The Root research facility was located right inside the Root headquarters.
The laboratory was built in the lower levels of this underground steel tower; the further down one went, the more secretive and unseen the research became.
The dissection of enemy village ninjas, the study of special secret techniques and Kekkei Genkai, the suspended Hashirama cell experiments, the research on the Uchiha, the study of the Second Hokage's various forbidden jutsus, the project combining the Zero-Tails with Hashirama cells, and...
At the very bottom floor, there was a laboratory that belonged exclusively to Orochimaru. It was set up with multiple layers of seals, restrictions, and barrier techniques. No one but Orochimaru himself could enter.
Hyuga Yu followed Orochimaru down the spiral staircase. They passed closed doors echoing with miserable, tragic wails before finally arriving in front of this most secretive laboratory of Root.
Along the way, Orochimaru passed a series of biometric access control systems to verify his identity—including iris recognition, retina scanning, fingerprint identification, vein recognition, and blood identification. He then formed hand signs to undo several barriers one after another. Finally, he even pulled out a scroll and used a cipher specially designed by himself to fill in the password for the final door. Only then did the heavy alloy laboratory door, weighing over a hundred tons, slowly slide open to both sides.
Entering the laboratory, Hyuga Yu saw that the entire room was quite spacious. In fact, it didn't look like a laboratory at all, but rather like a dungeon built in the deepest depths of the Hidden Leaf.
Aside from a fully equipped workbench and dissection table in the center of the laboratory, the other three sides were entirely filled with prison cells. Cowering inside these cells was a mass of creatures that no longer possessed human forms, looking more like... half-human, half-snake entities.
Their clothing was a mismatched variety; there were ninjas from the other four great nations, as well as ninjas from unknown small ninja villages. Hyuga Yu could even spot a few twisted figures wearing Leaf headbands and Leaf flak jackets.
Arriving here essentially confirmed the fact that Orochimaru was persecuting fellow village ninjas. However, Orochimaru didn't seem to care about this. He led Hyuga Yu to the front of the workbench, turned his head slightly, and spoke in his hoarse voice, "This is where the Cursed Seal of Heaven is researched."
"As you said, the essence of the cursed seal is a method to extract natural energy. I have indeed mastered this method. It's just that, hehe~ applying this power to practical use seems to still have a long way to go..."
Hyuga Yu's gaze swept over the experimental subjects in the cells, his brow furrowing slightly. With just a rough scan, he understood how perilous this research into natural energy truly was.
At this moment, Orochimaru walked to the center of the laboratory in front of a large, giant container covered by a black cloth. He pulled the cloth away, revealing to Hyuga Yu a corpse immersed in an eerie green nutrient solution. The body had completely transformed into a snake, with only the face retaining a few human characteristics. It looked somewhat similar to Orochimaru's own White Scale Big Snake, which was composed of countless small snakes with a human head and a snake body, though this torso was an integrated snake body.
Moreover, this corpse was entirely different from the experimental subjects that had died in the corners of the nearby cells. Even though it was already dead, it seemed to still maintain a kind of abdominal breathing. With the rise and fall of this breathing, the water surrounding it actually exhibited a special flow frequency, looking as if it had split into dozens of "ropes" that continuously flowed in and out of the various joints of its snake body.
Just standing in front of this container, one could faintly feel that the ambient air temperature was a few degrees lower than elsewhere.
"This is..." Hyuga Yu stared at the corpse, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"A contractor who once came closest to mastering the power of the Sage in the Ryuchi Cave."
Orochimaru stared at the thing in the container, speaking in a low, eerie tone, "The Sage Mode of the Ryuchi Cave is exceptionally perilous. Whether it's the White Snake Sage or the three Great Sage Snakes, they are not stingy about granting Sage power to those who come to the Ryuchi Cave seeking it—injecting a type of snake venom into the seeker's body through their fangs."
"Those who succeed master this extraordinarily powerful force."
"However, for those who fail, a portion of them will directly turn into snakes and be swallowed by the White Snake Sage and the three Great Sage Snakes, becoming their rations. Another portion will turn into snake-shaped stone statues, enshrined beneath the seat of the White Snake Sage."
"And this one is the most unique snake corpse under the White Snake Sage."
"Although it died, it did not completely transform into a snake, retaining some human characteristics. Nor did it turn entirely into a stone statue. I stole this unique corpse from the Ryuchi Cave through Manda, but because of this, my relationship with the White Snake Sage of the Ryuchi Cave became rather unpleasant."
Hyuga Yu activated his Byakugan and gazed at the corpse. He discovered that inside it was a quite massive, peculiar energy that was distinct from physical and spiritual energy.
It was like a pool of cold spring water—frigid, ghostly cold, and desolate. Under its influence, even the blood seemed to have frozen into ice shards, causing this half-human, half-snake creature to enter a state similar to a snake's hibernation.
This should be the so-called "natural energy."
Hyuga Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, looked at Orochimaru, and caught a key phrase in his words: "Snake venom?"
"Are you saying that the way Ryuchi Cave allows people to master Sage power relies on a type of snake venom, rather than directly injecting natural energy into the human body?"
"Correct." Orochimaru sneered, his tone turning slightly cold. "Similar to the legendary 'toad oil' of Mount Myoboku that helps people sense natural energy, the 'Sage Snake Venom' of the snake sages can achieve the same effect."
"It's just that this toxin is more persistent... and much more dangerous."
Hearing this, Hyuga Yu nodded slightly and asked again, "Are you saying your cursed seal is something similar, a type of toxin?"
Orochimaru looked at the snake corpse in the container and stated calmly, "I used biotechnology to extract the cold, unstable, and highly corrosive natural energy residue from this snake corpse. I then fused and purified it with the unique activated snake venom from the Ryuchi Cave, and applied sealing jutsu to it."
Speaking up to this point, Orochimaru frowned, looking somewhat displeased. "Theoretically speaking, this cursed seal of mine is superior to the White Snake Sage's 'Sage Snake Venom' and offers greater controllability."
"I originally thought that this way I could obtain the power of senjutsu, but in the end, what I got was merely such a useless, chicken-rib thing."
"You can understand the cursed seal as a violent, low-quality 'senjutsu catalytic enzyme' with a forced assimilation capability."
Once Orochimaru explained it this way, Hyuga Yu understood immediately. According to this understanding, the working principle of this "low-quality catalytic enzyme" was:
To forcibly open the energy channels of the recipient cells, letting the violent natural energy flood into them and rewrite their genetic information, forcing them closer to the life form of Ryuchi Cave's snakes in order to obtain power.
Since Orochimaru used this unstable "catalytic enzyme" to conduct experiments on humans, it was only natural that the vast majority of the experimental subjects died, turned to stone, or mutated into snakes.
Simply put, injecting this toxin into the body yielded only two outcomes—
Either, one would sense natural energy through the cursed seal and forcibly absorb it into the body, becoming a half-human, half-snake entity like those experimental subjects in the cells.
Or, one's physical aptitude would be so poor that they couldn't sense natural energy at all, similar to Anko Mitarashi. In a way, the reason Anko Mitarashi could survive Orochimaru's cursed seal experiments wasn't because she was attuned to natural energy or possessed a natural Sage body like Jugo. Quite the contrary, it was because she completely lacked the aptitude to become a "Sage"—possessing a special constitution that was essentially insulated from "natural energy."
Jugo and Anko Mitarashi actually possessed two completely opposite constitutions.
This also explained why Anko's cursed seal provided her with no flashy abilities whatsoever, other than causing her pain and giving her a mutual sensing ability shared between cursed seal possessors. This was because Orochimaru's early cursed seal was simply a natural energy perception amplifier, carrying a bit of poison and serving as a backup plan for Orochimaru's resurrection. Once the poison took effect, it directly triggered genetic mutations.
At this time, the cursed seal was just a cursed seal; there was no such thing as the Cursed Seal of Heaven or Earth yet.
Hearing up to this point, Hyuga Yu also broadly understood what kind of functions and effects Orochimaru's current cursed seal possessed, confirming that he had come to the right place.
The senjutsu of Mount Myoboku was relatively safer and more controllable, but its drawback was also very obvious: without the reinforcement of the Sage Art: Amphibian Technique, its duration was far too short, and the amount of natural energy that could be absorbed was also quite small.
More importantly, even with the Sage Art: Amphibian Technique, it was hard to say whether those two old toads could keep up with the speed at which Hyuga Yu consumed and refined chakra.
On the other hand, although the senjutsu of the Ryuchi Cave was maxed out with all kinds of side effects, one aspect that couldn't be ignored was that it was large enough, thick enough, and long-lasting enough!
If he could combine the advantages of both, then Hyuga Yu might be able to manually synthesize a senjutsu activation method that wouldn't be inferior to Hashirama Senju's monstrous Sage Mode!
He nodded slightly, turned to look at Orochimaru, and said, "Excellent. What I want is precisely the manufacturing technology for this senjutsu catalytic enzyme."
"?" Hearing this, Orochimaru turned his head in surprise. "Tennin, I have already told you that the cursed seal does not directly inject natural energy. It can only allow you to perceive this energy and amplify your ability to receive it. It is very difficult for you to master the power of a Sage through this, and the side effects are also quite severe."
Hyuga Yu nodded calmly, "I know."
"Then—"
Orochimaru wanted to ask further, but Hyuga Yu interrupted him directly, "Just do as I say. I will bear all the consequences myself."
Orochimaru stared at Hyuga Yu for a long time. Eventually, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes and let out a soft snort, "Heh, it seems you possess some new technology to exempt yourself from the side effects of this catalytic enzyme altering your genetic code?"
Hyuga Yu did not answer this but merely stared at Orochimaru calmly.
Soon, Orochimaru exhaled helplessly. After thinking it over repeatedly, he rather reluctantly began to operate on the workbench. Hyuga Yu just stood there quietly watching Orochimaru conduct the experiment, activating his Byakugan to record every single material, experimental instrument, extraction and purification process, and all the details throughout the entire manufacturing process of the enzymatic solution.
Just like that, two hours later, Orochimaru stood up from the workbench, poured the final chromatography-purified enzyme solution into a serum syringe, and handed it to Hyuga Yu.
"According to my experimental results, hallucinations will appear within three minutes after the injection. But there is no need to worry—that is just the phospholipase A2 contained in the jararaca venom, which is a very normal phenomenon. After five minutes, you should roughly be able to see the so-called 'natural energy.' But whether it really is natural energy... hehe, who knows?"
Orochimaru shrugged, staring deeply at Hyuga Yu as he began to usher him out. "So,"
"Is there anything else, my dear Lord Tennin?"
"One more thing." Hyuga Yu took the serum syringe and verified that there were no hidden traps left by Orochimaru, ensuring that Orochimaru couldn't use this thing to resurrect from his body. Confirming that it was truly just a bottle of enzymatic solution filled with potent snake venom, he nodded. As he put away the serum, he looked back up at Orochimaru. "Regarding what I said about a severe crisis likely erupting in the Hidden Leaf tomorrow."
"Orochimaru, if I haven't returned to the Hidden Leaf by then, you must take action to prevent the disaster from expanding further."
"After all, aside from Jiraiya, you are the only one left in the Leaf who possesses this kind of power—the village's higher-ups will arrange it when the time comes, so do not back out."
Hearing this, Orochimaru was instantly stunned. He then looked behind Hyuga Yu and suddenly noticed that Kakashi Hatake, who had been following Hyuga Yu, was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't help but furrow his brows slightly, looking at Hyuga Yu and asking, "Returned?"
"Don't tell me... you're leaving the Hidden Leaf? Where are you going at a time like this?"
Just as Orochimaru asked this question, Kakashi Hatake, who had been dispatched by Hyuga Yu during the experiment to deliver messages to various parties, suddenly materialized behind Hyuga Yu using the Body Flicker Technique. He reported to Hyuga Yu, "Lord Tennin, Minato-sensei has arrived and is waiting in the top-floor office of the Root base. There is also Elder Danzo; I have already informed him of your deduction as you instructed."
"Understood." Hyuga Yu nodded. Instead of asking whether Danzo had agreed, he asked directly, "What about the Third Hokage's side?"
Watching this scene unfold, Orochimaru felt even more bewildered in his heart. What on earth was going on that could simultaneously involve himself, Jiraiya, the old man, and Danzo Shimura?
A faint sense of unease rose in his mind.
At this moment, Kakashi Hatake paused for a moment before reporting truthfully, "The Third Hokage didn't seem to quite believe your claim. However, with Elder Danzo's handwritten letter, he has still mobilized the Anbu and stationed personnel at various intersections, ready to guide the villagers into the shelters at any moment."
Hyuga Yu followed up, "And the Leaf Hospital?"
"According to your instructions, the Leaf Hospital has put all staff on leave for tomorrow, leaving only a skeleton crew on duty. All laboratory technicians are currently being relocated to the bunker facilities beneath the Hokage Rock."
Kakashi Hatake then added solemnly, "The Hidden Leaf has entered a Level 2 combat readiness state!"
"Excellent, let's go!"
Hyuga Yu nodded. After putting away the cursed seal serum obtained from Orochimaru, he reached out and grabbed Kakashi's shoulder.
Then, he looked at this dungeon deep underground, at the monstrous, wretched experimental subjects inside the cells, his brows furrowing slightly. He suddenly turned back to face Orochimaru and spoke calmly, "I cannot pretend I didn't see what's happening here. Orochimaru, halt the experiments. Come find me afterward, and I can help you perfect your cursed seal."
"No need to thank me."
With that said, Hyuga Yu parted his feet, and a ring of air currents suddenly surged around his soles.
In the next split second, "Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation!"
"—Whoosh!!!"
An invisible, colorless Wind Style: Chakra Scalpel that had permeated the entire laboratory at some point began to vibrate violently. A fierce gale erupted out of thin air, as if an eighth-grade hurricane had descended upon the world, rampaging straight through Orochimaru's laboratory!
"Boom!"
Amidst Orochimaru's astonished gaze and the sound of an explosion, Hyuga Yu and Kakashi Hatake's figures vanished from the laboratory in an instant. With a few leaps, they cleared the completely destroyed laboratory. Immediately after, they shot upward through the spiral staircase, turning into a beam of teal light that darted straight toward the top floor of the Root base!
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