A Shocked Shinnō

Upon arriving at Orochimaru's territory, Ye Feng once again found him in the underground laboratory. Orochimaru seemed to devote all his time to the laboratory.

After their first encounter, Orochimaru knew who had come as soon as he sensed the passage opening. He knew Ye Feng never came to him without a reason.

Sure enough, he saw Uchiha Yefeng come down, pull up a chair as if he were in his own home, and sit down before him.

"I came to give you a great gift this time," Ye Feng said directly when he saw Orochimaru's questioning look.

"Oh? To think you would consider giving me a gift, Ye Feng. It must be quite something." Orochimaru grew interested as well. He stopped his experiment, picked up a chair, and sat down opposite Ye Feng.

"I've discovered a ninjutsu that could help you achieve 'immortality.' Do you like this gift?" Ye Feng deliberately teased Orochimaru. He had also noticed that he was becoming increasingly casual when speaking to him.

"What ninjutsu could help with 'immortality' and even catch your eye, Ye Feng?" Orochimaru's interest was piqued as well.

"Medical Forbidden Technique: Body Revival!"

"Medical Forbidden Technique: Body Revival? Judging by the name, it should be a medical ninjutsu involving the enhancement of the body's cells."

"As expected of Lord Orochimaru. You understood its basic capabilities just from the name. But its abilities don't stop there. It can even restore a person's youthful vitality. More importantly, this ninjutsu has enormous room for improvement. It could even allow the body to be split apart without dying."

"Since you've come to me, Ye Feng, that means you haven't obtained this ninjutsu yet. Tell me where it is, and I'll retrieve it for you." Orochimaru's eyes lit up again at Ye Feng's words. It was the look he had when he spotted something good.

"Medical Forbidden Technique: Body Revival is in the hands of a physician named Shinnō, who is temporarily staying in the village. But his identity as a physician is only a cover. He's also a powerful ninja. Even you wouldn't be able to stop him from escaping. Tomorrow, he'll be treating Might Duy. You can send someone to search his lodgings during that time. As for where he is and how to find him, you figure it out." Ye Feng dumped all the problems onto Orochimaru at once.

Still uneasy, he added a warning. "Whether you find the scroll or not, clean up all traces. If Shinnō discovers anything before we've found the scroll, it'll be difficult to find him again."

"Rest assured, Ye Feng. I'll have specialists handle this. But given how precious this ninjutsu is, wouldn't leaving it in his lodgings be rather careless?"

"I also suspect Shinnō carries it on him, but I've been watching him and haven't found anywhere on his body where he could keep a scroll. Searching his lodgings is just a precaution." After some thought, Ye Feng decided to eliminate Shinnō once and for all. After all, in the original story, Shinnō's body had burst after absorbing Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra, but with Ye Feng's interference, there was no telling how things would turn out. Guy, with all Eight Gates open, had nearly kicked the story straight to its ending. Ye Feng had no desire to become Madara Uchiha and fight a Shinnō who could open all Eight Gates without dying.

So he continued, "Also, investigate his identity. Someone with such powerful chakra can't be an ordinary person. He must have some agenda for infiltrating the village. If possible, eliminate him after obtaining the scroll."

Orochimaru nodded in agreement, though inwardly he wondered why Ye Feng harbored such strong murderous intent toward Shinnō. It seemed Shinnō's identity was far from simple either.

Having finished his business, Ye Feng left without further ado, while Orochimaru instructed the Anbu to locate Shinnō and his lodgings. Having the Anbu search for and follow him would not seem out of place. Even if Shinnō discovered them, he would not think much of it. This was part of the Anbu's duties, after all.

Meanwhile, after leaving Might Duy's House, Shinnō hurried back to the inn where he was staying.

When the innkeeper saw Shinnō hurry inside, he thought something serious had happened and kept following him with questions, afraid of getting embroiled in something that might affect his inn.

Only after an enormous effort did Shinnō finally explain that nothing was wrong and put the innkeeper at ease. At the same time, he secretly regretted having been a little too hasty and hoped no one else had noticed.

After the lengthy delay, Shinnō finally sat down and began examining the data that only he could understand.

Before long, however, Shinnō's expression changed. He immediately took out his own physical data for comparison and discovered that his figures were actually lower than Might Duy's. He had been tempering his body with a forbidden technique he had invented, yet his figures were lower than those of Might Duy, who merely did large amounts of conventional training.

Shinnō fell into self-doubt. He could not believe this fact. Was the forbidden technique I invented nothing but a joke? Or was Might Duy's training method the correct one?

Absolutely not. My training works deep at the cellular level. Ordinary training methods could never compare. This must be Might Duy's talent. It has to be.

In truth, Might Duy's talent for taijutsu was indeed excellent. Otherwise, he would not have become one of the few ninja to break through the human body's limits. But an even greater factor was the strengthening effect of the medicinal baths. Not only could they eliminate hidden ailments, but they could also turn into energy that the body could readily accept and absorb.

Unable to make sense of it, Shinnō could only attribute all this to Might Duy's talent. He let go of his fixation and examined the data, studying Might Duy's chakra circulation paths and the abnormal tenketsu readings. But there was still too little data to resolve many of the questions. He could only wait to collect more during the subsequent treatments.

Shinnō walked out of the inn with a helpless expression. It was still early, so he wanted to look around Konoha to see whether he could find any unusual ninja and ask about Uchiha Yefeng along the way. He was very interested in this secret formula that could aid taijutsu training using medicinal ingredients alone. Even if he could not obtain the Eight Gates Released Formation from Might Duy, acquiring this formula would still be a substantial gain.

Not long after he went outside, however, he sensed someone following him. Shinnō paid it no mind. It was perfectly normal for outsiders entering the village to be watched. Besides, his identity was deeply concealed, and he had committed no evil deeds in Konoha, so he naturally had no fear of being watched.