"Orochimaru!"
"Why are the chains empty? Weren't there test subjects hanging there?"
Orochimaru slowly turned his head:
"Ah, it's Lord Danzo!"
He seemed to have only just noticed Danzo. Seeing Danzo's gloomy expression as he glared at him, Orochimaru chuckled softly:
"Lord Danzo is truly sharp."
"The test subjects, naturally, have been used."
"Used?"
Danzo took a sudden step forward, his wooden clogs thumping heavily on the floor:
"After using them..."
"Where are the results?"
His chest heaved violently, and his cane jabbed frantically at the ground as his voice turned shrill:
"Answer me. You've consumed so many test subjects."
"Where are the experimental results?"
"Where is the power I want?"
"Answer me!"
Orochimaru watched Danzo's rage in silence.
Suddenly, the corners of his mouth curled up, revealing sharp teeth, and he licked his lips with his snake-like tongue:
"Lord Danzo, you are far too impatient."
"In experiments like these, speed is essentially a matter of luck."
"If luck is on your side and the direction is right, the results will appear."
"If luck is poor... naturally, it will take some time."
He gently brushed his hand over the motionless body on the operating table, a look of intoxication on his face:
"But then again, the mystery and beauty of life itself lie in its uncertainty."
"Every collapse and regeneration of cells is like dancing on the edge of an abyss—thrilling, stimulating, and alluring."
"This is nothing like the simple act of killing people as you do."
Danzo's eyes widened, his predatory gaze fixed on Orochimaru:
"I don't care about mysteries or dancing. I only know that if I invest, there must be output!"
With every word Danzo spat out, his cane jabbed the ground once:
"Output, do you understand!"
"I want output!"
Seeing this, Orochimaru leaned forward slightly:
"Output?"
His pale face looked exceptionally eerie under the lights. Grinning, he said:
"Danzo, in my workshop, the collapse of an experiment is output. Every failure is a gain."
"If you want a definite result, you must give me time."
"Time! Time! It's already been so long. Tell me definitively, how much more time?"
"How should I know?"
The curve of Orochimaru's lips deepened, his eyes filled with a near-maniacal reverence:
"After all, what we are prying into is the Creator's taboo!"
"We are peering into..."
"The power of God!"
As he spoke, he suddenly waved his hand, completely crushing the wood that had abruptly sprouted and grown wildly from the operating table.
Then, he looked at Danzo with a playful expression:
"See, Lord Danzo? You wouldn't want to turn into something like this, would you?"
Danzo was also startled by this sudden turn of events.
He hadn't expected that after all this time, the First Hokage's cells would still be so dangerous.
If this were injected directly into his own body, once it went out of control, his body would collapse like a bridge being swept away by a flood.
He frowned, and the dark clouds covering his face softened somewhat:
"Even if the research on the First Hokage's cells is progressing slowly, what about the other Kekkei Genkai?"
He snorted coldly:
"Onigumo's cells were given to you two years ago, and you still haven't given me a satisfactory answer."
"Ah, that... that already has results."
Orochimaru walked to the side, pulled an experimental report from a row of documents on the table, and handed it to Danzo.
"After Onigumo defected, new samples couldn't be drawn, so progress slowed down."
"However, cloning a new individual is no problem at all. It's just that there's no way to integrate it into your body yet. Give me a little more time."
"But..."
Orochimaru's tone shifted, and he suddenly looked at Danzo with a hint of contempt in his eyes:
"Danzo, you really want just any trash Kekkei Genkai, don't you?"
"Hmph! What do you know?"
Danzo wore an expression that suggested Orochimaru simply didn't understand him.
"Although Onigumo's Spider War Bow isn't very powerful, if it can be combined with the First Hokage's cells, it will be a formidable assassination ability."
"Root needs this ability, and Konoha needs it too."
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
Possessing the power of the God of Shinobi yet still thinking of assassination—he truly was a rat in the gutter.
Utterly pathetic!
He chuckled softly: "The Uchiha's Sharingan, the First Hokage's cells, and even Onigumo's Kekkei Genkai—you want them all. I wonder if you plan to fuse others as well."
"But as your partner, I'm warning you, fusing too many Kekkei Genkai... will cause problems!"
"I don't need your concern. Hiruko is already solving that problem."
Danzo spoke with confidence.
"Suit yourself!"
"However, Danzo, the supply of test subjects cannot be cut off."
"I can't provide too many in a short period," Danzo said, shaking his head:
"We've already collected all the orphans from the nearby Villages."
"The residents are starting to become wary. If we conduct another large-scale capture, we won't be able to keep it under wraps."
"I also didn't expect you to consume them so quickly."
Just as Orochimaru was about to speak, Aburame Ryōma, who had been guarding the door, entered.
"Lord Danzo, this is intelligence gathered by our subordinates."
Danzo took the scroll and skimmed through it rapidly.
After a moment, he snorted coldly and looked at Orochimaru.
"The person who long provided us with test subjects was killed in a bamboo house in the border mountains."
"It's unclear if news has leaked. The details are still under investigation."
"Recently, many personnel who provided test subjects have been killed. It will be difficult to provide you with a large number of people in the short term."
Orochimaru, however, didn't seem to care at all and walked straight toward the door.
"Danzo, I don't care where the children come from."
"I only know that if the supply of test subjects is interrupted, the experiment will enter a suspended state."
His figure drifted further away, merging into the darkness, leaving only his gloomy, hoarse voice echoing in the corridor.
"I can afford to wait..."
"But I wonder if your body... can afford to wait."
"Orochimaru..."
Danzo narrowed his eyes as he watched the direction in which Orochimaru had departed. He clenched his fists and remained silent for a long time.
"Lord Danzo."
Ryōma spoke up cautiously.
Danzo snapped out of it and asked:
"What's the situation?"
The scroll only summarized the events. As for the specific details, Ryōma hadn't spoken while Orochimaru was present.
In the early stages, human experiments mostly relied on some volunteer Ninjas and orphans from orphanages.
After the experiments were halted by the Village, Orochimaru and Danzo went underground. Root would secretly kidnap civilian children, and they would also hire bounty Ninjas to capture people from the outskirts.
As the number of missing children grew, so did the residents' grievances. Hiruzen Sarutobi had also noticed something and sent the Anbu to begin an investigation.
Out of necessity, Danzo had begun systematically silencing the bounty Ninjas who had previously provided them with personnel.
However, there were exceptions. Some Ninjas were already dead before Root arrived to silence them. If the causes of these deaths and the people they contacted before dying weren't clearly investigated, there was an inevitable risk of intelligence leaks.
Seeing Danzo's inquiry, Aburame Ryōma began his report.
"Kawada Nao's fatal wound was a puncture wound to the chest."
"At the place where he died, two mission teams happened to be passing by at the time."
"One of the teams was led by Kakashi..."