Chapter 346: Orochimaru's Child?
After Naruto took Konan away, she truly saw the contrast between Amegakure and Grass Ninja Village.
Under the governance of the Akatsuki Organization, Amegakure was peaceful most of the time, but due to the internal conflict, it lacked vitality.
After Grass Ninja Village was taken over by Hidden Leaf Village, the quality of life did not decline.
Hidden Leaf Village Ninjas registered and cataloged the villagers of Grass Ninja Village, distributed food to the elderly who could not work, and provided employment opportunities for the villagers while rebuilding the Village.
The entire Village was in a thriving scene.
Most of those Hidden Leaf Village Ninjas were like the Jiraiya-sensei she saw as a child, with honest smiles and a willingness to help others.
Even now, that scene of vibrant growth and all things flourishing still appeared before Konan's eyes.
Orochimaru's laboratory.
Naruto paused, leaned close to the crack in the door, and looked inside.
Inside the room, Yakushi Kabuto was standing with his back to the door in front of a workbench, seemingly holding something in his hands.
Tayuya sat on a chair in the corner of the room, holding a Bone Flute, carefully maintaining and tuning it, seemingly indifferent to the situation on Kabuto's side.
Just then, Kabuto seemed to hear a slight movement at the door and suddenly turned his head.
When his gaze met Naruto's calm yet highly penetrating eyes through the crack in the door, a look of extreme panic instantly flashed across his face.
Upon seeing Naruto's arrival, Yakushi Kabuto hurriedly placed what was in his hands into a box under the workbench.
After finishing all this, Kabuto forced himself to remain calm and turned around, a stiff smile squeezed onto his face, though a layer of fine cold sweat had already broken out on his forehead.
"Hokage-sama, why are you here? Are you looking for Orochimaru-sama? He just went out and might need to wait for a while..."
Kabuto's voice trembled as he tried to change the subject.
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
Kabuto's reaction was too abnormal.
As Orochimaru's most capable assistant, Kabuto was always calm, steady, and even a bit gloomy; he rarely lost his composure like this.
The thing he just hid... was obviously something he didn't want him to see.
"What's wrong, Kabuto?"
Naruto pushed open the door and walked in slowly, his gaze sweeping over the box behind Kabuto's legs before falling back on Kabuto's sweat-drenched face,
"Is there something... I'm not allowed to see?"
His tone was flat, even carrying a hint of a curious smile, but those eyes seemed to see through everything, making Kabuto feel an invisible pressure.
"No, it's nothing, Hokage-sama. Just some... insignificant residual experimental samples that haven't been processed yet. I was afraid they would offend your eyes."
Kabuto hurriedly waved his hands to explain, but his throat bobbed.
This must not be discovered by the Sixth Hokage-sama!
Kabuto wailed in his heart.
Orochimaru-sama had repeatedly warned that this 'project' must be kept absolutely secret until it was completely successful or had a clear conclusion, especially from Naruto!
Who knew how the Sixth Hokage-sama would react if he found out?
Orochimaru-sama would probably skin him alive!
Seeing Kabuto so nervous that he was stuttering and wiping more and more sweat from his forehead, Naruto's curiosity was completely piqued.
A playful arc curled at the corner of his mouth as he took a step forward, closing in on Kabuto and the metal box.
"Oh? Insignificant samples?"
Naruto drawled.
This kid has something to hide. What on earth is Orochimaru keeping from me?
"Then what's the harm in letting me take a look?"
"Be good, Kabuto."
Naruto's voice still held a smile, but his tone was unquestionable, carrying the authority of a superior,
"Let me see."
"Hokage-sama, please, please wait a moment!"
Kabuto was so anxious his face turned pale, but how could he possibly stop Naruto!
In this tense stalemate, Tayuya, who had been sitting in the corner as if it were none of her business, put down her Bone Flute, looked up, and explained:
"It's a child."
"A child?"
Hearing this word, Naruto suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Kabuto's collar.
"Where did the child come from?"
Kabuto was almost suffocated by Naruto's Aura and anger, his lips trembling, but he couldn't make a sound because his collar was held so tightly.
Seeing Kabuto too scared to speak, Tayuya explained: "That is a child Orochimaru-sama created using his own cells and Jiraiya's, a product for the research of Senjutsu."
Hearing Tayuya's explanation, Naruto tossed Kabuto aside.
"Why hide such a thing? It's not like you kidnapped a child."
So Orochimaru created a child. Weren't Miharu and Mitsuki from the original story also synthetic humans created by Orochimaru?
But they look a bit like Toneri.
He opened the box and picked up the white-haired child inside.
White hair, looking to be about one or two years old, currently sleeping.
"What is this child's name?"
So cute!
Looking at this cute child, Naruto felt the urge to tease him.
Having the thought, he acted on it, pinching the child's cheek.
"His name is Miharu."
A slightly tired female voice came from the direction of the laboratory door.
Naruto turned around, holding Miharu.
Orochimaru was leaning against the door frame. He had a clear look of fatigue on his face, but those golden snake pupils were still bright, flickering with an interested light.
He looked at Naruto holding Miharu, the corner of his mouth curling into a knowing smile.
"Hokage-sama, what a surprise... are you here to check on the cultivation progress of the 'eyes'?"
Orochimaru walked in slowly, his tone as lazy and slightly teasing as ever.
Naruto bounced the lightweight Miharu in his arms, feeling the little guy's unconscious leaning against him, then looked up at Orochimaru with a knowing smile:
"Of course I'm here to ask about the eyes. But now it seems... there's an unexpected harvest."
He gestured to the white-haired toddler in his arms.
"Hehe..."
Orochimaru chuckled low, his golden snake pupils moving between Naruto and Miharu, his tone clearly teasing,
"If you like children that much, Hokage-sama..."
He deliberately drawled.
"Then you should hurry up and confess to the girls who like you.
I believe that in Konoha Village now, the girls willing to bear children for the wise, brave, young, and promising Sixth Hokage-sama..."
"...could line up from the Hokage Building all the way to the Village gates. Why bother coveting my immature 'experimental byproduct'?"
This blunt teasing made Yakushi Kabuto and Tayuya, who had just recovered, twitch their lips and lower their heads, pretending not to hear.
"I'm still young, no rush. But you, I thought you would cultivate Jugo's cells with Jiraiya's. Why did you use your own?"
"Hehe, if I fail, someone has to provide for me in my old age, right?"
Naruto stared at Orochimaru for several seconds before slowly speaking, his tone carrying a hint of emotion:
"'Old age'..."
"That doesn't sound like something... you would say, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru was noncommittal about Naruto's comment, merely shrugging and returning to that lazy, mysterious smile:
"People change, Hokage-sama.
Especially after witnessing... so many incredible existences and possibilities."
Knowing that the Souls of the First Hokage and the others had returned to the Pure Land, Orochimaru had also begun to prepare more backup plans, and Miharu was one of them.
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