The Devil of Konoha: Starting as a Medical Ninja

Hongzhi casually remarked that it would be better for Orochimaru to avoid too much contact with Uchiha Sasuke, lest he be tricked and suffer a loss.

"That's interesting..."

Orochimaru's smile gradually turned eerie. He had endured a lot of hardship over the past two years in order to make that vessel even more perfect.

If he were to leave now, Sasuke Uchiha might think he was afraid.

Then we'll see Sasuke Uchiha full of vigor, only to be easily defeated by Itachi Uchiha.

"That kind of scene is something to look forward to, isn't it?"

Hongzhi smiled as well. If he didn't get beaten up, how would Uchiha Sasuke understand Uchiha Itachi's feelings for him?

Chapter 313 Good luck, Sasuke

Late at night, as Sasuke Uchiha finished his training and fell asleep, Orochimaru had already left the base with some key pieces of equipment.

After he left, he didn't even go to other bases, but went directly to a base that had already been abandoned.

This action surprised Hongzhi, but also made him want to laugh.

Sasuke Uchiha would probably think that Orochimaru noticed something was wrong with his strength and had already run away.

Sasuke would even go directly to those ninjas he believed could help him take revenge, namely Suigetsu and Jugo from the original story.

As for Karin, she is currently diligently learning medical ninjutsu from Tsunade in Konoha, so it's unlikely she'll be fooled by Sasuke Uchiha.

As for who Sasuke Uchiha will encounter first, Hongzhi is very much looking forward to it. It would be quite interesting if he encounters a member of the Akatsuki, since the Akatsuki members know that Itachi Uchiha is dead.

As for encountering other people, it's unlikely. However, since Sasuke Uchiha has already appeared, Naruto Uzumaki, who is undergoing trials outside, should return soon. Even if Jiraiya disagrees, it shouldn't take too long.

Once Orochimaru has calmed down, we'll go check out Ryuchi Cave. If Naruto and Jiraiya return beforehand, we'll go to Mount Myōboku first.

With this thought in mind, Hongzhi went directly into Uchiha Sasuke's room. At this moment, Sasuke's appearance had become exactly the same as in Shippuden, but his strength was still a little lacking.

Hongzhi quietly watched Uchiha Sasuke and took the opportunity to check his physical condition.

The Naruto cells injected earlier did not seem to have any effect; Sasuke Uchiha's body did not react at all, as if they had not been injected at all.

As for whether there will be any special changes on Naruto's side, Hongzhi wasn't particularly clear, but it seemed that the hope was rather slim.

Furthermore, when Naruto finally achieved Six Paths Transformation, it wasn't simply a matter of awakening his power; he also gained a portion of the chakra from the nine tailed beasts.

Perhaps the tailed beast chakra is also very important, but Hiroji still prefers to obtain the Rinnegan first.

As for the tailed beasts, even if Madara Uchiha were to be resurrected, he probably wouldn't be able to directly obtain the Three-Tails' chakra.

Unless he can directly enter the Divine Might Space.

After confirming that Sasuke Uchiha's body had not changed in any way, Hiroji lost interest in him as he was now.

To become an experimental subject for awakening the Rinnegan, one must at least awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan to be eligible.

After leaving Sasuke Uchiha's room, Hongzhi found a place in the Land of Fire with abundant natural energy and began to cultivate the second-ranked Rest Gate.

This is also a practice closely related to the upper dantian. So much time has passed and the body has not shown any abnormalities, which is enough to show that cultivation will not cause any problems.

As the surrounding natural energy flows into the body, the yin energy within the Xiu Gate also increases.

As the amount of Yin energy increased, Hongzhi felt something strange.

The originally pitch-black Yin energy in the Rest Gate now appears to have a slight luster. Not only the Yin energy in the Rest Gate, but even the Yin energy in the Open Gate and the Upper Dantian are slowly changing.

After the change ended, Hongzhi felt a sense of emptiness in his mind, a very strange feeling that quickly disappeared without a trace.

With the opening of the Xiu Gate, the speed at which the upper dantian absorbs natural energy increases, which disrupts the balance within the body, but this is not a problem.

At most, the speed at which the upper dantian fills up becomes a little faster; as for other changes, there are none at all.

Hongzhi continued to focus his attention on the next gate, the Gate of Life. The Gate of Rest took a full five days to open, which indicated that the gates that followed would be even more difficult, and it would be a waste of time.

It took Hongzhi five days to open the second gate, but for Uchiha Sasuke, it took him five days to confirm that Orochimaru had escaped.

Although he didn't notice anything that night, the guy hadn't returned for five days, and even the instruments and some data in the lab had vanished without a trace.

This suggests that Orochimaru has a high chance of escaping, which caused a slight upturn of his lips, along with a hint of disdain, to appear on his otherwise expressionless face.

So this is the level of the Sannin! He hadn't even finished improving that person's Lightning Release technique, and he just ran away. It's really shameful.

As for why he was somewhat happy, it was naturally because his strength had already made Orochimaru flee overnight.

So next we need to find that bastard Itachi Uchiha, but before that we need some people to be our companions.

After all, with that bastard Itachi Uchiha in the Akatsuki organization, the risk of someone interfering during a battle would be quite high.

Orochimaru ran away, but his men won't. He just happened to have a few that he liked.

Sasuke Uchiha strolled leisurely toward one of Orochimaru's bases, while a small white snake, hiding in the shadows, quietly watched the scene before leaving the base.

In a secluded grove in the Land of Rice Fields, Orochimaru, having just completed the setup of his laboratory, looked at the white snake in his hand. Its pupils, like those of a venomous snake, remained completely still.

Although he could be said to have been somewhat forced to give up on Uchiha Sasuke as a vessel, this did not mean that Uchiha Sasuke would have a smooth journey ahead.

It's unclear what that guy named Obito Uchiha wants to do with Sasuke Uchiha, but judging from the fact that his research involves devouring souls, Sasuke Uchiha's ending might not be particularly pleasant.

Besides, Sasuke Uchiha's triumphant departure this time might soon be followed by a humiliating lesson.

Sasuke Uchiha's strength is currently only barely at the level of an elite Jonin; without the cursed seal, he would be a Jonin.

If he had encountered the Akatsuki, he would probably have survived only because of Itachi Uchiha.

As for encountering Itachi Uchiha, the outcome would probably be quite tragic. Although it's unknown what his intentions were in keeping Sasuke Uchiha, it's unlikely to be anything good.

"Good luck, Sasuke."

Orochimaru spoke casually, then immediately began studying the interstitial cells on the experimental equipment.

Even if the Wood Release he obtained wasn't as terrifying as Hashirama Senju's, Orochimaru still wanted to give it a try, since it was still a bloodline limit after all.

Even if it doesn't achieve the expected result, at least it will add some more methods. After all, you can't change bodies again unless the other body also has the same physique and chakra boost.

Without any hesitation, Orochimaru injected a high concentration of gradually increasing cells into his body, then closed his eyes and experienced it all.

Chapter 314 Do you think he can succeed?

Inside the base, Orochimaru stared blankly at the wooden spikes he had conjured using chakra.

Immediately after the Hashirama cells were injected, Orochimaru felt a warm sensation throughout his body, followed by a sensation as if something special was being nurtured.

After waiting for about three hours, Orochimaru was able to use Wood Release naturally and effortlessly, which made Orochimaru feel somewhat incredulous.

Although he felt that the guy named Uchiha Obito was too mysterious and powerful when this body was transforming, Orochimaru's feelings changed after witnessing the birth of Wood Release.

The methods that guy used were definitely not simple. If we could master them...

Thinking of this, Orochimaru shook his head helplessly. With just a casual move, he could allow Hashirama's cells to be perfectly controlled. It was better to deal with such a mysterious guy with caution. If he had any special ideas, it would be easy for him to crush him.

Orochimaru slowly began to experiment with Wood Release. Half an hour later, Orochimaru slumped into a chair and finally understood what it meant: the powerful one was not Wood Release, but Hashirama Senju.

While Wood Release can suppress chakra, it's impossible to unleash a Wood Release technique like the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, without a massive amount of chakra.

Although his chakra is still increasing, it will take some time for him to adapt to his body. As for his Wood Release, he is currently only at a level similar to that of an Anbu member from Konoha.

Over the next few days, Orochimaru adapted to his new body, and he did not begin his research on the soul immediately.

However, on the fifth day, Orochimaru heard something interesting: Sasuke Uchiha had someone who had escaped from a certain base spread rumors that he had fled.

Although he found it interesting, Orochimaru didn't say anything. This would allow Sasuke Uchiha's reputation to gradually spread, and it was possible that Itachi Uchiha would come knocking on his door.

But the final result will inevitably be tragic. Although his strength is not in the strongest tier in the ninja world full of hidden talents, it can still be considered in the second tier.

So when Uchiha Sasuke encounters an opponent, if it's an old friend, he definitely won't hold back.

After all, fighting against opponents of the same level requires extreme caution, and the result would likely be that Uchiha Sasuke would be badly beaten.

"I hope he's alright."

Upon hearing this news, Hongzhi couldn't help but mutter to himself, "In the original work, it was one thing for you to temporarily suppress Orochimaru with your Sharingan, and your strength was quite impressive at that time. But now you're showing this kind of behavior. You're really asking for a beating!"

If Orochimaru couldn't resist coming out and beating you up, you wouldn't be wronged at all.

Hongzhi was quite at ease with Uchiha Sasuke. It would be difficult for Uchiha Sasuke to die, and it would be good for him to get a beating. It's just that he didn't know who would give him the first beating.

With this in mind, Hongzhi continued his research on the Gate of Life. Unlike before, from here on, Hongzhi needed to construct a completely new chakra network.

This is relatively simple, but it requires starting with the Open Gate, passing through the Rest Gate, then the Life Gate, followed by the Injury Gate, the Block Gate, the View Gate, the Shock Gate, and finally the Death Gate.

Hongzhi was quite confident about the first seven gates, but he needed to be careful about the final gate, the Death Gate, since it was located in the heart area and if something went wrong, he would have to rest for a while.

Hongzhi took this matter very seriously. The energy channels were quickly established, and Hongzhi tried to channel Yin energy into the gate of life, but an uncomfortable feeling came over him.

After transforming yin energy into yang energy, the feeling of discomfort completely disappeared without a trace.

Hongzhi looked at the Life Gate, which was relatively close to the middle dantian, and couldn't help but twitch his lips. However, since one of the attributes could play a role, Hongzhi wouldn't care. He would open all the gates first and then think about energy fusion.

It took Hongzhi eight whole days to fully open the gate of life. After completing these transformations, Hongzhi felt that the air he breathed had become much fresher.

I don’t know if this is just my imagination, but after completing the Gate of Life, Hongzhi didn’t continue. Instead, he stood up and prepared to go see Orochimaru.

Ten days is enough time for Orochimaru to adapt to his new body. As for whether he would be willing to go to Ryuchi Cave after we find him, that's not even a question. This guy once wanted to go into Ryuchi Cave, but he failed in the end.

Because his body couldn't handle it back then, he definitely wouldn't give up this time. After all, that was Sage Mode, and Orochimaru, who was Jiraiya's teammate, naturally understood just how terrifying Sage Mode was.

In the dimly lit laboratory, Orochimaru was frowning as he studied the scrolls in his hands. These scrolls were about souls and had been brought down from the moon by Hiroji.

Since Orochimaru is to conduct research, something must be provided in return.

Orochimaru frowned not because the contents of the scroll were particularly horrifying, but because some of the things on the scroll were so ancient that even Orochimaru had some difficulty understanding them.

"We can put the matter of the soul secrets aside for now. I'm going to Dragon Cave. I'm very interested in the White Snake Sage there."

Hongzhi used the Kamui dimension to directly enter Orochimaru's laboratory. The scroll had the mark of the Flying Thunder God technique, and Hongzhi could use Kamui to sense this mark and thus come directly there.

"Ryuchi Cave? I was just thinking of going there!"

Orochimaru had gradually gotten used to Hiroji's elusive ways of appearing and disappearing, but when he heard about Ryuchi Cave, Orochimaru still looked at Hiroji with some surprise. When the Uchiha clan members went to Ryuchi Cave, the thing to worry about under normal circumstances was the situation in Ryuchi Cave!

Hopefully, this person just wants to learn Sage Mode, otherwise the situation becomes a bit complicated. Of course, it would be great if this person could make a move after he learns Sage Mode.

"I heard that Sasuke Uchiha has formed a team called Hawk. Do you think he can succeed?"

As Orochimaru walked out of the lab, he casually remarked that he still cared about Uchiha Sasuke, as he wanted to get firsthand information.

"Itachi Uchiha is long dead. Do you think he could have succeeded?"