Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Upon hearing this, Manda sensed something was wrong, but just as he was about to activate his chakra, he found that his body was bound by a fine chakra chain, and all his powerful chakra was imprisoned.

"This move is that person's sealing technique."

Manda instantly recognized the ninjutsu Orochimaru was using and exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right, then you should understand your current fate. Tell me everything you know about the battle between the White Snake Sage and Kirito Tohsaka, and the reasons behind it, or you'll die here today."

Orochimaru said coldly.

As he spoke, the chakra chains binding Manda tightened their grip.

The biggest improvement in his strength, which led to his current monstrous form, was not in his physical attributes, but in his ability to sense and control natural energy.

While the White Snake Immortal continuously eroded and modified his body, even corrupting his bloodline, the White Snake Immortal's bloodline was indeed extraordinary, causing a dramatic change in his talent for perceiving and manipulating natural energy.

As a result, Kirito became increasingly adept at using this improved version of the Adamantine Sealing Technique, which was based on natural energy, and he could use it without needing to unseal it.

Furthermore, due to his enhanced talent in perceiving and manipulating natural energy, fusing Sage Chakra has become much easier and simpler for him.

Now he doesn't need to rely on the cursed seal to enter Sage Mode; he can fuse Sage Chakra with his own abilities and enter Sage Mode normally.

Orochimaru's strength is now vastly different from what it used to be; it's laughable that this stinking snake dares to be so arrogant in front of him.

"You dare kill me? I was sent by the White Snake Immortal. If you kill me, the White Snake Immortal will not let you off."

When Manda saw Orochimaru pressuring him so hard, his ferocity was immediately unleashed, and he turned around and threatened Orochimaru in return.

But the next moment, Orochimaru's words completely extinguished his ferocity: "If you dare to utter another word, I'll hand you over to Kirito Tohsaka."

"Orochimaru, let's talk this out. I understand. I'll tell you everything I know."

Manda dared not gamble on Orochimaru's integrity, nor did he want to face that terrifying human. He immediately yielded and began to tell Orochimaru all the information he knew.

"To the point of fighting the White Snake Sage over a single issue, Kirito Tohsaka, what exactly are you doing?"

A moment later, Orochimaru tossed Manda aside and said with a grave expression.

Then, he turned his gaze back to Manda, only to receive a glare and a helpless reply from her: "Don't look at me. My status in Ryuchi Cave is not even as high as the three Snake Princesses. They are not even qualified to know about the conversation between the White Snake Sage and Kirito Tohsaka. How could I possibly know?"

"useless."

Orochimaru withdrew his gaze and said coldly.

Manda was furious at Orochimaru's mockery, but this time he didn't act impulsively and immediately burrowed underground to escape.

Before leaving, he threatened, "Orochimaru, you just wait, I'll devour you sooner or later. Also, you'd better listen to the White Snake Sage, or you'll die a very horrible death."

Orochimaru didn't even turn around when he heard Manda's impotent and furious threat.

He's fallen to this wretched state, he's so desperate he wants to die. Who else could he possibly turn to?

White Snake Immortal?

Screw the White Snake Immortal.

Once he resolves his problems, he will definitely find a way to kill this treacherous old white snake.

In an instant, Orochimaru unleashed a terrifying killing intent, and his eyes turned blood red.

But the next moment, he covered his face with his hands and then banged his head against the wall, using his strong will to calm himself down.

"The rate of mutation has accelerated again, and I don't have much time left. I must find a solution before this body is completely mutated. If I really can't find one, then I'll have to get a new body."

Then, Orochimaru pulled down his pants and, seeing that white snake scales were beginning to appear on his legs, said with a grim expression.

Since his body began to mutate, Orochimaru had been thinking about changing his body. However, the ninjutsu he used to change his body was not mature enough and the risk of using it was too great. In addition, he was reluctant to give up his current body with its outstanding talent and physical qualities, which is why he has not tried to change his body yet.

However, if his body were to completely transform and his life were in danger, he would have no choice but to take the risk.

He was certain that once his body was completely transformed, given that damned old white snake's personality, he would definitely not have a good end.

In fact, Orochimaru had begun to lose hope of finding a solution before the mutation was completely complete. He had actually found some clues and even developed some drugs that could effectively slow down the mutation, but ultimately the time was too short.

If given a year or two, he is confident that he can solve his problems on his own.

Unfortunately, he didn't have that much time.

The mutation progresses faster and faster, and recently he has often been unable to control his killing intent. Just now, he almost lost control of his killing intent and wanted to kill Wanshe, and even had a desire to eat Wanshe.

He knew that if he continued like this, he would eventually turn into a mindless monster.

He could barely accept becoming a half-human, half-snake monster, but he absolutely could not accept losing his reason.

"We can only focus all our energy on the Reanimation Jutsu, and we also need to collect suitable bodies as soon as possible."

After much deliberation, Orochimaru finally decided on the safer option of changing bodies.

Like the Poison of the Undead, Reincarnation of the Undead is a soul ninjutsu he developed based on the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique. Unlike the Poison of the Undead, which causes soul damage to the enemy, Reincarnation of the Undead involves grafting one's own soul onto the soul of another, thereby using the soul of the other as nourishment to make one's own soul immortal and resurrecting in the body of the other, truly achieving the effect of immortality.

Orochimaru's development of the Reanimation Jutsu is currently only in a semi-finished state because his soul is not strong enough, and the success rate of creating a soul seed that meets the requirements of the Reanimation Jutsu through soul splitting is very low.

……

Meanwhile, in Konoha, within the Senju clan's territory, in a massive underground laboratory, Tsunade, dressed in a white lab coat, was looking at a white humanoid creature submerged in a green solution.

The white humanoid creature was a White Zetsu.

However, the White Zetsu in front of her was no longer the White Zetsu she had obtained from Kirito. This was a White Zetsu clone that she had re-cultivated from a portion of the original White Zetsu's body tissue.

Through meticulous research, she has discovered that white zealots are essentially more plant-like than human.

This is why White Zetsu can reproduce asexually, just like plants.

However, precisely because of this, the chances of transplanting body tissue from White Zetsu into humans are extremely high, not to mention that these White Zetsu also contain cells from her grandfather, Hashirama Senju.

"Lady Tsunade, a new report has been released."

A medical ninja, also wearing a white coat, approached Tsunade and spoke respectfully.

Tsunade turned around to take the report and smiled, "You've worked hard, Ciyun. Go and get some rest."

Senju Jiyun was one of the few elite Jonin of the Senju clan, and also an excellent medical ninja. After Tsunade brought the White Zetsu back to Konoha, she immediately assigned Senju Jiyun to study the Byakugan.

Senju Jiyun lived up to Tsunade's expectations, and with the help of many outstanding medical ninjas from Konoha, they made great progress in their research on White Zetsu.

"You're the one who needs to rest early. You haven't had a proper rest for a long time since you became Hokage. You can leave the work here to me."

Upon hearing this, Thousand-Handed Compassionate Cloud offered his own advice.

"No, the research on Wood Release is of utmost importance. We cannot afford any mistakes. I must keep a close eye on this place at all times. Moreover, we are about to enter the human trial phase, so I must be even more rigorous in my oversight and prevent the research from getting out of control."

Tsunade immediately shook her head, her expression resolute.

The tragedy of the Wood Release research in Konoha must never happen again. This was a promise made to Momoka. Otherwise, the Wood Release research experiments could not have been restarted so smoothly, and the laboratory could not have been built underground in the Senju clan's territory.

"Don't worry, the interstitial cells in these white organisms are very different from the original interstitial cells. Although they are not as active as the original interstitial cells, the danger is greatly reduced. Even if there is a rejection reaction after transplantation, as long as amputation is performed in time, the experimental subject will not be greatly affected."

Moreover, Kirito's in vitro cell fusion technology is superb, greatly helping us to screen suitable candidates for White Zetsu cell transplantation. If things go smoothly, Konoha will soon be able to recreate the First Hokage's Wood Release, and our Senju clan will be able to regain the power of Wood Release.”

Thousand Hands Compassionate Cloud comforted her, a gleam of excitement flashing in his eyes.

If we were to say which ninja clan in Konoha would benefit most from this Wood Release research experiment, it would undoubtedly be the Senju clan.

Because Kirito discovered through in vitro cell fusion technology that the Senju clan members are very suitable for White Zetsu cell transplantation, Tsunade and Nawaki, who are of the First Generation Bloodline, are almost 100% suitable.

If it weren't for the fact that transplanting White Zetsu cells doesn't truly grant the power of Wood Release and the unclear nature of the potential problems, she would have wanted Tsunade to undergo the transplant immediately so that Wood Release could be restored to the Senju clan as soon as possible.

"I hope so."

Reassured by Senju Jiyun, Tsunade smiled faintly, then lowered her head to carefully review the research report that Senju Jiyun had submitted.

Compared to Senju Jiyun, she understood better what the key to obtaining Wood Release was by transplanting White Zetsu cells. Transplanting White Zetsu cells only reduced the difficulty of developing Wood Release as a bloodline limit. To successfully develop Wood Release, one still needed to master considerable Earth Release and Water Release abilities.

Otherwise, the only way to develop Wood Release is through sheer luck.

Therefore, she persisted in conducting Wood Release research experiments. Her real purpose was not to truly recreate Wood Release in Konoha, but simply to use White Zetsu cells to enhance the overall strength of Konoha ninjas.

Research has shown that ninjas who received White Zetsu cells experienced a significant increase in chakra levels.

Not only has his chakra level improved, but his body's self-healing ability has also been enhanced, and his talent in training Water Release, Earth Release, and Yang Release has also been improved to a certain extent.

It can be said that White Zetsu cells are a good thing for effectively enhancing a ninja's talent.

The only downside is that leukocytes are not suitable for transplantation in everyone.

Current research suggests that people suitable for White Zetsu cell transplantation generally come from the Senju, Hyuga, and Uchiha clans, while few from other ninja clans or ordinary ninja groups are suitable for the procedure.

Tsunade was naturally very puzzled by this strange situation.

So she couldn't help but look into the history of the three clans and study their cells. She was surprised to find that the ancestors of the three major ninja clans of Konoha may have come from the same person.

Furthermore, while she was reviewing the histories of the three races, one name appeared simultaneously: Princess Kaguya, the goddess of the rabbit.

The ancestors of the Senju and Uchiha clans were likely one of Kaguya's sons, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, who was known in legend as the Sage of Six Paths.

When talking about the Sage of Six Paths, the legend of the Rinnegan is also mentioned.

"What exactly is Madara Uchiha trying to do? If, as Kirito said, the Rinnegan belongs to Madara Uchiha, then wouldn't he be the person in history closest to the Sage of Six Paths? The Sage of Six Paths really existed, so are the myths and legends that have been passed down through generations true...?"

After reading the research report in her hand, Tsunade turned around and continued to look at the White Zetsu clone in the long glass container, falling into a long period of contemplation.

Chapter 315: The Demon Organization and Zero Tail

Time continued to flow by. Another month had passed since Kirito's great battle with the White Snake Sage. At this time, another year had passed in the ninja world, and the year was Konoha 37.

Not much happened during that month of heavy snowfall, but the most significant event was undoubtedly the battle between Kirito and the White Snake Sage. Their intense fight naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Few people know of the existence of Ryuchi Cave, let alone the White Snake Sage. Many people have only heard the rumor that the strongest person in Konoha is fighting a giant white snake, and most of them just consider it a rumor and do not believe that there is a white snake as big as a small mountain in this world.

However, when placed among the major ninja villages, this news is no less significant than the battle between Kirito and Madara Uchiha.

Because the leaders of all the major ninja villages are very clear about what kind of existence the White Snake Sage is. His power was passed down from his predecessors long before their villages were established. He is an ancient and powerful being who still stands at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

In their minds, the White Snake Sage was only slightly weaker than Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha at their peak.

But such a powerful being was actually at a disadvantage in the battle against Kirito Tohsaka, which shocked and terrified them.

Therefore, the leaders of all the major ninja villages unanimously decided to maintain good relations with Konoha as much as possible, avoid friction with Konoha, and refrain from major conflicts with other ninja villages for the time being. It would be best to have more private exchanges.

And so, as the year drew to a close, the people of all the major nations in the ninja world enjoyed a peaceful and quiet New Year.

While friction between major powers has ceased, friction between smaller nations continues unabated and even shows signs of escalating. Amid this escalating conflict among smaller nations, an organization specializing in providing war services has quietly emerged.

This organization is called Oni, and its main members are a group of rogue ninjas from various ninja villages. Each of these rogue ninjas possesses unique skills, and many of them have rare bloodline limits.

The Ghost Organization helps small countries fight, completing war missions with extremely high efficiency and a good reputation. Once they accept a job, the employer pays them well, and they will never betray their employer before the mission is completed.