An underground laboratory whose location was unknown and where sunlight never reached.
Orochimaru was completely absorbed in fiddling with a scalpel. No one usually came to disturb him at times like this. A researcher's quiet research time was when he was happiest.
But a ninja suddenly appeared behind him.
The ninja dropped to one knee. He had brought some very important news. "Lord Orochimaru, the village already knows about what's happening here."
Orochimaru's hand paused. "In other words, the village knows what I'm doing, right...? Was it 'discovered,' or was it 'leaked'?"
"It was... leaked, Lord Orochimaru." The ninja kneeling on the ground lowered his head deeply.
"Can you determine exactly how much was leaked?" Orochimaru remained neither angry nor surprised as he continued asking calmly.
"Information on Experiment A was completely leaked. As for Experiment B... the relevant information should not have been leaked yet."
"Heh heh. Just as expected of Lord Danzo..."
Since it had been "leaked," there was an extremely high probability that a spy existed here—someone from the village's upper ranks. Or perhaps "observer" would be a more suitable term?
"Lord Orochimaru, what should we do next? Should we destroy everything here completely?"
To completely destroy the place naturally meant destroying everything that needed to be destroyed and making everything that needed to vanish evaporate.
"No. Since the information has already been leaked, if the village asks me to hand over what needs to be handed over and I have nothing to produce, that could very well signify a complete break. Unfortunately, I still can't leave the village, so..."
"Although it's a little regrettable, I can only hand everything in this base over to the village. Heh heh, who can blame me? I'm a Konoha ninja, after all." Orochimaru smiled as he spoke.
"Then... the person who leaked the information..."
"There are only a handful of people here aside from the test subjects. Finding out the spy's identity will be simplicity itself."
Orochimaru, who knew when to let go as well as when to take hold, would hand everything in the base over to the village. But that "everything" certainly would not include the spy who had betrayed him.
Yuhara had survived one of Orochimaru's experiments. As a precious "successful sample," he received careful treatment afterward... His value before and after the experiment was completely different.
The female ninja named Hotaru was responsible for taking care of him.
Yuhara's recovery speed was unexpectedly fast. After only a week, he could already be considered "full of life and energy."
During this period, he had been locked in that cell with the tightly bound child. Aside from the two of them having a relatively lengthy conversation on the first day, they spent most of their time in silence... Two prisoners had nothing much to talk about.
That day, Hotaru came to the cell as usual to deliver meals to her two fellow inmates. Her behavior looked no different from usual, but the moment Yuhara accepted the utensils she handed him, he immediately noticed something strange... It seemed that a piece of paper was hidden beneath the tray.
Yuhara naturally looked toward her and found that her expression had not changed in the slightest. He could only quietly press down on the note, then take it away without attracting attention.
Whatever the note contained, he was in no hurry to read it. He needed a relatively safe environment first.
But this peaceful recovery period could not last forever. Once Yuhara had more or less recovered, Orochimaru immediately began his next move.
When Orochimaru appeared before Yuhara again, Yuhara had nearly been tortured to death by him before, but at this moment, he did not even have the chance to express his resentment.
"The experiment succeeded beyond expectations. It's good news for both you and me... Extend your arm." Orochimaru spoke.
Although Yuhara was somewhat afraid that Orochimaru would stick another needle into him, he obediently extended his arm. Fortunately, this time Orochimaru was not putting something into his body, but taking something out of it... Just drawing blood. Compared to what he had gone through last time, this was child's play.
With the thought that he should obtain whatever information he could, Yuhara watched Orochimaru's expression and tried asking, "Lord Orochimaru, may I ask... what kind of experiment is this?"
Contrary to his impression of Orochimaru as aloof and superior, as long as one obediently followed Orochimaru's orders and did not disobey or resist, Orochimaru was often relatively easy to deal with. He was polite, well-mannered, and accustomed to using honorifics...
This showed that restraint in speech, recklessness in action, and cruelty in character were not actually contradictory.
As Yuhara had guessed, Orochimaru was more than willing to answer his question.
"It's merely an experiment to deactivate or suppress activity. To explain it a little further, something is too deadly to be practical. Therefore, if we want to make it practical, it must first undergo a process of weakening..."
"Judging by common sense, the more minute the treatment, the easier it should be to achieve this goal. But unexpectedly, reality was the opposite. The large-dose experiment actually succeeded."
"In other words, Zero was too deadly and was often in an uncontrolled state. On top of that, he is still young and unable to undergo high-intensity experiments, so we need One, someone capable of withstanding Zero's power."
"Neither Zero nor One has much power, but the transition from Zero to One is crucial. The possibilities that can be derived from One afterward are infinite."
Hmm, that explanation was quite good, but Yuhara had not understood much of it.
"Do you feel any different from before?" Orochimaru asked.
"If I had to name a change, I'd say I feel more alert and more energetic?" After hesitating briefly, Yuhara continued, "Also, I keep feeling like something is constantly scurrying around inside my body through the air. Negative oxygen ions?"
As he spoke, Yuhara quietly withdrew his arm. By then, Orochimaru had already drawn a large tube of blood from him. As for the latter sensation, it really was Yuhara's direct impression. The change even made him wonder if he had developed hypersensitive skin.
"No. That thing you described scurrying around should actually be called... Nature Energy."
"..."
The phrase "sudden realization" perfectly described what Yuhara felt at that moment. In an instant, he finally understood what Orochimaru had been talking about:
The so-called "Zero" was probably Jugo, while "One" was him, Yuhara. The role he served was merely that of a "human deactivation device." What Orochimaru was conducting now was development research into the "Cursed Seal"—or rather, Orochimaru had only just begun developing the Cursed Seal.
At the same time, Yuhara could roughly determine the period he was in. It should have been the end of the Third Ninja World War, when Orochimaru had not yet deserted Konoha. As for the location, if nothing unexpected had happened, this should have been beneath Konoha.
With this point in time as a marker, Orochimaru would become more and more extreme from here onward, eventually transforming from one of Konoha's "Four-Natured Ninjas" into a deranged rogue ninja.
Orochimaru was already dangerous enough. Staying by his side from now on would only become even more dangerous.
Thinking this, Yuhara could not help looking at Orochimaru with a worried expression. No matter what, escaping from prison was imperative.
Perhaps noticing his gaze, Orochimaru misunderstood something and explained, "Don't worry. I'm only extracting your serum."
"..."
How was that supposed to count as not worrying?
For the next three days, Orochimaru came every day to draw a large tube of blood from Yuhara. Strangely, Yuhara did not feel as if he had lost any blood. He had no idea what kind of nourishing food he had been eating.
Until he had a clue for his escape plan, time seemed destined to pass in peace like this.
The only thing Yuhara found strange was that, over the past three days, he had not seen the female ninja he encountered most often here even once.
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