"I won!"
A smile appeared on the face of the panting Ninja as he looked at the Gene Modification Fluid in Vegapunk's hand with a gaze full of greedy fanaticism.
To pursue the stronger Gene Modification Fluid that could enhance their power, these Ninjas under Orochimaru immediately engaged in a fight. Only the winner could use the strongest Gene Modification Fluid. Even though that fluid had a 70% mortality rate, these Ninjas still fought desperately.
Although Vegapunk couldn't understand the fanaticism of these Ninjas, he didn't care what a group of experimental subjects thought and directly handed over the syringe in his hand.
The winning Ninja chose the three-headed snake Gene Modification Fluid without hesitation, which was the most dangerous but had the best enhancement effect. As the modification fluid was injected into his veins, the Ninja let out a scream instantly.
Dense snake scales gradually grew all over his body, and his eyes turned into snake pupils. With a scalp-numbing sound of tearing, two more heads grew out of his shoulders.
After struggling for several minutes, the Ninja finally calmed down, leaving only heavy gasps.
"This amount of Chakra... it's almost increased seven or eightfold... this is much more than we initially expected."
Orochimaru showed an interested expression on his face and said with a low laugh.
Vegapunk shrugged: "It's quite normal. After all, Ninja Beasts were used as materials. Perhaps this guy now has the aptitude to practice Snake Sage Art!"
"By the way, try and see if you can change back to your original human form and a full beast form."
The last sentence was spoken by Vegapunk to the experimental subject. After hearing it, the subject silently stood up and began to control his power.
As an adult Ninja who had fought countless battles, he had a certain level of control over his power. Soon, the snake scales, snake pupils, two extra heads, and the tail behind him all retracted, and he returned to his original human appearance.
Then, he closed his eyes again to control his body. His entire being gradually elongated into a three-headed giant snake dozens of meters long, and the Chakra in his body surged even further.
"Truly a perfect creation..." Orochimaru flicked his tongue, his fanatical expression evident. "A perfect combination of a Summoned Beast and a human? If it were replaced with a more powerful Summoned Beast, or even a Snake Sage, perhaps humans really could practice perfect Snake Sage Art!"
Just as Vegapunk had once considered using Natural Energy to extend his life, Orochimaru, who had always pursued eternity, naturally had his eye on the Sages. However, he didn't even dare to practice Snake Sage Art properly, eventually creating a knock-off version called the Cursed Seal.
However, after seeing Vegapunk's biotechnology, he gained more inspiration and vaguely formed a research plan regarding Sage Transformation.
As for the remaining three Ninjas who fused with ordinary animal genes, Orochimaru no longer held them in high regard. Although their Chakra had nearly doubled and their physical constitutions had greatly improved, granting them many animal-specific abilities, this level of enhancement meant little to Orochimaru.
His current Cursed Seal, though not yet fully developed and having an extremely high mortality rate, already provided an enhancement to Ninjas that exceeded this type of animal-specific modification, lacking only some special animal abilities.
For instance, Vegapunk had mostly chosen marine organisms this time. When fighting in water, the power of these Ninjas would be several times stronger than that of ordinary Ninjas.
By now, the final result of the bet was self-evident. Orochimaru had no intention of backing out. His thirst for knowledge and truth made him not mind being the student of a pioneer at all.
Given Orochimaru's personality, unless the day came when he felt his abilities surpassed Vegapunk's and he had drained all of Vegapunk's knowledge, he would work honestly under Vegapunk.
Vegapunk didn't mind Orochimaru's personality either. Over the years, inspirations had been popping up in his mind one after another, incredibly numerous. What he worried about was that he didn't have enough time for many research projects, not that Orochimaru would drain his knowledge.
On the contrary, his trouble was that no one could keep up with his research pace. Although Nico Robin's talent was decent, she was actually more inclined toward the liberal arts. Even with the help of the first-generation biochip, she was still quite lacking in actual scientific research.
As for the three he had collaborated with before—Caesar, Queen, and Vinsmoke Judge—they each basically had their own ambitions. In terms of the purity of their attitude toward scientific research, they were far inferior to Orochimaru. Therefore, even though Vegapunk's level far exceeded theirs, the three would not be won over by him... After recruiting Orochimaru, besides having a perfect research assistant, the greater benefit for Vegapunk was having Orochimaru's years of accumulation.
Although Vegapunk's level was far above Orochimaru's, the technology trees of the One Piece World and the Naruto World were ultimately very different. Just as the One Piece World had black technologies created from special products like Devil Fruits, the Chakra of the Naruto World had similar properties. In terms of research on Chakra, even Vegapunk wouldn't claim to surpass Orochimaru.
Furthermore, although Orochimaru had now defected from Konoha, his reputation itself was a brand. He had intricate connections with many forces throughout the Ninja World. Many things that Vegapunk couldn't get his hands on would just be a matter of a single word for Orochimaru.
Combined with his bases scattered across most of the Ninja World, various experimental subjects with special physiques he had collected, and spies and informants stationed in various Ninja villages... it could be said that recruiting Orochimaru alone made Vegapunk's scientific research path several times smoother.
With Orochimaru's help, taking over the Land of Sea would be an even easier task. In fact, although Orochimaru had defected, Konoha Village had also put some effort into the Land of Sea back then to guard against Kirigakure, and Orochimaru was the one who presided over that plan. So, while Orochimaru didn't have many people in the Land of Sea, his infiltration was actually quite deep.
Regarding the plan Vegapunk had conceived to replace the Daimyo, Orochimaru was initially somewhat shocked, but that was followed by an excitement emanating from his very core.
With Orochimaru's lawless personality, if it weren't for the fact that long-term control methods were a bit troublesome, and that he hadn't thought of it due to some mental inertia, he probably would have acted against those Daimyos long ago to obtain research funds.