"Do you know that my Living Corpse Reincarnation technique has already been successfully developed?"
Orochimaru was slightly surprised. Although he hadn't kept his research on the technique a secret from Kagetsu, the fact that it had been successfully created was something he hadn't disclosed to anyone.
Kagetsu opened his mouth, momentarily confused about why Orochimaru had suddenly jumped to discussing the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique. After a brief pause, he dryly offered his congratulations.
"Looks like I guessed wrong?"
Seeing Kagetsu's expression, Orochimaru, who was skilled at reading people, immediately realized that he had guessed wrong. However, he neither felt angry nor discouraged; instead, a sense of anticipation arose within him.
After all, in many situations, Kagetsu had always managed to give him answers that were surprising, astonishing, and practical to some degree.
"It's not about body possession through Living Corpse Reincarnation. It's about taking abilities!" Kagetsu emphasized the distinction between the two.
"Is it really possible to achieve that?"
Orochimaru, hearing this, licked his lips with interest. He had always had a peculiar obsession with researching and collecting unique jutsu.
This time, Kagetsu had undoubtedly piqued his excitement and curiosity.
If it were possible to take the power of a Sage, then could it go even further? Could it take someone's Kekkei Genkai?
At that thought, Orochimaru suddenly froze. A vague memory of someone flashed through his mind.
Frowning, he pondered seriously for a moment. Soon, he pulled that person from the depths of his memory.
A former teammate who had briefly been part of their squad!
Hiruko, a Konoha rogue ninja who was hunted by the village leadership for his forbidden research.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade had been tasked with pursuing him, but their momentary hesitation had allowed him to escape.
Since then, Hiruko had disappeared from the shinobi world without a trace.
If not for Kagetsu's words today sparking this connection, Orochimaru might not have recalled Hiruko for a very long time.
For Orochimaru, while Hiruko had once been a teammate, the emotional bond with him was far weaker compared to the ties he shared with Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Releasing the other person was simply because Jiraiya and Tsunade had that intention; he did not contribute to it.
Of course, how much mutual respect there was in this, Orochimaru could not clearly say now. After all, the research and improvement of forbidden techniques was something that Hiruzen's disciple, Orochimaru, truly found fascinating.
That forbidden technique...
Orochimaru once again flipped through his memories, searching for the forbidden technique within them.
The Chimera Technique.
When Hiruko defected, he destroyed most of his research materials, leaving only the fragments that could not be destroyed in time, so Orochimaru was able to learn about this technique.
To steal Kekkei Genkais?
Orochimaru roughly analyzed the function of this technique from the scattered, incomplete research materials but also deduced the immense risks it posed. The rightful source is novel•fire.net
At this thought, Orochimaru, who had already blurred memories of his old companion, Hiruko, found himself oddly feeling a rare sense of longing.
Had the other party truly died?
After all, Hiruko was not particularly gifted in ninjutsu. Compared to the three of them, he was like a pursuer, and even Jiraiya, who lagged behind in strength, could easily leave him far behind.
In the ninja world, those without strength could die at any moment, and it was entirely normal.
But even if he were dead, it didn't matter. As long as Orochimaru could find his body or cell tissue, he still had a chance to obtain complete data on the Chimera Technique.
A forbidden technique that can summon the dead back from the pure land! The summoned dead retain their memories from before their death.
Orochimaru knew that the Scroll of Seals contained this technique, so he exchanged for it. Of course, the power of this technique depended on who was summoned from the pure land.
But from what Orochimaru confirmed, this technique became forbidden not because of its power, but because it was too evil.
Disturbing the rest of the dead was unacceptable.
The Second Hokage created it primarily to cooperate with the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. If this technique were truly as powerful as it seemed, there would be no need for the Explosive Tags to bear the output damage.
The summoned dead's power was far weaker than it was in life. Aside from having chakra that remained nearly unchanged and immortality, they could only be used as cannon fodder.
But what if the idea is changed, and instead of using it for fighting, it's used to gather intelligence?
So, even if Hiruko dies, for Orochimaru, it's just a bit of an inconvenience—more time and effort to deal with.
He didn't want to practice the Chimera Technique, but he could draw inspiration from its concept.
Right now, Orochimaru even secretly hoped that Hiruko was still alive and had successfully mastered the Chimera Technique.
Looking at this forgotten memory, it seemed that Kagetsu's thoughts were not as outlandish as they seemed.
In the following time, Orochimaru seriously discussed this unknown technique with Kagetsu. After their exchange of ideas, sparks of inspiration flew, and he was satisfied.
From their discussion, it was clear that the complexity and difficulty of this technique were far beyond other forbidden jutsu. Its very existence was built on a foundation of many other forbidden jutsu.
But because of this, once it was successfully developed, its power would undoubtedly be unexpectedly strong. It could even become his greatest trump card.
What surprised Orochimaru even more was that he had figured out a path to develop it.
With his vast experience in modifying and developing ninjutsu, Orochimaru knew that the most difficult part of developing a technique was finding the thread to pull out of the tangled mess of ideas and moving from zero to one.
Failure was not scary. What was scary was having countless possibilities but no clear path forward.
"The Chimera Technique requires Kekkei Genkai ninja of different chakra natures. Based on Hiruko's sensitive and humble pride, he would never accept ordinary Kekkei Genkais. Even the Kekkei Genkai users themselves wouldn't be simple or average."
Orochimaru worked hard to recall his memories of Hiruko's personality and used them to make a preliminary guess about Hiruko's potential actions and whereabouts.
Although the target was unclear, he could gradually narrow down the possibilities.
When a dull thud came from the operating table and the instruments, Orochimaru paused his conversation with Kagetsu, turning his attention to Shisui, who was slowly awakening on the operating table.
"Looks like his awakening went smoothly. There's not even the slightest physical mutation! What an amazing talent!" After checking Shisui's condition, Orochimaru couldn't decide if he was jealous or in awe.
The difference between the Hogyoku Mode and the Hogyoku Mode truly existed!
At least in cases like Shisui's, it can be said that he perfectly accepted the power of Hogyoku.
Just like with the Jinchūriki of the tailed beasts, the same tailed beast chakra mode can either go berserk or be perfectly controlled.
This is the difference.
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