Strange Tech Tree

In the pitch-black passageway, Black Beetles surged like a tide, crunching as they devoured every corpse submerged beneath them.

These corpses would be converted into energy and stored within their bodies, preparing them for the battles ahead.

Of course, when upgrading the Black Beetles, Simu had deliberately invested skill points into their reproduction.

In other words, these Black Beetles were now a true race, capable of survival and propagation.

If Simu relinquished control over them, they would immediately swarm and devour everything around them that could be plundered, then begin reproducing madly on instinct.

Under such circumstances, the Black Beetle population would continue expanding until it encroached upon the interests of stronger species, eventually triggering a life-or-death war that would determine the fate of their race.

In truth, this was not merely the fate of insects.

It was also the fate of humans.

Simu adjusted his glasses and continued deeper into the passageway.

At the end of the passage stood a massive steel wall, one that apparently could only be opened with some corresponding technique.

Naturally, Simu did not know that technique, and he had not obtained any specific information from Orochimaru's Snake Clone either.

Thus, Simu could only resort to more violent methods.

"Perfect. I can test the power of those children."

Simu slowly raised his palm. Several black bugs flew from the mouthparts in his palm and attached themselves to the steel gate before him, forming the character for "big."

These bugs were different from the Black Beetles.

The Black Beetles were completely black and incredibly hard, with durability comparable to Iron Sand.

Explosive Bugs, meanwhile, had soft bodies, bloated bellies, and were larger than Black Beetles.

After all, an entire Kibaku Fuda technique was hidden within each of their bodies. The moment Simu willed it, the Chakra generated by the Explosive Bugs would activate the technique buried inside them and produce an explosion.

Simu theatrically raised his fingers in a hand seal and said calmly, "Bug Release: Great Character Explosion Technique."

The next second, the Explosive Bugs stuck to the gate instantly swelled grotesquely. With a thunderous boom, terrifying flames lit up the entire passageway, and even the ground shook violently.

Even the heavy steel gate could not withstand an explosion of such intensity.

The gate rapidly reddened and melted under the intense heat, then shattered and was blasted away by the ensuing shockwave.

Beyond the scorching blast wave and thick smoke, a massive arena appeared before Simu.

The arena floor was covered in mottled bloodstains and scratches left by all manner of weapons.

Surrounding the arena were countless prison cells stacked high upon one another, though many of them were empty.

Beyond the arena should have been the laboratory Orochimaru used for all sorts of research.

The moment Simu stepped into the arena, dozens of figures appeared almost simultaneously.

There seemed to be no Fear in their eyes. Without hesitation, they launched an attack on Simu, the intruder.

But the battle was exceedingly brief. The instant they appeared, the surrounding Black Beetles had already gathered together, forming a long black God of Death's Scythe under Simu's control.

"Bug Release: Evil Bug Dancing Blade Technique."

The God of Death's Scythe flashed past, instantly harvesting the souls of the dozen or so enemies before him and cutting their bodies in two.

As corpse after corpse fell, Simu's true objective finally revealed itself.

It was Orochimaru's laboratory.

Simu was eager to see what kind of research results Orochimaru would show him.

At that moment, Hidan, who had finally finished his fight and caught up, immediately began questioning him. "Huh? You bastard, Simu, you killed them all. What am I supposed to kill?"

Simu glanced at Hidan and said, "Who told you to be so slow? They were only a few minor grunts."

With his Immortal Body, formidable taijutsu, and Kagune, dealing with those people should have been as easy for Hidan as drinking water.

Hidan lifted his chin and said disdainfully to Simu, "What do you know? Killing people requires artistry too!"

"Taking out your enemies with a single slash like you do would never satisfy Lord Jashin!"

At this, Hidan revealed a frenzied smile. "Only by torturing them to death alive, releasing all the pain and Fear in the sacrifices' hearts, will Lord Jashin feel the greatest pleasure."

"Boring."

Simu gave his assessment bluntly.

"No matter how hard you try to please Lord Jashin, little Hidan, it will never forgive you."

"Huh?"

Hidan tilted his head in confusion. "I don't think I've ever done anything to wrong Lord Jashin, have I? Why wouldn't Lord Jashin forgive me?"

"No, if I haven't done anything wrong, why would I need Lord Jashin's forgiveness?"

Simu merely gave a mysterious smile. "You'll understand when Lord Jashin reappears in the Shinobi World."

Naturally, that explanation dissatisfied Hidan.

"What the hell? I hate people like you who keep everyone in suspense!"

Hidan wanted to press the matter further, but he discovered that Simu's Black Beetles had already appeared on his neck.

If he kept pestering Simu, the outcome was easy enough to imagine.

"Hmph, what an irritating bastard!"

Hidan said resentfully, though there was nothing he could do about it.

After all, even if Simu cut off his head, he would not die. In fact, it gave him a peculiar sense of comfort.

But!

Hidan would never show it. He even had to deliberately act as if he really did not want his head cut off.

Otherwise, Simu would definitely punish him by refusing to cut off his head.

Hehe, Lord Hidan really was a clever little genius!

Following Simu into the laboratory, Hidan's face showed a rare trace of astonishment.

"Huh, isn't this Orochimaru more like one of Lord Jashin's followers than we are?"

Hidan was not joking, because the laboratory contained over a hundred large test tubes arranged densely throughout the room.

Each test tube was filled with some kind of green liquid, which Simu guessed might have been a nutrient solution.

Within that nutrient solution were test subjects, one after another.

There were human test subjects from every stage of life, from infants to the elderly!

Moreover, every single test subject bore some degree of deformity.

There was no telling what sort of experiment Orochimaru was conducting.

Even the Jashin Cult merely killed people and offered them to Jashin as sacrifices, while Orochimaru captured them and subjected them to all kinds of inhumane human experiments.

If anyone deserved to be called a living King Yama, it was him!

Of course, Simu was not particularly repulsed by any of this.

On the contrary, the technological level displayed by Orochimaru's laboratory genuinely surprised him.

Not only did it possess all kinds of precision instruments, it also had large computers specifically used to monitor the test subjects and analyze various data.

This completely overturned Simu's understanding of this world's technological development.

After all, the ninjas outside were still fighting with the most primitive cold weapons, yet there were computers here.

This tech tree was seriously warped.