Hashirama Cells

"Stay away from me. I don't like cold snakes."

"If you rub against me one more time, don't blame me for activating Susanoo and giving you a proper massage!"

Natsume raised an eyebrow, took a deep breath, and issued a quiet warning.

"Don't be so cold! We're partners, after all. And now we're both Konoha's rogue ninja..."

"That's different. You still care about Konoha, don't you?"

Orochimaru froze for a moment.

Then he quickly smiled.

"How could I? I'm already making plans to get revenge on Konoha!"

"That place deserves to be destroyed!"

Natsume rolled his eyes at Orochimaru and snorted inwardly:

Pah! Your so-called 'Konoha Crush Plan.' You fought for ages and didn't kill a single important person!

Instead, you ended up helping Konoha take care of the Fourth Kazekage, giving a bunch of Genin rookies some training, and letting Konoha extort a huge amount in compensation from Sunagakure.

You were practically a 'smug, arrogant, chuuni honor student trying to prove himself to a goofy teacher.' If you hadn't gone too far at the end and gotten both your arms taken out by Sarutobi, who knows how it would've turned out!

Of course, Natsume didn't say any of that aloud.

After all, he and Orochimaru really were partners for the time being.

Later, after they established their village, they would indeed need Orochimaru's help, as well as support from the Land of Fields.

In short, it wasn't the right time to fall out with him.

Besides, Natsume had offered plenty of concessions to secure this partnership. He couldn't let them go to waste.

"Let's talk business!"

"Within three days, I want the ruler of the Land of Fields to issue a statement in the name of the country, informing the other nations that they've decided to officially accept the Uchiha Clan."

Natsume stated his demand.

Once officially accepted by a nation, the Uchiha Clan would undoubtedly gain an additional layer of protection.

After that, the other ninja villages, including Konoha, would have to consider the alliance between nations. They would find it difficult to launch large-scale attacks openly and could only send Anbu on small, covert raids at most.

That was precisely why the Otogakure, established by Orochimaru and recognized by the Land of Fields, could exist openly.

Otherwise, Konoha would have sent a large force long ago to wipe out Otogakure.

Of course, that might also have been because Orochimaru and Danzo had always maintained a mutually beneficial relationship.

But it was enough to prove just how important official recognition by a nation could be.

"Oh? That's no simple matter!"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, ready to bargain.

"Come on. The ruler of the Land of Fields is already under your control, isn't he? Otherwise, would your shabby little Otogakure have been recognized?"

"You certainly are well informed, Natsume-kun!"

"All right. I'll arrange it as soon as possible."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and gave his answer.

This brat really was difficult to deal with!

He was making Orochimaru feel like his subordinate.

If he weren't after the kid's strength and the conditions he'd promised, he wouldn't be working so hard.

"Also, how are the Hashirama Cells I asked for coming along?"

"You're quite ambitious! Are you sure you want to have that stuff implanted? If your body can't handle it, you'll die, you know!"

Orochimaru stared at Natsume.

It was hard to imagine that this ten-year-old brat would risk his life to personally undergo such a taboo cell transplant.

What a lunatic!

"I'm confident I won't die."

"If Danzo could handle the right arm you made for him, why would I be any worse than an old man?"

"Besides, if I really do die, wouldn't that suit you just fine?"

"Anyway, your Hashirama Cell transplant technique has improved quite a bit since before, hasn't it?"

In fact, from the very first day he'd arrived in this world,

Natsume had been eyeing these all-purpose "Hashirama Cells."

Now that he'd defected from Konoha and come to Otogakure in the Land of Fields,

with Konoha no longer watching or restricting him,

it was time to move up the plan to have Orochimaru implant Hashirama Cells.

After all, not making use of the Ninja World's top "scientist" would be an enormous waste.

What's more, he and his clan weren't exactly safe at present.

Konoha, the other hidden villages, the Akatsuki...and so on.

Any of them might come sniffing around his clan's big prize, testing the waters.

If Natsume overused his Mangekyō and ruined it, he'd be in trouble.

Although he could also exchange for the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in the System Shop, the price of "ten thousand Gold Coins" was far too steep!

Even Natsume, who was rolling in money now, couldn't afford it.

He had no choice but to settle for having Orochimaru implant Hashirama Cells.

The transplant would probably have some minor side effects.

But Natsume was confident he could suppress them.

After all, Yamato, Danzo, and Obito had all succeeded. There was no reason he would fail.

And even if he did,

the system could save his life, so there was no need to worry.

Once it worked, he'd be able to use the Mangekyō Sharingan's powers without restraint, just like Obito-bro, and wouldn't have to worry about going blind.

By then, his overall strength would soar even further!

"Hahaha. You really are greedy!"

"But I like that."

"By the way, don't forget what you promised. If you die, those Mangekyō of yours will be mine!"

Orochimaru burst out laughing.

Honestly, he liked these reckless lunatics.

And he was eager to see what kind of brilliance would emerge when the Hashirama Cells fused with this brat.

"No problem."

Natsume answered calmly.

When a person died, the light went out.

If he really died, who cared who got his eyes?

Besides, if he couldn't even protect his own life, how could he talk about conquering the Ninja World?

"Can you have it ready within five days?"

"Certainly!"

Orochimaru confirmed. He was even more eager than Natsume himself to conduct this transplant experiment.

Naturally, he wouldn't keep Natsume waiting.

The two soon spent quite a while discussing the details of the Hashirama Cell transplant.

Only then did they settle on the arrangements.

At the same time, Natsume quietly noticed the "Void" ring on Orochimaru's hand.

That reminded him.

Orochimaru was originally supposed to try to take Itachi's body as a vessel for reincarnation after Itachi joined the Akatsuki.

He would fail, then eventually leave the Akatsuki because his goals differed from theirs.

In other words, Orochimaru should still be part of the Akatsuki.

That was good news!

He could make use of that.

After all, there were plenty of good things in the Akatsuki.

The Rinnegan, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, all kinds of talented people, and those six hundred billion Explosive Tags...

They were all worth scheming for!

Sure enough, Snake Auntie was the best.

Being around her felt like being at home.

He could do whatever he wanted, without any restrictions.

He'd never again have to be ostracized and watched every day like he was in Konoha...

Of course, he'd have to plan all of that out gradually.

For now, there was something else he needed to consider first.

"Orochimaru, you've always been working with Danzo, haven't you?"

At that, Orochimaru's pupils contracted, and his expression grew unusually serious.

After all, ever since he'd defected from Konoha,

his dealings and collaborations with Danzo had been kept secret.

They shouldn't have been exposed!

How did this brat Natsume know about that, too?

Just how extensive was his hidden intelligence network inside Konoha?

Of course, Orochimaru couldn't have known that Natsume didn't have any impressive intelligence network.

But the memories from his previous life were countless times more powerful than the spy networks of any hidden village, encompassing nearly every secret in the entire Ninja World...

"I didn't expect you to know about that too, Natsume-kun!"

"Don't worry about it. We only work together for our own benefit. Given Danzo's standing in Konoha, I might even work with him someday..."

Natsume didn't care about the partnership between Danzo and Orochimaru. They were simply using each other for their own gain.

Besides, when the time came, either of them could betray the other without hesitation.

There was no need to worry about it.

"All right, back to business."

"Recently, Danzo should have given you a new mission or proposed a deal, shouldn't he?"

Natsume stared at Orochimaru and asked quietly.