"..."
Orochimaru took the glass sample off the microscope and put it in the sample cabinet, labeled '030'.
Next to it were cells from the First Hokage, White Zetsu, and people like Shisui.
The first two don't need explaining. As for the latter, all those who had the body enhancement surgery left cell samples here.
Two identical samples, one before the surgery and one after.
Even with these examples to compare to, it took him months to find the genetic sequence that made the cells turn woody.
Staring at the experimental liquid, Orochimaru's eyes were glazed over, burning with excitement. "Next, I can try using gene fusion."
From a biological point of view, the cell fusion that was done before was basically survival of the fittest.
Whether it was the fusion liquid or the nutrient solution, these things were imitating the survival environment of the early oceans, allowing cells to devour each other, with genetic material reorganizing to form new cell individuals.
This approach was relatively rough. Whether it would be successful depended on whether the new cells and old cells could coexist peacefully, or form a relatively stable state.
Gene fusion is different.
Simply put, it involves cutting out the identified gene fragments and injecting them into the main body.
This method fuses things more thoroughly, and is safer because the host's cells serve as the main battlefield.
The downside is that it may not work, and could simply be digested and absorbed as nutrients.
If White Zetsu hadn't been formed from normal humans being invaded by the Divine Tree, and the two weren't so similar (not completely unrelated species), Orochimaru wouldn't have used this method.
"Next, I need to keep testing."
Orochimaru thought as he continued to improve the experimental details.
...
Days and nights went by.
Outside the cave, day turned into night, but Orochimaru stayed in the underground laboratory of the samurai residence, without leaving for even a moment.
He wasn't madly doing human experiments. On the contrary, the time between surgeries was getting longer and longer, from six a day at the beginning to one every six days later.
Of course, as gene fusion continued to improve, the success rate also increased, especially with the last ten, with only two failures.
This probability cheered the samurai up a lot, which was completely different from when they were afraid all the time before.
After gaining extremely strong healing ability, they started acting in teams in the Land of Iron.
First, they brought villagers who were unhappy with the rule of Kirigakure defectors to the Land of Fire. After that was mostly done, they focused their energy on harassing Kusagakure ninja and attacking merchants in the Land of Iron.
Kirigakure was good at scouting and ambushing, but the Land of Iron was originally a village of samurai after all, so here, they were actually fighting in enemy territory.
Not to mention knowing the terrain, the samurai had been working hard to protect the country for hundreds of years, using secret passages, caves, and other tricks, so they could be said to appear and disappear unpredictably, exhausting their opponents.
A group of former soldiers turned into bandits and robbers, but they were very skilled at it.
The samurai were full of energy, wanting to drive out the Kirigakure defectors before they had a firm foothold in the Land of Iron.
Even the leader of the samurai, Mifune, believed that with the current situation, they had a good chance of regaining the Land of Iron.
But reality gave them a painful blow.
"...Two samurai squads were completely wiped out, and none of them escaped?"
Mifune frowned, his expression didn't change much, but his heart was bleeding.
There were only thirty-three samurai who had successful transplant surgeries so far. Eight samurai was a quarter of that, which was 40 million ryo.
"Have you found out who did it?"
The samurai Okisuke shook his head, his tough face full of frustration. "We don't have enough people, and the other side cleaned up the scene, so they didn't leave many clues."
Mifune thought for a moment, and ordered, "Ask Konoha for help, and have them help investigate the cause and effect. Until then, stop the harassment for now."
No matter what kind of people they were, anyone who could wipe out two fearless samurai squads without leaving a trace was definitely stronger than ordinary ninja. Right now, there were limited people, so they couldn't afford to have this kind of loss happen again.
"Yes!" The samurai Okisuke nodded, and strode out the door.
At this time, a pale, cold-looking man walked in.
The samurai Okisuke quickly stopped and greeted him, "Lord Orochimaru!"
Orochimaru didn't stop, glanced at him, and then turned his gaze to Mifune, asking, "How long has it been since I went underground?"
Mifune hesitated slightly, and then said, "About three months or so."
That long?
Orochimaru nodded slightly, and said slowly, "Do you still need more surgery? Today is the last day."
"Thank you for your trouble, we don't need any more surgery."
Mifune refused with a wry smile.
It wasn't that he didn't want to have the surgery done, or that he didn't have enough people, it was just that he didn't have enough money left, especially after bringing so many villagers to the Land of Fire.
To be honest, there was still quite a bit of money left, but every bit of it already had a use.
Hearing Mifune say this, Orochimaru didn't force him, and got up to leave the samurai's residence.
...
A meeting was held in the Hokage's room, which hadn't happened in a long time.
The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, with a pipe in his mouth, looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Yesterday, two samurai squads were wiped out in the Land of Iron."
As soon as he said this, there was some commotion on the meeting table.
The ninja clan leaders looked at each other, all unable to hide their shock.
They knew how strong those samurai were now.
Orochimaru openly moving into the samurai's residence and doing human experiments wasn't a secret. Basically, everyone who should know, knew.
If they hadn't been scared by the high death rate at the beginning, the ninja clan leaders present might have already jointly suggested lifting the ban on Orochimaru's body enhancement surgery.
Having no vital points in the torso and extremely strong healing ability, they knew how much this would improve a ninja's combat power.
But now, eight of these samurai were actually wiped out directly, and they couldn't even send out a message. This was really unbelievable.
The ninja clan leaders present thought to themselves that they didn't have this kind of strength. Even Uchiha Fugaku thought so.
Unless he used a genjutsu to control all eight of them in an instant, he wouldn't give them a chance to escape.
But this condition was too demanding. Even the Mangekyō Sharingan might not be able to do it.
Utatane Koharu frowned, "Hiruzen, what exactly happened?"
The Third Hokage didn't answer directly. He pulled out a stack of papers from the pile of documents and spread them on the table.
Everyone looked closely and their expressions changed slightly.
These were wanted posters for defectors.
The Takigakure Village defector Kakuzu, the Sunagakure Village defector Sasori, the Kirigakure defector...except for Kumogakure, there were defectors from every ninja village.
"These years we have been busy with wars and have neglected to hunt down defectors."
The Third Hokage glanced at everyone, "But someone hasn't forgotten, and he has gathered these guys together."
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