Shikotsumyaku (Thanks for the Positive Reviews, Extra Chapter)

After gaining Orochimaru's further approval, he also showed Lin Chongshu his true core technique—the Soul Splitting technique!

Soul Splitting was a byproduct of his research into Living Corpse Reincarnation.

Before he defected from the Hidden Leaf Village, he had already created the first version of the Cursed Seal based on Soul Splitting. That first-generation Cursed Seal was essentially just a backup of his soul. Before leaving the Hidden Leaf Village, he had implanted one into his disciple, Anko.

That was why the Cursed Seal on Anko's neck had no Cursed Seal Mode Stage One or Stage Two, and could not greatly increase her combat strength. However, through constant pain, it could use soul resonance to sense Orochimaru's location.

Lin Chongshu only realized it afterward: no wonder Anko had never used Cursed Seal Mode in the original story. She simply did not have it.

Thinking back on it, that made sense. Before Orochimaru defected from the Hidden Leaf Village, he had not even found Jugo. Where would he have gotten a Sage Body to implant?

Now that he understood Orochimaru already possessed Cursed Seal technology, Lin Chongshu naturally suggested combining Orochimaru's Cursed Seal technique with the current Sage Body transplantation procedure to make it controllable.

The idea happened to align perfectly with Orochimaru's own thoughts, and the two immediately began experimenting.

But the more they experimented, the more Lin Chongshu realized something was wrong.

At its core, the Cursed Seal was a sealing technique. It implanted bodily fluids extracted from Jugo, along with fragments of Orochimaru's soul, into the host's body and sealed them within.

Once the Cursed Seal activated, the host essentially gained Jugo's traits, and their body began passively absorbing the power of nature.

At the same time, a portion of Orochimaru's soul would possess the host. Orochimaru's soul fragment would act as an intermediary, balancing the ratio of natural energy and chakra to make it controllable.

It was like Jiraiya having the two toad sages, Fukasaku and Shima, stand on his shoulders to help absorb and balance natural energy with chakra—except the one standing on your shoulders was Orochimaru.

In other words, without using the Cursed Seal, it was merely Orochimaru's compressed archive: a backup file squatting inside your body and doing nothing.

But once the Cursed Seal was activated, Orochimaru's soul would possess you and gradually erode your soul, until your own strength could no longer surpass his and he completely took over.

Leaving aside whether Orochimaru's "artificial Sage Mode" could fully suppress the amount absorbed by Jugo's body, even if it could, Lin Chongshu had no desire to try it. Letting Orochimaru's backup file squat inside his body was far too dangerous.

But Orochimaru remained enthusiastic.

The two holed up in the laboratory for nearly half a month, repeating the same process every day: injections, observation, records, dissections, adjusting the ratios, then injecting again.

Until one late night, another experiment failed. The Phantom Nether Clan member before them exploded into a spray of blood, splashing both of them from head to toe.

Without changing expression, Orochimaru finished recording the data and moved on to prepare the next test subject's number.

Lin Chongshu also pretended to be somewhat dejected by the failure. He removed his gloves and walked out of the laboratory for some air.

He would have to find another way to solve his problem. The Cursed Seal path was a dead end.

Leaning against the wall, he had barely closed his eyes when the system notification sounded.

[Detected that Kimimaro has developed intense negative emotions toward the host: jealousy, resentment, and anger at his own incompetence. Reward extraction complete.]

[Obtained: Bloodline Limit: Shikotsumyaku +1.]

Lin Chongshu opened his eyes and looked toward the end of the corridor, where a figure stood beneath the dim lights.

Kimimaro's white hair was tied behind his head. His face was still as pale as ever, but his eyes no longer held the calmness they had when they first met.

He was jealous. He was still young, and still believed he was Orochimaru's most capable subordinate.

Yet during this period, Orochimaru had spent every day with Lin Chongshu, involving him in everything from experiments and intelligence to plans for developing immortality techniques. This made the young Kimimaro increasingly unhappy.

Lin Chongshu leaned against the wall and glanced toward that corner. Kid, isn't your possessiveness a little too strong?

Shikotsumyaku, the Kaguya Clan's Kekkei Genkai, was considered a lesser version of Kaguya's All-Killing Ash Bones and was also a component of Kaguya's Sage Body.

But Lin Chongshu actually found this Kekkei Genkai deeply repulsive. Its ability was real enough, but it came with a terminal illness. It was powerful, sure, but it also meant an incredibly short life—and the illness was very likely caused by Shikotsumyaku itself.

If even Orochimaru could not solve this hereditary disease, Lin Chongshu did not expect to solve it himself.

He had deliberately avoided Kimimaro during this period precisely because he did not want this Kekkei Genkai.

He had not expected that, rather than provoking Kimimaro himself, Kimimaro would come looking for him.

Seven days later, Orochimaru received another message from Akatsuki and left on a mission with Sasori of the Red Sands.

Having earned Orochimaru's trust, Lin Chongshu's authority had risen another level.

Not only could he freely consult the intelligence files within the base and access some of the forbidden technique scrolls Orochimaru had brought from the Hidden Leaf Village, he also gained greater autonomy over experimental resources and personnel deployment.

As soon as Orochimaru left, he began using Orochimaru's intelligence network to look into routes to the Hidden Leaf Village and two people: Haku and Yakushi Nonō.

Yakushi Nonō, the director of the Hidden Leaf Village orphanage and Kabuto Yakushi's adoptive mother, ranked nineteenth on the must-kill list for Naruto transmigrators.

But Lin Chongshu was not looking for her because she was on that list. He wanted to kill Kabuto Yakushi.

He currently occupied Kabuto's ecological niche: Orochimaru's chief research assistant and most valued non-combatant.

If the real Kabuto arrived, he might not be able to replace Lin Chongshu immediately. But even if he could not, the mere existence of an alternative would inevitably give Orochimaru other ideas.

Only if Kabuto was gone would Lin Chongshu remain safe, at least until Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation experiment succeeded.

Orochimaru had long had his eye on Kabuto as well, ready to recruit him directly the moment he suffered a mental breakdown. That was why Lin Chongshu could not appear overly concerned about Kabuto.

Lin Chongshu knew the plot in advance: Kabuto had completely broken down and joined Orochimaru only after fighting Yakushi Nonō and personally killing her.

So keeping an eye on Yakushi Nonō was equivalent to watching the source of Kabuto's storyline.

After dealing with the intelligence, Lin Chongshu began browsing the forbidden technique scrolls Orochimaru had brought from the Hidden Leaf Village.

Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, Impure World Reincarnation, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, Twin Snakes Mutual Death... forbidden techniques whose names he recognized from the original story were lined up one after another on the shelves.

Besides forbidden techniques, there were also high-level ninjutsu: Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame, Dragon Flame Release Song, Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique, Water Shockwave, Water Formation Wall... as well as advanced versions and theoretical analyses of countless basic ninjutsu.

Orochimaru's collection was truly astonishing.