Chapter 240: Hating Orochimaru, Understanding Orochimaru, Becoming Orochimaru
Stelle wandered the dimly lit corridors of Hiruko's underground base, her footsteps echoing softly against the damp stone. Despite her official status as a captive, her captor had imposed surprisingly few restrictions on her movements. Aside from a handful of highly classified experimental zones sealed behind heavy iron doors, she was free to roam the facility at her leisure.
Hiruko had even gone so far as to issue strict directives to his subordinates, demanding they treat her with the utmost respect. It was a pragmatic move. A quick glance around the facility revealed it to be nothing more than a temporary stronghold. The halls were devoid of any real scientific talent, populated entirely by rough-looking combat personnel. Given the overwhelming strength Stelle had already demonstrated, Hiruko knew full well that these grunts could never subdue her. He had no reason to fear her running off; if she wanted to leave, a bunch of low-level mercenaries would only act as minor speed bumps.
The moment they had arrived at this hideout, Hiruko had vanished into the innermost laboratory. According to the hushed whispers of his subordinates, they had successfully captured an elusive Explosion Release ninja just days prior. It was obvious what was happening behind those reinforced doors. Hiruko was currently integrating the explosive bloodline limit into his own body.
Stelle had to admit, the current iteration of Hiruko was a far cry from the pathetic figure he once was. He radiated a cold, calculating aura, possessing a strange, magnetic charisma that had somehow drawn a massive following of rogue shinobi.
Piecing together fragments of gossip from the patrolling guards, Stelle quickly deduced exactly how Hiruko had managed to slip through the fingers of Konoha's elite Anbu black ops while dragging a high-profile Rinnegan user like her along for the ride. It was a classic misdirection play. Hiruko had set the stage well in advance, using the massive Angkor Fortress he had prepared in a separate laboratory to draw the full attention of the Anbu pursuit squads. While Konoha's finest chased a giant floating decoy across the horizon, Hiruko had casually strolled out of the Land of Fire with Stelle in tow, arriving at this hidden stronghold without a single scratch.
Back in the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi was undoubtedly nursing a massive migraine right about now.
What truly piqued Stelle's curiosity, however, were the peculiar accessories Hiruko wore. His forehead protector was etched with incredibly complex sealing formations, and the plain-glass spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose were clearly forged from special chakra-conductive materials, bearing similar restrictive seals. It was as if they were actively suppressing something volatile.
Could it be that Hiruko had already managed to integrate a stolen Sharingan into his eye socket? Using specialized seals to mask its distinct chakra signature and prevent discovery would be a smart play. It was highly probable. Aside from the Uchiha's legendary dojutsu, the only other ocular power worth stealing for that specific eye position would be the Byakugan. But Hyuga Gen's pale eyes were still perfectly intact inside his own skull, and the rest of the Hyuga Main House members were as reclusive as ghosts, practically refusing to step foot outside Konoha's protective walls.
Things were definitely getting interesting.
After wandering the sterile, gray hallways for another hour and finding absolutely nothing of value, Stelle grew bored. She eventually wandered into a massive underground training ground, pulling up a wooden chair near the edge of the sparring ring to watch two young boys beat the living daylights out of each other.
To her mild surprise, these were no ordinary street urchins. Both boys possessed incredibly rare genetic traits. The first was a survivor of the Yuki clan, his hands weaving signs as he manipulated the freezing air around him, a textbook display of Ice Release.
The second boy possessed a pair of glowing red eyes that Stelle instantly recognized. It was Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai, a rare dojutsu capable of seeing through solid objects and casting flawless chakra illusions, the natural predator of the Byakugan. A single glance was enough to tell her that this kid was one of Hiruko's premium spare experimental subjects, raised like livestock for the slaughter.
Hiruko really was pulling out all the stops. His entire setup here was easily on par with Orochimaru's twisted underground laboratories. Give him a few more years to gather resources, and establishing a hidden village to rival Otogakure would be a walk in the park.
As the two boys exchanged blows, their physical spar quickly devolved into a heated shouting match.
"Lord Hiruko favors me the most! He will definitely choose my body for integration!" the red-eyed boy shouted, throwing a sloppy right hook.
The Yuki boy scoffed, easily deflecting the strike. "What does a no-name dojutsu like yours even amount to? You think you can compare to the Sharingan? Lord Hiruko does not care about trash like you."
"Oh, and what use is your pathetic Ice Release?" the red-eyed boy spat back, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. "I have not heard of a single strong ninja coming from your clan in decades!"
"Ptooey! A Kekkei Genkai I have never even heard of is the real garbage here. It serves you right that you are the only pathetic loser left in your entire family!"
Sitting on the sidelines, Stelle could not hold it in anymore. A loud, mocking laugh escaped her lips, echoing across the cavernous training ground.
Were these kids seriously fighting over the right to be dissected and absorbed by a madman? The sheer absurdity of it was hilarious.
Hearing her laughter, both boys stopped their brawl and glared in her direction. The irritable red-eyed boy pointed an accusing finger at her. "What the hell are you laughing at?"
Stelle leaned back in her chair, popping a stolen cracker into her mouth and shrugging lazily. "Nothing much. I just thought of something really happy."
"You are clearly mocking us!" The Yuki boy bared his teeth, his hands clenching into fists. "Let me see exactly what kind of Kekkei Genkai you possess that makes Lord Hiruko treat you so differently! He even ordered us to listen to your commands!"
Without waiting for an answer, the Yuki boy channeled chakra into his legs, leaping high into the air and bringing a heavy punch crashing down toward Stelle's face.
Stelle did not even bother standing up. She casually tilted her chair backward, letting the boy's fist strike empty air. As he landed and threw a second, desperate punch, she swatted his wrist aside with a lazy wave of her hand and retaliated with a lightning-fast roundhouse kick from a seated position.
The Yuki boy reacted purely on instinct, throwing his upper body backward and planting his hands on the dirt floor to perform a sweeping counter-kick.
A brief, rapid-fire exchange of taijutsu followed. It ended exactly three seconds later when Stelle planted her heel squarely into the boy's chest, sending him skidding backward across the dirt for several meters.
Realizing he was completely outmatched in raw physical strength and speed, the Yuki boy immediately abandoned close-quarters combat. He slammed his hands together, rapidly forming a sequence of hand seals. "Ice Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"
The ambient moisture in the underground cavern rapidly dropped in temperature, condensing into hundreds of razor-sharp ice needles that hung suspended in the air before shooting directly toward Stelle like a swarm of angry hornets.
'Two-handed seals?'Stelle thought, shaking her head in sheer disappointment.'Zero out of ten. Poor review.'
She flared a tiny fraction of chakra to the soles of her feet, creating a concentrated burst of kinetic energy. In the blink of an eye, she vanished entirely from the trajectory of the incoming ice needles, leaving them to shatter uselessly against the stone wall behind her empty chair.
The Yuki boy froze, his instincts screaming that something was horribly wrong. He looked up just in time to see a handful of kunai raining down from the ceiling directly above him.
He scrambled backward, desperately trying to put distance between himself and the falling weapons. But the moment his heels dug into the dirt to steady his stance, Stelle's voice whispered right next to his ear.
"Your casting speed is way too slow, kid."
Before he could even turn his head, Stelle delivered a ruthless kick right to his backside. The Yuki boy let out a yelp as he was launched through the air, landing face-first in the hard dirt with a pathetic thud.
"You bastard!" he roared, spitting out a mouthful of dust. He rolled over, fully intending to unleash his strongest jutsu, when his eyes locked onto Stelle's hands.
She was casually tossing a familiar-looking ninja tool pouch up and down.
A cold sweat broke out across the boy's back. When did she take his pouch?
He squinted, looking closer at the colorful snack wrapper she was currently tearing open. Was that... was that the limited-edition candy he had bought during his last escort mission? It had been securely tucked inside his inner jacket pocket just a minute ago. When did she swipe it?!
Such terrifying speed...
"You..." The Yuki boy stammered, his bravado entirely shattered. He turned his head and screamed at his rival. "Red-eyed brat, what are you spacing out for?! Let's take this witch down together!"
Exactly three minutes later, both boys were face-down in the dirt, groaning in pain. Their ninja tool pouches, spare shuriken, and every single snack they had hidden on their persons had been thoroughly confiscated.
Unable to move a single muscle, the two brats resorted to hurling vulgar insults at Stelle, screaming the nastiest curses their young minds could conjure up, completely devoid of any basic manners.
Just then, the slow, rhythmic sound of clapping echoed from the dark corridor leading into the training ground. Hiruko stepped out of the shadows, a pristine white cloak draped over his shoulders.
He surveyed the scene of the two beaten prodigies with an expression of immense satisfaction. "Such incredible talent and overwhelming strength. You are indeed worthy of possessing that beautiful face."
Stelle stared at him in deadpan silence. She took a loud, crunchy bite of the stolen candy and focused her senses. Hiruko's chakra signature was vastly different from before. It was significantly denser, heavier.
Compared to the icy, calculated aura he had projected earlier, his chakra now simmered with a violent, explosive volatility. It was blatantly obvious that his integration of the Explosion Release bloodline had been a complete success.
This shinobi world truly never lacked for insane geniuses. Even someone born with painfully average aptitude like Hiruko could use twisted, unorthodox methods to artificially elevate themselves into a powerhouse.
He was a textbook wicked cultivator.
"The surgical laboratory is fully prepared. Right this way, please," Hiruko said, his tone remaining sickeningly polite as he stepped aside and gestured down the hall.
Stelle casually tossed the empty ninja tool pouches onto the heads of the two cursing brats on the floor and turned to follow him.
"You do not seem afraid in the slightest," Hiruko noted, his eyes narrowing behind his sealed spectacles. Her absolute lack of panic was highly unusual for a captive walking toward an operating table.
Stelle shoved her hands deep into her pockets, her voice completely flat. "I walked into Konoha three years ago. Yet, this eye of mine is still sitting safely in my skull."
Hiruko's mind raced, extracting a wealth of information from that single, arrogant statement.
"Fascinating," Hiruko murmured, a sinister smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "If even a predator like Orochimaru failed to take that eye from you, there must be a hidden variable at play that I am unaware of. I am looking forward to dissecting you even more now."
His pale face twisted into an expression of pure, unadulterated scientific fanaticism. It was a look of sharp, predatory curiosity.
For a split second, Stelle genuinely thought she was staring at the Orochimaru from the original timeline. She could only marvel at the sheer irony of it all.
Just how much time did Hiruko spend obsessing over Orochimaru to end up perfectly mimicking his exact psychotic mannerisms?
Were those two not supposed to be bitter arch-rivals?
So this was the ultimate pipeline: Hate Orochimaru, understand Orochimaru, become Orochimaru.
A few hours later, Hiruko received a very harsh reality check courtesy of the massive seal locking down Stelle's Rinnegan.
It was an absolute nightmare of fuinjutsu. Layer upon layer of interlocking chakra formulas, creating a localized suppression matrix whose sheer complexity easily rivaled Konoha's Grand Sealing Barrier. If a master sealer attempted to unravel it using conventional methods, it would take decades of non-stop calculation.
Refusing to be deterred, Hiruko activated his stolen Dark Release, attempting to forcibly absorb the chakra powering the sealing symbols and nullify the lock entirely.
The seal immediately violently retaliated.
A massive shockwave of pure kinetic force erupted from Stelle's eye, blasting Hiruko squarely in the chest. He was launched out of the surgical chair, smashing through the reinforced laboratory door, and only came to a halt after his body shattered through three consecutive solid stone walls.
Over the course of the following week, Hiruko stubbornly tried dozens of different extraction methods. He used corrosive chemicals, chakra scalpels, and sensory disruption techniques. Absolutely nothing could make the seal budge even a millimeter.
Standing in front of the operating table, covered in dust and nursing a bruised ego, Hiruko finally decided to throw in the towel.
"It seems the spirit of the Fourth Hokage is guiding me away from breaking this seal," Hiruko declared solemnly, adjusting his glasses.
'You are really good at saving face, aren't you?'Stelle grumbled inwardly, rolling her eyes.'Just admit you are too stupid to crack the code.'
Hiruko stood in silence for a long moment, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Then, he made a sudden decision that caught even Stelle completely off guard.
"If I cannot extract the eye safely, then I have no choice but to use the Chimera Technique to integrate your entire body into mine. Originally, for the sake of preserving that beautiful face of yours, I had not planned on going to such extremes."
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