The Shinobi World.
Another ritual was underway. All the Research Institute's senior officials were in attendance, while Sasuke and Naruto watched from afar.
The fact that Shinji had taken Yamada Juichi and the test subject from the sixth ritual hadn't caused much of a stir at the Research Institute.
For one thing, no one at the Research Institute dared question Shinji's orders. For another, only a month or two had passed, and everyone was still speculating.
So the Research Institute continued to carry out the rituals in an orderly fashion. The one underway now was the seventh ritual they had prepared.
The ritual proceeded without a hitch. The test subject easily completed the "Cocoon Transformation," burst out of the cocoon amid a vast cloud of mist, and revealed a new form that looked more and more like the Otsutsuki Clan.
"Another success!"
"Tsk, tsk, the data's even better than before!"
"Looks like our technique is fully mature!"
The researchers in the observation area were all thrilled.
The success of two rituals in a row gradually convinced them that every step of the process had been perfected. The Research Institute was now capable of mass-producing test subjects.
Unlike the ordinary researchers, who were excited, the senior officials wore varied expressions.
Amado remained as stern as ever, neither pleased nor troubled by the ritual's success. Tsunade furrowed her brow slightly, worry evident on her face.
As for Orochimaru, he wore a faint smile, seemingly just as pleased as everyone else about the ritual's success. But deep in his eyes lurked a barely perceptible malice.
To everyone else, Shinji taking Yamada Juichi and the sixth ritual's test subject away was merely puzzling. They guessed that he might be conducting some kind of test on them to further study "divine arts." But only Orochimaru