The Will to Survive

Kato Osamu himself had never imagined he possessed such tremendous potential. In just over a year, beneath the twin shadows of Orochimaru and the Cursed Seal, he seemed to have become a different person, growing at an astonishing pace.

"The cellular Chakra analysis indicates that after the test subject was injected with the culture solution, the energy density of individual cells increased by thirty percent..."

The high-precision Chakra analyzer was now entirely operated by Kato Osamu, and Orochimaru had handed all the minor experiments over to him as well.

"How was its mental stability?"

Orochimaru did not spend all his time in the laboratory. The village still had a large number of S-rank Missions requiring his attention, and each month, he only spent a few days personally guiding Kato Osamu and advancing the experiments.

"The test subject's mental stability is poor. It has suffered a certain degree of emotional instability, accompanied by some memory loss..."

Kato Osamu and Orochimaru arrived at the cells holding the test subjects. Each subject was confined separately, and these emotionally unstable subjects often did things that defied comprehension.

The dim basement, with flickering candlelight on either side, seemed even more sinister. Every so often, faint rustling sounds echoed through it.

Thud... Thud...

At the sound of footsteps, two test subjects immediately threw themselves against their cages and howled. The thudding continued without pause, while Kato Osamu's gaze settled on a cell at the very back. One test subject there rammed his head against the wall every day.

Orochimaru inspected the test subjects one by one with great interest, though his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Kato, the fusion solution still needs improvement. This stuff is far too crude..."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru!"

After returning to the laboratory, Kato Osamu seemed hesitant to speak. He pulled an experimental report from a towering stack of books beside him and handed it to Orochimaru.

"Lord Orochimaru, there seems to be a slight problem with the experiment."

"During the cellular analysis, I found a special substance mixed into the fusion solution. This substance greatly affects the fusion solution's stability."

"Further analysis revealed that one of the primary culture media used to synthesize the fusion solution seems to be tissue fluid from some unknown organism..."

"And all of this substance originates from that tissue fluid..."

Kato Osamu looked up at Orochimaru. Their time together over the past year had given him some understanding of Orochimaru.

A cold-faced mad scientist.

Compared to other matters, Orochimaru was not quite so stern when it came to problems with experiments. So long as it could advance the experiment, he was willing to explain everything he knew.

After Kato Osamu's analysis, this culture medium used to synthesize the so-called fusion solution could most likely be confirmed as having been extracted from someone's cellular tissue fluid. Yet Orochimaru had never seemed to mention it.

"Kato, you are quite perceptive..."

Orochimaru's Snake Eyes always made Kato Osamu feel as though some venomous beast was watching him, but he had grown accustomed to it.

"You are right. This substance was extracted from a person's cells. These fusion solutions merely serve as preparation for transplanting those cells."

Orochimaru's eerie voice confirmed Kato Osamu's suspicions, but it also made him see the Shinobi World anew.

"Even the special substance mixed into the extracted tissue fluid possesses such powerful rejection properties. It does not merely affect the body—it can even affect the mind..."

"If they were complete cells..."

With Kato Osamu's current knowledge, he could not imagine how such cells could be transplanted into another person.

And what sort of extraordinary being had been the owner of those cells?

"Kato, perhaps this is when you prove your value..."

Orochimaru pursed his lips and regarded Kato Osamu with a hint of scrutiny.

"Lord Orochimaru, please give your orders!"

From the moment he had first encountered Orochimaru more than a year ago, he had known this day would come.

"Kato, it seems you knew this day would come long ago. How clever..."

Orochimaru chuckled softly and drew a glass tube from his sleeve. Within the pale green nutrient fluid floated a fingernail-sized piece of flesh that squirmed continuously, as if trying to burst out of the test tube.

"Kato, have you ever seen the view from Hokage Rock?"

"I went there a few times before, before joining Root... Looking out over all of Konoha from Hokage Rock, the entire village's scenery lay before my eyes..."

Kato Osamu seemed to recall something and drifted off for a moment before quickly coming back to himself.

"Kato, you seem quite moved..."

"I was only thinking of my uncle. His legs had never been very strong..."

A strange gleam appeared in Orochimaru's eyes. He silently looked at Kato Osamu for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Three years ago, Kato Yuan, the last clan head of the Kato Clan, died of illness at home..."

Kato Osamu froze. He stared directly into Orochimaru's eyes. It was the first time he had completely and utterly met Orochimaru's gaze. He knew Orochimaru would not deceive him—at least, there was no need for him to lie about this.

"I understand..."

Kato Osamu lowered his eyes, concealing his expression.

"The death of loved ones always brings us sorrow and pain. Yet it is precisely because of this that we contemplate the true meaning of life, as well as one ultimate question."

"Can death truly be avoided?"

"Kato, what do you think?"

Kato Osamu remained silent for a long time. He had barely heard anything Orochimaru said. Upon learning of Kato Yuan's death, he felt only an endless frustration and oppression that seeped into every inch of his flesh, a pain with nowhere to vent that gave him the urge to destroy something.

He clenched his fists tightly, yet he was so powerless.

"The human body really is fragile..."

"What an astonishing thing to say... Kato."

Orochimaru stared at Kato Osamu's lowered head, seemingly lost in thought. He merely gently shook the glass tube in his hand, a nostalgic expression appearing on his face.

"What lies within this is the secret of the legendary Wood Release..."

Kato Osamu did not know whether his senses had improved because of this, or whether Orochimaru had lowered his guard around him.

For the first time, he could vaguely sense changes in Orochimaru's emotions. Similar to his own grief, they carried a trace of melancholy sorrow.

"Perhaps the end of all jutsu is immortality..."

"These seemingly everlasting, undying cells are truly fascinating..."

Orochimaru did not linger in his sorrow for long. He lightly shook the glass tube in his hand, his gaze once more fixed tightly on Kato Osamu. It was not the coldness and scrutiny from before, but a fervor accompanied by a measure of approval.

"Kato..."

"An immortal body and an eternal soul..."

Orochimaru's voice carried temptation and depth, as though an overwhelming force had surged directly toward Kato Osamu.

"Can immortality be achieved...?"

Kato Osamu had never seen Orochimaru's eyes shine so brightly. The man before him, this somewhat effeminate man, was asking him, yet seemed never to have doubted that it was possible.

"I want to live..."

"I do not want to die..."

Kato Osamu's face flushed red as he locked eyes with Orochimaru, as though he wanted to pour out all the grievances and suffering of these past years in this very moment.

The wish buried deep within his heart was the most fundamental right of a person: the right to survive.

Even if his status was lowly, even if his life and death were now in someone else's hands, he had never believed his will to survive was weaker than anyone else's.

"I... do not want to die a second time..."

A low voice echoed in his heart. Recalling the time he had stood at the edge of life and death, the despair of life brought by that absolute darkness had felt like an endless, massive weight wrapping around him and continuously shrinking, crushing him into a ball until he could not breathe, until he was completely suffocated.

He did not want to experience that feeling again, not even for an instant.