Chapter 199: The Art of Yin-Yang Release, the Curse Mark, and a Sense of Being Stolen
"Let's test your chakra absorption ability." Kinoshita Genichi raised his hand, and a normal Rasengan formed, which he slowly pressed toward A-Liu.
A-Liu immediately raised his hand to meet it. The Rasengan in Genichi's hand rapidly shrank, its chakra quickly absorbed.
Genichi then formed a Wind Release: Rasengan. This time, A-Liu met it with both hands, which immediately reminded Genichi of the Preta Path's ability to absorb ninjutsu. The Wind Release: Rasengan was also absorbed.
"Lord Genichi," A-Dai smiled from the side, "this ability is even stronger than that guy Chūkichi's, isn't it?"
Genichi nodded. Indeed, although this wasn't a combat situation, to be able to absorb his Wind Release: Rasengan was already very impressive.
"Let's try again."
He formed another Rasengan. This time, there was a swirling, ice-blue cyclone inside it.
Ice Release: Rasengan!
The moment A-Liu began to absorb it, ice crystals started to form on his hands. "So strong! As expected of you, Lord Genichi!" He was also a flatterer. "Lord Genichi, I've reached my limit. I cannot absorb your powerful Ice Release."
Genichi retracted his hand. He was stronger than Chūkichi. It could be said that he had enhanced his ability, but White Zetsu itself also had the ability to absorb chakra. However, A-Liu's ability was certainly not as strong as the Rinnegan's Sealing Art: Absorption Seal. After all, one of Nagato's Six Paths had been able to absorb even Jiraiya's Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. And Madara was even more astonishing.
But he was already very satisfied. He was cultivating these White Zetsu both as an experiment and because he needed a batch of assistants, whether for odd jobs in the lab or for gathering intelligence outside.
After testing A-Liu's abilities, he immediately gave an order. "A-Liu, leave the lab, find a White Zetsu, and replace him. Become a member of the Akatsuki's White Zetsu intelligence network."
"Yes, Lord Genichi," A-Liu immediately accepted. After a bow, he left the room and then the lab, melting into the earth. After mastering Steel Release, Genichi had hardened the inner walls of the lab, so not even a White Zetsu's ability could pass through them.
He and A-Dai then went to a huge room. Here, there was an artificial mother-womb, shaped like a real one, but a dozen times larger, and created from White Zetsu cells. The reason for using them was their extreme adaptability, which he speculated came not from Hashirama's cells, but from the assimilation of the God Tree's power.
Tubes, like umbilical cords, were inserted into the giant womb, connecting to large glass jars filled with various nutrient solutions. In addition, he would periodically feed it with Tailed Beast chakra, especially the Nine-Tails'.
"Lord Genichi, this mother can clone Kekkei Genkai users without any problem, but Tailed Beasts are completely impossible. Even the weakest One-Tail failed," A-Dai smiled. "Of course, if it's just cultivating one of the Eight-Tails' horns, that's no problem."
"Then let's try to cultivate an Eight-Tails' horn," he nodded.
"Yes, Lord Genichi. Don't worry, there shouldn't be a problem," A-Dai smiled.
"Then I'll leave this to you." After giving his instructions, he turned and left. It was impossible to have them do research, but they could complete tasks that followed a procedure and didn't require too much specialized skill very well.
After a tour, Genichi did not disturb his clones' work and went straight to the quiet room to sit down. The Ice Release and Dust Release Kekkei Tōta had been completed two years ago. And in these two years, the Scorch Release and Wood Release Kekkei Tōta had been completed one after another. This was much faster than expected, especially the Wood Release, since the Scorch Release had Pakura's help.
So, he now felt that he could try to practice creating the Truth-Seeking Orbs. Of course, not all at once. For this, he had also temporarily formulated a two-step plan. The first step was to use Yin-Yang Release to create the black chakra rods. If he could do that, then his Yin-Yang Release could be considered to have achieved some initial success.
Clap!
He clapped his hands together and began to train. For him now, his sage transformation training only took one morning to "feed" his cells, followed by a long period of nourishment to let them gradually "sage-transform." At that time, he would no longer have ordinary chakra.
Time flew by, and in a flash, it was July. Konoha began to get lively. Ninja squads from the Mist, Sand, Hot Water, Waterfall, and Rain villages began to appear in the village one after another. They were all here for the joint Chūnin Exams.
The only one participating from Konoha this year that he was paying attention to was Shisui Uchiha. However, his main body did not appear at the exam site, but was in the lab.
So he has already dealt with Hanzō. But I didn't expect him to have made Hanzō into one of the Six Paths. This was the intel sent back by A-Liu. He had also learned that Nagato's legs had been replaced, which meant his abilities had been enhanced. He was feeling a little eager for a fight. And it seemed it was also time to try and mirror the Rinnegan.
But he was here today not because of the intel, but because… his Yin-Yang Release had shown its first results. The black chakra rods had been created.
In the mother-womb room, he gave an order. "Begin."
A-Dai and the other Zetsu began to get busy. The Eight-Tails' horn that had been cultivated before had already been taken out. A-Dai was now responsible for injecting one spore after another into the mother. These spores had been gestated from the Zetsus that had been implanted with the cells of different Kekkei Genkai or special constitutions, such as the previous A-Liu. The ones that had been successfully activated now also included the Magnet Release A-Er and the Hydrification A-Si. The Ice Release A-San had failed, as had the Obito-celled A-Wu and the Shikotsumyaku A-Qi.
So there were a total of six spores. In fact, these spores could easily grow into new Zetsus with just a little chakra. But they were too weak, although they could be strengthened later with more Hashirama cells. But by using the mother-womb, the Zetsus that were cultivated would be different, because it simulated gestation in a mother's womb. In addition, he also needed to see through this experiment whether this method could allow those Kekkei Genkai cells to be more perfectly integrated into the Zetsu bodies.
After the spores were injected, special nutrient solution was injected to act as amniotic fluid, and then umbilical-cord-like tubes injected other nutrients to supply the mother. Then he stepped forward and directly injected Tailed Beast chakra into it. He only stopped when it had reached its limit.
This way, the gestation time for these six Zetsus could be greatly shortened. If it was one, it would only take a month. Now, with six at the same time, it would take about six months for them to fully mature.
"I'll leave this to you." After giving his instructions, he turned and left, going to another lab where a clone and several Zetsus were busy.
"How is the spore-embryo experiment going?" he asked.
"Wouldn't it be better to wait and see the situation on the mother's side?" a clone said without looking up. "We might just be wasting time now."
"If you spent less time on women," another clone said, "the cultivation might have already been completed."
The few Zetsus on the side laughed awkwardly. After all, to see their master being dissed by his own clones was really…
But he wasn't angry at all. "Why should I do it myself when I have clones?" he said, as if it were a matter of course.
"Be careful we don't go on strike and rebel," a clone couldn't help but roll its eyes.
"Suit yourselves." With that, he went forward to help.
The so-called spore-embryo was an embryo cultivated on the basis of a White Zetsu spore, into which Hashirama's and Sasuke Uchiha's cells had been integrated. Of course, it could also be other cells. The aim was to perfectly combine the two. However, it had not yet succeeded. It was also because A-Liu had not found Madara's body, so they could only use Sasuke's.
But now, he wasn't sure if Indra's chakra had been reincarnated into Sasuke. After all, Naruto had been born first. But it didn't hurt to experiment first.
While he was busy in the lab, the Chūnin Exams were in full swing. Especially the final round, to which the Daimyō of various countries had also been invited to watch. Shisui Uchiha of the Uchiha clan had become famous for his outstanding abilities. However, Genichi, who had planned to go and watch the final round, was instead called to the Konoha Hospital by Shizune.
In the hospital room, he looked at the unconscious person, a little surprised. "This is… Anko?"
"This child suddenly fainted," Tsunade said. "After an examination, we found that there is another force at work in her body." She couldn't help but say with some anger, "That bastard Orochimaru, to actually experiment on his own student!"
"Lady Tsunade," Shizune quickly comforted her, "let's first think of a way to solve Anko's problem."
"I've already sent someone to call that guy back," Tsunade huffed.
Genichi went forward to check and saw the three-tomoe mark on Anko's neck. The Cursed Seal of Heaven.
"What is this, Genichi?" Shizune asked.
"A sage transformation curse mark that Orochimaru-senpai came up with," he said, retracting his gaze.
"A sage transformation curse mark?" Tsunade was taken aback, then frowned. "That guy is also practicing in this area?"
"Um, will Anko also have rampages?" Shizune was very surprised, then looked at Anko with worry.
"Since she survived, it means she has already adapted to the power," he smiled. "However, she should be resisting this power herself right now, so she can't use it. Instead, it's interfering with her. The source of the curse mark is Orochimaru-senpai's sage power. If she can use this power, her ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu will all be greatly enhanced. If she can't bear it, she will rampage."
He looked at the unconscious Anko. He understood that she believed the curse mark was an evil power and was therefore resisting it, thus being unable to truly fuse with it. It seemed Orochimaru had left a considerable shadow on her.
"Is there a way to solve it?" Tsunade asked.
"The power of the curse mark has already fused with her body," he shook his head. "It's almost impossible to completely remove it. But it's simple to seal it with the Evil Sealing Method. If I do it, I can completely seal it so that it won't affect her. But I think she can try to control its power."
To define a power as good or evil was too narrow-minded, in his opinion. Even the relatively safe Sage Mode was very dangerous in training. The petrified toads of Mount Myōboku were proof of that. Orochimaru's curse mark was a weakened version of the sage-transformed Jūgo.
"Tsunade, your capacity is far less than Genichi-kun's," a voice suddenly sounded. Then they saw Orochimaru walk into the room. He had not become a rogue ninja of Konoha.
"You bastard, Orochimaru!" Tsunade was furious at the sight of him. She stood with her hands on her hips and roared, "Why didn't you report something like this?"
"Don't forget, Tsunade," he smiled, "Anko is my student." But he looked at her with a hint of disappointment. Although he had sealed a part of her memory, she was still instinctively resisting this power. The Cursed Seal of Heaven… currently, only she had survived. The Cursed Seal of Earth, on the other hand, was now showing its first results. At least Madara's clone could bear it well.
"She is first and foremost a ninja of Konoha, and so are you!" Tsunade's expression was solemn. "Don't force me to act against you."
"Tsunade," he chuckled, "you've been the Hokage for these past few years. Your training must have fallen behind a lot, right?"
The laughter had just fallen when his expression changed. He had been entangled by vines that had grown from the ground. "Wood Release? When did you master this, Tsunade? I don't sense any of the First's cells on you." He was very shocked.
"Don't underestimate me, the Hokage, Orochimaru," she said, the corners of her lips curling up. "Otherwise, I will make you die a very ugly death."
After his shock, he smiled again. "I did indeed underestimate you, Tsunade. To be able to master Wood Release with your own ability is truly unexpected." He turned to look at the ever-gentle-smiling Genichi, sized him up for a few moments, and said with some uncertainty, "You've changed quite a bit, Genichi-kun."
"You've also changed quite a bit, Senpai," he smiled back. "It seems you've already completed it." In his eyes, Orochimaru was no longer a simple human, but a… snake wearing human skin. It was obvious that his body modification was complete; he had transformed from a human into a white phosphorus snake. The two of them had walked different paths, but in the end, they had arrived at the same destination.
"Orochimaru, can you remove the curse mark on Anko?" Tsunade frowned, looking at the two of them talking in riddles.
"I can't do that," he spread his hands. "The power of the curse mark has already fused with her body. The power of sage art… you should also know a little about it, right? And if she makes good use of this power, she can easily have the strength of a jonin. You should be thanking me, Tsunade. If you agree…"
Before he could finish, she waved her hand and decisively refused. "I will not let you do these things in the village."
Although it was expected, he was still a little regretful.
"Get lost," she waved her hand impatiently, and the vines binding him also loosened.
"Genichi-kun, let's have a chat," he said, turning to leave.
"Wait until Anko wakes up and see what she decides," Genichi said to Tsunade. "If she really doesn't want it, I'll seal it for her."
"I know," she nodded.
He then left the room.
On the hospital roof, Orochimaru handed him a scroll. "The idea you proposed back then, Genichi-kun, has borne some fruit."
He took it without refusing.
"How much intel do you have on the Rinnegan?" Orochimaru asked. "The Uchiha's stone tablet… hehe, you've already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, haven't you, Genichi-kun?"
"The Rinnegan… I don't have much intel. I haven't found Nagato yet," he smiled. "It seems you've made quite a few discoveries, Senpai."
"Don't you think the Rinnegan is related to the Uchiha's Sharingan, Genichi-kun?" he said meaningfully.
"A guess is a guess. A fact is a fact," he shook his head.
"Indeed," Orochimaru smiled. Although he had answered like that, for him, it was almost a confirmation.
The two of them then discussed some research problems. Two hours later, he took his leave.
Watching him go, Genichi knew. Madara's body had definitely been found by him. That guy Black Zetsu had really worked hard to save his mother. But he had to say, he had chosen a very good target. With Orochimaru's personality, without having researched the Rinnegan… no, even without the Rinnegan, he probably wouldn't be able to resist reanimating Madara.
"Forbidden jutsu shouldn't be used recklessly. I hope he learns this lesson in the future." He turned and left the roof.
In the evening, Anko woke up. She ultimately chose to have the curse mark sealed. This was a choice that followed her heart. He didn't try to persuade her otherwise.
Time flew by, and a few more months passed. On November 17 of Konoha Year 52, Genichi turned 17. He had never had the habit of celebrating his birthday, in either his past life or this one. But now with Ina and Shizune, it was different. So the dinner that night was exceptionally lavish. However, besides Tsunade, who had come to freeload, no other guests were invited.
And without any surprise, Tsunade was once again drunk under the table by the astonishingly high-alcohol-tolerant Ina. She loved to drink but couldn't hold her liquor.
Late at night, Ina snuck into his bedroom again. Since Shizune had also moved in, she could no longer sleep in his room as openly as before. But the feeling of being sneaky was more exciting.
"Lord Genichi, please give me a child," she invited, her face red, in his ear.
That night, he gave her his all, and she sought tirelessly, the two of them exploring the mysteries of life together. And outside, Shizune, who had gotten up to get a glass of water for Tsunade, listened to the cat-like cries for half the night, blushing.
The next morning, Tsunade looked at Ina, who was drying the bedsheets, and couldn't help but say, "Ina, you look very well today."
"It's because I drank yesterday and slept more," she said quickly, her face slightly red.
"That makes sense. I feel the same way," Tsunade nodded. "Looks like I should have a small drink every night from now on."
(End of Chapter)
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