Do Good Deeds, Ask Not What Lies Ahead
'Damn it! Damn it!' Looking at Mei Terumi, Kabuto Yakushi felt a surge of resentment. The handwriting on the experimental record in his hand was already distorted, but he dared not show it in front of Kato Osamu and silently lowered his head.
"This is..." A sudden jolt went through Kato Osamu. He felt a strong hatred emanating from Kabuto Yakushi behind Kabuto Yakushi and turned around in surprise. Emotions were the first ability Kato Osamu mastered, so how could he not notice Kabuto Yakushi's instantaneous change?
He hadn't considered that Kabuto Yakushi would betray him, but something was a little strange...
His gaze swept over Mei Terumi, and he instantly understood the source of her hatred. He just hadn't expected Kabuto Yakushi to care so much...
"Kabuto, I understand Nonō's feelings, you don't need to target her..." Kato Osamu shook his head slightly and looked at Kabuto Yakushi. The intense hatred in Kato Osamu made him frown.
"Teacher... I..." Kabuto Yakushi was suddenly startled, his voice trembling slightly. He looked at Kato Osamu as if Kato Osamu could see right through him, and he was at a loss for words. Then his eyes lit up and his face showed surprise.
"Teacher! You mean... I didn't hear you wrong, did I...? I..."
"Kabuto, I watched you grow up. Nonō and I are now bound together by fate, sharing both glory and ruin..."
"She and Mei Terumi hold the same place in my heart..." As he spoke, Kato Osamu gently put his arm Mei Terumi's waist. Mei Terumi simply smiled and shook her head slightly.
"I... teacher, I'm so happy... I..."
"Kabuto, once we've finished with things in Konoha, let's go back to Kusagakure..."
"Yes!"
Kato Osamu sighed softly to himself. "A leaf can block out Mount Tai." There are countless principles in this world, but if they don't happen to you, you can always say "you should do this or that." But only through firsthand experience can you truly understand. Life is simple: do good deeds, don't worry about the future, and cherish the people in front of you.
Kabuto Yakushi had been studying biotechnology with Orochimaru these past few days and seemed to have picked up some of Orochimaru's temperament. Despite his joy, it did not affect his actions in the slightest. As the number of instruments on Kushina Uzumaki's body decreased, all the tests were completed.
"Teacher, all the tests are complete. All the data is almost identical to the previous tests. The Fourth Hokage's wife is now no different from an ordinary child..."
"So that means I can go to Konoha now?" As soon as Kabuto Yakushi finished speaking, Kushina Uzumaki's eyes lit up instantly, and she jumped straight off the lab table.
"That's roughly it... but before we go, we'll need to do some disguise..." Kato Osamu smiled and placed a hand on Kushina Uzumaki's face. The 'Revitalized Facial Copy Technique,' which he had previously improved upon using the Vanishing Facial Copy Technique, was used to modify Kushina Uzumaki's appearance, but now it was indeed unnecessary.
As the Yin–Yang Release power flashed in Kato Osamu's hand, Kushina Uzumaki felt a slight itch on her face. Her face twisted and deformed like flowing liquid, gradually returning to its original state. The new face was not exactly the same as Kushina Uzumaki's original appearance, but it was completely different.
If she was a round-faced, silly little girl before, now she's a rather aloof young lady who, if she doesn't speak, seems rather cold and distant.
"In that case, I think even if Minato Namikaze were to be reborn, he wouldn't be able to recognize you at a glance..."
"What? It's not as good as my original appearance..." Kushina Uzumaki looked at her reflection on the screen of the experimental table, feeling rather strange, and muttered to herself. However, having spent many years in Konoha, she knew that this was the only way. If she appeared in her original form, who knew what kind of commotion it would cause...
"It seems that Orochimaru's Yin-Yang Release Technique has improved quite a bit..." As he spoke, Orochimaru's figure appeared in the laboratory. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and his face was still pale, but there seemed to be a renewed fervor for the technique in his eyes...
Ever since Kato Osamu proved that he could enter the Pure Land through his soul, Orochimaru has become obsessed with Soul Secret Technique. It seems that in his view, the fact that living souls can enter the Pure Land completely breaks down the boundary between life and death...
Moreover, the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu involves the soul, and Kato Osamu even wrote down all his experiences related to the Spirit Transformation Technique in a scroll and gave it to Orochimaru. With Orochimaru's intelligence, getting started wouldn't be difficult...
"It seems Orochimaru- sensei has made some progress in his research on Yin Release..." Seeing Orochimaru's 'sickly' appearance, Kato Osamu smiled instead. The current Orochimaru reminded him of the days when they researched the Living Corpse Reincarnation together. He always had a pure love for jutsu...
"If I'm going to Konoha, I think I'll need to go there too..."
"Furthermore, there's some news that should be of some help to our trip to Konoha..."
Orochimaru chuckled, but his smile remained sinister, Kushina Uzumaki couldn't help but glare at Orochimaru silently.
"It must be news from the Cloud Shinobi delegation... The Cloud Shinobi are about to negotiate peace with Konoha, and Konoha will open its doors wide... But similarly, security and inspections will be much stricter..." Kato Osamu shrugged. Entering Konoha now was a trivial matter for him. He was certain that even if he were standing opposite the Third Hokage right now, the Third Hokage would most likely not recognize him.
"Oh? It seems Osamu has his own mole in Konoha. Your information network is quite impressive..." Orochimaru glanced at the little girl who was secretly glaring at him from behind Kato Osamu, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Since Orochimaru- sensei is researching Soul Secret Technique, he should know very well that modifying a person's will and memories is not a difficult task..."
Silently watching Kato Osamu, Orochimaru was speechless for a rare moment. His lips twitched, but he said nothing more. Such a thing was rare indeed, throughout the history of the Shinobi World...
If Orochimaru knew that the other owner of this ability, Shisui Uchiha, known as the Body Flicker Shisui, only gained this ability after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, and that it required a cooldown period of over ten years after each use, he would probably be even more speechless...
"However, I'd like to know Orochimaru- sensei's purpose in going to Konoha..."
"As far as I know, Orochimaru- sensei never does anything meaningless..."
Kato Osamu was indeed somewhat curious. Compared to him, who was not from this world, he naturally had no sense of belonging to Konoha. But Orochimaru was different. He grew up in Konoha and was once a passionate young man who loved Konoha.
Moreover, Kato Osamu knew that Orochimaru still cared about Konoha to some extent...
"Of course, we need some experimental materials..." Orochimaru chuckled softly, his gaze falling on Kushina Uzumaki with great interest. Seeing Orochimaru's suddenly extended tongue, Kushina Uzumaki felt a wave of nausea and shivered.
'Is it the Nara Clan? Or the Uchiha Clan...?' As Kato Osamu pondered for a moment, Orochimaru flashed forward, his long tongue brushing against Kushina Uzumaki's cheek, leaving Kushina Uzumaki face covered in a sticky, wet substance...
"Such a cute little girl... no one would have guessed that she was Kushina Uzumaki..."
"If he looks at me like that again... I'll kill him— Naruto Uzumaki..."
"No!!!" Kushina Uzumaki suppressed her nausea, her face changing drastically. A person's reputation precedes them, and Orochimaru's name still carried considerable weight in this era before the power scaling collapsed and gods fought each other.
"Even the voice has completely changed..." Orochimaru smiled, his enthusiasm for Yin–Yang Release and Soul Secret Technique growing even stronger.
Creation always outweighs destruction. Orochimaru himself, and indeed any ninja in the Shinobi World, can destroy another's body, but creation, or even the ability to create at will, is a power that should never be attainable by humankind...