Strength Surges, Boundless Sharingan!

Inside the dim underground laboratory, the scene was set.

The frenzied Orochimaru hovered around the operating table, performing frantic "operations" on Natsume's physical body.

Natsume, whose soul had detached via the Spirit Transformation Technique, watched him intently from the side.

Having left his physical vessel, his soul's perception of time had become significantly dulled.

Natsume could not accurately estimate how much time had passed.

However, he imagined it must already be dawn outside.

And so, time ticked away, second by second.

The transplant surgery continued unabated.

Finally, after an unknown duration, Orochimaru, standing before the operating table, burst into wild laughter:

"Hahaha! I wasn't wrong! This is it, exactly this!"

"So that's how it is!"

"Hashirama Cells can mitigate the backlash of the Mangekyo Sharingan, while the Mangekyo Sharingan can suppress the aggressive vitality of the Hashirama Cells!"

"The power of these Hashirama Cells and the Mangekyo Sharingan are truly complementary!"

"No wonder most of my previous experiments with transplanting Hashirama Cells ended in failure!"

"It turns out I was lacking the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan all along!"

Orochimaru laughed heartily, as if he had gone completely mad.

How to suppress the aggressive vitality of Hashirama Cells within a living host had always been a nearly unsolvable puzzle.

Once, he had believed that by using young children, relying on their dense life force and adaptability, he could effectively resist the erosion of the Hashirama Cells.

The result was failure.

Out of dozens of test subjects, only Yamato had managed to survive by sheer luck.

Later, he conducted many more experiments.

In the end, he could only rely on the special constitution of Shin to deactivate most of the Hashirama Cells' vitality.

Only then did he barely succeed in transplanting the Hashirama Cells and creating a right arm for Danzo.

However, that was merely a semi-finished product.

Although it possessed some decent abilities, it could not compare to the powerful, active, and complete Hashirama Cells.

At the time, Orochimaru had assumed it was just a lucky success.

But now, it seemed that only by combining Hashirama Cells with the Mangekyo Sharingan could a perfect fusion be achieved!

Even ordinary Sharingan were slightly inferior.

Only the extremely rare and powerful Mangekyo Sharingan could truly withstand the erosion of the Hashirama Cells and form a perfect balance with that power!

A few minutes later, the transplant officially concluded.

Natsume dispelled the Spirit Transformation Technique, allowing his soul to return safely to his body.

The moment he returned, he leaped to his feet.

He shoved Orochimaru aside and rushed to the mirror in the laboratory to check his reflection.

He hurriedly confirmed whether his appearance had undergone any abnormal changes.

Thankfully, his skin hadn't turned pale.

There were no horns on his head.

No face of Hashirama had sprouted from his chest.

Everything was normal!

"Whew—"

Natsume let out a sigh of relief.

Only then did he begin to carefully examine the changes within his body.

The first sensation was that he had become harder!

Of course, not that kind of hard.

His entire body had become tougher.

Under the powerful vitality boost of the Hashirama Cells, his bones, meridians, muscles, strength, speed, and more... had all been significantly enhanced.

Conservatively estimated, he had at least doubled or tripled in power!

Do not underestimate this two-to-threefold increase. Although Natsume's physique does not compare to ninjas like Might Guy who specialize in taijutsu, it is absolutely not inferior to that of an average elite jonin.

For an ordinary ninja, wanting to increase their physique by two or three times out of thin air is a pipe dream without years of arduous training.

Yet, these powerful Hashirama Cells achieved in mere moments what would take others years of bitter cultivation to surpass.

Moreover, this is only the capability of the transplanted cells.

From this point alone, one can catch a glimpse of just how powerful the "God of Shinobi" Senju Hashirama, who possessed a near-perfect Sage Body, truly was!

It is no wonder that his cells alone are enough to be used by future generations as a "cure-all."

Beyond the enhancement of his physique, Natsume also discovered that with the support of sufficient cellular vitality, his total chakra reserves had surged by leaps and bounds.

It had doubled!

It increased from 35 units to 70 units!

However, this is normal.

After all, chakra is essentially the product of combining physical energy extracted from all the cells in the body with spiritual energy.

With his cellular vitality increased, his total chakra naturally increased as well.

But what truly excited Natsume was this.

He immediately spent another 100 gold coins to exchange for 1 unit of chakra within the system.

The result, however, was that his total chakra reserves had actually increased by 2 units!

It had become 72 units!

In other words, no matter how much chakra he exchanges for in the future, it will all be doubled?

Good heavens!

So, these Hashirama Cells have provided him with a permanent chakra-doubling buff?

This buff is simply too amazing!

He had only transplanted a small amount of Hashirama Cells, yet the effect was already this heaven-defying.

When he saves up enough gold coins in the future to exchange for the complete Sage Body, wouldn't that be even more insane?

Now, Natsume finally understands why the First Hokage Senju Hashirama, after activating True Several Thousand Hands, could pinch the incredibly powerful Nine-Tails like a chick in his hand with a single slap.

Compared to that guy's ocean-like chakra reserves, the Nine-Tails' chakra might only be considered a small pond, right?

Of course, the improvements to his physique, chakra, and so on were merely incidental.

What Natsume cared about most was the perfection that the Hashirama Cells brought to his Mangekyo Sharingan.

This was the most important thing of all!

The next moment, he channeled his ocular power, and a red light flashed. The Mangekyo Sharingan, with its myriad manifestations, appeared in an instant.

Startled, Orochimaru quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look Natsume's Sharingan in the eye.

And this time, Natsume, having activated the Mangekyo Sharingan, felt remarkably relaxed and comfortable.

There was no longer that burning pain from before, the kind that required him to struggle against the side effects of the Sharingan.

It felt as if he could keep the Mangekyo Sharingan activated indefinitely without the slightest burden!

The Hashirama Cells transplanted into his body had indeed perfectly suppressed the side effects of the Sharingan!

This feeling is fantastic!

From today on, for a very long time, he would no longer have to worry about going blind from overusing the Sharingan!

With his Mangekyo activated indefinitely, Natsume looked at his hands and subconsciously clenched his fists.

This surging sense of power and the overflowing, venting ocular energy.

It made him want to manifest a Susanoo just for the fun of it.

But looking around at Snake Auntie's cramped laboratory, he figured if he unleashed a Susanoo, the whole place would likely be reduced to rubble.

And so, he had to temporarily suppress the impulse.

"Lord Natsume? Are you satisfied?"

Beside him, Orochimaru rubbed his hands together, asking with a deliberately ingratiating smile.

At this moment, no one knew better than him.

Just what kind of formidable power this ten-year-old boy before him possessed.

A vast array of high-level ninjutsu, immense physical strength, the unparalleled might of divine artifacts, and on top of that, this pair of seemingly boundless Mangekyo Sharingan...

And then, there was that most daunting factor of all: his age!

He was only ten years old!

Yet he was already this terrifying.

If he were to grow to twenty, thirty... just how powerful would he become?

Perhaps by then, the entirety of Konoha combined wouldn't be enough to take him on alone.

It was just a pity.

Such a perfect body, yet it could not be taken for his own! It was truly a great regret...

Orochimaru marveled while sighing in lament.

"Not bad! It feels very good!"

"It's a good thing you didn't have any crooked ideas."

Natsume praised him candidly.

Orochimaru's advanced transplantation techniques were indeed worthy of recognition.

Of course, had he not been prepared, it was hard to say whether the other party would have remained so well-behaved.

"Lord Natsume, do you feel any side effects?"

"If there are any, please do inform me."

"It would help me accumulate experience for my subsequent experiments."

Orochimaru asked sincerely.

Setting aside his malicious intentions, he was truly dedicated and meticulous when it came to his experiments and scientific research.

"Hmm... there is indeed a minor side effect."

"Although these transplanted Hashirama Cells have assimilated with my body, their active erosive power remains significant."

"Under normal circumstances, there won't be any issues."

"However, if I were to exhaust my chakra, I fear it would be difficult to control these cells."

"At that point, these cells would likely erode my body significantly!"

Natsume pondered for a moment before describing his sensations.

For power gained through transplantation, having minor side effects was quite normal.

However.

For others, this might be a considerable problem.

After all, after a major battle.

No one could rapidly recover depleted chakra.

But for Natsume.

Possessing a handful of chakra-restoring 'pills', he had no need to worry about this at all.

Even if his chakra were exhausted, he could just pop two 'pills'.

There was absolutely no need to worry about failing to suppress these Hashirama Cells; there was no way he would give them a chance to backfire...