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Orochimaru had far too many secret bases — so many that even Midorima wasn't certain of the exact number.
However, that didn't mean there were no traces to follow.
The Northern Stronghold was highly unlikely to contain even a passing reference to the Ryūchi Cave — the place was practically crawling with monsters. If one lost control, even the staff stationed there could lose their lives, let alone preserve something as vital as a clue.
Therefore, the most probable places to store any clues about the Ryūchi Cave were either the scroll archive, or perhaps on Kimimaro himself.
Although Midorima had previously sorted through the archive, pulling out over a hundred ninjutsu and likely leaving no stone unturned, he and Jūgo decided to return anyway, guided by the principle of "checking for oversights and filling any gaps." They meticulously reorganized the entire collection, but in the end, they found nothing.
Feeling a mix of emotions, Jūgo began to return the scrolls to the shelves by category when Midorima stopped him.
"What's wrong?" Jūgo asked, puzzled.
"Move these bookshelves," Midorima said, pointing to the ones pressed against the cave wall.
It seemed a terrible waste for Orochimaru to use such a hidden location merely to store ninjutsu scrolls.
Who knew — there might be something like a hidden door.
It would be a real shame to miss a "hidden door" out of carelessness.
Jūgo nodded and shifted the heavy shelves to the open center of the room. Midorima picked up a torch and began carefully examining the walls for any irregularities. Finally, near the base of one wall, he spotted a slight protrusion. He pressed it gently.
"Ah—"
A dark hole suddenly yawned open beneath Jūgo's feet.
Completely unprepared, he plummeted straight down.
Midorima raised an eyebrow, not overly concerned for Jūgo's safety.
This was, after all, Orochimaru's scroll repository. Why would he dig a perilously deep pit here for no reason?
Given Jūgo's rugged, thick-skinned physique, there was little risk to his life.
Torch in hand, Midorima approached the opening and peered down.
Just as he had expected, a staircase descended from the hole into the darkness below.
He listened intently but heard no sound from Jūgo, which gave him pause.
Had something actually happened?
Raising the torch, Midorima hurried down the stairs. In the basement, he found Jūgo squatting in a corner, clutching his head.
"What happened?" Midorima asked.
"Hurts," Jūgo replied, his face contorted in pain.
Midorima glanced back up at the staircase.
Even though the drop to the basement floor was considerable, tumbling down the stairs shouldn't have caused such pain for someone as tough as Jūgo, right?
As if reading his mind, Jūgo quickly clarified, "I didn't fall down the stairs. I dropped straight through the hole."
Midorima's mouth twitched. The fall had to be at least forty or fifty meters. Dropping straight down…
"Is the floor okay?"
Jūgo: "…"
The basement was spacious, nearly as large as the archive room above, but its layout was markedly different.
Upstairs contained nothing but uniform rows of ninjutsu scrolls. Down here, things were more varied.
Two long tables stood side by side in the center of the room, each bearing an oil lamp.
One table also held open notebooks and books, all coated in a fine layer of dust.
Midorima skimmed a few pages. The contents dealt with cells and genetics, but the research methodology was so unique he couldn't make sense of it.
After a moment's consideration, he understood why.
The technological development of this world was simply different from Earth's. Procedures like "USB eye-swapping jutsu" were not uncommon here, but on Earth, they'd be impossible.
Midorima flipped idly through a few more pages before his interest waned. He continued leafing through the notebook and suddenly came upon an experimental summary titled "Living Corpse Reincarnation Technique."
He immediately scanned his surroundings. The walls here were also lined with shelves, nearly half of them packed with experimental data.
"This Orochimaru… he really was determined to achieve immortality," Midorima murmured with a sigh.
If Orochimaru had channeled all that effort into honing his own power, he likely would have been the strongest of the Legendary Sannin.
At this thought, Midorima sighed again.
Yet it was hard to say Orochimaru's choice was wrong.
After all, in Boruto, Tsunade had aged significantly, maintaining her youth only through the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Orochimaru, by contrast, was practically a perpetual life machine — the passage of time scarcely affected his quality of life.
However, shifts in the world's timeline had led to Orochimaru's premature death. Those bearing the "Cursed Seal of Heaven" were limited to Anko Mitarashi, Shizune, and Sasuke. It remained to be seen whose body he might try to claim.
Mention of the "Cursed Seal of Heaven" sparked an idea in Midorima. What if he used the Cell Laboratory to destroy the seals within those three individuals? Would that prevent Orochimaru's resurrection?
He had to admit, he was somewhat curious about the outcome.
"Lord Midorima, look at this," Jūgo called out. He was standing by a shelf on the opposite wall, pointing to its lowest level.
Midorima approached with the torch. Looking where Jūgo indicated, he was taken aback — there were two petri dishes, each containing a sizable piece of cell tissue.
Whose cells could these be?
Midorima frowned, and then the images of two individuals flashed into his mind.
Could these be cells from the First and Second Hokage?!
In the original story, Orochimaru had once used "Impure World Reincarnation" to summon the First and Second Hokage, pitting them against the Third in a fierce battle.
Could these be the very samples he used?
Midorima had no immediate plans to perform "Impure World Reincarnation" — the technique required sacrificing two living people, and he saw no need for that at present.
But the cells in these petri dishes were undoubtedly valuable treasures.
When it came to "treasure hunting," Midorima possessed a keen instinct.
"Jūgo, excellent find," Midorima said, giving him a thumbs-up.
Jūgo smiled bashfully and quickly changed the subject. "What should we do next?"
"We need to find a way to reach the Ryūchi Cave — preferably a map or directions of some sort," Midorima replied.
Jūgo nodded, eyeing the mountain of bookshelves before taking a deep breath.
Sifting through books was far more tedious than scanning scrolls, especially since Orochimaru might have left written notes, diagrams, or even maps tucked within pages of experimental data or personal diaries. The task ahead was immense.
Midorima and Jūgo lost track of how long they searched. Eventually, their movements became almost mechanical. Even after examining roughly 70% of the books and data, they found no reference to the Ryūchi Cave.
"Lord Midorima… maybe it's not here after all?" Jūgo asked wearily.
Midorima shook his head but remained silent. He replaced the book he had just inspected and pulled out the one next to it.
The moment he opened the cover, something felt off.
"Hmm?"
"What is it?" Jūgo looked up, his eyes dull with fatigue.
"This notebook's cover is unusually thick," Midorima observed. He drew a kunai, slit the cover open, and discovered a folded sheet of paper inside.
Unfolding it, he saw its contents and broke into a smile.
It was a map.