"What do you mean by that?"
Tsunade's expression slowly returned to normal, but her face soon darkened.
Death was only death. It didn't matter.
But figuring out what the other party meant...
That was rather important!
"Our Empire's Tsunade had already taken youth-preserving medicine and undergone a Hashirama Cells transplant fifteen years ago. Her body is still naturally in the condition of a thirty-year-old."
"I had considered that the medical care and technology here would be backward, but I didn't expect your physical condition to be maintained by your Chakra..."
Naruto spoke with complete sincerity.
Tsunade fell silent at his words, but Orochimaru spoke up.
"Who is researching the science you mentioned?"
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes were filled with curiosity. This time, Sasuke answered him.
"Your variant."
"Is my variant the only one conducting research?"
A trace of surprise flashed through Orochimaru's eyes before he continued asking, "Your Empire... believes in this so-called technology?"
Hearing the doubt and mockery in Orochimaru's words, Sasuke said nothing more.
"Mm-hmm!"
"Your variant, Orochimaru, is a remarkable man. He's our Empire's chief scientist, as well as the director of the Empire Research Institute. He has many other titles too. For example, the one you can understand—the commander-in-chief of the Cross-Dimensional Expedition—is also him."
Orochimaru froze at his words, then asked in disbelief, "You... Your research requires human experimentation, doesn't it? Is that allowed within your Empire?"
Orochimaru had led a rather miserable life in this world.
He had been branded a practitioner of forbidden arts for conducting experiments and scientific research. In the end, he had been forced to conduct underground research. He could have benefited countless people and the Shinobi World, but unfortunately, he had ultimately ended up as a rogue ninja.
"Human experimentation? Naturally, it depends on the circumstances."
"If it's illegal human