Araki had a very strange thought: perhaps when Orochimaru researched Yamato, he must have also conducted some research on Yamato's cells, but this part was not known to anyone.
Otherwise, Orochimaru wouldn't have been able to create those Wood Release arms that were compatible with the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.
That arm was attached to Danzo.
Without a very reliable technology, Danzo would never have risked his own life.
Before Yamato, all the experiments on transplanting Hashirama Cells had failed, so Orochimaru must have studied Yamato's cells, or rather, conducted subsequent cell transplants using Yamato's cells.
This allows the Yamato cells to synthesize and strengthen the stability of the Hashirama Cells, preventing them from expanding excessively and engulfing the host cell.
Araki's mind raced with questions in that instant. For over a year, he had been studying biology in Orochimaru's lab, gaining a fairly thorough understanding of biological research and cell transplantation. In the real world, this understanding might be far inferior to that of scientists, but in Konoha, compared to other ninjas, he could be considered a semi-scientist.
With this knowledge as a foundation, he gradually began to think about why Orochimaru conducted the Hashirama Cells transplantation experiment. Was it really for the sake of so-called science? Such words might fool others, but Araki simply wouldn't believe them.
Araki knew very well that Orochimaru did this in order to achieve immortality and live forever. Therefore, Orochimaru wanted to obtain the abnormal life force and regenerative ability of Hashirama Cells.
In just a moment, Araki's mind came to a head. He suddenly realized that as the Hashirama Cells flooded into his body, the activity of all the cells in his body changed, and even his thinking became faster.
In any case, it has now been proven that Hashirama Cells have a very strong effect on oneself, so one should still try to absorb as many Hashirama Cells as possible.
Araki had never researched the exact location of Hashirama Cells before, nor did he know how many people knew Hashirama Cells location. The only thing he was certain of was that Orochimaru definitely had Hashirama Cells, and in considerable numbers.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
At that very moment, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass, streams of green liquid flew towards Araki.
These droplets were flying at such high speeds that they almost formed a string, landing directly on Araki's neck.
Almost instantly upon contact, Araki felt an extremely cool sensation, but he didn't feel cold; instead, he felt a refreshing and comfortable feeling. Then, the Hashirama Cells surged towards his heart, causing his heart to beat faster.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Almost instantly, the green Chakra on Araki's body surged, and he swung his right hand forward as if out of control. His right hand instantly changed, transforming from its original hand shape into roots like those of a plant, and then vines spread out into the distance.
This wasn't something Araki did intentionally.
It happened passively, rather than being.
Even Araki didn't know what the purpose of these vines was.
Recently, due to the collision between green Chakra and Hashirama Cells, Araki's control over his body has changed to some extent on many occasions. These cells and Chakra will occasionally take over his body control like instinct, doing things that he finds incomprehensible. At first, he was a little scared, but as these things brought him benefits, he realized that it was like the instinctive reaction of a hungry stomach making a rumbling sound.
After regaining his senses, Araki became very agile. He suddenly realized that only when he encountered Hashirama Cells Hashirama Cells these green Chakra become very restless and actively attract them.
To some extent.
Araki believed that the green Chakra might be Hashirama Senju's Chakra.
Because the First Hokage's Necklace itself was a crystallized Chakra.
Araki didn't know how much Chakra the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, contained within it, but if it could be solidified into a crystal, it must be a tremendous amount. Such a terrifying and outstanding creation was something other ninjas could only dream of. However, the amount of Chakra within Hashirama Senju's body was even greater than that of the Tailed Beast, so no matter what happened, it wouldn't shock him too much.
so...
Araki believed that the fundamental reason for the mutual attraction between green Chakra and Hashirama Cells lay in their shared origin.
But...
Araki still harbored other doubts.
What is the relationship between green Chakra, Hashirama Cells, and oneself?
These questions filled his mind, and he couldn't find the answers in a short time, but he had a vague feeling that he would get the answers when he absorbed a certain number of the Hashirama Cells.
As these Hashirama Cells surged into his heart, accompanied by a powerful heartbeat, they flowed into his bloodstream and spread throughout his body's cells. Although he didn't possess a large number of Hashirama Cells, they were now scattered all Hashirama Cells his body. Moreover, these Hashirama Cells lived in perfect harmony with his own cells, without any rejection reaction.
If it were anyone else, after receiving transplanted Hashirama Cells, the Hashirama Cells would suppress their own cells and eventually take over the entire person. However, this did not happen in Araki's case.
Araki felt a little strange, but he didn't think much of it. At that moment, he suddenly realized that there were still many failed experimental subjects here, and those subjects all had Hashirama Cells. Even though those Hashirama Cells were injected into the bodies of these experimental subjects, they were not contaminated by the cells of these people. After all, Hashirama Cells are not only powerful, but also have strong vitality.
Therefore, the Hashirama Cells in these people can also be absorbed!
Just as Araki realized this, he noticed that the vines spreading from his right hand had begun to extend into the broken glassware.
The tips of the vines transformed into sharp thorns, piercing directly into the bodies of those people.
Please continue.
The vines throbbed as if swallowing, and something was spreading along them into his body.
Upon witnessing this scene, Araki instantly recalled watching Naruto and seeing the God Tree binding people and absorbing their Chakra during the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
It's like absorbing nutrients from these people.
Those Senju Clan members who had long since died, as well as those who had undergone the Hashirama Cells transplant surgery, all had bodies that seemed to have turned into wood, and their entire being was very strange. However, as the energy surged outwards towards the vines, their hard bodies began to soften.
After that, they shriveled at a visible rate, transforming from near-specimen shapes into something resembling several corpses.
This change is happening very rapidly.
The process is proceeding rapidly within Orochimaru's underground laboratory.
Araki saw that something resembling nutrients was surging towards his body from the vines spreading from his right hand, and he immediately realized that the green Chakra and he had thought of almost the same thing.
Or rather, it wasn't something they thought of, because these green Chakra had no personal emotions; they were working purely on instinct.
When his heart rate reaches a very high level, this green Chakra leaps out, spreading throughout his body, restoring his strength and dispelling his fatigue—it's like a pre-programmed instinct.
That is precisely why.
Upon sensing the Hashirama Cells Hashirama Cells, these green Chakra instinctively draw towards them once again.
Therefore, Araki felt that rather than saying that he and these green Chakra thought of the same thing, it would be more accurate to say that he guessed the instincts of these green Chakra, and thus the green Chakra did what he wanted to do.
As the energy of this bone flowed into his right hand, he immediately felt the sensation of the Hashirama Cells Hashirama Cells, which, after entering his body, were rapidly moving towards his heart.
This made Araki realize that the most important central organ for a person is still the heart.
As these Hashirama Cells were injected, Araki felt his heart become stronger, and fragmented memories resurfaced in his mind.
These fragments present entirely different things, like fragments of memories, but they do not belong to him, but to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
Araki looked at these fragments of memory, he had a strange feeling. It wasn't like when he watched anime in the past, where he viewed these issues from a third-party perspective, especially in the scenes where Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha interacted. Instead, he was witnessing everything firsthand from a first-person perspective, as if he were one of the people involved.
Those scenes were not Hashirama Senju's experiences, but rather what the Senju saw and heard; they were all scenes as seen through Hashirama Senju's eyes.
Besides the visuals, there were also some mental elements, such as Hand Seals for Ninjutsu, which seemed to have been directly transplanted into his mind, giving him the immediate feeling that he could use them.
This feeling was so strange that he could hardly describe it, and it wasn't something he experienced all the time; he only felt it when the Hashirama Cells entered his body.
However, the previous green droplets did not have this different feeling compared to the first batch of green liquid. Therefore, based on this feeling, Araki guessed that it might be related to the certain content of intermediate cells in the body.
He has far too few Hashirama Cells in his body right now!
Strictly speaking, Hashirama Cells could actually be pieced together to form a person, as they were extracted from Hashirama Senju's corpse. However, the total amount absorbed was only about the size of a few fingers, perhaps less than half a heart.
Although the Hashirama Cells can be cultivated and multiplied very quickly, expanding to a very large size within a few months, which would cause those who have received the intermediate cells to suffer from cancer, with their normal bodily functions compressed to an unsustainable level, Araki still needs some time before these Hashirama Cells can be completely cultivated in his body.
Glug glug glug...
These nutrients flowed along the vines into Araki's body, and gradually he absorbed all the Hashirama Cells used in the previous experiments. However, these Hashirama Cells were not completely pure Hashirama Cells; they contained some impurities. These impurities were cells belonging to the Senju Clan that the vines were unable to completely separate and filter out at the time.
However, once these cells entered Araki's body, they were immediately attacked by Hashirama Cells and did not cause any harm to Araki's body.
Before long, these cells will be completely destroyed and excreted from Araki's body through metabolism, or become nutrients for Hashirama Cells.
However, Araki did not feel anything special about these subtle movements at the cellular level inside his body. They were all happening outside of his consciousness, or rather, they were a kind of cellular instinct. These Hashirama Cells in Araki's body did not resemble cancer cells, but rather they were attacking the invaders who had entered his body like cancer cells.
After absorbing all these nutrients, Araki expanded his green Chakra once again, spreading it throughout the entire underground base.
Some time passed.
Araki confirmed that there were no more Hashirama Cells in the underground base.
"The quantity is a bit small!"
Araki muttered to himself, suddenly realizing that Orochimaru's words might not be entirely true. There might only be a portion or a small part of Hashirama Cells here, and his research might not have been supported by Konoha; it could very well have been conducted privately.
Of course, this doesn't mean Orochimaru had no supporters; perhaps Danzo did, which is why he was able to obtain these Hashirama Cells for research.
There should still be Hashirama Cells in Konoha.
So now...
Araki looked up and saw that the earth's crust had begun to be pushed open little by little by these vines.
"It's time to deal with Orochimaru!"
A murderous glint flashed in Araki's eyes. Although Orochimaru was nominally his teacher, what Orochimaru taught him was nothing more than experimental content related to biological cell transplantation research. In essence, they were just using each other, and Araki was in a passive position with no way to refuse.
From the moment Orochimaru set his sights on him, he lost the ability to decide for himself whether or not he should participate in Orochimaru's experiments.
but...
Looking back now, Araki still feels quite fortunate. If it weren't for that incident, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to come into contact with Hashirama Cells and would still be training like crazy as before.
This doesn't mean Araki Mirai doesn't want to continue training. After obtaining Hashirama Cells, his strength has improved to a certain extent, and he is currently in a state of peak energy, which greatly enhances his overall strength. This gives him great satisfaction, as it allows him to reduce his training time by many years.
So in a sense, Araki and Orochimaru were mutually exploitative, but Orochimaru exploited Araki more.
Araki learned from his conversation with Orochimaru that Orochimaru valued him because he wasn't very famous and wouldn't attract much attention, but he also had the background of medical-nin, which would be very helpful for biological cell transplantation experiments. Most importantly, he was Tsunade's disciple, which would provide a very good excuse if the plot were exposed after the Hashirama Cells transplantation.
As for the so-called disciples.
It was merely a way to lower Araki's guard.
Araki is different from other ninjas; he doesn't have a strong admiration for Orochimaru, and he has his own unique understanding of many things in the ninja world, without being brainwashed by the Will of Fire.
Even after experiencing such a thing, he was still able to make calm judgments and maintain a relatively normal perspective.
If it were someone else...
When Orochimaru took the initiative to recruit them as disciples, they were almost always moved to tears, overwhelmed with gratitude, feeling that they had met their mentor.
At that point, one will feel a sense of loyalty and righteousness, a sentiment not uncommon in the Naruto anime. Orochimaru attracted many people with his unique charm, and even on his deathbed, they were still willing to give everything for Orochimaru.
Araki didn't have that kind of spirit, so he wasn't driven by Orochimaru. But he also knew in his heart that if it were someone like Kimimaro, he might be willing to sacrifice himself for Orochimaru right now.
Araki saw Orochimaru just now, and his most instinctive reaction was that Orochimaru was now his greatest threat. His current strength was due to absorbing Hashirama Cells Hashirama Cells, which contained extremely powerful bio-energy, activating powerful abilities that did not belong to him.
This feeling was just as Orochimaru had guessed; it was a sensation stimulated by the drug, but it only lasted for a limited time. After that period, it was necessary to accumulate this energy again.
However, even in such a brief moment, Araki felt the powerful sensation that comes with strength. He discovered that he could do many things, provided he had enough Chakra.
Araki didn't expect to become as powerful as the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, by absorbing some Hashirama Cells; that was simply impossible. Otherwise, Yamato would have already transcended the ninja world. What he felt now was as if Yamato had encountered White Zetsu and received a significant boost.
Orochimaru must be killed!