No matter how tenacious a life force might be, within the vast, endless river of time, there would eventually come a day when it would flicker out—be it by accident or the natural end of its tether.
Even Orochimaru's reincarnation was far from perfect. His soul possessed a fundamental weakness; every time he leaped into a new vessel, his spirit chipped and frayed, growing more fragile with each transition.
As a transmigrator, Hiruko held a unique perspective on longevity—concepts Orochimaru likely hadn't even brushed against. Even a soul has an expiration date; what the legends called the "Five Signs of Decay" was an inevitable reality. Hiruko wasn't looking for a "longevity" that ended in a withered spirit.
In this world where the extraordinary power of Chakra manifested, achieving a degree of eternal life or drastically bolstering one's life force wasn't an impossibility—provided one had the right materials.
If he were to share the biological traits of the Immortal Jellyfish with Orochimaru, a man of his genius would surely refine a far more powerful reincarnation jutsu. But without solving the issue of the soul's senescence, Orochimaru was still destined to die eventually.
During these past few days of meticulous nurturing, Hiruko had managed to sign a summoning contract with one of the jellyfish. Though the creature possessed a basement-level IQ, couldn't follow a single command, and had a body with zero practical combat utility, the contract remained intact throughout its biological cycle of transformation, splitting, and regression into a polyp.
This proved his theory: the individual tied to the contract did not vanish. Reverse aging was a tangible, verifiable phenomenon.
In Hiruko's eyes, the biological technology of the Ninja World was bizarrely lopsided. Because of Chakra and the sheer resilience of the human body, people in this world could perform organ transplants and cloning in the most primitive environments. With such results, they should have easily decoded the basic laws of genetic sequences and moved toward gene splicing.
Instead, the Ninja World favored "brute force" integration. There was no concept of gene editing; they simply slammed samples together. If you threw enough meat at the wall, eventually, something would stick.
Orochimaru was a master of this crude path. His Wood Style experiments were the primary reason the Senju clan had practically withered away. In this world, the foundational sciences that subtly influence technological progress were ignored by the masses. Perhaps Chakra was simply too convenient, causing everyone to skip over the "boring" basics of hard science.
Hiruko walked to the windowsill and activated the sealing array nested around the planters and the fish tank. As he funneled Chakra into it, the dim runes began to glow and pulse with life.
These arrays were the fruits of his past research—a simple sealing technique designed to gather and concentrate Natural Energy. For his current needs, it was enough. Without a clan heritage, obtaining high-level, sophisticated sealing techniques was harder than scaling the heavens. If he wanted the real deal, he'd likely have to find a way to get them from the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
As for the Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki... frankly, Hiruko had zero access to her. Ever since she inherited the Nine-Tails, she had effectively vanished from the public eye. His chances of poaching Uzumaki sealing jutsu from her were non-existent.
Hiruko had toyed with the idea of "traveling" to other worlds to accelerate his template integration, but ultimately, he wasn't willing to gamble just yet. The safety of the "world-traveling" function was unproven; who knew what kind of nightmare world he might land in? The 2D multiverse was a minefield of world-ending catastrophes.
He planned to wait until he reached Six Paths level strength before attempting any interdimensional hops. He worried that if he completed the template integration, he might be whisked away instantly, which would be a waste of this world's resources.
For Hiruko, the Naruto world was a goldmine for power-leveling. Until he stood at the apex, he would shelf the idea of leaving. Besides, even if he did leave, he needed to make full preparations.
His primary tasks: complete the Chimera Technique, secure true immortality, steal the genetic code of the Otsutsuki, study the structure of the God Tree, and master the local Sage Transformation and Sealing systems. Only once he was a literal god would he go exploring.
At six in the morning, the first rays of dawn touched the earth.
Nohara Rin reached out a gentle hand and lightly shook Hiruko's shoulder. "Lord Hiruko... Lord Hiruko, please wake up."
In his slumber, Hiruko felt a soft hand nudging him. He blinked his eyes open, groggily realizing a new day had begun.
"Good morning, Rin." He reached out and ruffled her hair before getting up to wash. He didn't notice that Rin's small face had already flushed a deep red.
As a thirty-something man living a seemingly "ordinary" life in Konoha, Hiruko kept a very disciplined routine. On the rare occasions he overslept, Rin was there to wake him.
After cleaning up, he enjoyed a breakfast she had meticulously prepared. Today, he didn't feel like burying himself in the lab. He decided to give himself a holiday.
He strolled through the streets of Konoha, the warm sun bathing his shoulders. He walked with a relaxed gait, taking in the scenery.
Currently, the village was draped in an atmosphere of mourning, as if a permanent shadow hung over the buildings. Even with Hiruko's medical advancements, the Third Great Ninja War had exacted an immeasurable toll. Countless people dressed in black funerary clothes stood among the mountain groves, offering silent prayers for their lost kin.
A four-year-old Itachi Uchiha stood among them, having witnessed the soul-shattering reality of war firsthand. That cruelty had acted like a sledgehammer, forging his innocent mind into something prematurely mature. He stood silently before a gravestone, brows furrowed, pondering the weight of existence.
"What is the meaning of life?" the young Itachi asked himself in the depths of his heart.
By a quiet stream near the Forest of Death, Hiruko sat alone, his gaze deep and inscrutable. Suddenly, a small figure approached him.
"Uncle... you're all alone here. Are you missing your teammates?" young Itachi asked, posing a rather strange question for a child.
Looking at the bewildered little kid before him—and thinking of the monumental, controversial actions he would take in the future—Hiruko reached out and flicked him right on the forehead.
Snap!
Caught off guard, Itachi tumbled backward onto the grass.
"Uncle, what was that for?" Itachi asked, rubbing his smarting forehead. He tilted his head, his face a mask of confusion.
"Call me Daddy!" Hiruko replied, a mischievous, teasing smirk playing on his lips.