Naruto: The Tavern Speech Begins to Make the Land of Rain Great

After meeting Hiruzen Sarutobi, Watanabe Tetsuya finally found Orochimaru, whom he had been longing to meet.

At this time, Orochimaru had not yet moved to the dark underground laboratory, and the entire laboratory was relatively bright.

Test tubes, petri dishes, and a whole bunch of strange experimental equipment were neatly stacked in the laboratory.

Watanabe Tetsu walked over to Orochimaru's side; Orochimaru was currently focused on processing a set of experimental data.

After Orochimaru finished what he was doing, his pale yellow snake eyes flickered slightly, and he fixed his gaze on Watanabe Tetsu.

"Your strength has improved?"

"Just lucky, just lucky."

Watanabe Toru smiled and agreed.

When others praise you, you should be humble.

That's how you can show off even more.

Orochimaru, however, was not having any of it and immediately changed the subject.

"How's Furukawa?"

"Still alive."

Orochimaru turned his head slightly and gave Watanabe Tetsu a strange look.

He then lowered his head and began rummaging through a stack of scrolls on the ground.

"That's not it."

"It's not this one either."

After Orochimaru spent nearly five minutes flipping through those hundreds of scrolls, he finally found the correct one.

He unrolled the scroll, checked its contents, and then tossed it to Watanabe Toru.

"He'll be interested in the little gift for Furukawa."

"Can I watch it?"

Orochimaru still had a smile on his face.

Watanabe Toru opened the scroll, read for five seconds, and then closed it.

He now understood why Orochimaru was smiling.

Those lines of text were like encryption; each word was readable individually, but when put together, they sounded like nonsensical.

All these experimental data and unfamiliar symbols—what are they all?

How did he and Furukawa manage to reach a consensus on these bizarre and distorted symbols?

"What kind of research is this?"

"A study on the mechanism and mitigation strategies of specific immune rejection in large-scale seeding of peripheral cells."

?

Seeing Watanabe Tetsu's seemingly confused expression, Orochimaru patiently explained.

You know that human cells produce "body energy," right?

Watanabe Toru nodded.

"This 'physical energy' combines with the spiritual energy cultivated through practice to form chakra."

Watanabe Toru nodded.

"However, the cells of each individual ninja are completely different. Some ninjas have stronger cells, so their physical strength and constitution are better, and their ability to learn taijutsu is also stronger."

Watanabe Tetsu nodded; this was not hard to understand.

He had learned about cell-related topics in his previous life.

The only thing to do is to localize the cells and combine them with the chakra of the ninja world.

Watanabe Tetsuya pondered for a moment and then asked.

"So, your research focuses on transplanting cells from ninja A into ninja B without causing rejection?"

"That's right."

Orochimaru looked at Watanabe Tetsu with a surprised expression.

He didn't expect that this guy would actually be able to react.

He thought Watanabe Toru was a guy who knew nothing about science.

He continued.

"From what I understand, there have been several exceptionally powerful ninjas in the ninja world whose cells had an exceptionally high rate of metabolism. So I was wondering, what if we transplanted their cells into an ordinary person's body?"

Watanabe Toru was shocked.

He thought of someone.

"The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."

"Heh, Che-kun really does think the same way I do."

Orochimaru licked his lips, surprised that Watanabe Tetsu's thoughts were surprisingly aligned with his own.

After reading various books, he realized the difference of the First Hokage.

An unprecedentedly powerful Wood Release technique, along with the ability to heal itself without any seals.

All of this points to one possibility: cells possess extremely strong vitality.

After he asked Sarutobi-sensei, Orochimaru confirmed his idea.

Hashirama Senju's cells have an astonishing metabolic capacity and can be continuously passaged.

Almost instantly, Orochimaru came up with a series of scientific solutions to transform Hashirama's cells into ninja power.

After conducting theoretical experiments, he identified two mainstream methods.

One method is cell fusion.

By fusing Hashirama Senju's cells with the host's cells, the host gains the cellular vitality of Hashirama Senju.

However, the problem is obvious: the probability of fusion is low, the stability is poor, and the cells are very likely to lose their ability to express the substance.

Another method is the transplantation method mentioned earlier.

The transplantation method is relatively simpler and more direct.

A portion of Hashirama Senju's cells can be directly injected into the host's body or transplanted onto the host's skin or organs.

This approach is low-cost, easy to operate, and allows for quick removal of any problems that may arise.

However, the problem is that the degree of integration is limited, and the improvement in the ninja's strength may not be obvious.

Orochimaru's current research is undoubtedly on transplantation techniques.

After completing his S-rank mission to negotiate in the Land of Rain, the reward he asked for from Sarutobi-sensei was Hashirama Senju's cells.

He explained to Hiruzen Sarutobi the enormous benefits that this technology would bring once it was fully developed.

The most direct benefit is that the strength of Konoha ninjas can suddenly increase by a large margin.

It is even possible to cultivate a specialized "Hashirama Cell Ninja Army".

Even so, Orochimaru was well aware that transplanting the First Hokage's cells involved extremely serious ethical and moral issues.

It would be fine if it were someone else's cells, but this person just happened to be the First Hokage.

He is the person who founded this village.

When Orochimaru saw Hiruzen Sarutobi, who remained silent and with his eyes downcast, he expected to be rejected.

Surprisingly, his teacher agreed to the request after a moment's thought.

Orochimaru, however, saw a hint of concern and determination in the other's eyes.

That concern was for the village.

That hint of resolve, however, was directed at him.

Orochimaru knew that his teacher's mindset had probably undergone a slight change.

But Orochimaru never cared about other people's opinions; he cared about his own desires.

His main tasks now are the pursuit of life, the pursuit of truth, and even the pursuit of immortality.

So even knowing that his teacher's attitude towards him had changed, Orochimaru still resolutely continued on.

He doesn't know if the third generation will use this technology if it matures.

But one day in the future, Konoha might need it.

This is enough.

Orochimaru still harbors a deep love for Konoha.

He raised his head and looked at Watanabe Tetsu again.

"The scroll contains some theories about cell transplantation and my thoughts on immune rejection, but I cannot provide you with the Hashirama Senju cells."

After Orochimaru returned to Konoha, Watanabe Tetsu shared the Akatsuki's research findings with him on several occasions.

Orochimaru also sent some of his research findings to Xiaoguanghui as a form of academic exchange.

But about the interstitial cells...

Hashirama Senju's cells are extremely crucial, and Orochimaru, currently aligned with Konoha, would absolutely not reveal them.

However, just because Orochimaru won't give it to him doesn't mean he can't get it from somewhere else.

On a certain white mollusk, on a certain gloomy old man, or digging up graves in the Thousand Hands territory ( ).

As for whether the methods used are honorable or not... that's none of your business!

When the time comes, equip every Akatsuki member with Hashirama cells, and you'll see how glorious it will be when they beat up other ninja villages!