Uncle Snake's Experiment

"This..." Hiruzen hesitated. Experimenting on human bodies crossed a line... yet on the other hand, a once-in-a-century genius was hanging by a thread...

In the end, Hiruzen made the heaviest decision of his career as Hokage. "Then... then go find Danzo."

"That is a wise decision," Orochimaru said with a smile.

Root Base

Orochimaru appeared here without the slightest attempt to hide it. The Root members on guard tried to step forward and stop him, only for Uncle Snake to send them flying with a slap.

"Intruder! Someone's broken in!"

Before long, Orochimaru was completely surrounded...

"Tap, tap..."

"Orochimaru? Why are you here?" Danzo said in surprise.

Orochimaru only smiled. "The old man told me to come to you about something."

"Oh? Follow me..."

"What!" After hearing the purpose of Orochimaru's visit, Danzo froze on the spot. Even the cane in his hand dropped in fright... "You... you're sure?"

"I'm sure." Orochimaru nodded. "I imagine the one thing Lord Danzo lacks least is human bodies, no?"

"Hmph! Why should I save some Uchiha brat?" Danzo said disdainfully.

"Don't you want to possess the Uchiha's Sharingan?" Orochimaru's single sentence struck the desire Danzo had hidden in the deepest part of himself. "You and I are the same kind of people."

"What does that have to do with saving that Uchiha brat?" Danzo asked in return.

Orochimaru was very honest. "Nothing at all. I just find him pleasing to the eye."

"Heh." Danzo had already calmed down, and he said in a low voice, "You want me to provide human bodies? Fine. But I don't just want the Sharingan. I want Hashirama Cells as well."

"Hiss... deal!"

After dozens of trials, that small vial of antidote was finally developed successfully.

"Whew... I'm exhausted." Tsunade dropped onto the sofa. "This finally counts as completely and utterly finished."

Orochimaru swept his gaze over the antidote in his hand, his eyes filled with the joy of success. Seeing that Orochimaru did not respond to her, Tsunade continued, "Hey, why don't you help me push forward Konoha's medical reforms?"

"Reforms?" Orochimaru came back to himself and looked at Tsunade. Tsunade nodded and said, "I've been thinking about this for a long time. We should vigorously develop medical ninja, and every squad must have one medical ninja."

"It's a good idea, but the old man won't agree." Orochimaru shook his head. "Something that consumes that much effort, resources, and time."

"But I think we can use Jin's injury to sound the old man out," Tsunade said solemnly. "This way, casualties can be reduced on a large scale!"

"You can try." Seeing Tsunade so insistent, Orochimaru had no choice.

The hospital room.

After Tsunade injected the antidote into Jin's body, she said, "He should wake up in a few days or so."

"Thank you! Thank you, Lady Tsunade!" Mikoto was moved to tears. Tsunade only waved her hand and said, "The worst-case scenario is that, after being afflicted by poison for so long, his body may no longer be suited for high-intensity combat... he may even be unable to be a ninja."

"Of course, that's only the worst possibility."

"It's fine. As long as he survives!" At this point, Mikoto could not worry about anything else. At worst, she would have Fugaku arrange a management position for Jin in the Police Force.

Half a month later.

Kurenai came to the hospital alone, entrusted by Mikoto and Kushina to look after Jin for a while.

Kurenai stared blankly at the person lying on the bed... Seeing Jin's eyebrows twitch, Kurenai hurriedly got up and leaned close to Jin's side.

Jin tried hard to open his eyes, but he kept feeling as if his eyelids weighed a thousand pounds... His five senses slowly returned, and it seemed like he could hear sobbing beside his ear...

"Huh, why does my face feel wet?"

Driven by intense curiosity, Jin's eyes finally welcomed a sliver of light... Perhaps it was too dazzling, so Jin narrowed his eyes slightly and could only vaguely see someone lying on him and crying.

Jin had just tried to speak, but the dryness in his throat left him unable to make any sound. All he could do was, "Mm... mm..."

"Brother Jin, you're finally awake... do... do you want some water?" Kurenai asked through her tears.

"Mm..." Jin used all his strength to nod faintly. Kurenai immediately poured a cup of water from the side and brought it to the hospital bed, but how to let Brother Jin drink it became a serious problem...

Just as she was at a loss, the door to the hospital room was pushed open, and an Anbu wearing a purple cat mask walked in.

"You..." Kurenai looked at the other party warily. That Anbu paid her no mind, only took the water from Kurenai's hand, then slowly helped Jin up and placed the water bowl by his lips.

Jin weakly sipped at it with his mouth, and his throat immediately felt much better. In a hoarse voice, he said, "How long was I unconscious?"

"Almost a month, I suppose." The Anbu took off her mask, revealing her incomparably beautiful face, and said faintly, "Thanks."

"N-no big deal." Jin spoke weakly. Seeing the Anbu's face, Kurenai finally relaxed. Wasn't this the older sister from Brother Jin's team?

"Right, we haven't been going out on missions lately. Thanks to you, we got to rest for a while," Cicada explained. "Looks like I'm pretty lucky. It was my turn to look after you today, and you woke up."

After saying that, she looked at Kurenai and said, "This little girl has come to see you almost every day. You'd better thank her properly."

"You... look at me... how am I..." Jin looked at Cicada speechlessly. Cicada only shrugged helplessly, left behind the words "I'll go notify the others," and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

In the hospital room, Jin looked at the happy Kurenai beside him and endured the discomfort in his throat as he said, "Thanks, Kurenai."

"You're welcome, Brother Jin," Kurenai said shyly.

After Tsunade's follow-up examination, she finally said to everyone, "Well, he's completely recovered. No aftereffects at all. And his chakra has actually increased quite a bit."

"That's great!"

"Whew, what a false alarm..."

After being discharged, Jin first thanked Mikoto, Kushina, and the others, who had tirelessly taken care of and helped him while he was hospitalized. Then, after staying home for a few days, he was summoned by Hiruzen to the Hokage Building.

"Lord Hokage." Jin appeared in the office wearing his Anbu outfit.

"Mm, how's your rest been?" Hiruzen asked with concern.

"Not bad." Jin gave a standard answer. Hiruzen nodded and continued, "Team One has gone to carry out other missions, so regarding you..."

"Damn it, how does this old man even know how to keep people in suspense!" Jin silently complained where he stood, his Byakugan practically rolling up to the heavens beneath his mask...

Finally, Hiruzen said, "Go be Orochimaru's experimental assistant."

"Oh... oh?" Jin reacted and looked at Hiruzen in disbelief. "Who? Orochimaru?"

"Yes." Hiruzen nodded slightly. "Orochimaru."

"Sigh... fine, fine." Jin silently sighed in his heart. After leaving the Hokage Building, Jin looked at the address Hiruzen had given him... "Uncle Snake won't claim me for himself the moment he gets upset, will he?"

In the end, Jin still headed for Orochimaru's base with a face full of reluctance...