Orochimaru and the Laboratory

In a hidden underground laboratory somewhere outside Konoha Village.

Clang...

The laboratory door was shoved open violently, and a hurried figure burst inside.

"Lord Orochimaru, the Third Hokage is approaching with the Anbu. I fear they come with ill intent!"

The speaker was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy with the Byakugan, who reported to Orochimaru—currently engaged in human experimentation—with evident nervousness.

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru stiffened for a moment before pausing his experiment to wash his blood-stained hands.

Judging by his unhurried demeanor, the situation did not seem to have reached a point beyond his control.

It seems it is time for me to leave Konoha. I thought I would have to wait a while longer, at least until the turmoil following the deaths of Minato and his wife had subsided. I didn't expect them to act so quickly; my teacher is truly decisive.

Orochimaru did not dwell on who had betrayed him, for from the day he began using his fellow villagers for human experiments, he had prepared himself for this very day.

Various memories flashed through Orochimaru's eyes, and by the time he finished washing his hands, the emotions in his heart had settled.

He walked slowly toward the boy. Looking at the youth with the Byakugan before him, Orochimaru could not help but reveal a hint of admiration, mixed with a touch of regret.

"Lan, whether in training or research, you are a true genius. It is only a pity that your status in the Hyuga branch family binds you; otherwise, one day you would have achieved accomplishments surpassing my own."

Facing Orochimaru's praise, Hyuga Lan lowered his head modestly.

"I am unworthy of such praise; it is all thanks to your cultivation, My Lord!"

"No need for modesty. I have always been accurate in my judgment of people."

The ability to discern talent and the art of controlling subordinates had always been Orochimaru's greatest pride. It could be said that every subordinate he valued was fiercely loyal to him, even willing to sacrifice their lives without hesitation.

Such charisma was the polar opposite of Uchiha Madara's. Perhaps the only person Orochimaru had misjudged was Second Pillar; one could say the Uchiha clan was his fated nemesis.

No one knew what Hyuga Lan was truly thinking, but for the moment, he maintained an appearance of absolute loyalty, which greatly gratified Orochimaru.

"As a parting gift, those hidden laboratories of mine will be yours from now on. You have learned most of the techniques I have to offer over these years, and with your own talent, I look forward to the day you break free from the fate of the Caged Bird."

Orochimaru patted Lan on the shoulder, offering him encouragement.

Having already decided to defect alone, he naturally wanted to continue cultivating a subordinate as loyal and talented as Hyuga Lan.

Arranging such a piece on the board within the village would surely be of great benefit to his future plans.

There were certainly many such hidden pawns like Hyuga Lan, but he was the only one to receive such a vast inheritance from Orochimaru.

Hyuga Lan took the opportunity to display an emotional response.

"Thank you for your trust, My Lord. Lan swears to follow you to the death. As for those villains who framed you, I will certainly not let them go."

The sincerity with which Lan pledged his loyalty at this moment was very satisfying to Orochimaru.

"Time is running out. Go now, and leave the rest to me."

Lan bid farewell to Orochimaru and then left the area through a secret passage.

Left alone in the laboratory, Orochimaru looked around with lingering attachment, sniffing the air that carried a faint scent of blood, before staring intently toward the front of the laboratory door, as if quietly waiting for something to arrive.

On the other side, Hyuga Lan used the insight of his Byakugan to return home, familiar with the path and unseen by anyone.

After weighing the gains and losses of his actions, he began to consider how to proceed with his next steps.

The timeline had reached the point of Orochimaru's impending defection, and coupled with the recent deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife during the Nine-Tails incident, Konoha had suffered a heavy loss of high-level combat power.

The younger generation had yet to produce anyone capable of truly carrying the burden, while the older generation of powerhouses were either dead or had defected. It could be said that Konoha had reached its darkest hour, a period of transition where the old had faded and the new had yet to rise.

As long as he could survive the turmoil of Orochimaru's defection, he could usher in the most suitable time for his own secret development.

But could he really survive this storm unscathed?

Given the genius talent he had displayed over the years, perhaps his clansmen would try their best to protect him.

It was all the fault of that damned Caged Bird curse seal, which left him with no qualifications to defect at this moment; otherwise, he would have left with Orochimaru and avoided all these headaches.

As for the matter of siding with Orochimaru, he had no regrets at all.

As a transmigrator, from the moment he was born until his parents died early in the war, leaving him an orphan, he had deeply realized the cruelty of the Ninja World.

Without a golden finger, if one wanted to secure a place in this perilous Ninja World, the only path to choose was that of scientific research.

And the greatest scientist in the Ninja World was, naturally, none other than Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had naturally welcomed Lan's approach; after all, he had long been interested in the Byakugan bloodline limit of the Hyuga clan, and he cherished having a test subject who cooperated voluntarily.

Furthermore, in their subsequent interactions, Lan's views on many aspects aligned well with Orochimaru's. Consequently, Orochimaru taught Lan almost everything he knew, and Lan had nearly been captivated by the man's charisma.

Of course, that was all in the past. After obtaining Orochimaru's techniques and being able to use various experimental instruments for assistance, Hyuga Lan had begun his in-depth research into the Byakugan bloodline.

Hard work pays off. During one instance of genetic sequencing, he accidentally discovered a specific, unique gene sequence shared by the Hyuga clan.

This unique gene sequence manifested differently in different Hyuga clansmen; in some, this segment of genes was highly activated, while in others, it was barely active at all.

However, one commonality was that the more talented the Hyuga, the more genes in that specific sequence tended to be activated. This shocking discovery left him ecstatic.

He immediately realized that this unique gene might hide the secret to the evolution of the Byakugan.

As one of the Three Great Dojutsu, and indeed the most prominent characteristic of the Otsutsuki, the Byakugan certainly possesses immense potential.

Perhaps others are unaware that the Byakugan also has the possibility of evolution, but as a transmigrator, Hyuga Lan is well aware that the Byakugan has the chance to evolve into the Tenseigan.

The Tenseigan is a Sage Eye on the same level as the Rinnegan, and in terms of destructive power, it is even superior to the latter.

There are two ways to awaken the Tenseigan: one is to combine the chakra of the Otsutsuki clan on the moon with the pure Byakugan of the Hyuga main family in the Ninja World to awaken an individual Tenseigan.

Once this type of Tenseigan enters the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, it can even condense Truth-Seeking Balls, allowing the user to rival a Six Paths-level powerhouse.

The other is the giant Tenseigan formed by the gathering of a large number of Byakugan; the power of this Tenseigan is so immense that it can even manipulate the moon to crash into the Earth, thereby destroying the Ninja World.

There is one such giant Tenseigan enshrined on the moon, but it is currently guarded by the Otsutsuki clan, and with his current strength, trying to set his sights on it would be no different than seeking death.

Both routes to obtaining the Tenseigan are impassable for Hyuga Lan, so after discovering this secret, he speculated that perhaps there is a new path.

If he were to fully activate this segment of special genes, could he perhaps use it to awaken the Tenseigan?