Monsters

Unfortunately, Orochimaru has yet to encounter one.

Meikyō also noticed that Orochimaru's interest was not as high as it had been when he first arrived.

So, Meikyō took out another test tube from the Sealing Scroll.

It clearly says "Upper Rank Three" on it.

"This is..."

Orochimaru was somewhat curious about the significance of Meikyō's action.

"The answer that Senior Orochimaru is looking for may lie in this blood sample."

Meikyō placed the test tubes on the table and gestured for Orochimaru to proceed.

Orochimaru, with a hint of suspicion on his face, picked up the glass test tube engraved with the Sealing Technique formula.

"Senior Orochimaru, before you open this test tube, I feel it's necessary to remind you: never ingest this blood orally, by injection, or through similar means. Otherwise, while you may achieve your dream and gain Eternity life, you will also have many weaknesses."

Meikyō casually crossed his legs and said to Orochimaru.

Eternity life!

Orochimaru's eyes suddenly flashed with a captivating light.

Although he had developed more than half of the forbidden technique he envisioned that would grant him Eternity life, it still had certain flaws.

Now that there is another way to achieve immortality, Orochimaru's mind was undoubtedly greatly stirred.

"What weakness?"

Orochimaru gripped the test tube tightly in his hand, turned to Meikyō, and asked.

"When humans ingest this blood, they undergo a fundamental change, transforming into a different kind of organism. Their cells gain the ability to proliferate Infinity, which is why that organism has an exceptionally long lifespan."

"If its own vitality is sufficient, it can also regenerate cells like crazy, thus achieving the effect of immortality."

Instead of directly answering Orochimaru's question, Meikyō first pointed out the advantages that demons possess.

"This sounds quite similar to the cells of the First Hokage. By the way, Meikyō -kun, with your seniority, you may not be aware of these things. If you are interested, I would be happy to tell you these secrets."

Orochimaru had regained his elegant and composed demeanor, but only he knew what was truly in his heart.

Meikyō smiled slightly, ignoring Orochimaru's words, and continued speaking.

"However, while gaining these advantages, this creature is extremely afraid of sunlight. Once exposed to sunlight, they will be instantly reduced to ashes. Moreover, weapons with similar energy to the sun can also kill them."

Seeing the excited expression on Orochimaru's face, Meikyō extended another index finger and pointed it at his own head.

"However, I personally believe that the biggest impact is actually on the brain. Once you become this kind of creature, your heart will be affected by violent emotions, and you will crave to take the lives of others, eat them, and devour their lives. Although you still retain a part of the consciousness you had when you were a human, it will be completely devoid of reason."

Orochimaru frowned deeply.

He could actually accept becoming a non-human being.

In the original timeline, he transformed his true form into the Yamata no Orochi, and only after being reborn through Anko's spell did he return to his human body.

However, Orochimaru would absolutely not accept becoming mentally violent and drastically reducing his rationality.

His brilliant mind has always been Orochimaru's greatest source of pride.

If Orochimaru loses the wisdom he should have, is he still the same Orochimaru?

"It seems that you, Meikyō, also have your own pursuit of a long life, just like me. It seems that people are just unwilling to believe that someone can break through the limits of life, but when the opportunity to gain immortality is presented to them, no one will refuse it so easily."

Orochimaru revealed a wicked smile and continued speaking to Meikyō:

"Mr. Meikyō, did you bring out this precious gift because you want to join forces with me to unravel the meaning of life?"

"If there is anyone in this world who can eliminate the various weaknesses of demons, I think Senior Orochimaru is the most likely person to do so."

Meikyō extended his hand and shook hands with Orochimaru.

It's clear that Orochimaru was very pleased with Meikyō's praise and quite satisfied with the gift.

"So this kind of creature is called a ghost? It sounds a lot like those ancient monsters."

Orochimaru sealed the glass test tube into a scroll, handed it to a giant python to swallow and keep, and then said with a relaxed expression.

"Monster?"

A hint of interest appeared in Meikyō's eyes.

"Is it something similar to the Mōryō of the Land of Demons and the Satoru of the Land of Grass?"

Orochimaru glanced at Meikyō with considerable surprise, then slowly nodded and said:

"I didn't expect that Meikyō- kun would know this. I can only say that he is indeed a member of the ancient Uchiha. The Mōryō of the Land of Stones are indeed demons, but I don't know anything about Satoru of the Land of Grass."

"I've only seen records of this kind of thing in some ancient books in the Clan Vault, but they are vague and incomplete, so I don't know much about them."

Meikyō casually offered an explanation.

The Uchiha Clan has a history spanning a thousand years, and their Clan Vault contains a vast collection of books; they can simply pull whatever they can find into it.

"I see. The so-called demons are actually the various monsters and demons that the Sage of Six Paths defeated when he traveled the Ninja World a thousand years ago. Some of them possessed extremely strong immortality. Even the great Sage of Six Paths could not kill them and could only seal them away. So some of them still exist today."

"Throughout history, there have been many ambitious individuals who have tried to unleash these monsters that are said to have the power to rule the entire world, but without exception, they have all suffered a backlash. Since oni creatures also possess this immortality, it is very likely that they are related to these monster villages."

Orochimaru gave a brief explanation of the concept of monsters as a village existence in the Meikyō.

"Alright, Mr. Meikyō, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."

"Farewell, Senior Orochimaru."

Meikyō nodded to Orochimaru and watched him leave.

Previously, he hadn't decided whether to give the demon's blood sample to Orochimaru, but now, Meikyō believes it might be the best option at present.

He originally hoped to find a suitable candidate in the Pirate World.

Unfortunately, scientists with this ability are extremely rare, even in the Pirate World.

Vegapunk would certainly be the best candidate, but he is under the control of the World Government and is difficult to contact.

Second-rate scientists, such as Caesar and Indigo, are also under the control of the World Government and the Golden Lion, respectively.

Currently, Meikyō has asked Long to investigate information related to Vinsmoke Judge, who is actually considered a top-tier biological scientist in the Pirate World.

However, this person's moral bottom line doesn't seem to be very high either, and he might do some dirty tricks. Currently, he is considered by Meikyō as the first alternative to Orochimaru.

At the very least, Orochimaru, in his pursuit of immortality, would certainly do his utmost to achieve perfection in this matter.

After withdrawing from the battlefield, the entire Kumogakure was plunged into unprecedented grief.

Because of their spiritual pillar, they were regarded by all the Kumogakure as the strongest and invincible people, Third Raikage died on the battlefield.

"Cough, cough!"

The Fourth Raikage coughed twice, trying to get out of bed, only to find that his body was wrapped in bandages.

"Lord Ai, you're awake!"

A Medical Ninja from Kumogakure was waiting by the bedside was filled with surprise and delight upon seeing the Fourth Raikage, A, awaken.

After losing the Third Raikage, the Fourth Raikage, A, who was the Raikage candidate, is now the only pillar in the hearts of all the Kumogakure.

"Atsui, what time is it now?"

The Fourth Raikage, used his arms to barely support himself as he stood up from the bed and asked the Medical Ninja.

He remembered that after running back with the Dodai, he fell into a coma due to the severity of his injuries.

"Lord Ai, three days have passed since you fell into a coma!"

He was unconscious for three whole days?

"What's the situation now? Has Pops returned?"

The Fourth Raikage, was already hoping to join forces with the Third Raikage to defeat Orochimaru and Uchiha Meikyō.

Atsui's expression darkened.

"Lord Ai, the Third Hokage-sama, he..."

"What's wrong with Pops?"

"In order to cover the retreat of his subordinates, the Third Hokage-sama took the initiative to cover the rear. In the end... he fought against 10,000 elite Iwagakure by himself. After inflicting heavy damage on Iwagakure, he died from exhaustion."

The Fourth Raikage stood frozen in place, unable to accept it for a long time.

My Pops, who had an almost unbreakable defense and the power to fight the Eight-Tails hand-to-hand, is dead?

"Atsui, don't make jokes like that again."

Atsui lowered her head and did not answer the Fourth Raikage, but instead spoke to herself:

"Dodai said that after you wake up, we must prepare for the succession ceremony of the Fourth Raikage as soon as possible. Now you are the only hope of the village, and everyone needs you to stand up and rekindle the morale of every ninja."

The Fourth Raikage realized that Atsui was not joking with him.

"Is Pops... really dead?"

Atsui nodded emphatically.

The Fourth Raikage clenched his fists, the bulging muscles on his arms bursting through the bandages, revealing scabbed wounds.

"I understand! Tell Dodai that I will take over Pops's responsibilities and rebuild Kumogakure!"

Just as the Fourth Raikage, was leading a group of defeated soldiers in preparation for the succession ceremony of the Fourth Raikage, trying his best to protect the interests of Kumogakure.

In the Konoha camp, Meikyō was also pondering the Lightning Release Chakra Mode he had seen on the battlefield.

In front of him was a huge scroll with a human anatomy diagram. The figure in the diagram clearly resembled the Fourth Raikage.

In order to break the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he even called Orochimaru over to assist him.

This person, like the Third Hokage, is a versatile ninja proficient in all five elemental Ninjutsu. He is also highly skilled in Lightning Release Ninjutsu and is a Ninjutsu development master like the Second Hokage. He will likely be of great help in the process of breaking through Lightning Style Chakra.

"Interesting. It's unbelievable that a Ninjutsu that seems to have a difficulty level of only B-rank contains such a mystery."

Orochimaru stared at the blue lines representing the flow of Chakra on the anatomical diagram of the human body, and then began to practice forming hand Hand Seals step by step.

Soon, crackling blue arcs of electricity appeared on Orochimaru's body.

Meikyō curiously opened his Sharingan at Orochimaru's current state, discovering that he had not replicated the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but rather a similar state.

However, just a few seconds later, Orochimaru felt something was wrong with his body and voluntarily dispelled the Ninjutsu.

"The Lightning Release Chakra Mode should contain a special Lightning Style Nature Transformation mastered by the Kumogakure, which simulates the Lightning Style Chakra more closely to the bioelectricity of the human body, making it less likely to cause damage to the physical body. Otherwise, it would simply stimulate all the cells in the body, which could provide a certain degree of enhancement, but it would never be as long-lasting as the previous Raikage."

Orochimaru licked his lips and made his analysis.

However, Meikyō's approach was somewhat different from Orochimaru's.

He incorporated some of the Medical Ninjutsu abilities from Super Strength Punch that stimulate the body to recover, as well as some principles of Chidori.

At this moment, one of his arms was emitting a blue-white electric light.

Seeing this scene, Orochimaru felt that it looked familiar, and his previously injured chest was throbbing with pain.

"Looking at this, it somewhat resembles the Third Raikage's Four-Finger Fist. If I'm not mistaken, you should have a large amount of Lightning Style Chakra infused with piercing nature transformation gathered in your arms."

Orochimaru was curious as to how Meikyō managed to inject so much Lightning Style Chakra into his arm without harming himself.

There are two main reasons for this. One is the difference in the strength of their physical bodies, and the other is that Meikyō can use the techniques of the Super Strength Punch to repair the cell damage in his hands, which is why Meikyō's arms can hold so much Lightning Style Chakra.

"I used some of the techniques from the Super Strength Punch taught by Teacher Tsunade, and used extremely subtle Chakra control to repair the cell damage in my hand."

Meikyō explained part of the reason to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru only believed part of it.

He knew that this might be one reason, but it was probably more than that.

"Meikyō -kun, you can try compressing this part of the Chakra into your fingers. This will greatly increase the piercing power of your Lightning Style release. The Third Raikage used this method to execute the Four-Finger Fist."

Orochimaru looked at Meikyō's arm, which was crackling with lightning, and offered a suggestion.

Meikyō listened and did as instructed.

Streams of Lightning Style Chakra slowly and steadily flowed into Meikyō's palm and then into his fingers.

Meikyō unconsciously retracted her thumb, brought her palms together, and made a hand chop shape.