Chapter 352 - 37

Chapter 37: Orochimaru's New DiscoveryOrochimaru returned very quickly. That night, he and Kabuto arrived at the cave where Naruto and the others were staying, but Shisui still showed no signs of waking up.Naruto had originally intended to let Orochimarurest for the night; it wouldn't be too late to transplant the Hashirama cells the next morning. However, perhaps driven by his scientific spirit, Orochimaru insisted on researching Naruto's cells first.Seeing how serious his work attitude was, Narutodidn't say anything more and let him be, while he went to sleep himself.Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, Orochimaru suddenly started shouting like a madman, waking everyone up. Orochimaruapproached Naruto with an excited expression, grabbed his arm, and shook him incessantly, saying excitedly, "Naruto-kun, wake up! Look at what I've discovered. Oh my god, it's simply incredible!"Naruto was a bit dazed from being shaken, while Tsunade rubbed her bleary eyes and roared, suppressing her anger, "Orochimaru, it's the middle of the night! Why are you screaming like a maniac?"Orochimaru then realized his behavior was a bit unseemly. He scratched his head with a smile and said, "My apologies, but this new discovery of mine is truly exhilarating."Naruto exhaled and asked curiously, "Uncle Snake, what on earth did you find that made you this excited?"Hearing this, Orochimaru immediately turned his head, his eyes gleaming as he stared at Naruto. "Naruto-kun, I think the best decision I've made in all these years was choosing to help you. You've given me so many surprises.""Did you know? There's absolutely no need for you to transplant Hashirama cells anymore. I've discovered that your cell activity is actually even more powerful than Hashirama cells. Tell me, how could I not be excited?"Hearing Orochimaru's words, Naruto stared blankly at his palm. However, he quickly understood the reason. He currently possessed the Rubber Body, and in Pirate King, Luffy's recovery ability was extremely abnormal. No matter how severe the injury, as long as he could eat well and sleep well, he would wake up the next day as if nothing had happened.What he remembered particularly well was one time when half of Luffy's tooth was shattered in battle, yet it restored immediately after he drank a carton of milk. This led Nami and Usopp to exclaim about his strange physical structure.But Naruto wanted to transplant Hashirama cellsnot just for the powerful recovery ability; being able to use Wood Release Ninjutsu was his true goal. Moreover, there was one more crucial reason: the awakening of the Rinnegan.The Rinnegan is the dōjutsu held by the Sage of the Six Paths, the Ancestor of Shinobi. Among the Three Great Dōjutsu alongside the Sharingan and Byakugan, it is known as the [Most Exalted Eye]. It is the ultimate dōjutsu originating from the God Tree's Chakra Fruit.A wielder of the Rinnegan masters Yin and Yang and possesses at least five types of Chakra nature transformations. They have extraordinary abilities, serving as either a god of creation with the power to build worlds or a god of destruction with the power to end them.The conditions for awakening the Rinnegan are extremely harsh; one must be a reincarnate of Indra's Chakra or Ashura's Chakra and possess the cells of the other simultaneously to awaken the Rinnegan.According to the later explanation by the Six Paths Sage, when these two opposing Chakras collide within the body, they slowly draw out Six Paths Sage Chakra, which is the fundamental reason for awakening the Rinnegan.However, this awakening process is very slow. Uchiha Madara only managed to awaken his eyes when he was on the verge of death, whereas Sasuke's process was accelerated after being granted Six Paths Sage Chakra by the Six Paths Sage.However, Naruto sometimes wondered: must "Six Paths Sage Chakra" be granted by the Six Paths Sage or obtained by eating the Chakra Fruit? Could it not be acquired through one's own cultivation?Regarding this, he had a very bold idea. As everyone knows, there are Three Great Sage Regions in the Ninja World: Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave. To learn Sage Art, one must train in these three places.Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru are known as the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. They have each visited one of these Three Great Sage Regions. However, for unknown reasons, only Jiraiyasuccessfully learned Sage Art in the end; Tsunadeand Orochimaru only gained other abilities from their respective regions.Naruto thought, if he successfully mastered the Sage Arts of all three regions, would he then obtain "Six Paths Sage Chakra"?The answer to this question couldn't be verified without personal implementation, but the hypothesis could be discussed. And the Orochimaru before him was undoubtedly the best target; besides him, Naruto couldn't even think of anyone else he should discuss this matter with.At this thought, Naruto's interest piqued, and he immediately shared his ideas with Orochimaru. Of course, at this time, Orochimaru didn't know enough about the Six Paths Sage and such matters, but that didn't stop him from becoming immensely interested after hearing Naruto's explanation.It must be said that Orochimaru truly lived up to his title as the "Number One Scientist in the Ninja World." His fanaticism for the unknown was terrifying, and his ability to learn and accept new things was very strong. With just a simple explanation from Naruto, he connected everything together.Furthermore, he made an even bolder conjecture based on Naruto's hypothesis, saying, "What if, after learning the Sage Arts of all Three Great Sage Regions, you still fail to obtain 'Six Paths Sage Chakra'? What should you do then?"Naruto froze upon hearing his words. Clearly, he hadn't considered that far yet. Although mastering the three Sage Arts was a must, he hadn't even put it on his schedule. Currently, his plan was to expand his own core team.Seeing Naruto unsure of how to answer, Orochimaru smiled and said, "It seems Naruto-kun hasn't considered this step yet. However, I do have some ideas.""If that's truly the case, then Naruto-kun, you should first gather all five mainstream attributes—Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water—through transplantation. If that's still not enough, then transplant other special attributes, and finally, collect cells from various Bloodline Limits and transplant them.""In that case, I think there's a high probability of success. After all, by then you would possess all the abilities in the world. At that point, you would be an existence similar to the Six Paths Sage, and there would be a great chance of obtaining 'Six Paths Sage Chakra'."