When Sasori arrived at Orochimaru's northern hideout, he could clearly sense how much it had changed. There was not a single person in the enormous hideout, leaving it feeling deserted.
Entering the tailed beast laboratory, he saw Orochimaru working alone, studying and cultivating the cells of each tailed beast in turn. Among them, the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails had already entered the final stages of cultivation, their immense chakra almost visible to the naked eye, while the others were still in the embryonic stage.
Hearing movement and sensing someone enter, Orochimaru asked without turning around, "You got the Four-Tails' cells, didn't you? Just put them in the fourth experiment chamber."
Sasori said little. He took out the tailed beast container and tossed it straight inside. A phantom red ape appeared within, and Orochimaru stepped forward to activate the equipment and pour in the materials he had prepared beforehand. Chakra unique to the Four-Tails began brewing, producing a tailed beast embryo and a rhythmic pulse.
"No wonder Kurotsuchi values you so highly. It seems his judgment was right." However much Sasori disliked Orochimaru, he had to acknowledge his talent. He was the only person in the world capable of conducting an experiment like this.
Orochimaru remained impassive as he busied himself with the experiment. Finding a spare moment, he took out a scroll and tossed it to Sasori, replying, "I've put all the materials needed for the experiment into a scroll. With the Zero Organization's current strength, obtaining these precious materials shouldn't be difficult."
Sasori glanced at it and nodded. "No problem. What happened here? Where's Kurotsuchi?"
"Heh, the fledgling eagle came by, released all the test subjects, and took someone away. A good eye. As for your Kurotsuchi..." Orochimaru's gaze grew guarded, and he said in an inscrutable tone, "A woman