Chapter 198: Cloning Technology, and Orochimaru's Hashirama-Madara Body
Two days later.
In the Hidden Rain Village, Kakashi and his squad arrived. He then entered a heavily guarded building alone to meet the demigod renowned throughout the ninja world, Hanzō.
Kakashi presented the invitation, written on a scroll, while observing the man who wore a respirator. He didn't notice anything unusual.
Hanzō glanced at the contents of the invitation and said coolly, "As an ally, the Hidden Rain will naturally participate in such an event. Please convey to the Fourth Hokage that we will be sure to arrive in Konoha on time."
"Yes, sir. I will be sure to relay your message," Kakashi nodded.
"Take them to rest," Hanzō said, putting away the scroll and giving an order to a subordinate.
Kakashi did not refuse the offer.
After he left, Hanzō stood up and went into the back room. Konan, wearing an Akatsuki robe, emerged from the darkness. "Was he here to gather information?"
"It's possible," Hanzō said coolly. "But don't worry about it. Unless Kinoshita Genichi comes personally, they won't discover anything." The masked Hanzō had hidden all traces of the black rods, and his Rinnegan was also concealed.
The daily affairs of the village were now actually being handled by Konan. The Hidden Rain had long since changed. Those loyal to the old Hanzō were all dead.
In their temporary lodging, after a stroll around the village, Kakashi's squad gathered under the cover of darkness. The youngest, Yamato, stood guard outside to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, while Kakashi, Kurenai, and Obito pooled their intelligence. For this mission, Kurenai and Obito had temporarily left the Hokage Guard to join the Anbu.
"Something definitely happened in the village before," Obito said. "There was a rebellion, but it was quickly suppressed by Hanzō. Kakashi, I used a genjutsu to question a Rain genin. I learned from him that the village's affairs are actually being handled by a woman called 'Lady Angel,' and that Hanzō is basically not involved anymore. This woman is thought to be the likely next leader."
"A woman? What does she look like?" Kurenai asked.
"My genjutsu isn't at the level where I can directly invade the brain for information," Obito said awkwardly. "How about you, Kakashi? Did you see Hanzō? And that Lady Angel?"
"I only saw Hanzō," Kakashi said. "As for the person you're talking about, I didn't see her. Hanzō seemed normal, nothing special."
"Did that guy Genichi's judgment be wrong?" Obito scratched his head.
"Not necessarily," Kurenai mused. "The village did experience a turmoil. There's definitely intel we haven't obtained yet."
"Why don't we test that Hanzō and see if he's a fake?" Obito suggested.
"If something goes wrong, can you handle the Rinnegan?" Kakashi said wearily. "We might all die here. It's a pity I've never seen the real Hanzō before. Otherwise, I might be able to see something with my Sharingan," Obito added.
"Let's leave it at that," Kakashi said after a moment's thought, being cautious. "The Rain is, after all, our ally. We can't act recklessly."
Obito and Kurenai both nodded. Obito had no other ideas either. Three years ago, he might have secretly taken the risk. But in the years he had spent at Tsunade's side, and after being repeatedly taught a lesson by Genichi and the Storm-Release-wielding Kakashi, his personality had become much more stable. After all, he was already 16.
The night passed without incident. The next day, the four of them bid farewell to Hanzō and left the village, returning to Konoha that same day.
In the Hokage's office, Tsunade fell into deep thought after hearing Kakashi's report. "Let's leave this matter for now," she finally said. "You've worked hard, Kakashi. By the way, that guy Obito didn't cause any trouble this time, did he?"
"No," Kakashi said quickly.
Tsunade sighed in relief. Obito did have ability. Of the five in the guard, he was actually the strongest, but his personality… he would always have a brain-fart and cause some kind of accident. His genjutsu surpassed all the others, including Kurenai, who had been privately tutored by Genichi. His taijutsu was also superior to the others. And his Fire Release was the strongest. In terms of strength, he was fully qualified to be a jonin.
But Tsunade was still holding him back, not letting him be promoted. Even after he had entered the Anbu, he hadn't been made a squad leader or anything. Because he didn't have the leadership ability yet. Any jonin of Konoha was an existence capable of holding their own. And this was a basic requirement for the rank.
After Kakashi left, Tsunade rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.
"Should we have Genichi go to the Rain Village to take a look?" Shizune asked hesitantly.
"No need," Tsunade shook her head. "Now is not the time." The Rinnegan was too mysterious; after all, it was related to the Sage of Six Paths. The intel Genichi had given was a bit scary. And from Root, she had also obtained some of the intel Danzō had left behind on the Rinnegan. Although there wasn't much, the abilities it displayed were already very astonishing. So, she was instinctively unwilling to let him take the risk. Even though she knew his strength was already very great, perhaps even surpassing her grandfather's. But that was, after all, the eye of the Sage of Six Paths.
Shizune sighed in relief.
"Ina is ahead of you, you know," Tsunade said, a little annoyed. "That little bastard is not a good person."
"He is very good," Shizune said in a small voice, blushing.
Tsunade put her head in her hands, suddenly feeling irritable. She stood up. "Let's go, let's get a drink."
"Um, it's still working hours," Shizune was dumbfounded.
"We can just leave it to Minato and the others," Tsunade said, not caring, and strode out the door.
Shizune followed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
In the northern Land of Fire, in the Land of Rice Fields, in a certain experimental base.
"Was my speculation wrong?" Orochimaru frowned.
"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto, beside him, pushed up his glasses, "perhaps it's a problem with the cloning technology? Although this test subject possesses both Hashirama's and Madara's cells, it was, after all, cloned by us through technical means. And the genetic technology is not yet mature. Perhaps there is an unknown defect."
"There is indeed that possibility," Orochimaru nodded.
"Perhaps we can use the Impure World Reincarnation to revive Uchiha Tekka," Kabuto suggested. "He might know some secrets about the Rinnegan. The fact that Madara's body has no eyes is indeed very suspicious, although it's possible that they were consumed during his battle with Lord Genichi. But he also has Hashirama's cells. I think the speculation is still very likely."
"If that's the case," Orochimaru laughed, "then it's very interesting. I just don't know if Genichi-kun has discovered this secret. Actually, we could just revive Madara with Edo Tensei. At that time, perhaps we will know the truth."
Orochimaru was very tempted, but he shook his head. "No, we're not at that step yet." The jutsu wasn't difficult; he had already mastered it. But he instinctively felt the danger.
"Kabuto, continue to perfect the cloning technology," he smiled. "If we can clone a body with pure Hashirama and Madara cells, that would be the most perfect. This one now… should be considered a defective product."
"Actually," Kabuto nodded, then said, "that White Zetsu, after being further injected with Hashirama's cells, is not bad. I think he is qualified to be your first vessel, Lord Orochimaru."
"Don't be too hasty, Kabuto," Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and smiled. "The curse mark still needs to be further perfected. I have to thank Genichi-kun for his reminder on this point. It's a pity I can't cooperate with him on some experiments."
"For you, Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said, "Konoha seems to have become a restriction."
"You're wrong about that, Kabuto," he chuckled, taking off his gloves. "Although Konoha has placed restrictions on me, it has also given me many indispensable resources. It's a pity that, apart from me and Genichi-kun, no one else knows how to use these precious treasures left by our predecessors."
"But such resources will always be exhausted," Kabuto said. "After all, the current Konoha is no longer enterprising. Lord Genichi alone cannot change these things."
"The windmill is already slowly turning…" Orochimaru said, turning to walk out.
Kabuto watched him leave, then turned back to the unconscious test subject. "Where did it go wrong?" He believed in his deduction. And this clone, cultivated with a White Zetsu as the mother womb, plus Hashirama's and Madara's cells, had already awakened a three-tomoe Sharingan in a month of experiments. But it was stuck before the Mangekyō, let alone the Rinnegan.
Is the emotional stimulation not enough? Does the awakening of the Rinnegan also require this process? he pondered.
Konoha Hospital.
In the lab, Genichi, Ina, and Nono were busy. They were transplanting a heart into a test monkey, a heart that had been cultivated with cloning technology.
In the future, he had cooperated with Orochimaru and had gotten a lot of biotechnology for free. Cloning humans was no problem, but using them as an organ source was a bit of an ethical issue. After all, a clone had its own consciousness. So he had chosen the direction he had set with Tsunade before: to directionally cultivate organs and limbs and then transplant them. This was actually more technically difficult than whole-body cloning. But he had to admit, in this aspect, Orochimaru was truly amazing. He was so used to getting things for free in the future that he rarely cooperated with him in reality anymore.
The surgery was over. The monkey was sent to an observation room. Next was to observe its condition. Organ transplant surgery was already very mature. He and Tsunade had even researched anti-rejection drugs together before. But drugs had their limits, and rejection was difficult to avoid. Then there was White Zetsu. Starting with Sakumo and his son, it was the first official case of directionally cultivating a limb for transplantation.
The current technology was a directional cultivation technique using an external womb that he had worked out with Orochimaru in the future. It had been developed based on external womb cloning technology. It could be said that the vision he had proposed to Orochimaru back then had basically been realized.
After handing over the follow-up observation to Nono, he walked out of the lab. "I wonder if Orochimaru has mastered external womb cloning technology by now," he thought. He actually needed him quite a bit. For example, to combine the chakra of all the Tailed Beasts and clone a Ten-Tails. Of course, he wasn't trying to become its jinchuriki.
"I'll have to get it for free in the future first. But I need to solve one problem. Using a White Zetsu cell as an external womb to cultivate ordinary organs, and even clone humans, is fine. But for a Tailed Beast, it's far from enough." This was a difficult problem. Of course, there was another direction for a small Ten-Tails: Yin-Yang Release, imitating the Sage of Six Paths to create the nine Tailed Beasts. But this path was just as difficult, even harder to achieve than biotechnology.
"I should get some of the Gedo Mazō's cells to study." He decided to try it during next year's 'cheat.'
Over the next few days, the monkey's condition was very good. Using White Zetsu cells as a base, and then cultivating a clone with the monkey's own cells, the rejection was very weak. The current anti-rejection drugs could completely reduce the effect to a negligible level. But the animal experiments still needed to continue. Not just the heart, but other organs also had to be tested one by one. Only when there were no problems could they proceed to human clinical trials.
But at this step, he could already let Nono and her team take over. He went back to the Hokage's office to train and, on the side, guide Tsunade in her Wood Release development. It was just that her temper had been a bit short recently, and she was always finding fault with him. But he remained as gentle as ever, peacefully accepting her bad temper.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. After work, Tsunade hesitated for a moment and asked, "Genichi, why has your personality been so peaceful recently?" She felt something was not right.
Shizune was taken aback, then thought carefully. Her boyfriend's personality had indeed become gentler. It was as if nothing could cause a major emotional fluctuation in him.
"I was wondering when you would notice," he explained. "It's because of my training in sage transformation."
Sage transformation? "Does it affect a person's personality?" she frowned. Although it was a change toward gentleness, it didn't necessarily mean it was a good thing.
Shizune looked at him with some worry, because she thought of the sage transformation experiments she had seen in the underground lab before.
"Don't worry," he smiled. "It's not the influence of the sage transformation. It's that, in order to prevent my own emotions from being affected by natural energy, I'm using my Electromagnetic Release to influence the hormone secretion in my body, thereby keeping my emotions in a calm and gentle state. This is only temporary."
Tsunade and Shizune both sighed in relief.
"Let's go," she said with a grand wave of her hand. "You've all worked hard during this time. I'll treat you to dinner. By the way, call Ina."
"Lady Tsunade," Shizune said in a small voice, "you seem to be out of money. It all went to pay off your debts."
Her face stiffened, and she muttered under her breath, "You can just pay for it first."
Genichi laughed, then said, "Let's just eat at my house. I'll cook today. I'll let you eat something different."
"Then let's go quickly! I'm starving!" With that, she ran off.
He and Shizune looked at each other and smiled, then followed.
That afternoon, he did not go to the Hokage's office, but to the underground lab. It was no longer just his shadow clones who were busy there, but also a considerable number of White Zetsu who were helping as assistants. And these Zetsus were naturally not the ones from Madara. The original source was the Zetsu formed from the spores Aloe White Zetsu had left on him. After mastering the Spore Technique, he had used it on these Zetsus, using the spores to eat one of the original Zetsus, forming one that was loyal to him.
This one was named "A-Dai" by him, and was also the current leader of all the Zetsus in the lab. Of course, just in case, he had also cast Kotoamatsukami on him and had set permissions with it. His own orders were the top priority, then his clones, then Ina, Shizune, and Tsunade. And the other Zetsus, from A-Er to A-Jiu, were all split from A-Dai, split bodies that he had fed with Tailed Beast chakra. And all of them had been re-implanted with Hashirama's cells to enhance their abilities.
"Lord Genichi, I have some very good news for you." Not long after he appeared in the lab, A-Dai, dressed in a black robe, came up to him.
"Oh? Is there finally some good news?" he asked. "Which Kekkei Genkai was successfully induced and activated?"
"As expected of the number one smartest Lord Genichi," A-Dai said in an exaggerated tone. "The one that was activated was A-Liu."
A-Liu was the one who had been selected to be implanted with the cells of the Mist's Dark Release user, Chūkichi. However, being implanted with the cells did not necessarily mean one could master the Kekkei Genkai. Just like White Zetsu, even if implanted with Hashirama's cells, they could only master some abilities related to Wood Release. Not to mention Hashirama, they couldn't even reach Yamato's level. The intelligence of these Zetsus was just so-so. It was difficult for them to learn on their own, so they needed to be induced and activated through biotechnology.
This was a technique he had obtained while experimenting with sage transformation: to use the power of sage art to amplify the Kekkei Genkai abilities hidden in the genes, and then guide them out. Although it was not 100% successful, it was a good technique. So he had directly tried it on A-Dai and the others first.
Nodding with satisfaction, he asked as he walked, "How is its ability?"
"I think it's better for you to go and feel it for yourself, Lord Genichi," A-Dai smiled.
He nodded and followed him into a room, where he saw A-Liu.
"Lord Genichi, I have not failed your expectations. A-Liu has already obtained the power of Dark Release," he said. He had painted the same blue stripes on his face as Chūkichi and was wearing gray clothes. His expression was serious, his personality completely different from A-Dai's.
(End of Chapter)
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