Chapter 253: Orochimaru's Alchemy

At this moment, inside Orochimaru's underground laboratory.

Various test tubes and scrolls were placed on the experiment table, and the walls were covered with whiteboards filled with experimental data.

He stood before a massive circular magic array on the ground, the array composed of countless precise geometric figures and mysterious runes, its edges shimmering with a faint fluorescence.

This was a new system Orochimaru had obtained in the previous world.

He pressed his palms together, then placed them on the edge of the array; blue light like electric current lit up along the patterns, and the entire array began to operate.

"Equivalent Exchange, the most fundamental truth of this world." A trace of excitement flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. "Energy cannot be created from nothing, nor can it vanish into nothing; it only changes form."

He began to mobilize the chakra within his body, and blue energy flowed into the array along his arm.

The energy flowed along specific trajectories within the array, gradually undergoing change.

Chakra turned into magic power, magic power turned into internal force, and internal force turned back into chakra.

The three energies cycled endlessly within the alchemy array, like a perpetual motion machine.

Orochimaru walked to the experiment table and flipped open a thick notebook.

This was research material he had brought back from the Fullmetal Alchemist world, recording detailed theory on Equivalent Exchange.

"Interesting." He flipped through the notebook. "The conversion of energy forms is actually this stable."

Filled with various records and charts, all the research results of this period.

Orochimaru had been searching for the connections between different energy forms, trying to find the underlying pattern.

"Be it Human Transmutation or Equivalent Exchange." He murmured to himself. "These are merely different paths leading to the truth."

Orochimaru could feel that he was touching a deeper level of truth.

He recalled everything he had seen in the Fullmetal Alchemist world. That white figure who called itself Truth.

He clearly remembered the scene in that white space; the dwarf in the flask sat there, believing he controlled the truth.

And even deluded himself into becoming Truth.

"A frog at the bottom of a well." Orochimaru sneered coldly.

In his view, the so-called Truth was never some concrete thing. It is the Dao, it is law, the principle that pierces through all things.

Alchemy is merely the fundamental law of that world. Just as chakra is the foundation of the Ninja World, internal force is the root of the martial world.

But these are not Truth; they are merely Truth's manifestations in different worlds.

"However." Orochimaru set down the notebook in his hand, his gaze settling on a special diagram. "The other party's final ritual is quite interesting."

That was the dwarf in the flask's final objective — precisely that world's final deification ritual.

The design of this alchemy array is far more complex than ordinary ones.

"Using the souls of five hundred thousand people as the price to open the Gate of Truth." Orochimaru stared at the annotations on the diagram.

"Achieving a Soul Sacrifice Ritual of this scale in the current Ninja World is almost impossible." Orochimaru stopped his pen, his gaze sweeping over the calculation results. "The Ninja World is vast and sparsely populated; wanting to sacrifice five hundred thousand people is simply unrealistic."

Moreover, the current Ninja World is a bit too peaceful; once they discover he has such intentions, they will definitely move against him.

Suddenly, a thought struck him: "What if a massive amount of chakra were used to substitute for souls?"

Orochimaru immediately sat at the desk, picked up a pen, and wrote frantically.

"The essence of alchemy is energy conversion; the people of that world have no energy system within their bodies, so they can only use soul energy.

So theoretically, as long as the energy is sufficient, chakra can completely replace soul energy."

He rapidly calculated the conversion ratios between different energies. Soon, the first page of paper was filled with dense formulas.

"According to this ratio." Orochimaru's finger moved over the numbers. "At least the chakra equivalent of tens of thousands of ninja is required."

"But where to find this much chakra..."

"The Tailed Beasts would work." Orochimaru's voice suddenly halted, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes. "Unfortunately, they've all been taken by that old geezer Madara Uchiha now."

Orochimaru stood in the laboratory, fingers lightly tapping the workbench.

As he pondered how to obtain sufficient chakra, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

【Emergency Mission: Foreign Intruders】

【Mission Objective: Kill the intruders from other worlds】

【Mission Reward: None】

【Time Limit: None】

【Note: Intruder location locked once every five hours】

This was also Uchiha Feng's forced choice; the other party likewise possessed the power of the Main God Space, making it impossible to continuously lock their location.

Even the Main God Wristwatch previously obtained could only provide brief positioning information.

"Intruders from other worlds?" A hint of interest flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. "Interesting."

Orochimaru closed his research records, a smile curving his lips: "Looks like I can stretch my legs a bit."

At the same time, the group located in the Land of Iron also received the mission.

"You received it too?" Fugaku frowned, looking at the others.

Minato, A, and Onoki all nodded in succession. Yagura hugged his arms, leaning against the wall: "Looks like there are more than two intruders."

"Looks like we need to act as soon as possible."

Minato stepped forward; a kunai appeared with purple light, then drew an arc through the air.

Space instantly rippled, and a transmission gate slowly opened.

The group exchanged no superfluous words and began to act; time was tight, allowing not the slightest delay.

………………

Meanwhile, Konohagakure

Alan hovered in the air above Konohagakure, looking down on this city.

Silver short hair drifted slightly in the airflow, the hem of his black kimono swaying gently.

"So this is Konohagakure? The style is vastly different from Seireitei." Alan slowly raised his right hand. "Better to say hello first."

He took a deep breath, his right hand tracing an arc before him.

A strange fluctuation suddenly surged in the air.

"Lord of the Throne," Alan began chanting, his voice ringing out, "Master of thunder and storm, lightning that tears the heavens, electricity that sweeps away the dusty world."

As the incantation progressed, the sky rapidly darkened. Heavy dark clouds spread outward with Alan at the center, electric light flickering in and out of the cloud layers.

"In my name, bring down heavenly punishment, crush the impure, purify the world."

Thunder rumbled in the clouds, growing louder. Konoha's ninja all looked up, faces showing shock and uncertainty.

"What's going on?"

"The weather suddenly changed like this."

Inside the Hokage Building, Hashirama Senju was processing documents. Suddenly, he sharply raised his head, his gaze grave. "This energy...!"

"Not good!" Hashirama's figure flashed, instantly appearing atop the Hokage Building.

At this moment Alan's chanting reached its final step.

"Way of Destruction Number Eighty-Eight, Flying Dragon Strikes Thief Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon!"

Both hands aimed at Konoha; in an instant, a bolt of lightning hundreds of meters thick descended from the heavens.

Blinding electric light illuminated all of Konoha as bright as day; wherever the lightning pillar passed, the air was ionized, emitting a piercing explosive roar.

At this moment Hashirama looked at the lightning pillar descending from the sky, his gaze grave.

With just a single glance at that lightning pillar, he knew this strike could almost level all of Konoha.

No hesitation whatsoever. Hashirama took a deep breath, pressed his hands together, chakra surging wildly throughout his body, orange pigment appearing around his eyes.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Hashirama rapidly formed hand seals, chakra erupting instantly.

Boom—!

The earth shook; countless giant trees erupted from the ground. These giant trees grew rapidly, swiftly covering all of Konohagakure.

"Still not enough!" Hashirama's hand seal speed increased further.

"Wood Release: Branch Binding Technique!"

All the trees rapidly gathered, weaving a gigantic shield above Konohagakure.

Blue-green light emerged from the surface of the trees — the phenomenon of natural energy being forcibly extracted.

Surrounding vegetation rapidly withered; energy in the air was frantically drawn out, poured into this massive wooden shield.

The very instant the shield formed, the lightning pillar crashed down.

"Boom!"

Amid the deafening explosion, the lightning pillar and wooden shield collided. Dazzling electric light scattered in all directions, dyeing half the sky a brilliant blue.

Countless fine cracks instantly appeared on the shield's surface. The lightning's power was too violent; the tree surfaces began to char, some spots even vaporizing directly.

"Hold!" Hashirama let out a low roar, chakra surging wildly within him, pouring into the shield.

The lightning began to be gradually deflected; Hashirama seized the chance, violently shoving both hands to the side.

The patterns on the shield's surface suddenly blazed; a tremendous counter-thrust erupted.

The lightning pillar was finally knocked away, blasting toward the distant mountain range.

"Boom—!"

Amid the earth-shaking explosion, the distant mountain range was instantly vaporized by the lightning pillar.

Mountains for dozens of li in all directions evaporated into thin air, leaving only a huge arc-shaped deep crater.

"This kind of power." Hashirama looked up at Alan, gaze grave.

If not for his fast enough reaction, all of Konoha would likely have suffered severe damage.

This attack method — Hashirama had never seen it before. It was neither ninjutsu nor sage art.

The fluctuation and nature of that energy were completely different from chakra.

At this moment Hashirama Senju recalled what Uchiha had told him before.

"An intruder from another world?" Hashirama's gaze locked onto Alan. This unknown threat was even more troublesome than he imagined.

Meanwhile, Alan, looking at Hashirama atop the building, suddenly turned grave. His expression carried clear astonishment and puzzlement.

"Hashirama Senju?" Alan frowned tightly. "How is that possible?"

Right now should be the Third Great Ninja War period; First Hokage Hashirama Senju died many years ago.

Alan stared fixedly at Hashirama, mind racing. The timeline changed? Or is this place not the original Ninja World at all?

"Who are you?" Hashirama suddenly spoke, voice steady and powerful. "Why attack Konoha?"

"Seems something's wrong." Alan slowly raised his right hand. "But this works too — more points to farm."

(Chapter End)