The platform woven from branches and tree trunks loomed like a towering throne. Standing atop it and looking down, "B" seemed like a king, a god!
Even Orochimaru, who had seen all manner of things, couldn't help but freeze for a second or two at the sight.
"How is this possible?!"
Kabuto Yakushi, standing beside him, cried out in shock.
He had good reason to be astonished. It was common knowledge throughout the Shinobi World that Akatsuki Organization's "B" was a Mangekyo Uchiha.
If "B" using the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Technique, "Adamantine Sealing Chains," could be explained by saying Akatsuki Organization had somehow overcome the requirement for Uzumaki blood, then "B" being able to use "Wood Release" was beyond his understanding.
"Was it a First Hokage cells transplant?"
Orochimaru was the first to recover. His expression grew complicated as he looked at "B."
He was one of the people best qualified to speak about the risks of the procedure. One of the few Wood Release users still alive in the Shinobi World had come from his own experiments.
That person was Yamato, without a doubt.
Even with Yamato as a successful case, Orochimaru had still believed that obtaining Wood Release through transplantation surgery was unfeasible, because Yamato's Wood Release had fallen short of his expectations.
It wasn't until Tsunade successfully performed a transplant on Yakumo, and Yakumo displayed Wood Release powers far beyond Yamato's after the surgery, that he resumed his research into First Hokage cells. He once again joined forces with Danzo, secretly carrying out multiple First Hokage cells transplant operations.
But reality was merciless. They couldn't even create another Yamato, let alone another Yakumo. No matter how they optimized and improved the procedure, the success rate didn't improve at all. All they got was failure after failure.
It