The next morning, in a hidden underground base deep in the back mountains of Konohagakure.
Uchiha Ren walked through a dark and chilling corridor before entering a laboratory filled with modern equipment. Inside, more than a dozen Orochimarus—shadow clones assisting with research—were busy with various tasks.
At the center of the laboratory, Uchiha Itachi lay unconscious on a surgical table, his body secured by restraints.
"Ren -kun, what brings you here at this time?"
Seeing Ren arrive, Orochimaru's real body stopped working and walked over. His face looked visibly exhausted.
Uchiha Ren noticed his appearance and a strange glint flashed in his eyes.
"I did come with something important," Ren said. "But seeing you like this, I almost feel bad bringing it up."
He paused before adding:
"Seriously, can't you hire some assistants? You're using yourself like ten people at once. At this rate, you might suddenly drop dead from overwork one day."
Truthfully, if Konoha ever held an award for the hardest-working shinobi, Orochimaru would absolutely qualify as number one.
Whenever the village issued missions, Orochimaru carried them out with full dedication, always working on the front lines. Among the Legendary Sannin, he was arguably the one most devoted to serving Konoha.
In the original timeline, before defecting from the village, Orochimaru had completed nearly 1,500 missions for Konoha.
B-rank missions: 521A-rank missions: 491S-rank missions: 108
Only Jiraiya, another of the Sannin, surpassed him.
However, Jiraiya had remained in Konoha for more than ten additional years compared to Orochimaru. If one looked purely at the frequency of missions, Orochimaru might actually have been even busier.
And while carrying out missions for Konoha, Orochimaru had never stopped his scientific research, working endlessly like a machine.
Even Ren felt somewhat reluctant to keep exploiting such a tireless workhorse.
Orochimaru shook his head helplessly.
"Talented people are scarce at any time—especially researchers. In this world, scientific talent is incredibly rare."
"I would love to have assistants, but at the moment I simply can't find suitable candidates."
"People who can't keep up with my thinking would only create chaos. I might as well do everything myself."
"As for those who can keep up with me, they are usually already under the village's control. Their loyalty is questionable, and it would be inappropriate to involve them in these experiments."
He paused before continuing.
"Shimura Danzō does have some suitable people, but if I used them, it would expose our cooperation to him. He would probably steal part of the research results as well."
Ren 's gaze flickered slightly. He understood Orochimaru's concerns.
At this stage of the world, true scientific researchers were indeed rare.
Orochimaru's current work mainly involved biological experimentation. In theory, many experienced medical staff at Konoha Hospital could help with basic tasks.
But the problem was obvious.
Most of Orochimaru's experiments were too shady to ever see the light of day, so involving those people was impossible.
Ren spoke again.
"Then you'll have to endure it a little longer. Once Minato takes office, you won't need to hide everything like this anymore."
"And besides…"
Ren paused.
"I actually know a very talented individual. When the time comes, I'll bring him here. If you train him properly, he might even inherit your mantle."
Ren was thinking of Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru's assistant in the original story.
Kabuto had inherited most of Orochimaru's techniques and, in some areas, had even surpassed his master.
Orochimaru would almost certainly be satisfied with him.
Moreover, Kabuto was raised by Yakushi Nono, which meant he would be completely trustworthy.
The only uncertainty was whether Kabuto had already been adopted by Nono at this point in time.
Due to Ren 's interference, the Konoha Orphanage had expanded several times larger than it had been in the original timeline. Many more children had been taken in.
Ren had never paid attention to whether Kabuto was among them, so he would need to confirm it personally later.
"Then I'll thank you in advance, Ren -kun."
Orochimaru didn't seem particularly concerned about the future matter and quickly shifted the topic.
"By the way, what exactly did you come here for today?"
"If it isn't anything urgent, I won't be able to accompany you for long. My research on Itachi's Bloodline Disease has reached a critical stage."
Compared to future possibilities, Orochimaru clearly cared much more about the present experiment. His words were a polite but obvious attempt to send Ren away.
Ren pretended not to understand the hint.
"Itachi's Bloodline Disease has made progress?"
At the mention of this, Orochimaru's eyes lit up with excitement.
"According to my preliminary observations, what Itachi has cannot truly be called a disease."
"It's actually a case of bloodline atavism."
Ren frowned slightly.
"Bloodline atavism?"
"Exactly."
Orochimaru nodded.
"Although I haven't conducted a full comparison yet, I'm certain that the purity of the Uchiha blood within Itachi is extremely high."
"You could consider it a form of talent."
"To put it simply, Itachi will find it easier than other Uchiha to awaken the Sharingan, and he'll also use it more efficiently."
"In fact, the abilities of his Sharingan may even surpass those of ordinary Uchiha."
"However…"
Orochimaru continued.
"The awakening of such a bloodline requires much more nourishment. That's why Itachi's medical reports showed that his chakra appeared to be consuming his life force."
"In reality, it isn't his chakra devouring his vitality—it's a deeper cause."
Ren nodded, understanding what Orochimaru meant.
"Then is there a solution?"
"Of course."
Orochimaru answered confidently.
"Following the idea you gave me earlier, I attempted to fuse Itachi's cells with Hashirama cells."
"Hashirama cells naturally contain enormous vitality. Ordinary bloodlines cannot suppress that power and would be eroded by it."
"But what Itachi lacks is precisely life force."
"That makes his compatibility with Hashirama cells extremely high."
"What I need to do now is find a delicate balance between Itachi's cells and the Hashirama cells—calculate the most suitable ratio."
"That requires a large number of experiments to verify."
"So recently, I truly have no spare time."
As he spoke, Orochimaru once again began subtly urging Ren to leave.
Ren 's visit today had already delayed quite a bit of his research.
Ren chuckled softly.
Then he raised his hand and took out several scrolls.
"While Itachi's research is important, I guarantee that if you keep trying to chase me away…"
"You'll definitely regret it later."
The moment Orochimaru saw the scrolls in Ren 's hand, his expression changed instantly.
All traces of impatience disappeared.
With a smile, he said:
"Ren -kun, what are you saying? It's rare for you to visit. Of course I should give you a proper reception."
"Itachi's matter isn't so urgent that it can't wait a little while."
Although he didn't yet know what was contained in those scrolls, Orochimaru already understood one thing from experience.
Anything Ren brought him…
was always something he would be very interested in.
So in the face of Ren 's teasing, Orochimaru decisively chose to bow his head.
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