"Anko, relax—"
Orochimaru gently reassured the girl on the operating table.
Anko had just begun to respond when she felt a sharp pain in her neck.
The giant snake bit Anko's neck in an instant. Its fangs injected an enormous amount of Natural Energy, along with a power connected to the soul, all of it flowing into her.
As the power poured in,
the giant snake's body gradually shrank.
At last, it vanished completely, leaving a strange mark made up of five black Tomoe beneath Anko's neck.
The gray serpent was a Cursed Seal formula Orochimaru had created based on Ao's research. It contained the properties of every technique, as well as the most important elements: Natural Energy and fragments of Orochimaru's soul.
The entire process lasted three hours.
Throughout that time, Orochimaru remained completely focused, controlling his Chakra with extraordinary precision.
Not a single movement strayed.
Uchiha Ao watched, his eyes full of admiration.
Only a genius like Orochimaru could maintain perfect control over his Chakra for so long.
Ao doubted he could last even ten minutes.
That was the difference between them.
He still had a long way to go!
Even if all the results of the research were entrusted to him now, he probably wouldn't be able to carry it on.
"Success."
Orochimaru let out a sigh of relief as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
He was drenched.
It was clear that he had exhausted most of his strength.
His entire body seemed weaker, and his spirit had faded.
He gazed at the unconscious Anko, his eyes shadowed with concern. He reached out, then noticed her breathing and turned to look at the assistant behind him.
"Did you notice anything unusual during the process? Could you keep up?"
Orochimaru asked.
Ao was still young, but some of the ideas he had proposed were worth serious consideration.
So Orochimaru had deliberately taken him under his wing.
He hoped Ao would grow into a true assistant.
Orochimaru had never been stingy with his knowledge when it came to fellow researchers.
Ao nodded slightly.
A research project concerning Danzo, which Orochimaru had assigned earlier, came to mind.
Since Orochimaru had held nothing back from him,
Ao hesitated, then decided to offer him a warning.
"Teacher, are you still going to carry out the rest of the experiments for Danzo? After the Fourth Hokage's death, you should be the most suitable successor, shouldn't you?"
"If you become Hokage, can Danzo really be trusted?"
Ao had no doubts about Orochimaru's willingness to share his knowledge or answer his questions. After all, even Yakushi Kabuto, who would later be planted at his side as a spy, had betrayed his original master, Sasori of the Red Sands, because of Orochimaru and become his most capable assistant.
Orochimaru listened and nodded thoughtfully.
About an hour later,
Anko woke from her unconsciousness.
"How do you feel?"
Ao's voice came from beside her. Memories of what had happened earlier surfaced in Anko's blank mind.
A burning sensation came from her neck.
She instinctively covered it. The moment her hand touched her skin, she felt a sting.
Chakra that didn't belong to her was steadily flowing into her body through the Cursed Seal, changing it.
The amount of Chakra in her body had more than doubled.
She had risen straight from Chunin to Jonin, undergoing a qualitative change.
Some techniques that had once felt awkward now seemed much clearer in her mind.
She sat up and got to her feet.
After moving her body around a little, she answered, "Not bad! I feel like I've gotten stronger. Nothing seems wrong."
She glanced at the surroundings.
It was a sealed room. Oil lamps burned along the walls, filling the air with a pungent smell.
The place was familiar.
She was still in a break room in the laboratory.
"Where's the teacher?"
She asked.
The first thing she wanted to know after waking was where her teacher had gone.
Ao nodded and said, "The experiment took a lot out of him too. He's recovering now."
That was true.
To ensure the Cursed Seal transplant succeeded, Orochimaru had exerted himself enormously during the experiment and even split off a portion of his soul.
It was like tearing a chunk of flesh from the most vital part of his being: his mind and will. The damage would stay with him for the rest of his life.
Even someone as powerful as Orochimaru, at Kage Level, could barely withstand it.
However, before the experiment, Ao had already listed some of the possible aftereffects for Orochimaru.
He had also provided several treatment plans.
Orochimaru was currently recuperating according to one of the plans Ao had given him.
He had left Anko's follow-up care entirely to Ao.
"Looks like it worked."
"For the next little while, your body may show some unusual reactions. You must tell me about every one of them."
Ao closed the notebook bearing Anko's name. It contained all her information, including her measurements, blood type, and various bodily statistics.
For the next week,
Anko would need to stay in the laboratory and cooperate with Ao as he completed all the tests.
On the third day, Orochimaru emerged from seclusion.
He found Anko, looked through a few pages of the data Ao had recorded, and nodded in satisfaction.
Then he left.
He didn't give them any instructions.
"Is the teacher all right?"
Anko watched Orochimaru's retreating figure and asked without thinking.
Her teacher hadn't said anything, but his deathly pale face had still made her worry.
Ao glanced at her.
He silently admired the pure affection Orochimaru showed to the people around him. It really was the sort of thing that could become addictive.
Anko hadn't given a thought to being used as experimental material. Instead, she was deeply concerned about Orochimaru, the teacher who treated her as a tool.
"He should be fine now."
Ao put away the documents in his hands and finished arranging all the testing equipment before answering.
He had given Orochimaru three methods for repairing his soul. The first was derived from the principles of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal: a way to replenish one's damaged soul by consuming the souls of other beings.
This method was relatively simple. Once the Reaper Death Seal's formula was broken down, it would be easy to create.
But since it borrowed some of the Death God's power summoned by the Reaper Death Seal,
it had serious drawbacks and unpredictable side effects.
There was even a chance that the souls consumed would not belong to the user afterward.
The second method drew inspiration from the Shadow Clone Technique. It involved splitting off part of the soul and separating it in the form of a clone.
The detached soul fragments could then be used to repair the original soul.
This could patch some of the wounds caused by the soul tearing, but it would permanently reduce the quality of the user's soul, with no way to restore it.
The final method was based on the way the Spirit Transformation Technique described training one's spiritual power. Through prolonged cultivation, the damage to the soul could be repaired slowly.
Judging by how long Orochimaru had been away,
Ao could roughly guess that he had used the second method to temporarily suppress the damage to his soul.
Orochimaru really was ruthless toward himself.
To create Living Corpse Reincarnation, he had acted without hesitation and tampered with his own soul. Most people would have had all sorts of reservations.
Even Ao himself wouldn't dare adopt those methods lightly.
But as soon as Orochimaru saw that one of them was viable, he chose it without hesitation.
Ao couldn't help but admire him.
Ao took out a notebook, flipped to the latest page, and looked at Anko. "There shouldn't be any major problems with the teacher. You, on the other hand, need to get used to the power of the Cursed Seal as soon as possible. Otherwise..."
He paused, placing a finger on a set of figures.
"If you can't control this power, you'll become a cripple before long—or it could even cost you your life."
Before you continue