Konoha Research Department.
Taiichi strode through the halls. Every staff member he passed nodded respectfully and greeted him with a "Lord Taiichi."
They respected him not only for his strength, but also for his scientific ability.
That was no exaggeration. Taiichi had even helped establish the department.
He had also personally helped draft many of its rules and regulations.
Thanks to that, a secretive department that would once have been forced underground now stood openly aboveground, a place everyone aspired to join.
After passing through the final security door, Taiichi found Orochimaru deep inside the department.
"You didn't even come to welcome us back on the day of our triumphant return. What's keeping you so busy?"
Orochimaru did not look up, and Taiichi could not resist teasing him.
"Heh. How could something so pointless compare to the pleasure of exploring the unknown?" Orochimaru kept his eyes fixed on the view through the microscope. "When did you become so vain, Taiichi?"
"All right, you win!"
At a loss for words, Taiichi stepped closer to see what experiment had Orochimaru so engrossed.
"You're still studying the First Hokage's cells?"
One glance was enough for Taiichi to identify the cells multiplying abnormally in the petri dish.
Such extraordinary vitality and absurdly rapid growth could only belong to the First Hokage's cells.
Orochimaru finished recording his last set of data and finally looked away from the microscope, though reluctance lingered in his eyes.
"I can't put them aside. No matter how many times I see them, they're astonishing. If only I could understand them—"
Orochimaru trailed off. His gaze had locked onto the object Taiichi was tossing from hand to hand, and his head bobbed along with it.
At last, Orochimaru could no longer hold back.
"What's that in your hand? It looks alive,