On the night of the Nine-Tails, I shattered the Tailed Beast Ball with a single punch.

Nagasawa felt that Orochimaru probably wasn't that free.

Nagasawa then contacted Orochimaru again to discuss the series of events surrounding Orochimaru's inexplicable invitation to join his research project.

"He wouldn't be trying to get me involved in researching Hashirama cells, would he...?"

Nagasawa quickly guessed Orochimaru's thoughts.

He couldn't help but admire Snake; he was truly daring.

Who is Yongze? He's the captain of the Dark Guard training team; you could even call him the Dark Guard captain.

He was a member of the Fourth Anbu, but he wasn't on the same path as Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's research in secret was seriously illegal and directly contradicted Konoha's Will of Fire.

Even if Orochimaru's identity is discovered, it won't be enough to withstand it.

And now, Orochimaru actually dares to invite him to study Hashirama cells together.

This is almost as outrageous as a robber inviting the police to rob a bank together.

Nagasawa would never believe that Orochimaru was let in by accident.

Two completely unrelated documents could somehow end up mixed up together; such a person exists, but it certainly wouldn't be Orochimaru.

Nagasawa tapped his fingers on the table, beginning to think.

The amazing properties of Hashirama cells are undeniable; if they were to actually discover something about them, it would definitely be able to effectively enhance Konoha's strength.

Madara also awakened the Rinnegan because of Hashirama cells.

Pretending not to see, Orochimaru's contact with him gradually decreased. Orochimaru, just like in the original story, continued his research, was discovered, and defected...

Konoha lost a top-tier research institute and a Kage-level fighter.

With the information in hand, he confronted Orochimaru directly and began studying the materials together...

The advantage of the first path is that he can know how things are going and keep them under his control. The disadvantage is that he will lose Orochimaru, and Konoha will have another enemy.

The second path is entirely unknown, with infinite possibilities. It's possible that Orochimaru won't defect, and Konoha will become even stronger. Or it's also possible that Orochimaru will still defect, and he will be implicated.

Nagasawa thought for a moment, picked up the documents, and headed toward Orochimaru's research base.

Rather than following the original story in order to know the future, he prefers to work hard to change a bad ending.

He Yongze has never been a person who follows the rules.

Chapter 103 Balance

Orochimaru was somewhat surprised by Nagasawa's arrival.

He was mentally prepared for Yongze not to come for several months.

"Nagazawa-san, have you looked at the data? What do you think?" Orochimaru asked in his hoarse voice.

Yongze placed the data on the lab table and said, "Since I'm here, I've naturally looked through the data. To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise."

"Oh, what kind of accident was it?" Orochimaru's cold face broke into a smile.

Since Nagasawa didn't directly question the issue of the cymbidium cell experiment, it means there's potential, and Nagasawa is also interested in the cymbidium cells from that period.

"Orochimaru, do you know who I am now? I'm the captain of the Anbu training team. Aren't you afraid I'll report you for revealing this to me?"

"Heh, I'm also a special member of the Anbu. If Nagasawa-san wants to report me, go ahead." Orochimaru's lips curled into a wicked smile.

P.S.: The phrase "evil smile" is probably only perfectly fitting when used on Orochimaru in Naruto.

The experimental records for those interstitial cells were originally village data, so reporting them wouldn't cause any problems.

Moreover, if Yongze wanted to report this, he wouldn't have come here to say such things to him.

They should meet in the Hokage's office.

“I hate to say it, but you really made the right bet. I’m also somewhat interested in Hashirama cells,” Nagasawa revealed.

"No one with ideals could resist the urge to unravel the secrets of Hashirama's cells," Orochimaru chuckled.

Firstly, because the First Hokage's Wood Release was very powerful and had a strong ability to suppress the Tailed Beasts, which were like nuclear weapons.

The interstitial cells themselves are also quite absurd, possessing a very unscientific vitality that is completely different from ordinary cells.

"Where have you progressed in your research on interstitial cells?" Nagasawa asked.

He remembered that in the original work, Orochimaru's experiment on Hashirama's cells seemed to have only yielded this one result.

Moreover, he thought he had failed and was picked up by Danzo, and eventually became the Third Hokage's ANBU.

Orochimaru did not answer Nagasawa's question, but instead said to Nagasawa, "Come with me."

Nagasawa silently followed Orochimaru.

After wandering around for a while, the two arrived at a secluded forest on the west side of Konoha, where Orochimaru's underground research base was located.

Orochimaru skillfully led Nagasawa to the entrance, a well opening blocked by a huge rock.

Besides being covered by a boulder, the wellhead is also surrounded by a lot of bushes, making it quite well hidden.

Orochimaru formed a hand seal, and the boulder began to slowly move aside, revealing the entrance.

Orochimaru jumped down first, and Nagasawa followed without hesitation.

Once there, Nagasawa looked around. Orochimaru hadn't spent much time on the entrance; the surrounding area was full of uneven stone walls and the base's metal gate.

Orochimaru pushed open the door, and Nagasawa followed him inside. The room was spacious and filled with transparent culture tanks of all sizes containing an unknown green liquid.

The larger ones are as tall as seven or eight meters, while the smaller ones are only as tall as an average adult.

The culture tanks also vary; some contain snakes, some contain nothing, and some contain people.

Looking at the people in the culture tank, Nagasawa stopped and said to Orochimaru, "Regardless of what happened before, I don't want to see any villagers in the laboratory in the future."

For Nagasawa, this is a bottom-line issue.

He's not Danzo. He keeps saying that ninjas should sacrifice themselves, but I've never seen him sacrifice anything himself.

Orochimaru glanced at Nagasawa with some surprise, not expecting that Nagasawa was someone who loved the village so much.

"They were all people Danzo brought in. I don't know their backgrounds. I was only responsible for conducting experiments." Orochimaru betrayed Danzo in a flash.

Finally, Orochimaru led Nagasawa to a group of ordinary two-meter-long culture tanks and said:

"My research on Hashirama cells has hit a bottleneck. I've tried it on ordinary people and ninjas, and no one can withstand the erosion of Hashirama cells. Ninjas just die a little slower than ordinary people."

After saying that, Orochimaru flipped through the documents and handed a stack of files to Nagasawa.

Yongze took the documents and carefully began to look through them.

Orochimaru was very patient, giving Nagasawa time to digest what he had read before finally asking:

"Nagazawa-san, where do you think my problem lies?"

Orochimaru's eyes held a hint of anticipation.

Even with his good patience, he became frustrated by the countless failures.

If he had made even the slightest progress, he wouldn't be in this situation.

Without a glimmer of hope, all the experimental subjects were eroded by the interstitial cells and died.

That's why he made the decision to directly bring Yongze onto the ship.

This is very risky.

If Yongze's agreement was feigned while he was secretly preparing to investigate him, then he might only have one option left: to betray the village.

However, Orochimaru was still willing to take the gamble in order for the experiment to succeed.

For him now, the village and such are secondary; what he wants is immortality and immense power.

Nagasawa thought for a moment, then said, "Aren't you overlooking a problem?"

"What's the problem?" Orochimaru became interested; Nagasawa had actually discovered something.

Nagasawa did not answer Orochimaru's question immediately, but asked again, "What effect can transplanting Hashirama cells have?"

"It greatly enhances the recipient's physical energy, grants Wood Release, and increases chakra," Orochimaru quickly replied, pondering why Nagasawa had asked this.

It couldn't be a test to see if he knew about the effects of interstitial cells, could it? He's been researching this for so long; if he didn't know this, what was he researching?

“Balance, that’s why your experiment failed. Your experimental subject’s physical energy and mental abilities were too unbalanced,” Yongze said.

"The amount of energy boosted by Hashirama's cells is too much for an ordinary person's mental energy to handle. Ninjas, on the other hand, have higher mental energy due to their training and experience, which is why they can last longer than ordinary people."

However, the spiritual energy of ordinary ninjas was still insufficient against the powerful Hashirama cells, so they could not escape death.

"Balance, spiritual energy!" A flash of inspiration struck Orochimaru.

Yes, that makes sense.

He always believed that ordinary people's bodies were not strong enough to withstand the erosion of Hashirama's cells, but he always ignored the issue of spiritual energy.

After careful consideration, Orochimaru realized that Nagasawa's words made a lot of sense.

Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly and said, "Nagazawa-san, what you said makes a lot of sense. I've been overlooking the issue of spiritual energy."

At this moment, Orochimaru was very glad that he made the decision to bring Nagasawa on board. Originally, he just wanted Nagasawa to bring him some inspiration.

As a result, Nagasawa immediately discovered the reason for his failure.

Chapter 104 Joint Exercises

Seeing Orochimaru's excitement, Nagasawa remained silent.

Although he knew the reason for the experiment's failure, Orochimaru still found it difficult to solve the problem.

Enhancing mental energy is more difficult and takes much longer than enhancing physical energy.

If one wants to gain powerful spiritual energy in a short period of time, the only way is to transplant the Sharingan.

Moreover, even ordinary three-tomoe stones might not be enough to suppress Hashirama cells.

However, since Orochimaru was currently in a happy moment of progress in his experiment, Nagasawa didn't bother to dampen his spirits at this time.

With Orochimaru's intelligence, he will soon discover the problem.