Ryūchi Cave

The agony twisting his face came from cells breaking free of their restraints and multiplying without limit, destroying every organ from within.

The special instincts of the Hashirama Cells began to stir. The host's chakra could no longer suppress them as they gathered together, bursting through the host's flesh in an instant like countless grotesque tumors.

Once they broke through the skin, the fusion fluid that had once nourished the host became their finest sustenance. Saplings began bursting out from all over the host's body, swiftly breaking through the glass chamber and spreading in every direction.

A piercing scream echoed through the laboratory, but it stopped abruptly after only a moment. The test subject's face seemed to grow into that of an ancient tree, turning to wood and remaining forever fixed atop a stump.

"Sorry..."

The moment Kato Xu heard the first sound, he had already arrived before the glass chamber. He watched helplessly as the test subject turned into a wooden stump following the eruption of the Hashirama Cells.

He fell silent, because there was simply nothing he could do.

For three months, he had done everything he could. He had prepared every suitable fusion fluid and exhausted all his efforts researching the secrets hidden within the Hashirama Cells, yet it all seemed utterly futile. He had not found even the slightest clue...

"Whoosh..."

Before Kato Xu could make a move, two Root shinobi appeared in the laboratory. Behind their masks, a trace of surprise could faintly be seen in their eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

They took away the failed test subject without saying a word.

Kato Xu said nothing either. He merely watched them leave in silence.

The entire laboratory seemed to return to calm, save for the shattered glass chamber that had lost its seemingly vibrant green life.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't save you..."

"Maybe... I'm not a good person either..."

The standards of morality always changed with the times. It was not as though Kato Xu did not understand that.

After coming to this unfamiliar world, he had thought he could fully adapt to it. He had also thought he understood this world's cruelty. Yet for some reason, watching such things happen while being powerless to stop them always filled him with profound guilt.

"What exactly is the fundamental secret hidden within the Hashirama Cells..."

"Why can Hashirama Cells produce spiritual energy out of thin air..."

Kato Xu's eye sockets had sunk deep. This question had tormented him for three months. He looked like a disheveled vagrant; research had consumed far too much of his energy.

"Kato, it seems there have been some results today..."

He had not seen Orochimaru in a long time. Orochimaru appeared somewhat weary as well, yet he still seemed quite animated.

"A failure. A complete failure..."

Kato Xu's tone was somewhat low. His gaze remained fixed on the analyzer's screen, searching for even the faintest anomaly.

"Failure is the finest gift. It is success's final, helpless accusation..."

"Kato, it seems you need a little help..."

"Orochimaru-sama..."

"What secret is hidden within the Hashirama Cells?"

"Why... why can they defy common sense and seemingly produce chakra out of thin air from nothing but physical energy..."

Kato Xu once again felt powerless. Like a headless fly without direction, he seemed to be drifting amid the fog over an endless sea of truth. He needed someone to point him in the right direction.

If a person's talent and effort were the foundation of scientific research, then the correct direction was the blueprint laid atop that foundation. A headless fly without direction could work as hard as it wanted, yet it would only be doing the most numbing work in mediocrity.

"So Kato has already noticed this..."

"It seems that these past two years of growth have made Kato capable of standing on his own..."

"Orochimaru-sama... I need a direction..."

"I vaguely feel that this is the key to unlocking the deepest secret of the Hashirama Cells..."

"But this place does not need that key..."

Orochimaru smiled softly and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Kato Xu, making his eyes widen.

"So... Orochimaru-sama knew all along..."

"So this was research doomed to fail..."

The movements of Kato Xu's hands stopped. He gave a quiet laugh. So he had merely been a pawn Orochimaru used to placate Danzo...

"Perhaps it is time to let Kato see certain truths of this world..."

The entire underground laboratory of Root was silent, without the slightest sound. Kato Xu looked at Orochimaru and saw a frenzy and excitement hidden deep in his eyes.

"Reverse Summoning Jutsu..."

Orochimaru grabbed Kato Xu by the shoulder. A wave of dizziness struck him, and the world before his eyes changed in an instant.

It was a dark, damp cavern, filled with the echoing drip, drip of water.

Kato Xu stared curiously at the shadowy cavern. He could faintly sense it brimming with cold chakra, and it seemed that countless stern gazes were fixed tightly upon them from the cavern's exit.

"No one should disturb us here..."

Orochimaru slowly walked deeper into the cavern, with Kato Xu silently following behind him.

"Orochimaru-sama..."

"This place is..."

"Ryūchi Cave..."

"You will find the secret you seek here..."

A faint gleam shone in Orochimaru's snake-like eyes, but he offered no further explanation.

The farther they went, the denser the cold chakra aura Kato Xu sensed became. Hissing sounds reached his ears, and two or three small snakes would occasionally slither past. Their eyes carried an almost human intelligence, entirely unlike those of wild snakes.

"There is more than just chakra energy in this world. There is a special energy known as natural energy. When this elusive energy that fills heaven and earth combines with chakra, it forms a special kind of chakra known as Senjutsu Chakra."

"And as far as I know, only one person in the entire Shinobi World has ever used this Senjutsu Chakra: the First Hokage..."

The cavern grew wider on both sides. Coiled there were ever-larger snakes flicking their tongues. Their cold gazes made Kato Xu even more uncomfortable than Orochimaru's, but Orochimaru's words had captured his full attention.

"Orochimaru, move your laboratory out of here. I feel damn uncomfortable with you around..."

An enormous snake carrying an overwhelming presence emerged from the shadows, its icy gaze sweeping over Orochimaru and Kato Xu.

"Manda, you truly are a greedy fellow. A hundred sacrifices will be offered..."

Standing before Manda, Orochimaru made Kato Xu feel as though two great snakes were staring each other down. They carried similarly cold auras.

"Hmph... The White Snake Sage is very displeased that you placed your laboratory here..."

The enormous snake, whose single eye was several times larger than Kato Xu, slowly slithered through the cavern and vanished into the darkness. A deep passage appeared before Kato Xu and Orochimaru.

"Kato, you do not seem afraid at all..."

"I think Orochimaru-sama is far more frightening than they are..."

"Kato, are you afraid of me?"

Orochimaru's gaze was tranquil and deep. He did not look at Kato Xu, merely continuing into the passage.

"Compared to giant snakes, aren't humanoid snakes far more terrifying..."

"Kato, you always manage to surprise me..."

"It seems I was not wrong about you. You possess a perception that others lack. It seems to have come from the Spirit Transformation Technique, yet it also seems not to have. But it is always so keen..."

The passage was long, and the lights along its sides were somewhat dim. Strange light fell across Orochimaru's face, casting a deeper shadow over Kato Xu's heart.

He seemed to know a little too much...