They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 31 Interlude
Seeing Jiraiya's horrified expression, Orochimaru's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

This guy is probably thinking about something inappropriate for children again.

"Monitoring of physiological indicators".

Orochimaru, too lazy to waste words with him, pointed to the flashing waveform on a screen next to him, and picked up a few metal patches with wires attached.

"Records the changes in various physical data as you attempt to absorb and utilize Sage Chakra."

This helps in analyzing and optimizing the cultivation process…

He tried his best to explain in language that even he could understand.

"Oh! So that's how it is!"

Jiraiya suddenly realized, and the wariness on his face instantly turned into an embarrassed, sheepish smile.

"Hey, I thought... cough cough, well, you should have said so earlier!"

He scratched his head, then quickly began to take off his clothes.

He tossed his coat and shirt aside in a few quick movements, revealing his fairly fit body.

Seeing that his hand was already reaching for his belt,
"Alright, you don't need to take off your underwear."

Orochimaru finally spoke up to stop them.

Jiraiya paused in his act of taking off his pants, gave an embarrassed laugh, and lowered his hand.

"Hehe, I was just thinking that the data should be more comprehensive."

He muttered something to himself, then obediently stood on the slightly raised metal platform.

Orochimaru ignored his rambling and clapped his hands together.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

After a few puffs of white smoke dissipated, several shadow clones appeared in the laboratory, each heading to different instruments to begin debugging.

A shadow clone walked over with electrode pads and began to attach them to Jiraiya's body.

Chest, arms, even forehead.

The icy touch sent a shiver down Jiraiya's spine.

"All right."

Orochimaru confirmed that all devices were connected correctly and spoke to Jiraiya on the platform.

"Now, try to absorb natural energy and condense Sage Chakra."

Just follow your usual training routine at Mount Myōboku; don't force yourself.

He wanted to first check Jiraiya's current progress and some basic characteristics of the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku.

"okay!"

Jiraiya responded, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

He began to try to recall the feeling of being guided by the hermit Fukasaku at Mount Myōboku, attempting to sense the elusive energy around him.

The atmosphere in the laboratory fell silent for a moment, with only the slight hum of the instruments.

After a while.

Jiraiya's nostrils began to bulge slightly, and faint oil-painted patterns appeared under his eyelids, which were characteristic of a toad.

An energy completely different from his own chakra began to gather within his body.

But just as those features were about to become more obvious and the Sage Chakra was about to take shape, Jiraiya suddenly opened his eyes, and the strange phenomena on his body subsided.

He took a few breaths, a hint of regret on his face.

"Phew... This is the best I can do right now."

"If I go any deeper, I can't control the changes in my body, and I feel like I'm going to turn into a toad completely."

Orochimaru nodded calmly, signaling his shadow clone to record the data.

"Yes, the initial perception and guidance are already sufficient."

After that, he had Jiraiya try it out several times with different intensities, such as deliberately speeding up the absorption rate, or trying to perform simple chakra nature changes while condensing Sage Chakra.

Each attempt is accompanied by detailed data recorded by the surrounding instruments.

Although Jiraiya was somewhat confused, he still obediently cooperated.

After a long while, Orochimaru finally signaled that it was okay.

Jiraiya jumped off the platform, stretching his somewhat stiff body as he curiously approached Orochimaru, looking at the complex curves and values ​​on the screen.

"How about it? My talent is pretty good, right? Will I be able to master Sage Mode soon?"

He rubbed his hands together, looking expectant.

"You don't think this amount of data is enough, do you?"

Orochimaru glanced at him and said indifferently.

"Huh? You want to come again?"

Jiraiya's smile froze on his face.

"Research is not as simple as you think."

Time flies, and a year has passed quietly amidst continuous experiments and data accumulation.

This is Orochimaru's third year in this world, as a Konoha ninja.

After a year of joint research, especially after Orochimaru occasionally "borrowed" Jiraiya to conduct various "harmless" tests, his research on Sage Mode finally got on the right track.

First, as he expected, the perception and absorption of natural energy does indeed require both body and mind to reach a state of extreme "stillness".

In this respect, the ninjas in the Naruto world are somewhat lacking because they rely too much on chakra, this "convenient" energy.

After natural energy is absorbed into the body, this energy will produce an instinctive, root-based repulsion reaction with chakra.

This may be the fundamental reason why people with special constitutions, like Jugo, who are born with the ability to absorb natural energy, intermittently enter a berserk state. Their bodies struggle to maintain stability when faced with the conflict between two completely different energy systems.

The core secrets of the immortal arts of the two sacred sites, Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi-dō, are just as he had previously thought.

They did not create a completely new way of using energy, but rather greatly reduced or even harmonized this rejection reaction by imitating the life characteristics of the two immortal beings—the toad and the snake—who have adapted to and even controlled natural energy since ancient times.

To enable the human body to "accommodate" this powerful native force.

As for why he could do such a thing, he can only speculate that it is due to the special properties of Sage Chakra.

That's understandable, since chakra has its own manifestations in this regard, like the Impure World Reincarnation.

By attaching the chakra of the deceased to a living person, one can enable that person to use the deceased's ninjutsu, and even bloodline limits such as the Sharingan and Rinnegan.

It's not impossible that Sage Chakra can gradually help the recipient's host adapt to natural energy...

"So, the key is still how to get the body to adapt..."

Orochimaru looked at the experimental records, lost in thought.

Therefore, after understanding this, he taught Jiraiya some basic training techniques from the world of "Under One Person" after screening and adjusting them.

When it comes to how to achieve a state of "stillness" and how to adjust one's inner "qi," the methods of the world of "One Person" are far ahead of the competition.

While the ninjas in the Naruto world possess powerful bodies and minds, they primarily focus on chakra control and the release of ninjutsu, rather than delving deeply into pure internal training techniques.

Jiraiya was initially skeptical, wondering what use these strange postures and breathing techniques could possibly be.

But after trying it for a few days, he really liked it.

The effect is unexpectedly good!

He discovered that his efficiency in perceiving natural energy, his stability in gathering Sage Chakra, and even his control over chakra had significantly improved.

After spending several months combining his training in the "One Person" world with the training plan given by Orochimaru, Jiraiya was surprised to find that he had actually successfully entered Sage Mode!

Although the duration of the effect is not long and the characteristics are somewhat unstable, this is undoubtedly a huge breakthrough!

After confirming the effectiveness of these techniques, Orochimaru used them as leverage to successfully obtain a tiny sample of the White Snake Sage and the Toad Sage from Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave through Jiraiya and his connections.

The process went even more smoothly than he had imagined. The White Snake Immortal seemed to want to see what he could do, and readily agreed.

To his surprise, the Great Toad Sage from Mount Myōboku personally met with him and said that he saw in the prophecy that he would bring about a change in the ninja world, which could bring both new life and destruction.

It is willing to give up some of its body tissue, but only on the condition that Orochimaru makes a pact with it: when the ninja world is in danger, Orochimaru must do everything in his power to prevent its destruction.

Orochimaru was taken aback, but after thinking for a moment, he readily agreed.

In this way, he obtained the body tissues of the two immortals.

For the next six months or so, Orochimaru devoted most of his energy to the research on these two types of cells, and made considerable progress.

"Next, we should consider the goals for the next stage."

We should also try to get our hands on the Second Hokage's research data on the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

Orochimaru's eyes flashed with a sharp light. After that, he would have to think about how to get the experimental data from Danzo.

Taking a deep breath, Orochimaru pushed open the laboratory door, the long-awaited sunlight causing him to squint slightly.

Come to think of it, he's been holed up in the lab for ages...

I wonder how Tsunade and Hiruko's work is going.

In order to train more medical ninjas, he had the two of them try to organize and compile materials and then make some teaching materials.

However, I haven't paid attention to it for a while, so I don't know how it's going...

On the streets, after several years of development, Konoha Village is noticeably more lively than when he first arrived.

No longer the desolation and oppression of war, the laughter of children echoed through the streets and alleys, injecting fresh vitality into the village.

But there will be another war in a few years...

Orochimaru strolled slowly down the street, savoring the hard-won peace.

A moment later, he arrived in front of the Hokage Building.

Today, it was their teacher, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, who specially summoned the three of them.

The specifics of the matter were not detailed in the announcement by Sarutobi-sensei.

But Orochimaru could sense that this was no ordinary D-rank or C-rank mission.

As I entered the Hokage's office, two familiar figures were already there.

"Yo! Orochimaru! You've finally come out of seclusion!"

When Jiraiya saw him come in, he immediately waved and greeted him warmly.

Because of their joint research into Sage Mode, his relationship with Orochimaru grew much closer, evolving from teammates to best friends.

On the other side, Tsunade crossed her arms, pouted, and had a hint of resentment in her eyes.

During this period, Orochimaru spent almost all his time in the laboratory. She tried several times to talk to him about new ideas on medical ninjutsu, or simply to gamble with him, but she couldn't find him at all.

This girl is even more of a homebody than her great-uncle!
It’s great to be young…

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, watching the little interactions between his three disciples, a gentle smile on his face.

However, his expression quickly became more serious.

"Everyone's here, let's get down to business..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped his pipe against the ashtray.

Then, he took a form out of the drawer and placed it on the table.

"have a look."

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade leaned closer to take a look.

At the top of the form, in prominent font, it reads: "Application Form for the Joint Chunin Qualification Examination of the Five Great Ninja Villages"...

(End of this chapter)