Senjutsu Chakra

"Mr. Kato, I think you're no stranger to Cursed Seals..."

Kato Osamu pursed his lips. Although Danzo had never shown any sign of activating the Cursed Seal, and he now seemed to have completely submitted to Orochimaru, Damocles' Sword still hung over his head, keeping him from making any rash moves.

"When Senjutsu Chakra combines with a Cursed Seal, do you know what wondrous changes occur?"

Hidden within the pitch-black passageway was an enormous laboratory. Though it was not as spectacular as Root's laboratories, it was still fully equipped with every kind of facility. It seemed Orochimaru had been conducting research here for a long time. This was likely his most secret laboratory.

To hide his secrets here even at such great cost, Kato Osamu felt that he had somehow come into contact with Orochimaru's most essential research project.

"Like this..."

Before Kato Osamu lay a burly man on an experiment table. Kato Osamu could sense his aura. He was still alive.

With a light tap from Orochimaru's hand, the burly man's body began to undergo some kind of mutation. His entire body seemed to be massively enhanced, and the intensity of his aura increased by at least tenfold. Countless black patterns surged from the black mark on the back of his neck, crawling over his entire body in an instant.

"Except this is still a failed product..."

The man lying on the experiment table looked like a corpse, but his twisted face showed that he was still alive. He could only let out faint, hissing cries.

A glimmer of spiritual light extended from Kato Osamu's fingertip and connected to the test subject's brow. As the black patterns spread across the subject's body, he could sense that the subject's soul fluctuations were being continuously weakened.

It seemed the consumption of this Cursed Seal did not come entirely from Senjutsu Chakra. Overstimulating it would excessively consume mental energy, thereby damaging the soul. It was still unclear whether such damage could be reversed.

"Ryūchi Cave's Senjutsu Chakra will erode all of his mental will. Right now, he is nothing more than a living corpse..."

Orochimaru glanced at Kato Osamu and activated the Cursed Seal again. The man's body began to mutate. Tumors started growing all over him, as though something was about to burst out from within, but it abruptly stopped. His entire body began to wither.

"His soul has vanished..."

Kato Osamu frowned and silently withdrew his finger. Once the limit of endurance had been exceeded, the man's soul fluctuations had continued to weaken until they gradually disappeared.

He could tell that this disappearance was completely irreversible. The soul energy had been entirely exhausted, and every trace of it had scattered away. It was completely different from the minor damage earlier.

"Mr. Kato, you understand now, don't you? As for sensing souls, I shouldn't need to say anything more..."

"Lord Orochimaru, as far as I know, the soul itself is also a form of energy. Under normal circumstances, this kind of energy cannot be utilized. It is like a protective layer wrapped around consciousness."

"There is almost no way to replenish consumed soul energy. It can only slowly recover over time..."

"This Cursed Seal is far too terrifying..."

No one would refuse the desire for power. Kato Osamu could imagine how many followers such a thing would attract. If one had the resolve to die, no one would refuse such power.

"Mr. Kato, if a person's soul is completely severed from their body, then by all logic, that person is dead."

"Then, if that severed soul obtained an intact body without a soul..."

There was madness and trembling in Orochimaru's eyes. Only at times like these could Kato Osamu sense Orochimaru's emotional fluctuations. They were like a blazing star, as though they scorched him.

"Then he will be reborn!"

"Possession..."

Never before had Kato Osamu felt more keenly that Orochimaru was a genius. This somewhat gloomy man was undoubtedly a peerless genius.

"Mr. Kato, I have named this ninjutsu Living Corpse Reincarnation..."

"I believe that with Mr. Kato's help, the development of this ninjutsu will certainly succeed..."

"Mr. Kato, what do you think?"

Perhaps Orochimaru had conceived of this idea long ago. Kato Osamu also fully understood where his own value lay now. No wonder Orochimaru had regarded him so highly.

"It seems Lord Orochimaru had this idea long ago..."

"Lord Orochimaru..."

"Can I survive?"

Kato Osamu silently stared at Orochimaru. He knew too many secrets...

"Mr. Kato, if I remember correctly, you are only ten years old this year, aren't you..."

"Such a young age..."

Orochimaru chuckled softly, then slowly turned his gaze toward Kato Osamu. It was an appraising look carrying an indescribable meaning, one that made Kato Osamu deeply uncomfortable.

"If I had not watched you grow bit by bit into what you are today, I might even think another soul was hidden within that tiny body..."

"Konoha has many geniuses as well, but even Kakashi Hatake, the White Fang's son, who graduated at five and became a Chunin at six, is nothing more than a child in my eyes."

"But Xu, you are truly different."

"Lord Orochimaru, when do you think a person grows up?" Since the matter had already been made clear, all he wanted was to live. Kato Osamu seemed to have put down a burden and became somewhat more casual.

"I once heard that eagles push their fledglings out of the nest. If they cannot learn to fly in that brief instant, then an endless abyss awaits them..."

"In Root, there were many children like me. They had no choice but to learn to fly in a very short time. Perhaps I merely flew a little faster than the rest..."

"Xu, I look forward to the day you break free from your restraints and soar into the blue sky."

A strange gleam appeared in Orochimaru's eyes, seemingly somewhat different from before. His voice paused, as though he were considering something. Only after a long while did he speak.

"Perhaps you can call me teacher..."

"I should be fairly qualified..."

Kato Osamu froze for a moment. He had never expected this outcome. Seeing the faint, almost imperceptible smile on Orochimaru's face, he finally relaxed completely.

"Orochimaru... Teacher!"

"Xu, just do not regret it..."

Orochimaru said nothing more, but Kato Osamu could sense that his mood seemed to have improved somewhat.

"Teacher Orochimaru... I think the key to Living Corpse Reincarnation lies in two aspects. The first is severing the connection between one's own soul and body. The second is guiding the soul into a new body."

"If a soul lacks a body, it will enter a special state. It will be in complete darkness, without any perception. You will feel as though you do not exist, and under such circumstances, there is no possibility of any independent action..."

"Oh? It seems Xu has experienced this before. You truly have not disappointed me..."

"According to the Kato Clan's records, a clansman once did such a thing. Had the clan head not discovered it in time, that disembodied soul would have completely dissipated..."

"After that, the method of severing the connection between soul and body was permanently removed from the Spirit Transformation Technique..."

Kato Osamu replied in a muffled voice. Through the Kato Clan's secret technique, there were some things he could reveal without concern.

"How free a soul that has escaped the shackles of the flesh must be..."

Orochimaru sighed softly and turned his gaze to Kato Osamu.

"It is about time to return..."

"The Wood Release fusion experiment is destined to fail. Perhaps there are other methods, but for now, without the ability to control Senjutsu Chakra, no one can subdue Hashirama Cells..."

"With nothing but the wills of those test subjects, it would take a miracle..."

"But... why not stop the experiment?"

Kato Osamu felt somewhat disheartened. He could accept any cruelty inflicted upon those prisoners, but for children of four or five, was this not too cruel? They had not even properly seen what the world looked like...

"Only extraordinary people can accomplish what ordinary people cannot..."

"Xu, sometimes we have no choice but to give up certain things, don't we?"

"As for why the experiment cannot be stopped, I think Mr. Kato already understands, don't you?"

For the test subjects, a miracle meant an entire lifetime. But for the authorities waiting expectantly, it was merely an event with slim odds, yet one that still had a chance of success.

If one hundred people could be exchanged for a Wood Release ninja, not a single higher-up would refuse such a thing.