A Kind Test Subject

Sen Chisato struggled to open his eyes. A vast space came into view.

The strong smell of medicine filled his nostrils, clearing his head somewhat.

Who am I?

He stared blankly at the dim ceiling above him, his mind a muddle.

A faint sound came from the side. Sen Chisato turned his head. A bright light hung in the corner, illuminating a huge examination table beneath it. A tall, gaunt figure was working busily at the table.

That figure looked so familiar.

Just as Sen Chisato thought this, the person at the table stopped working. His hoarse voice was calm, as though he had expected this result. "Another failure."

He set down the instrument in his hand and turned toward Sen Chisato.

A pale face, purple shadows around the eyes and nose, and narrow eyes with vertical pupils that held the cold glint of a venomous snake.

That familiar voice, that familiar face...

Sen Chisato's pupils contracted. That guy was Orochimaru!

His memories came flooding back, and Sen Chisato remembered everything.

His name was Sen Chisato, and he was an orphan from Konoha. At five years old, Shimura Danzō had taken him from the Konoha Orphanage and handed him over to Orochimaru, making him one of the test subjects in the Wood Release experiments.

Most importantly, he had crossed into this world five years ago—and he had been the one to ask to become one of Orochimaru's test subjects!

Oh, so that was it.

Tsk. It wouldn't endanger his life, but he had to admit, it still had some effect. The side effects of the Wood Release experiments were pretty severe...

Sen Chisato blinked and relaxed.

He climbed out of bed and went over to Orochimaru, glancing at the Rock Ninja on the examination table. With a sigh, he said, "Lord Orochimaru, another one died."

"Don't be disappointed. In experiments like these, failure is the norm."

Orochimaru reached out and stroked Sen Chisato's slightly long hair. His hoarse voice sounded unexpectedly gentle. "Someone like you surviving is a true miracle!"

As he spoke, he flicked out his tongue and licked his lips, staring at Sen Chisato with undisguised greed.

Senju Hashirama, the First, the God of Shinobi who had ended the era of chaos, and wielder of the Kekkei Genkai, Wood Release. His cells contained powerful vitality.

Orochimaru was certain that the secret of immortality lay within them.

However, Senju Hashirama's cells were terrifying. Nearly all the test subjects who had received transplants had been unable to withstand the erosion of that fearsome vitality. Most had died on the examination table.

Over all these years, only two people had survived the experiments by some stroke of luck.

One had already been taken away by Shimura Danzō. The other was Sen Chisato.

So even with his flaws, this child was still Orochimaru's precious treasure.

Sen Chisato seemed not to notice anything. He looked up at Orochimaru with clear, earnest eyes, full of anticipation. "Lord Orochimaru, do you need to continue experimenting on me?"

"No, not yet." Orochimaru shook his head.

"But I'm afraid my body won't hold out much longer. That would be a loss for you, Lord Orochimaru!" Sen Chisato lowered his head dejectedly.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and gently reassured him. "There's no need to rush. You're my most important test subject, and my greatest achievement. Before you die, I'll make sure to get the most out of you."

"So your main task now is to live as long as you can."

"Yes!"

Apparently encouraged, Sen Chisato replied eagerly, "For your sake, Lord Orochimaru, I'll do everything I can to live longer and take good care of my body!"

A faint smile crossed Orochimaru's face. "Go get some rest. You've had a tiring day."

"Let me clean the laboratory for you first, Lord Orochimaru," Sen Chisato said obediently.

Orochimaru's brows lifted. "You want to bury them too?"

Sen Chisato nodded, looking completely serious. "I didn't know them, but they still helped you, Lord Orochimaru. The least I can do is lay them to rest. It's my way of thanking them."

At this, Orochimaru's lips curled into a smile.

He ruffled Sen Chisato's hair and said in a drifting voice, "As expected, Sen Chisato is a kind child."

Ever since he had brought this child to the laboratory, it had happened again and again—even when the child was only five.

In truth, to keep people from discovering his experiments, these failed test subjects should all have been cremated.

But Sen Chisato pleased him, so if the child wanted to do this, he could. It would be a reward of sorts.

Orochimaru never minded showing a little warmth to children who longed for recognition, especially valuable children like Sen Chisato.

A flower blooming on a snowy plain had to be watered now and then before it blossomed, if one hoped to pick it at its most beautiful.

With Orochimaru's permission, Sen Chisato grew even happier.

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru."

He dashed out of the laboratory. Before long, he returned pushing a huge wooden cart. He loaded all the corpses onto it, including the dead Rock Ninja from the examination table.

Orochimaru had used up quite a few test subjects in this experiment.

I wonder how much I'll gain from this batch, Sen Chisato thought.

If not for this moment, he wouldn't have stayed in Orochimaru's laboratory all this time. After all, he had undergone another experiment not long ago, and he still hadn't recovered from its effects.

Thinking this, Sen Chisato pushed the cart excitedly down the narrow passage and out of the secret laboratory hidden underground.

Deep in the forest was a huge pit Sen Chisato had dug in advance.

At the edge of the pit, Sen Chisato tossed all the corpses in. Then he grabbed the shovel on the cart and filled the pit with dirt.

Once the last mound of earth was in place, he patted it down with the shovel. He gazed at the small mound, eyes full of anticipation.

The system's notification sounded just then.

[System Notification]: [You buried seven special ninjas (Hashirama Cells) and obtained incomplete Wood Release power. Wood Release Fruit maturity: 93%]

Seeing the number so close to one hundred percent, Sen Chisato felt immensely satisfied. "A beautiful future awaits tomorrow!"

When he had first crossed into the Naruto world, he had been terrified.

In this world, where people wielded chakra and individuals could command immense power, where killing was constant, a civilian like him—a child—had an alarmingly high chance of dying.

So in a world where everyone had a chance to get a cheat, only a bigger cheat could keep him alive.

Fortunately, he did have one.

It was the [As You Sow, So Shall You Reap System].

As long as he planted a creature's corpse like a seed, it would bear a related fruit. The fruit contained what the creature had possessed in life, including chakra, chakra natures, ninjutsu, and even Kekkei Genkai!

However, even though he had awakened the system, he had been too young at the time, and he was still in the orphanage. He had no way to get near any corpses.

Luckily, just as he was wondering how to get access to a large number of corpses, Danzō and Orochimaru had appeared, bringing him a broad and promising path.

Other people might not know, but he did.

One of them dealt in biological science, while the other specialized in bloody human experimentation. Either way, they would use up plenty of corpses.

To other people, those two were dangerous.

But to Sen Chisato, they were two mountains of gold waiting to be mined!

So when Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru came to the Konoha Orphanage and tried to pressure and bribe the director, the moment a bespectacled boy stepped forward, Sen Chisato raised his own little hand too.

The moment he met Orochimaru's gaze, Sen Chisato decided he would be his long-term target.

And now, after years of hard work, his efforts were about to bear fruit.

Sen Chisato held out his hand, and a wooden spike pushed out from his palm.

He could feel that using Wood Release still made his body uncomfortable, but that was because it hadn't fully meshed with him yet.

Still, it wouldn't be long.

If he buried just a few more people, he would truly awaken Wood Release!

Not the watered-down version in the hands of the boy Danzō had taken, but the real Wood Release, just like the First's!

"Lord Orochimaru, you think this is the result of your experiments? No, this is the result of my cheat!" Sen Chisato gazed at the wooden spike in his palm and murmured with a smile.