Was there still any justice in this world?
Was there still any law?
He, the dignified Second Hokage of the Leaf, was trapped in this dark underground laboratory, working like a beast of burden for an Uchiha without even getting paid.
The abuser slapped the victim, then made the victim smile and say it was a good hit.
And Haru could actually do something this shameless.
Tobirama suppressed his anger. He had no desire to keep arguing with Haru over this, so he immediately changed the subject and shifted the conversation onto Orochimaru instead.
"Haru, you have to trust my judgment. Orochimaru's talent for ninjutsu research is absolutely the strongest in the current ninja world."
Haru was extremely confident in Orochimaru. As someone who had survived from Shippuden all the way into Boruto, Orochimaru's research results had already been proven in real combat countless times. When it came to the field of survival-focused ninjutsu research, even Tobirama had to admit inferiority.
"Hmph. Strongest in the ninja world?"
Tobirama let out a cold snort, his face full of disdain.
So I don't even count anymore?
"Haru, when I say strongest in the ninja world, of course I'm not counting you. I mean the current ninja world. You're already dead. Ranking you together with the living would be unfair."
Haru's tone was teasing. Really, trading barbs with Tobirama every day and watching him get mad was genuinely entertaining.
"You bastard, go die!"
Tobirama finally snapped and threw a punch at Haru's face. This bastard was provoking him again. He had to make him pay for it.
"Tobirama, the world is such a beautiful place, yet you're so irritable. That's not good. Not good at all."
Haru casually caught Tobirama's fist. Tobirama's clone simply was not fast enough or strong enough anymore. Even if the punch landed, it would not hurt.
Orochimaru watched from the side with great interest. Two Hokage of the Leaf throwing hands right in front of him was a sight that probably only came once in ten years.
And the Second Hokage and Hokage-sama definitely had history. The truth absolutely was not what Haru had described earlier.
How fascinating.
"Tobirama, Orochimaru is still here."
"And you wouldn't want me to blow up your clone with one punch, right?"
Haru waved a hand. Tobirama was furious, but he still had to endure it a little longer. As long as he kept enduring, he would eventually get used to it.
"Hmph."
Tobirama withdrew his fist and turned to look at Orochimaru.
Very ordinary.
"Tobirama, I'm leaving Orochimaru to you. From now on, you're his teacher."
"Hmph. Not just anyone gets to become my disciple."
Tobirama's face was still sour. He was the Second Hokage of the Leaf, the greatest scientific genius in the ninja world. Not just any stray cat or dog was worthy of becoming Senju Tobirama's student.
Orochimaru stood there listening, but instead of shrinking back, he looked gratefully at Haru.
Hokage-sama had already praised him this much and personally introduced him to the Second Hokage. The crucial opportunity was right here. He had to seize it himself.
So Orochimaru stepped forward and said to Tobirama,
"Second Hokage-sama, I'll do everything I can to prove my ability!"
Tobirama's expression shifted slightly as he looked at Orochimaru stepping forward so boldly.
The brat did have some nerve.
"Since the evil... no, the Third Hokage personally brought you here, I'll teach you for a while."
"If your talent fails to meet my standards..."
In the end, Tobirama reluctantly accepted Orochimaru on Haru's account. He could spare a little time each day to teach him.
But if the student was too stupid, then Tobirama genuinely had no time to waste.
That bastard Haru had become more and more outrageous lately. His research projects came up on a whim.
Recently, he had even handed Tobirama several insects from the Aburame Clan and told him to research a new breed that could produce huge amounts of sugar just by basking in sunlight.
Faced with such an idiotic client, Tobirama had wanted nothing more than to punch Haru to death.
An outsider simply could not understand the difficulty involved. Haru understood nothing about research.
Haru, however, disagreed completely. He had directly asked whether the research budget was insufficient, and if it was, Haru said he could increase it by a huge amount.
He understood research very well.
Later, Tobirama yielded. Practice proved that Haru really did understand research.
Still, considering the short timeline and heavy workload, Haru decided to take a step back. They could first focus on insects that ate only weeds or similar plants and could still produce huge amounts of sugar. They would also research insects that could be mass-produced into protein blocks. The method for turning those insects into protein blocks had likewise been handed over to Tobirama.
Of course, that was far from the only task Haru had dumped on him.
Cement, radio, chakra trains, railway laying, upgraded iron smelting techniques, high-yield crop seeds, chakra batteries, internal combustion engines.
All sorts of research projects had been piled onto Tobirama, driving his workload to an absurd level. At this point, even the current number of clones was no longer enough for Haru's abuse.
After Tobirama agreed to teach Orochimaru, Haru pulled him aside and spoke in a lower voice.
"Tobirama, don't teach Orochimaru any actual ninjutsu research."
"I'll handle that side myself."
Haru had already planned out Orochimaru's future. He had to keep Orochimaru under watch and push all of his scientific talent into improving productivity. All those bizarre forbidden techniques and human experiments from canon were things Haru did not want Orochimaru touching in the slightest.
"What are you trying to say?"
"You're not worried I'll teach him badly, are you? I'm a master of ninjutsu research. He's just some little brat..."
"You're a master of forbidden techniques."
"Don't drag Orochimaru down with you. One research genius obsessed with human experimentation is enough for the Leaf. You just focus on turning him into a science-and-engineering genius."
"That Reanimation technique alone. You know better than I do how many people died for you to develop it."
"Defiling the souls of the dead will never end well."
"May the Sage of Six Paths forgive your sins. Amitabha. Amen."
Haru clicked his tongue and cut Tobirama off.
"Hmph. Shallow."
"Utterly shallow."
Tobirama was getting visibly irritated. Haru actually had the nerve to criticize him on this topic.
Haru's own proficiency with Reanimation was not one bit worse than Tobirama's.
Tobirama was the creator of the technique. At a glance, he could tell that Haru's mastery of Reanimation had already surpassed even his own.
"You use Reanimation even more skillfully than I do. If I'm doomed to karmic punishment, then your ending will definitely be even worse!"
Tobirama fired back immediately, firmly resisting Haru's shamelessness.
"Tobirama, now you're just slandering me."
"The only person I've ever used Reanimation on is you."
"You defiled the souls of the dead. I pulled you back with Reanimation and made you work for the future of the entire ninja world. That's helping you reduce your sins."
"That's boundless merit on my part. At the very least, I'm guaranteed a long life and lots of descendants."
"I won't end up lonely and childless like you."
Haru smiled as he spoke. Those few sentences were like blades stabbing straight into Tobirama's heart.
Silence and critical damage.
"You inherently evil Uchiha brat, I'll execute you on the spot!"
Tobirama completely lost it, baring his teeth and claws as he lunged at Haru. Today, one of them was going down.
Either Haru would die, or Senju Tobirama would perish.
No, wait. Today only Haru was supposed to die.
Haru formed a seal with one hand, and Tobirama was instantly immobilized, unable to move at all.
"Tobirama, your self-control is terrible. You still need work."
"There's a junior here today. If you've calmed down, blink."
About a minute later, Tobirama finally rebuilt his mental defenses and regained the ability to move.
The clone glared fiercely at Haru, then brought Orochimaru over to another lab bench. He planned to start him off with the basics and also handed Haru a long list of books, all rare and precious texts Tobirama had left behind.
Every one of them was now being given to Orochimaru.
Then Haru walked over to another Tobirama clone who was busy at a workbench.
"Tobirama, how's the Hashirama cell research coming?"
Haru cared deeply about the progress of the Hashirama cell experiments. He was an orphan and had no siblings, so the route Madara had taken by transplanting Izuna's Mangekyo to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was completely unavailable to him.
That meant Haru's hopes were pinned heavily on Hashirama cell research. Other than his lottery system, the best way to further increase his own strength was with Hashirama cells.
Use the Mangekyo too much and you go blind.
But Hashirama cells could greatly extend its usable life, and also grant him a portion of the Sage Body's qualities.
Powerful regeneration. Vast ocean-like chakra reserves.
Haru wanted that badly.
In a world like Naruto, where overwhelming personal power mattered most, no amount of external influence could compare to raw individual strength.
The moment Haru mentioned Hashirama cells, Tobirama stopped what he was doing, and a complicated look appeared on his face.
For quite some time now, Tobirama had been conducting the experiments according to Haru's line of thought.
And unbelievably, Haru had actually been right.
Uchiha cells, Sharingan tissue, and even the Sharingan's ocular power all had varying levels of suppressive effect on Hashirama cells.
If the cells were combined with special solutions in precise ratios and injected into Uchiha tissue, the Hashirama cells would gradually merge with those tissues.
After all kinds of testing, the result was clear. Hashirama cells could greatly enhance the life force and ocular power of an Uchiha, and could even grant partial traits of the Sage Body.
If they went even further, maybe they could reproduce the Wood Release that had once suppressed the entire ninja world.
But if Hashirama cells were injected into ordinary human tissue, those tissues would simply be invaded and destroyed, unless Uchiha Sharingan tissue and ocular power were added to balance and suppress them.
It was as though Hashirama cells had been born specifically to strengthen the Uchiha Clan.
Confronted with that result, Tobirama could not make sense of it no matter how hard he thought. What kind of absurd luck had the Uchiha stumbled into to be so perfectly compatible with Hashirama cells?
And meanwhile, the Senju, who were Hashirama's own clan, had far stronger rejection responses, only slightly better than ordinary people.
Now the initial phase of the Hashirama cell experiments was already complete. The next stage was human testing. They needed real subjects to gather all the relevant data and produce the most suitable Hashirama cell solution.
Later on, they might even be able to dilute and suppress the aggressiveness of Hashirama cells by mixing in Uchiha tissue, to the point where even ordinary ninja might one day be able to strengthen themselves through injections.
But every time Tobirama thought about how the biggest beneficiaries of Hashirama cells would be the Uchiha, it felt like swallowing something deeply disgusting.
It was outrageously unfair.
Tobirama explained the recent progress, leaving Haru thrilled. His own strength could finally advance again.
Seeing Haru so pleased only made Tobirama feel even worse. Haru's strength was about to grow again, and Tobirama's chance of turning the tables was becoming even slimmer.
"Hmph. Don't get excited too early."
"Everything I'm saying is still only an initial experimental conclusion. It hasn't gone through human trials yet. Everything remains uncertain. So I advise you not to inject the current Hashirama cell solution into yourself lightly."
Haru nodded. He understood perfectly well that a wise man did not stand beneath a collapsing wall.
"If you want to continue into the next phase of Hashirama cell research, then you'll need to provide Uchiha clan members for human experimentation."
Haru fell silent and thought.
Human experimentation had far too many uncertainties. Based on Tobirama's explanation, he wanted to test the absolute limits of Hashirama cells in the human body. That almost certainly meant lives would be lost.
Once the matter involved the lives of his clan members, Haru had to think carefully.
"Can we use ordinary ninja as test subjects first?"
"Then do the final human testing on Uchiha clan members. As clan head, I'm responsible for their lives."
Haru decided to let strangers die first. After the war, the Leaf prisons still held plenty of enemy captives.
Those were excellent experimental materials.
"We can. But it'll take longer, and many more test subjects will die."
Haru nodded and agreed.
As long as it provided a little more safety for his clan, that was enough.
As for experimental materials, the Leaf prison had plenty of captives. The moment they were captured, their lives had ceased to be their own.
This ninja world had no concept of humane treatment for prisoners. Captives were simply spoils of war.
As for the longer experimental time, that was even easier to solve.
He would just squeeze Tobirama harder.
Time was like water in a sponge. If you pressed hard enough, more would come out. And Tobirama definitely slacked off whenever Haru was not around.
(End of Chapter)
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