Naruto: I Borrow from the Future

Chapter 95: Giving Orochimaru a heads-up and luring Yamato away.

"You're studying Hashirama Senju's cells, right? It seems things aren't going very well."

Qingye did not answer, but walked forward on his own. With his right hand, which was covered by a black glove, he picked up the petri dish, activated his Sharingan, and observed the cluster of white cells full of life on it.

Decades after Hashirama Senju's death, his cells remained remarkably active and seemed capable of continuing to divide and multiply.

Orochimaru glanced around, but his gaze eventually returned to the mysterious man.

Who on earth is this guy?!

What is Danzo good for?!

This is his lair, yet he managed to let such a mysterious person with unknown background infiltrate here!

"What is your purpose?"

Orochimaru took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Your research is very interesting, but unfortunately you've gone in the wrong direction," Qingye said, turning around to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru then realized that beneath the tomoe holes in the mask on the mysterious man's face were actually a pair of scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan eyes!

"Are you a member of the Chiha clan?"

Orochimaru frowned slightly.

Who is it?

There shouldn't be many people in the Uchiha clan with this kind of strength. Uchiha Aoya, Uchiha Fugaku—or maybe there are other powerful Uchiha members he doesn't know about?

Seeing the mysterious man chuckle without answering, Orochimaru, recalling his earlier words, pressed on, "What did you mean by saying I went the wrong way?"

Is this guy here because of my research?

Qingye slowly put down the petri dish in his hand and said softly, "Hashirama Senju is a very special person, and the power of Wood Release is also very special. Even in the history of Senju, he is one of only two people who have mastered Wood Release."

Only two?

Orochimaru caught the word, his breathing quickening, and pressed, "Who is the other person?"

"The ancestor of the Senju clan, the second son of the Sage of Six Paths, Ashura."

Orochimaru's expression was somewhat strange.

Is this guy bluffing me?

The name Asura was naturally familiar to him, having read many ancient texts, but he always regarded it as a myth or legend.

He had even sought confirmation from Tsunade, who said that the ancestor recorded in their Senju clan was indeed Ashura, but the reliability was questionable.

As for the claim that he was the second son of the Sage of Six Paths, Tsunade didn't believe it at all.

In the legends of the Sage of Six Paths circulating in the ninja world, this founder of the ninja sect is said to possess the powerful ability to create the world, but almost no one can take such things as historical fact.

However, Orochimaru didn't voice his doubts, but instead continued to press, "What made the First Hokage so special? What made the Wood Release technique so special?"

"You have quite a few questions," Qingye said with an approving tone. "However, for a researcher, this is a very good quality."

"Wood Release, this is the power inherited from the ancient divine tree. Only those who are descendants of the Six Paths can unleash the true power of Wood Release."

"Like that boy who survived by sheer luck, he could only display a small fraction of the power of Wood Release."

"As for these more ordinary experimental materials, they are completely unable to withstand the power of the dry-handed Hashirama cells."

Descendants of the Six Paths —

Orochimaru recalled the legends of the ninja world that he had once heard.

Similar to the Senju clan's records about their ancestor Ashura, ninja legends also say that the Uchiha clan's ancestor was Indra, who was also a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths.

Senju and Uchiha—these two strongest ninja clans in the ninja world, which have been passed down for thousands of years during the Warring States period, could they be the so-called descendants of the Six Paths?

Orochimaru wanted to press for more information, but his attention was drawn to another matter that Aoya had mentioned.

"What boy who miraculously survived?"

Orochimaru was confused.

"You don't know?" Qingye asked back.

Orochimaru:

Should I know?

However, he quickly realized what was happening.

The human experiment of recreating Wood Release by transplanting the cells of the First Hokage was secretly carried out after the Second Shinobi World War with the support of the Third Hokage.

He is the head of research!

At that time, he conducted interstitial cell transplantation experiments on a total of 60 subjects, but unfortunately none of them survived.

But now it seems that this is probably not the case!

According to this mysterious person, one of the test subjects must have survived by sheer luck.

Although the Third Hokage tacitly approved and supported the human experiments at the time, he did not personally participate in them; instead, Danzo Shimura was in charge of overseeing them.

Therefore—

Orochimaru quickly guessed the answer, asserting, "One of the test subjects survived, but Danzo hid him!"

"good."

Qingye revealed Jia's location.

"We look forward to new progress in your research."

Orochimaru watched the mysterious man leave without giving chase.

He has no information about the other party yet, so it's best not to act rashly for the time being.

"Who exactly is this guy? And what's his purpose?"

"Besides the Uchiha clan of Konoha, are there other powerful Uchiha clan members hidden in the ninja world?"

"Or perhaps it's not from the Uchiha clan, but rather a Sharingan obtained through transplantation?"

With so many thoughts swirling in his head and no answer in sight, Orochimaru simply gave up on trying to figure it out.

Let's think about the experiment first.

"Only those who are not descendants of the Six Paths can truly unleash the power of Wood Release. The legends about the descendants of the Six Paths need to be further verified—and that experimental subject who survived!" Orochimaru quietly left the laboratory.

Let's verify this first!

Root training ground.

A was lying alone on the ground.

The Root Jonin who was in charge of his daily training had left, leaving him all alone in the empty training ground.

"What is the outside world like?"

A stared blankly at the high ceiling, as if trying to see through it and reach the sky outside.

The earliest memory he can recall is of being immersed in a huge jar, watching people his age in other jars around him, one by one turning into wood and dying, until only he was left.

In my memory, he seems to have turned into a block of wood.

In his hazy state of consciousness, he thought he was going to die, but when he woke up, he saw a person who gave him a name—or rather, a code name.

In short, from that day on, he became the Root ninja "A".

Under the guidance of the person arranged by that adult, he began his training as a ninja, practicing Wood Release ninjutsu day after day.

At first, the adult had high expectations for him, and often came to see him and encourage him.

But later, perhaps because he hadn't done well enough, the man seemed somewhat disappointed and visited him less and less.

Now, the only person he can interact with on a daily basis is the Jonin who is responsible for teaching him.

The Root Jonin didn't talk much; he was only responsible for guiding his training and never talked to him about the outside world.

"I really want to go out—"

A reached out his hand toward the ceiling, muttering to himself.

Do you want to leave here?

Suddenly a voice entered his ears, and Jia was jolted awake. He sprang to his feet quickly, holding a kunai in his hand and looking on alert.

"Who is it?!"

A shouted loudly and looked around, but saw no one.

After checking again carefully, they found a small white snake in the corner.

"—Was that you speaking just now?"

A was a little dazed.

"You haven't answered my question yet. Do you want to leave?" To A's astonishment, the little white snake flicked its tongue and spoke in human language.

"—Yes!" A hesitated for a long time, her eyes filled with hope. "Can you take me out of here? But Lord Danzo won't allow me to leave."

"Heh, there will be a chance."

The little white snake chuckled, but didn't choose to take the boy who had inherited the Wood Release technique away immediately: "I still don't know your name."

"My name is Jia—"

A hesitated for a moment, but ultimately could not resist the desire to leave this place and see the light of day again.

"A, that's just your code name. I'm asking for your real name."

"Name, I, I don't have a name, I can't remember it—" A was a little distressed, he couldn't recall any memories before that jar.

"Don't you remember? That's alright."

The little white snake's voice carried a seductive tone: "The code name 'Jia' is not important, and neither is your name."

The important question is, once you strip away that code name, who are you?

"I...I don't know—"

Do you want to know who you are?

"----think!"

The little white snake wanted to say something more, but suddenly heard a noise outside and said with some regret, "Next time we meet, I'll tell you who you are. But remember, don't tell anyone about us."