Hashirama Cells

If Anko Mitarashi had been standing here today, how would she have reacted?

Orochimaru rapidly ran through the possibilities in his mind.

Upon seeing those specimens, Anko Mitarashi's first reaction would definitely have been shock, followed by an angry demand to know why he was doing such things, until the two of them ultimately fell out completely.

That was why he had never considered bringing Anko Mitarashi here from the very beginning.

There was no need to test it. He knew Anko Mitarashi far too well.

Her personality and Uchiha Jun's were practically different species. One wore her heart on her sleeve, carefree and tomboyish; the other kept his edge hidden so well that even he could not tell what he truly wanted.

Two disciples, worlds apart.

Still, that was fine. At least one of them could keep pace with him.

Orochimaru gathered his thoughts and pushed a scroll toward Uchiha Jun.

"You just mentioned that souls cannot be harmed by ordinary means. So if there were some substance that possessed both immense Life Force and properties of the 'soul,' and would backlash against its host once it went out of control, how would you resolve that?"

Uchiha Jun lowered his head to look at the scroll. Spread open on it was an experimental record.

It densely documented the data from dozens of cell transplant experiments, all with outcomes such as "rampant loss of control" and "host death."

His gaze settled on the name of the experimental material at the very bottom of the record—

Hashirama Cells!

The Shinobi World's ultimate cheat code. Toss them to any stray dog by the roadside, and it could probably turn into an Artificial Tailed Beast.

Half of Obito's body had practically become two-dimensional, and even the Demon Pill might have shattered one of its beads, yet he had still been saved. Better yet, he had gotten Kamui to use to his heart's content.

If Hashirama's corpse had been cremated back then, more than eighty percent of the Shinobi World's troubles could have been avoided outright.

Orochimaru rose and retrieved a specially made sealing container from beneath the experiment table.

Three layers of sealing formulas were engraved across its surface. Opening the seals alone took him over a minute.

The instant the container opened, an extremely violent chakra fluctuation carrying a dense aura of life surged from within, like a beast imprisoned for far too long finally catching the scent of blood.

Inside was a tiny clump of grayish-white tissue, no larger than a fingernail. Fine veins covered its surface, and like a miniature heart, it still pulsed faintly.

This was clearly an original, undiluted cluster of Hashirama Cells.

In terms of "freshness," Uchiha Jun felt it was only slightly inferior to Madara Uchiha's "freshly squeezed," "imported" Hashirama Cells!

"These are the cells of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama."

Orochimaru's voice carried a rare trace of solemnity. "They possess the Shinobi World's strongest Life Force and regenerative ability, but they are also extraordinarily invasive. Sixty test subjects—every single one went berserk and died. Not one survived."

"The current research challenge is—how to preserve the cells' activity while reducing their invasiveness toward the host, or find a way to suppress their rampage."

Orochimaru pushed the container before Uchiha Jun, his golden eyes glinting with scrutiny.

"Tell me what you think."

Uchiha Jun stared at that small, pulsing clump of grayish-white tissue and remained silent for roughly half a minute.

Of course he knew the difficulty of Hashirama Cells.

In the original story, Orochimaru had fiddled with them for a while, but in the end, he had only produced a Yamato and a Danzo who relied on Sharingan to counterbalance the Hashirama Cells.

From what Orochimaru had just said, Yamato had probably already been snatched up and hidden away by Danzo. He was likely called "Kinoe" now.

As for how to suppress them, that naturally brought up "Brother Sun," Shimura Danzō.

He had only barely suppressed the Hashirama Cells in his right arm with an entire armful of Sharingan. Later, during his passionate clash with Sasuke, he used too many absurd tricks and nearly burned through all the Revival Coins he had made for himself.

The Hashirama Cells in his arm became impossible to suppress. Just as he was about to contribute to the Shinobi World's "lush mountains and clear waters," the backlash forced him to amputate the arm to barely save his life.

Uchiha Jun guessed that the logic behind that method was to use the Yin chakra contained within the Three-Tomoe Sharingan to counterbalance the Yang chakra in the Hashirama Cells of the arm, achieving some form of equilibrium.

"The conventional approach is to reduce their activity, but that amounts to weakening the very properties of Hashirama Cells. It puts the cart before the horse. Even if it succeeds, the result will be worlds apart from the First Hokage's Wood Release."

Uchiha Jun raised his head to look at Orochimaru, carefully choosing his words.

"In that case, we should consider another approach—balance. Hashirama Cells contain incredibly violent chakra, most of it Yang chakra. So rather than that, we can start with Yin chakra."

"Let test subjects possessing Yin chakra receive Hashirama Cell transplants and see what happens."

He stopped there and said no more.

He had already given the advice he needed to give. Going further would no longer be demonstrating his value—it would be exposing himself.

Orochimaru did not press further. He merely lowered his head to look at the few annotations Uchiha Jun had just written on the scroll, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

At last, he put away the scroll and said to Uchiha Jun, "We'll stop here for today. If you have any ideas in the future, you may assist me with my experiments."

Uchiha Jun rose, gave a bow, and prepared to turn and leave.

"Wait."

Orochimaru's voice came from behind him.

"Do you know Mitaraishi Anko?"

"I've heard of her. Your disciple. She's currently... a Chunin?" Uchiha Jun halted.

"She is also my student." Orochimaru paused, his tone carrying a barely perceptible complexity. "Her personality is rather different from yours."

Uchiha Jun did not respond, because he had more or less guessed what Orochimaru wanted to say.

"Would you like to meet her? As my students, you will inevitably have dealings with each other in the future."

Uchiha Jun was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, Lord Orochimaru. I can't spare the time lately."

Orochimaru raised a brow, clearly somewhat surprised by that answer, but he did not ask further. He merely waved a hand. "As you wish."

When Uchiha Jun reached the base's exit and was about to step onto the spiral staircase, Orochimaru's voice sounded behind him again.

"I have too many projects lately and no time to lead you on missions. However, I have already spoken with Lord Hokage. Your performance in the last mission has reached the standard of a Special Jonin. You may accept A-Rank Missions on your own, so there is no need to waste time on low-level missions."

Uchiha Jun was delighted.

That was an unexpected bonus.

He had originally been considering how to apply for an A-Rank Mission. After all, as a Genin of his rank, he normally was not qualified to carry out A-Rank Missions.

He had not expected Orochimaru to settle it for him directly.

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru."

He turned to leave, but Orochimaru's voice drifted over again.

"Before you go, I want to ask you one more question."

Uchiha Jun stopped.

"The advice you gave is not knowledge a Genin who has just graduated could have encountered."

Orochimaru's voice echoed through the empty base. A sharp gleam flickered in his snake-like eyes as he spoke each word distinctly.

"Where does your arrogance come from?"

Uchiha Jun remained silent for quite a while.

He turned around. The expression on his face was neither fear nor guilt, but an indescribable hint of amusement.

Then he grinned.

He turned and stepped onto the spiral staircase. His footsteps echoed against the stone walls, gradually fading away.

Orochimaru stood where he was, staring at the empty exit for a long time. Then, a faint smile suddenly curled across his lips.

"I truly am growing more and more eager. Power, fame, beauty, strength—you care for none of them. Could it be that all you truly value are those 'shallow' coins?"

Those golden vertical pupils glimmered beneath the dim lights, like a snake that had finally found its prey.