Chapter 93: Hashirama Cell and the Uchiha

Hearing Uchiha Feiyu's words, Orochimaru's expression changed slightly, and he spoke in a low, hoarse voice:

"How do you know about such things?! Did Danzō tell you?"

Research regarding Hashirama Cell and Wood Release was a taboo topic in Konoha; aside from a few high-ranking officials, almost no one else knew anything about it.

After all, the so-called Hashirama Cell was something left behind by the founder of Konoha, the First Hokage; researching the corpse of a predecessor was clearly not a good reputation to have.

Not only that, the ninja and test subjects who died during the initial Wood Release experiments definitely numbered in the triple digits, causing a huge stir in Konoha and making the research into Hashirama Cell a top-secret matter.

Even now, in all of Konoha, aside from the test subjects and researchers, it was estimated that only Danzō and the Third Hokage knew that the research into Hashirama Cell had not been discontinued.

Orochimaru knew his teacher, the Third Hokage, very well; even if he knew about the Hashirama Cell research, he would certainly pretend not to know, and it would be even more impossible for him to leak it, so the only one who could have leaked it was Danzō.

"How I know is not important; what is important is that Teacher should have Hashirama Cell on hand, right? As long as you give me a sample of Hashirama Cell, I am willing to complete this mission!"

After Uchiha Feiyu finished speaking, the expression on Orochimaru's face shifted. A moment later, he smiled slightly instead and nodded:

"Fine, as long as you are willing to complete this mission, I will provide you with Hashirama Cell!"

Once these words were out, Uchiha Feiyu was momentarily stunned. As the saying goes, one asks for a high price and negotiates down; when he first made this request, Uchiha Feiyu had not expected to obtain Hashirama Cell so easily.

Aside from the Yellow Flash, the only people who could compete with Orochimaru for the position of Hokage were Tsunade and Jiraiya; however, both of them were completely uninterested in the position, even avoiding it as if it were a plague.

But regardless, failure is failure; after experiencing such a defeat, the prestige of the Yellow Flash naturally dropped significantly.

"Since that is the case, then it is a deal. Give me the mission intelligence!"

"And in the previous battle against the Cloud Ninja, the entire Konoha force was wiped out. As the commander, Minato Namikaze naturally could not shirk the blame. Under these circumstances, the possibility of Orochimaru rising to power naturally increased greatly."

Orochimaru was unwilling to let Hashirama Cell leak out more due to secrecy factors, rather than feeling that these materials were particularly precious.

It could be said that as long as Orochimaru won this war, then barring any accidents, the position of Hokage would be within his grasp. It was no wonder Orochimaru was willing to stake so much.

"Could it be that my cheap teacher values this operation very much? That makes sense; nowadays, the only person left who can compete with my cheap teacher for Hokage is Minato Namikaze."

Although Minato Namikaze's failure was actually more due to the fact that the strength the Cloud Ninja invested was too great—if any other Shadow-level Ninja from Konoha had been the commander, they certainly would not have fared any better.

... No, that's not right. I viewed the Hashirama Cell as a huge stake, but in reality, this thing can proliferate. To Orochimaru, the Hashirama Cell is just a big secret; giving a little bit away is not a loss to him at all.

Perhaps it was because of these two points that Uchiha Feiyu obtained the Hashirama Cell so easily.

In fact, after forging the Kusanagi Sword into the Breaking Evil Blade, Uchiha Feiyu was no longer resistant to this mission. Now, not only could he obtain two ninjutsu, but he could even get a good thing like Hashirama Cell; Uchiha Feiyu naturally agreed immediately.

Orochimaru was also straightforward in his actions; he didn't even wait for Uchiha Feiyu to go on the mission before sending the mission rewards directly. Not only were there his two original ninjutsu, but there was also a small vial of Hashirama Cell.

However, when handing over the Hashirama Cell, Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Feiyu and spoke quietly:

"I have conducted research on Hashirama Cell for quite some time, but so far, I have not found a way to integrate Hashirama Cell into the human body without Aftereffect, and I haven't even had a single successful Wood Release test subject."

"During my research on Hashirama Cell, I discovered a characteristic: Hashirama Cell represents the ultimate Yang Release chakra. If there were Yin Release chakra that also reached the ultimate level to neutralize it, it might offset its terrifying backlash."

Having said this, Orochimaru stopped speaking, merely staring at Uchiha Feiyu with an intrigued gaze.

Uchiha Feiyu picked up the Hashirama Cell and chuckled:

"In the Naka River shrine where the Uchiha Clan often holds large meetings, there is an underground secret room. In the secret room, there is a stone tablet that records some secrets regarding the Sharingan..."

"Among them is a sentence that says: When the two opposing powers are joined as one, one can attain all things in creation!"

Seeing that his cheap apprentice wanted the Hashirama Cell, Orochimaru had clearly guessed something, which was why he spoke to probe him. Uchiha Feiyu simply told him the answer directly.

"When the two opposing powers are joined as one, one can attain all things in creation..."

Orochimaru chewed on these words a few times, a look of sudden realization appearing on his face:

"So my guess was indeed correct. To control the power of Hashirama Cell, what is needed is not powerful Yang Release chakra, but rather ultimate Yin Release chakra."

"So that's why when the ninja of the Senju Clan conducted Hashirama Cell experiments, almost all of them turned into trees because of cell rampages—it was because the Senju Clan only specialized in Yang Release and was not skilled in Yin Release!"

"It seems that the best test subjects for conducting Wood Release experiments are actually the Uchiha Clan!"

However, when he said this, Orochimaru also shook his head. The strength of the Uchiha Clan was not weak, and in Konoha, they even vaguely formed their own system. Even if he became Hokage, it would likely be very difficult to get Uchiha test subjects.

Konoha, not having experienced the Nine-Tails Incident, only had a somewhat cold attitude toward the Uchiha Clan; it hadn't reached the point of being vigilant and wary, treating them as a hypothetical enemy.

Under these circumstances, Orochimaru did not want to offend those guys from the Uchiha Clan.

While thinking this, Orochimaru's gaze turned to Uchiha Feiyu, but Uchiha Feiyu seemed to have long since seen through his cheap teacher's thoughts; seeing his gaze, he shook his head directly:

"Don't look at me. I have my own way to digest the Hashirama Cell; I don't want to be your test subject, Teacher!"

"That is truly a pity..."

A visible look of regret appeared on Orochimaru's face, leaving Uchiha Feiyu with black lines on his head. His cheap teacher's research level was indeed there, but unfortunately, his moral level was exactly inversely proportional to his research level.

If Uchiha Feiyu really dared to let Orochimaru perform Hashirama Cell modification on him, heaven knows what this mad scientist would do.

(End of this chapter)