Experiment Success, Perfect Cursed Seal

"Anko, relax—"

Orochimaru looked at the girl on the operating table and comforted her in a soft voice.

Anko had barely responded when she felt a sharp pain in her neck.

In an instant, the large snake bit down on Anko's neck, injecting a massive amount of Natural Energy along with power connected to his soul directly into her.

As the power was injected.

The snake's body gradually shrank.

Finally, it disappeared completely, leaving behind a strange mark consisting of five black tomoe joined together below Anko's neck.

The gray snake was a Cursed Seal technique created by Orochimaru based on the research path of Uchiha Ao, containing all the characteristics of the technique as well as the most important Natural Energy and fragments of Orochimaru's soul.

The entire process lasted for three full hours.

Throughout this time, Orochimaru remained completely focused, controlling his Chakra with exquisite precision.

There was not a single deviation.

Uchiha Ao watched this scene, his eyes filled with admiration.

Only a genius like Orochimaru could maintain such perfect control over his Chakra for such a long period.

He himself would likely struggle to last even ten minutes.

This was the gap between the two of them.

He still had such a long way to go!

Even if all the results of his plans were entrusted to him now, he feared he would be unable to inherit them.

"It's a success."

Orochimaru let out a sigh of relief as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.

His entire body was mostly soaked.

It was clear he had overdrawn most of his physical strength.

His spirit had weakened by a noticeable degree.

He looked at the unconscious Anko with deep, lingering eyes.

A sense of worry welled up in his heart; he subconsciously reached out, and only after sensing Anko's breathing did he turn around to look at his assistant behind him.

"Did you notice any abnormalities during the process? Were you able to keep up?"

Orochimaru asked.

Although Ao was not very old, some of the concepts he proposed were worth deep contemplation.

Therefore, he was consciously cultivating him.

He hoped that Ao could grow and become his true assistant.

When it came to fellow travelers on the path of scientific research, Orochimaru was never stingy with his knowledge.

Ao nodded gently.

A research project regarding Danzo that Orochimaru had previously arranged surfaced in his mind.

In light of the fact that Orochimaru had held nothing back from him.

He hesitated for a moment before deciding to offer Orochimaru a reminder.

"Teacher, do you still intend to complete the subsequent experiments for Danzo? After the death of the Fourth Hokage, shouldn't you be the most suitable successor?"

"If you are to become Hokage, can Danzo still be trusted?"

He did not doubt the knowledge Orochimaru imparted or the questions at hand, because even Yakushi Kabuto, a spy planted by others in the future, had betrayed his original master, Sasori of the Red Sands, because of Orochimaru, eventually becoming his most capable assistant.

Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully after hearing this.

About an hour later.

The unconscious Anko woke up.

"How do you feel?"

Ao's voice came from beside her, and the previous memories flooded back into Anko's blank mind.

A burning sensation radiated from her neck.

She subconsciously covered it, and the moment she touched her skin, a sharp pain shot through her.

A Chakra that did not belong to her was continuously merging into her body along the Cursed Seal, altering her physique.

The Chakra within her had surged to more than double its original amount.

She had jumped directly from the level of a Chunin to that of a Jonin, undergoing a qualitative change.

She felt that some of the ninjutsu that had previously been difficult for her were now much clearer in her mind.

She rolled over and got out of bed.

After stretching her body, she replied, "Not bad! My body seems to have become stronger, and there are no abnormalities."

She glanced at the surrounding environment.

It was a sealed room with oil lamps lit on the walls, emitting a pungent odor.

A familiar environment.

She was still in one of the lounge rooms of the laboratory.

"Where is Teacher?"

She asked.

The first question after waking up was to ask about her teacher's whereabouts.

Ao nodded and said, "This experiment was a great burden on Teacher as well, so he is currently recuperating."

This was true.

To ensure the success of the Cursed Seal transplantation, Orochimaru had expended immense energy during the experiment and even split off a portion of his soul.

It was equivalent to forcibly carving a piece of flesh from his most vital spiritual essence; such damage would last a lifetime.

Even someone with the strength of a Kage Level ninja like Orochimaru could not handle it easily.

However, before the experiment, Ao had already listed some of the sequelae for Orochimaru.

At the same time, he had provided some remedial measures and plans.

Orochimaru was currently recuperating according to the plan provided by Ao.

He had entrusted the subsequent arrangements for Anko entirely to him.

"It looks like it was a success."

"For the next period of time, your body will have some special reactions, and you must tell me everything truthfully."

Ao closed the notebook labeled with Anko's name, which contained all of her information, including her measurements, blood type, and various physical data.

For the next week.

Anko needed to stay in the laboratory to cooperate with Ao in completing all the indicator tests.

On the third day, Orochimaru emerged from his seclusion.

He found Anko, flipped through the data recorded by Ao, and nodded with satisfaction.

Then he left.

He did not give any instructions.

"Is Teacher alright?"

Anko watched Orochimaru's departing back and asked subconsciously.

Her teacher hadn't said anything, but that pale face still made her heart ache.

Ao glanced at her.

He silently admired the pure relationship Orochimaru had with those around him; it was truly addictive.

Anko, this girl, didn't care at all about her status as an experimental subject, but instead was unusually concerned about Orochimaru, the teacher who viewed her as a tool.

"There shouldn't be any major problems."

Ao put away the documents in his hand and, after organizing all the testing equipment, replied.

He had provided three plans for Orochimaru's soul repair: one was a method derived from the principles of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to consume the souls of other creatures to replenish his own damaged soul.

This method was relatively simple; once the formula of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal was dismantled, it could be easily created.

However, because it borrowed part of the power of the Death God summoned by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

The drawbacks were immense, and there were unpredictable sequelae.

It was even possible that the consumed soul might not necessarily belong to the user.

The second method was inspired by the Shadow Clone Technique, splitting and peeling off the divided parts of the soul in the form of clones.

Then, the peeled-off soul fragments would be used to repair the original damage to the soul.

This could fill in some of the wounds caused by the soul tearing, but it would cause a permanent reduction in the quality of the main soul, which could not be recovered.

The final method was based on the soul power cultivation techniques described in the Spirit Transformation Technique, slowly repairing the damage at the soul level through long-term practice.

Judging by the time Orochimaru emerged from seclusion.

Ao roughly guessed that he had likely used the second method to temporarily suppress the injuries at the soul level.

It had to be said that this guy Orochimaru was truly ruthless to himself.

In order to create the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique, he had acted on his own soul without hesitation; if it were anyone else, they would likely have had multiple concerns.

Even Ao himself would not dare to easily adopt those plans.

But Orochimaru had chosen one without hesitation after seeing the feasibility.

He couldn't help but admire him for this.

Ao took out a notebook, flipped to the latest page, looked at Anko, and said, "Teacher is fine, but as for you, you need to familiarize yourself with the power of the Cursed Seal as soon as possible, otherwise..."

He paused, his finger pressing on a set of data.

"If you cannot master this power, I am afraid you won't live long before becoming a cripple, and it may even threaten your life."