Deep beneath Iwagakure, that enormous space piled with rust and reeking of electrolyte fluid had now become a veritable industrial behemoth.
Countless thick cables, each as wide as a water bucket, converged from every direction into that massive "heart" device.
The air was thick with the stench of burnt insulation, along with the teeth-gritting smell of rusty metal debris left behind by collisions.
An extraordinarily deranged, fervent smile hung on Orochimaru's pale face.
Using steel tweezers stained with some unknown machine oil, he carefully gripped a chakra crystal shard as thin as a cicada's wing and inserted it into a slot glowing blue.
The collar of the old man's white lab coat still bore red oil stains from the instant noodles he had eaten the night before, dried hard like ancient clumps of mud.
"It's done!"
Orochimaru clapped his hands sharply. His gloves had long since been corroded full of holes, exposing the pale, bluish fingertips beneath.
He stared at the Nuclear Crystal Reactor rumbling on the console, producing an ear-splitting roar, and unconsciously licked his lips again.
"Lord Yoru, this is the 'heart' of our generation in Stone Village."
"Back then, those shinobi had to rely on the little chakra in their own bellies. They'd overdraw themselves and end up exhausted like dogs, then still have to drink the foul medicine those toads gave them."
"But now, things are different."
Orochimaru pointed at the thick conduits connected to the underground energy lines, his expression crazed.
"As long as we bury this thing beneath the Hokage Building... no, it should be called the Stone Village Resident Office now, we can crank the entire Shinobi World's power grid to the max!"
He rubbed his hands together, and the smell of formaldehyde on them rushed straight into Yoru's nose.
Yoru leaned against