A dark underground palace.
"Ah!"
"Damn it, I'm going to kill you all!"
"Please, let me go!"
Wails, cries of pain, curses, and pleas for mercy intertwined, echoing constantly through the dark underground palace, adding a touch of "life" to this gloomy place.
In a laboratory deep within the underground palace, Yakushi Kabuto smiled at the person lying on the operating table. "Relax, it will be over soon."
The person on the table begged, "Let... let me go!"
Kabuto remained unmoved and continued the surgery.
Seeing that begging was futile, the expression of the person tied to the operating table changed. "If you dare touch me, the Hidden Cloud won't let you get away with this!"
"Heh!"
Kabuto chuckled lightly.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps approached, and shortly after, Orochimaru's figure appeared in the laboratory.
Kabuto stopped the surgery and bowed to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sama!"
Orochimaru waved his hand casually, indicating that Kabuto didn't need to stand on ceremony. He then walked to the side of the operating table, glanced at the experimental subject tied to it, looked at the data on the instruments, and finally asked, "How is the progress?"
Kabuto smiled. "Everything is going smoothly!"
The subject on the table roared furiously, "Orochimaru, you won't die a natural death!"
Orochimaru shot a sideways glance at the subject. That look was not one used for a living person, but rather for an object.
Kabuto quickly finished the cell transplantation surgery and then transferred the unconscious subject to the monitoring room.
After doing this, Kabuto led Orochimaru to the holding cells deep in the underground palace. He pointed to the subjects locked inside one by one. "Cells 1 and 2 hold subjects who have successfully survived the surgery. The subjects in the remaining cells are still under observation!"
The corners of Orochimaru's mouth curled up slightly. "Very good!"
Kabuto said, "The Research Institute has been checking very strictly lately. Several material requests I submitted were rejected."
Orochimaru laughed. "Don't worry about it, it's not targeted at you!"
The Research Institute was wealthy and powerful; anything leaked from it would be considered a rare treasure outside. Therefore, almost every research team leader had their own private laboratory.
If it weren't for the incident with Hiruko, the Research Institute would actually have turned a blind eye to this. After all, if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it enough grass.
It was just that Hiruko had gone too far. Not only did he hide the new results of the 'Chimera Technique' from the Research Institute, but he also unauthorizedly changed the ritual steps, causing a very bad influence. That was why the Research Institute tightened management, requiring layers of approval for any application.
Confirming that the Research Institute wasn't targeting him specifically, Kabuto breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "That puts me at ease. Otherwise, it would be terrible if I were investigated!"
Kabuto knew very well what kind of storm would ensue if what he was doing now was exposed.
Unlike Hiruko, who only hid the new results of the 'Chimera Technique', Kabuto was secretly replicating the Research Institute's latest achievements. Therefore, the offense he was committing now was much more serious than Hiruko's.
Orochimaru patted Kabuto on the shoulder. "With me here, you don't need to worry!"
Kabuto immediately became respectful. "Please rest assured. If the Research Institute detects anything, I will take the blame!"
Orochimaru smiled and said no more.
Just as Shinji had predicted, after undergoing the ritual's baptism and obtaining Shibai Otsutsuki's power, Orochimaru had successfully broken free from the influence of 'Kotoamatsukami' that Shinji had cast on him, restoring his normal cognition.
However, Orochimaru did not turn against Shinji because of this. He didn't even reveal the fact.
Firstly, after the last test, he clearly understood the gap in strength between himself and Shinji. If he turned against him, he would undoubtedly die.
Secondly, the Research Institute established by Shinji was an absolute paradise for him, so he did not reject working there.
However, along with the restoration of his cognition came Orochimaru's uncontrollable ambition.
The post-ritual Orochimaru seemed to have opened the door to a new world. That ritual allowed him to appreciate a higher level of life. From that moment on, he had his own plan.
He named his plan the 'Resurrection Plan'!
His 'Resurrection Plan' was not to revive someone else, but to 'resurrect' Shibai Otsutsuki's power within his own body!
There was one thing he had been hiding.
That was that his ability was not limited to just the 'Shinjutsu Chakra Mode'. After adapting to all the power obtained from the ritual, he was surprised to find that he had awakened another Shinjutsu, a Shinjutsu called 'Absorption'.
The ability of 'Absorption' was simple: as long as it was power belonging to Shibai Otsutsuki, he could inhale it into his own body through 'Absorption'.
After discovering this ability, his ambition swelled further.
But he was also clear that Shinji's strength was terrifying. If he showed even a slight slip-up, it would likely lead to a catastrophic disaster. Therefore, he did not target the registered experimental subjects inside the Research Institute. Instead, he started anew outside the Institute, secretly building a new laboratory to cultivate his own subjects.
Since Orochimaru was one of the primary researchers at the Institute, he had mastered almost the entire process of the ritual. As long as the subjects here were fully cultivated, he could conduct the ritual privately.
After confirming the progress on Kabuto's side, Orochimaru asked Kabuto, " regarding Owl, how is your contact with him going?"
Kabuto pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and gave a helpless, wry smile. "That guy Owl has been getting a bit full of himself lately..."
Previously, Kabuto was a member of the Research Institute's elite squad, with a status even higher than ordinary researchers, while Owl was just a prisoner, an experimental subject. So, Owl had been very respectful to Kabuto. But with the end of the ritual, the status of both parties changed. Owl completely changed his respectful attitude towards Kabuto and started acting high and mighty.
Hearing Kabuto say that Owl had actually started forming cliques within the Research Institute and building his own small group, Orochimaru couldn't help but sneer. "What an idiot!"
Kabuto asked, "Orochimaru-sama, how does the Research Institute plan to deal with this guy?"
Orochimaru replied, "There are already many people who find him an eyesore, it's just not the time to move against him yet!"
Dealing with Owl was already a consensus among the high-level members of the Research Institute. However, considering Owl's combat power approached the 'Six Paths Level' and possessed extremely high research value, they held back and hadn't taken action.
Kabuto hurriedly asked, "If the Research Institute wants to deal with him, could you use that opportunity to make a move on him?"
"Of course!"
Orochimaru nodded slightly. He was waiting for exactly that opportunity.