On the night of Land of Hot Water, the humid sea breeze carries a faint salty smell, blowing from the east, passing over the rolling hilly areas, and disappearing deep into the dense forest.
Uchiha Jun stood on a hidden ridge, looking through the night to examine the winding river valley below.
There was a slight sound of footsteps coming from behind - Orochimaru's iconic, almost silent steps, slowly approaching from the shadows.
"I've investigated this area."
Orochimaru's voice floated in the night wind, with a hint of hoarseness, "It is about fifteen kilometers away from the nearest Kumo ninja outpost. The terrain is hidden and the water table is low. It is very suitable for building underground facilities."
Uchiha Jun did not look back, but nodded slightly. "Where are the deployment of defense barriers and surveillance networks?"
"Shadow Clone is already processing it." Orochimaru walked up to him, his golden vertical pupils flashing in the moonlight, "There are still six hours until dawn, which is enough for us to complete the construction of the main body of the base - as long as you don't lose the chain."
"Don't worry." Uchiha Jun turned around with a hint of confidence on his lips, "Let's get started."
Two people at the same time Hand Seals.
Earth Release·Open the soil and dig!
Earth Release·Earth Flow Rampart!
The earth roared.
The chakra of the two Kage Level strong men was injected into the ground at their feet at the same time, like two invisible giant hands, starting to tear and reshape the structure of this stratum.
Under the influence of ninjutsu, the soil and rocks squirmed, separated, and moved back like living creatures, revealing a spiral passage extending downward.
Uchiha Jun's chakra control accuracy is extremely high - it is responsible for the compaction and reinforcement of the inner wall of the channel to ensure that it will not collapse due to subsequent construction.
Orochimaru's Earth Release is even more experienced - he is responsible for accurately controlling the rhythm of excavation, while reserving space for water supply and drainage systems and ventilation ducts deep in the foundation.
"Boom--!"
Pieces of huge boulders were pushed to the surface by ninjutsu, and piled up into hills under the moonlight and sank.
Below, passages and secret rooms are being formed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
About an hour later, the two landed to a depth of about 100 meters underground.
Uchiha Jun stood in the center of the newly formed main hall and looked around - the walls were flat and smooth, the floor was covered with stone slabs hardened by Earth Release, and ventilation ducts passed through the four walls, bringing fresh air from the ground into the ground.
Although this base is still an empty shell, its scale is enough to make any ninja organization pay attention.
"The scale is enough."
Orochimaru walked to the wall, reached out and touched the polished stone wall, and nodded with satisfaction, "The next step is the internal decoration and equipment layout."
He summoned a snow-white snake, which opened its mouth and spit out a copy of Sealing Scroll - after the scroll was unfolded, various experimental equipment, instruments and materials were densely sealed inside.
The two began to set up the laboratory.
Shadow Clone constantly shuttles through the base, taking out boxes of equipment from Storage Scroll and placing them in designated locations according to the drawings - from the simplest measuring cups and test tubes to the sophisticated Chakra Detector and Cell Culture Chamber.
Then there are the various instruments of unknown purpose whose purpose only Orochimaru knows.
When the last shelf was fixed, Uchiha Jun and Shadow Clone made a "bang" sound and turned into white smoke and dissipated.
He wiped the non-existent sweat on his forehead, leaned against an experimental table, and casually glanced at the icon marked "Ryūchi Cave Contract" on his system panel.
"Speaking of which..." he suddenly said, "Brother Orochimaru, how much do you know about Sage Mode?"
Orochimaru was debugging a chakra analyzer and his fingers paused slightly.
He turned his head, and a glimmer of interest flashed in his golden snake eyes. "Oh? Chunjun is also interested in Sage Mode?"
"More or less." Uchiha Jun shrugged, "After all, that is the top ability that can compete head-on with Tailed Beasts."
Orochimaru put down the instruments in his hands, walked to the chair opposite the experimental table, sat down, crossed his hands on his knees, and pondered for a moment.
"Sage Mode... I did do some research."
His voice echoed in the empty underground laboratory, with a rare hint of seriousness.
"You have heard the rumors that I, Jiraiya, and Tsunade obtained Summoning Scroll from Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest respectively, and signed a contract with this Three Great Sage Regions."
"And among the three of us, only the guy Jiraiya has recently mastered the power of Sage Mode."
"Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode is considered the mildest among the three - they have a step-by-step cultivation system, from absorbing Natural Energy, to maintaining internal balance, to the final Natural Energy transformation, with clear guidelines for each stage."
"And the most critical point - even if the practitioner cannot hold on and distorts in the direction of the frog, as long as the speed is controllable, there is still room for salvation."
"Mount Myōboku's two immortals will also come to the rescue."
When Orochimaru said this, a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "In the final analysis, it is more like the legacy left by Sage of Six Paths, a mature system that has been improved for generations."
"But Ryūchi Cave..." His voice lowered a bit, "It's different."
Uchiha Jun listened and raised his eyebrows. Although through the original work, he knew a little about Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode inheritance.
But after all, it is still not as clear as Orochimaru, Ryūchi Cave Contract, who explained it himself.
"Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode, there is no step-by-step process." Orochimaru's eyes became sharp, "White Snake Sage will not teach you any cultivation methods at all - she will only do one thing: bite you."
"Inject Ryūchi Cave's Immortal Chakra directly into your body. If you can withstand the erosion, assimilation, and transformation of your body by that power, you will survive, master it, and master Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode; if you can't resist..."
Orochimaru paused, with a hint of fear and fear in his voice. "Then you will become her 'snack'."
Uchiha Jun nodded.
This is basically consistent with the information he deduced from the original work.
"Because of this, although I have Ryūchi Cave and Summoning Contract, I have never tried this power."
Orochimaru frankly admitted his caution.
Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode has a remarkable feature - the fewer "non-human characteristics" appear on the body of a successful practitioner, the closer it is to the form of a "dragon", rather than close to the human body like Mount Myōboku.
Just like Kabuto Yakushi and Artificial Human Mitsuki are the only two masters in the future to master Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode.
The common feature is that they have long horns on their heads, which is close to "dragon transformation".
Uchiha Jun continued, "So, Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode requires extremely high physical fitness of the cultivator - only a strong enough body can survive the process of resisting the erosion of natural chakra and turn it into one's own use?"
"That's right. The key is to see whether the body can withstand the transformation and erosion of Ryūchi Cave Immortal Chakra. I have been moving closer in this direction, but unfortunately, I am still not completely sure." Orochimaru nodded, confirming Uchiha Jun's speculation.
Uchiha Jun did not answer the call.
In the original work, the reason why Orochimaru developed and later developed Cursed Seal and used it as a "shortcut" to Sage Mode was because he himself could not bear the direct transformation of Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode.
Therefore, he chose the next best thing - to get in touch with the power of Sage Mode through Cursed Seal.
This is indeed an alternative "Sage Mode", but it has also lost the integrity of the orthodox Sage Mode's perfect fusion of power and body.
But it's also a type of Sage Mode, isn't it?
After all, when Fourth Shinobi World War, Sasuke Uchiha further strengthened Majestic Attire: Nine-Tails Susanoo through Cursed Seal.
Without staying on this topic for too long, Uchiha Jun stood up and moved his shoulders. "As a good start, I will show you a good baby, and I guarantee that you will not be able to stop!"
Orochimaru's eyes lit up.
Uchiha Jun's temperament will not be unreasonable, and the good treasure he calls must be a treasure that can be as good as Hero Water!
What a blessing in the world to have such a partner who is also a 'funder', 'research colleague', 'rare material provider' and other multiple professions at the same time!
Uchiha Jun walked to a specially set aside autopsy room deep in the base and took out the Third Raikage body sealed in Sealing Scroll.
The corpse was soaked in a special embalming liquid and still maintained its original shape - strong muscles, rough bone outlines, and the big hole left after Kakuzu dug out the heart.
Uchiha Jun noticed a detail.
The chakra fluctuations of this corpse were much weaker than when they were first captured.
Even under the double protection of the special preservation solution and Sealing Scroll, the chakra of the strong Kage Level is still irreversibly lost.
"It has fallen out of the Kage Level category." Uchiha Jun whispered to himself, with a hint of regret in his voice, "If we don't take action, the research value of this corpse will be gone."
Placing the corpse flat on the dissecting table, Uchiha Jun began to prepare various instruments, and Orochimaru followed closely and walked in.
When he saw the majestic corpse of Third Raikage, Orochimaru paused obviously.
Those golden snake eyes shrank slightly under the light - not because of fear, but because of a kind of shock and excitement that could not be concealed.
"...Third Raikage A..."