Within the Land of Rain.
On a vast plain, no one would have imagined that a massive laboratory lay hidden beneath the ground.
"Ah!!"
A pained scream suddenly rang out from within.
Inside the laboratory's metal containers, several children's bodies were undergoing bizarre changes.
Countless streams of white bone-like fluid crawled over their bodies like melting candles.
These children had all been selected from Amegakure to enter this laboratory. While enduring brutal training from a young age, each of them had already forged a tenacious character.
It could be said that compared to children their age in the major ninja villages, this group was far more exceptional.
Yet now, they cried out in agony, their faces twisted hideously as they knelt within the metal containers, their bodies contorted into all manner of distorted poses.
"They really do look like they're suffering. We had to endure it like this before too..."
At that moment, outside the metal containers, a white-haired young man cast a somewhat sorrowful glance at the scene within and could not help sighing.
Hearing his words, a bizarre head with the same face as his poked out from his side, speaking in a somewhat effeminate voice.
"Ukon, this is a rare opportunity for these children."
As he spoke, he licked his lips and laughed eerily.
"Although chakra has nearly disappeared, you should be able to feel the power we possess now, right? This is something we never would have dared to imagine before!"
Hearing the words of the head protruding from his body, the young man named Ukon glanced lightly at it and said softly.
"You're right, Sakon. Compared to Orochimaru's curse mark, the immense power this body possesses is rather intoxicating."
Just then, the children inside the metal containers had stopped screaming. They lay on the ground