugs were necessary in the first place.
"If there really was someone without any rejection… how many uses can you think of?"
Orochimaru smiled, eyes gleaming with interest as he watched his student.
"First: clone. If cloning is impossible, at least preserve the cells," Kenichi answered without hesitation. "Someone like that is unimaginably valuable."
No rejection…
What kind of concept was that?
Put bluntly, even saying "cloning is merciful" would be an understatement.
A person like that wouldn't just have wealth—
they would be the greatest treasure in the entire world.
If he seriously listed every potential use, it would get this story banned on the spot.
Of course, that was assuming any of their tissues could be transplanted into anyone with zero rejection.
If it was only that their body never rejected foreign organs, the value dropped sharply.
Not worthless, though.
If you replaced every single organ in their body once… well, that was a "project" in itself.
"Same as what I thought."
Orochimaru's smile grew even wider, clearly satisfied.
Kenichi stared, stunned for a moment.
Then he swallowed, eyes shining.
"Sensei… don't tell me you—"
"Mm. I acquired a very special experimental subject," Orochimaru said, laughing more openly now.
The excitement in his voice said everything.
After Kenichi had brought up rejection, Orochimaru had basically confirmed that almost every living thing had to deal with it to some extent.
But then, out of nowhere, a perfect outlier appeared—
a subject who exhibited no rejection at all.
"Sensei, I think we need to start researching cloning as soon as possible," Kenichi said gravely.
With a specimen like that on hand, of course you'd want multiple backups.
Otherwise, if the original died by accident…
The loss would be painful beyond words.
"That will take some time," Orochimaru replied, shaking his head slightly. "Cloning isn't exactly simple."
But his eyes were bright.
Kenichi could tell—
A man like that experimental subject…
Wasn't just rich.
He was wealth itself.
P/S: If you're interested, you can read up to Chapter 103+ at patreon.com/nakai01.