Operating Room

Just then, two bandits charged at them, swinging huge axes.

"Damn it, you're the attacker, aren't you? Die for me!"

Fei Yun did not even turn his head, as though he had not seen the vicious bandits attacking from behind.

The young girl's expression changed slightly. Her little hands flailed through the air, as though she wanted to warn the young man.

A flash of cold light cut through the air, and the two bandits' heads flew away. Blood sprayed several meters into the air from their severed necks.

Fei Yun revealed what he thought was a friendly smile. "Don't be afraid."

The girl finally screamed, then fainted.

The smile froze on Fei Yun's face. I'm more terrifying than the bandits!

The bandits had not been scared unconscious, but I had scared her unconscious.

Fei Yun shrugged and turned to kill elsewhere.

By then, the Shadow Village shinobi had already broken in, and most of the bandits had been restrained by the giant snakes.

Orochimaru flashed over to Fei Yun's side and glanced at the several corpses on the ground.

"Fei Yun-kun, didn't you say not to kill them?"

Fei Yun's face remained calm. "I couldn't help hitting a little too hard."

Orochimaru looked at the bandits who had been cut in half. "That was only a little too hard?"

"Have some confidence in yourself."

Orochimaru said earnestly, "I understand how you feel, but what you did was not punishment. You were helping them."

"I could have made them die even more miserably. At the same time, I made use of their final value, didn't I?"

In truth, Orochimaru did not care about these people's lives. For the sake of obtaining certain data, a single experiment could cost countless lives.

But that was for research, for testing data. Even if a thousand lives were sacrificed and the data obtained was a failure, he still considered it worthwhile.

The matter here was quickly resolved, and Fei Yun and Orochimaru returned to the Shadow Village.

The moment he returned to the Shadow Village, Fei Yun immediately said, "Orochimaru, hurry up and transplant the Hashirama Cells into me!"

"You're not planning to go back on your word, are you?"

When he saw Orochimaru merely heading toward the laboratory building, Fei Yun raised his voice and shouted, "Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru waved a hand. "I know. I'll do it tomorrow. The transplant surgery needs time to prepare too, doesn't it?"

Fei Yun had a feeling that he would get cheated if he waited until tomorrow.

With that much time, Orochimaru could copy down all of the Cult of Jashin's experimental data and materials. By then, he could return the items to me and call it even. Who would I collect my gift from then?

Thinking this, Fei Yun quickly caught up. "What are you trying to do?"

"If you don't transplant the Hashirama Cells into me today, then return the things to me first. I'll give them to you again after the surgery is done."

Orochimaru sighed. "Fei Yun-kun, can't there be a little more trust between us?"

"Do I, Orochimaru, look like the kind of petty person who plays little tricks? The surgery really does require time to prepare. I need to prepare the concentration and dosage of the Hashirama Cells, right?"

"I also need to inspect and sterilize the various instruments and tools in the operating room. And I need to find a suitable test subject to try the effects first."

Fei Yun did not know much about this, so he could only ask suspiciously, "Is that so?"

"Of course."

Just then, Yakushi Kabuto flashed over with a notebook in his arms. He respectfully bowed. "Lord Orochimaru, where are this time's test subjects?"

Orochimaru stopped walking.

"They should still need some time before they return."

"Kabuto, send someone to receive the escort unit."

"Yes." Just as Kabuto was about to turn and leave, Orochimaru called out to him.

"Kabuto, clear out Operating Room No. 3 and prepare it for a Hashirama Cell transplant surgery."

Kabuto was slightly startled. "Hasn't it been long enough since your last transplant, Lord Orochimaru?"

"Are you taking a risk to obtain breakthrough data?"

Orochimaru said softly, "No. I'm transplanting Hashirama Cells. Just do it."

With that, Orochimaru entered the laboratory building.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses and turned to look at Fei Yun.

"Fei Yun."

"Not Lord Orochimaru? Then is it...?"

Fei Yun nodded.

"It's me." Kabuto showed an expression of realization.

He looked solemnly at Fei Yun. "Fei Yun-kun, I have to remind you that this surgery has a one hundred percent mortality rate."

Fei Yun revealed a confident smile.

"So what?"

"So this is why, after following Orochimaru for so many years, you still haven't dared to try it?"

Kabuto's expression turned serious, and his eyes slowly widened.

Fei Yun patted Kabuto's shoulder. "Those who don't dare to move forward can only stagnate. That way, your limit for the rest of your life will only be elite jonin."

After saying that, Fei Yun turned and headed toward his residence, leaving Yakushi Kabuto standing there in a daze.

Early the next morning, Fei Yun went to find Orochimaru. Orochimaru was reading documents in his office, while Fei Yun braced both hands against the desk and stared fixedly at him.

"It'll be ready soon. Wait a little longer."

Orochimaru said unhurriedly.

Sure enough, not long after, Yakushi Kabuto knocked on the door from outside. The three of them headed toward the operating room on the other side of the village.

Fei Yun saw the girl he had saved yesterday in the Shadow Village. She was helping the Shadow Village people who were building houses.

Fei Yun felt a trace of surprise. He remembered that Orochimaru in the original work had been an extremely cold-blooded person.

After spending so much time together, Fei Yun discovered that although Orochimaru harvested lives like grass, he had not harmed the Shadow Village subordinates.

At first, Fei Yun thought Orochimaru was preserving his strength in preparation for war. But after going out with him multiple times to capture test subjects, Fei Yun found that Orochimaru did not harm innocent civilians as the rumors claimed. Instead, the test subjects Orochimaru captured each time were people who had brought harm to an area.

Fei Yun saw quite a few ordinary people who had been brought back from yesterday's operation. They had not been imprisoned as test subjects.

"I thought Orochimaru would treat everyone as test subjects. I didn't expect you to have such a humane side."

Orochimaru spoke as he walked forward.

"Why do you suddenly say that?"

Fei Yun withdrew his gaze and smiled. "Nothing. I'm just a little surprised. The Orochimaru from the rumors is quite vicious, even sparing none of his own subordinates."

Orochimaru nodded. "I do act against subordinates with ulterior motives, or under certain specific circumstances."

Kabuto spoke up at that moment. "Lord Orochimaru is a very charismatic person. Otherwise, why would so many people follow him so wholeheartedly?"

"Do you think everyone is an idiot?"

Kabuto pushed up his glasses and continued mockingly, "The most laughable thing in this world is rumor. In the rumors, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also the strongest and greatest Hokage of all generations."

Fei Yun nodded in deep agreement. "I've learned something."

The three soon arrived at Operating Room No. 3.

A pungent smell of medicine and disinfectant hit them the moment they entered. The room was filled with complex conduits and precision instruments.

Kabuto and Orochimaru began busying themselves in the operating room, constantly inspecting and adjusting things.

Orochimaru pointed to the white operating bed in the room. "Fei Yun-kun, lie down first."

The moment Fei Yun lay down, Kabuto began inserting all sorts of sensors and conduits into his skin.

Before long, Fei Yun's body was covered in a mess of tubes, more than fifty in total. The sight was quite horrifying.

Looking at the dense network of tubes covering his body, Fei Yun could not help reminding him, "Hey, make sure you check carefully. Don't put one of those tubes in the wrong place."

Kabuto focused on his work. After a long while, he replied, "Don't worry. Please trust our skills."

Trust my ass. With so many tubes, can you even remember every specific position?

All sorts of medical accidents he had often heard about in his previous life kept surfacing in his mind. Fei Yun began to feel uneasy. Why is one surgery so troublesome?

But Fei Yun himself did not understand a thing, so he could only choose to trust Orochimaru and Kabuto.

After Orochimaru finished adjusting the instruments, he approached with a cup of wine in hand.

"Fei Yun-kun, drink this cup of wine. It can help you neutralize the activity of the Hashirama Cells."

A trace of concern appeared in Orochimaru's eyes as he continued, "Are you certain you want to transplant the Hashirama Cells?"

"I truly have no confidence that I can ensure you survive."

Both of Fei Yun's hands were covered in conduits, making it difficult for him to move. So he leaned over, bit the cup, and drained it in one gulp. Then he roared, "If you can't drink the wine in the cup, you can't stand before a sorrowful man! Come on, begin the transplant!"

Orochimaru nodded. "Last night, I found a ninja with a physique similar to yours and injected him with a ten percent concentration Hashirama Cell solution, but he did not last even three minutes before—"

Fei Yun directly cut him off. "Inject me with a one hundred percent concentration Hashirama Cell solution!"

Hearing this, Orochimaru was stunned. He watched Fei Yun for a moment, then said no more. "Kabuto, switch to the highest concentration Hashirama Cell solution."

Kabuto's eyes widened. "Th-That's suicide!"

"Even though our experiments over the years have improved every technique to its optimal state, no one has ever succeeded with even a ten percent concentration solution!"

Kabuto had followed Orochimaru through countless Hashirama Cell transplant surgeries, so he understood the terror of the Hashirama Cells better than anyone. Although they had progressed from crude transplantation of cultivated flesh to cell solution injections that allowed dosage and concentration to be adjusted, the success rate above ten percent concentration remained zero. At one hundred percent concentration, the test subject would directly explode. Even Orochimaru only dared to slowly fuse Hashirama Cells through small, repeated doses.

Orochimaru waved a hand. Seeing that the two of them insisted, Kabuto could only agree.

"Yes." Before long, Kabuto returned holding a test tube that emitted an eerie glow.

Orochimaru took the test tube and drew its thick liquid into a syringe. "Activate all monitoring and stabilization equipment. Turn on the emergency regulators as well." Orochimaru and Kabuto began working, while the various instruments and conduits began operating.

"It's starting." Orochimaru held up the syringe glowing with eerie light and came before Fei Yun. Fei Yun merely said calmly, "Come." He was not blindly courting death. He had absolute confidence in his body. As long as his Spiritual Power did not perish, no matter what happened to his flesh, he was confident he could repair it.

Orochimaru plunged the thick needle into Fei Yun's body. As his thumb pressed down, the one hundred percent concentration Hashirama Cells were injected into Fei Yun's body.

Fei Yun only felt as though a Tailed Beast was about to explode inside him. His body instantly went numb, and he lost control of it.

Stimulated by the chakra with a life attribute, the Sharingan containing Yin Power automatically emerged. But it was only a drop in the bucket and could not suppress that corrosive force at all.

Orochimaru revealed an obsessed expression, the corner of his mouth curving into a mad angle.

"What will the result be?"

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

Fei Yun's eyes bulged as blood flowed from them. His entire body began convulsing violently, while beneath his skin, it seemed as though countless worms were crawling about, rising and falling as they writhed madly.

The various instruments lit up red and began sounding alarms. Kabuto was drenched in sweat as he operated them back and forth.

"Lord Orochimaru, the test subject's heart rate is approaching two hundred! No, it has exceeded two hundred and is still rising! His physical reactions are jumping violently! Not good, multiple blood vessels are beginning to rupture! His internal organs can't hold on!" Kabuto kept shouting anxiously.

All sorts of changing data flashed across his lenses. Was it still a failure after all?

"Lord Orochimaru, step back quickly! It can't hold on anymore!"