Research on Hashirama Cells

"Uncle Snake, will you be too busy to come back and cook from now on?"

Shizune was the one who asked. From the conversation just now, she had gathered that Orochimaru had recently been assigned a mission.

Hearing Shizune's question, Tsunade looked at Orochimaru as well. After all, this concerned their meals.

"I'll probably be fairly busy. I may not have time at noon, but I should be able to come back and cook dinner."

He was leading a team, after all. A full day in the laboratory was already not enough. If he had to keep working overtime at night too, it really would be the life of a 996 corporate slave.

"Yay! But what about Sister Tsunade?"

The Ninja Academy did not provide meals, and many children brought boxed lunches from home to eat at school.

Tsunade was not much of a cook either. For the past year or so, Orochimaru had made breakfast every morning for Shizune to take as lunch.

She even knew to worry about Tsunade. He hadn't raised her for nothing!

But Tsunade was such a grown woman. She had hands and feet—was she really going to starve?

As he thought that, Orochimaru casually glanced at Tsunade's face, only to meet her glaring eyes...

"Uh... I'll make a little extra in the morning. Sister Tsunade can just heat it up at noon."

Jiraiya naturally heard every word of their conversation.

"I want to come mooch meals too! Orochimaru, you can't play favorites. Brothers are like limbs—I'm your limb!"

Seeing Jiraiya shamelessly trying to mooch food, Orochimaru had no intention of indulging him.

"Sure. One million ryo a month."

"One million ryo? That's robbery! Why doesn't Tsunade have to pay?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Jiraiya blew up. Orochimaru was clearly holding him to a different standard. He was obviously blinded by Tsunade's looks.

"I live in her house. Cooking counts as rent. You can come too. What can you do?"

Choked by Orochimaru's retort, Jiraiya's face turned red. For a long while, he could not squeeze out a single word.

"I can take care of Shizune..."

"Tsunade takes care of her."

"I can clean..."

"Shizune can sweep."

"I can warm the bed..."

"Get lost!..."

The next day, Orochimaru arrived at a forbidden area in Konoha.

"Lord Orochimaru, you've arrived. The other staff members are already here and awaiting your instructions!"

Two Anbu ninja guarded the entrance to the forbidden area. When they saw Orochimaru approach, they politely greeted him.

"Mm."

Orochimaru merely nodded and walked inside. The passage slanted downward all the way, and the deeper he went, the darker it became. Numerous torches had been lit along both sides.

After winding through twists and turns, he arrived at a spacious underground chamber. Looking around, he saw all sorts of experimental equipment arranged throughout the room, while several researchers made preparations before beginning work.

"It's surprisingly well-lit."

Orochimaru had thought this place would be damp and gloomy. It seemed he had overthought it.

When the staff saw Orochimaru arrive, they gathered around to await his orders.

"Lord Orochimaru, this is the experimental material!"

An Anbu ninja brought over a glass container filled with green nutrient solution. Floating within it was a lump of flesh the size of a baby's fist.

"So little?"

Orochimaru had assumed there would be Hashirama's complete corpse. He had not expected there to be only this much. Even Shiro had collected more for him than this.

"This is only one portion. Once it has been used, a report must be submitted to the higher-ups, and more will be provided afterward."

Seeing Orochimaru's displeased expression, the Anbu ninja hurriedly explained. He was only following orders.

Hearing that answer, Orochimaru could only sigh helplessly. These were Hashirama Cells, after all!

In his previous life, fans had joked that Hashirama had used Wood Release to conquer the world because every inch of his body was made of Hashirama Cells.

Putting the matter aside, Orochimaru took the nutrient test tube. He had secretly researched it for some time before, so it was not as though he had gained nothing. It was simply that the time had been too short for progress to advance very far.

Now, he could conduct his research openly. Not only did he need to study Hashirama Cells, but the cells of the Uzumaki Clan were even more important. After all, he knew just how domineering Hashirama Cells were. They would not be easy to crack.

Thus, Orochimaru left home every morning before dawn and returned only after dark. He worked at least twelve hours each day, sometimes even putting in overtime.

Life was fairly uneventful. Still, whenever Orochimaru returned home, Tsunade and Shizune saw only his exhausted body, and he still had to cook for the two of them. They felt somewhat guilty about it.

Yet Orochimaru had no complaints. He did not become upset just because there was no hot food waiting for him at home.

Shizune, on the other hand, was very sensible and would help Orochimaru out. Many times, the ingredients had already been prepared by the time he got home, ready to be stir-fried and eaten without wasting much time.

Half a year passed just like that, and Konoha reached Year 39.

"Lord Orochimaru, Experiment Subject 20 has been confirmed dead. Experiment Subject 33 has developed a severe rejection reaction, while Experiment Subject 7 has shown only mild rejection."

A researcher handed the recorded experimental data to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru frowned deeply as he read it, clearly dissatisfied with such results.

At first, they had only used animals such as rabbits and mice for their experiments.

Only after these agents achieved a survival rate of over 80% in animals would they be used on human subjects.

But no one had expected the same agent to produce such vastly different outcomes when injected into new experiment subjects.

"Is it a problem at the Genetic Level?"

Over this period, no fewer than ten experiment subjects had already died. Many subjects could not even last through a single night. Some had even turned into trees on the spot, instantly consumed by Hashirama Cells.

The data was constantly being updated, while the proportions, dosage, and components of the agents were continuously adjusted.

But all of it came at a cost. Living people died one after another.

Orochimaru wanted to halt the experiments, but the pressure from Konoha's higher-ups did not permit him to do so. Someone would keep pushing him to continue the research—especially Danzo, who came even more diligently than the Hokage.

There was no turning back once the arrow had left the bow. Orochimaru could only do his best to avoid mistakes and reduce experimental accidents.

"Experiment Subject 7's data is relatively stable. Although every attribute is somewhat high, they remain within acceptable limits. It seems the cells of the Uzumaki Clan are not as domineering as Hashirama Cells."

That was right. Experiment Subject 7 was himself, injected with the cell agent derived from the Uzumaki Clan. He had guessed that the Uzumaki Clan's cells should be connected to the Senju Clan's Hashirama Cells.

If even the Uzumaki Clan's cells could not be endured, then Hashirama Cells would be even more difficult. Both were Sage Bodies, yet they were also different.

Before the Warring States era, the Uzumaki Clan had emerged from intermarriage among members of the Senju Clan. The two could be considered distant relatives.

The Uzumaki Clan cells used on No. 7 had naturally been arranged by Orochimaru in secret. The result was not too bad, but more experimental data was still needed.