Inside the Wave Country Experimental Base.
Orochimaru was staring intently at the documents in his hand, his eyes, filled with a thirst for knowledge, were perusing the documents as if examining a treasure trove.
He was completely unaware that Naruto was already standing behind him.
Naruto, seeing Orochimaru's current state, didn't want to disturb him.
If Orochimaru was currently experiencing a burst of inspiration, interrupting him would be a loss for the entire Wave Country.
Fortunately, Orochimaru didn't make him wait long; his intuition as a top expert allowed him to detect the aura that had suddenly appeared behind him.
"Lord Naruto, I apologize; I was too engrossed."
Turning around and realizing it was Naruto, Orochimaru quickly lowered his head to express his mistake.
Naruto waved his hand dismissively and asked with a smile, "I heard from Yakushi Kabuto that there's been progress with Hidan's experiment?"
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru's expression became excited again, and he handed the two documents in his hand to Naruto.
"Please take a look, Lord Naruto; this is a comparative record of all the changes in Hidan's physical fitness during this period."
Naruto curiously took them from Orochimaru's hand.
He immediately felt a sense of dizziness, with various complex charts, dense data, meticulous comparisons, and incomprehensible technical terms making his head spin.
It was like asking a liberal arts student to review a science student's graduation thesis; he couldn't understand anything except the Chinese characters.
Fortunately, Naruto wasn't completely clueless.
At least he could understand the eight Ninja attributes: Nin, Tai, Gen, Ken, Power, Speed, Spirit, and Hand Seals.
He saw that Hidan's originally low Gen, Power, and Speed had all reached the highest values, but why had Ken dropped to one?
"Why don't you just explain it to me?" Naruto returned the documents to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru didn't react much; he simply remembered Naruto's reaction, as subordinates who troubled their superiors were not good subordinates.
"In that case, then this subordinate will have Hidan personally demonstrate his changes."
With that, Orochimaru led Naruto deeper into the Experimental Base.
They arrived at a spacious, pure white, metal-constructed room.
At this moment, Hidan was sitting blankly on a bed in the middle, his obedient appearance making it impossible to associate him with the fanatical Evil God worshiper he once was.
His clear eyes were like those of a college sophomore.
However, Hidan's skin tone had undergone a significant change compared to before, as if he had albinism, his entire body turning white.
As soon as Naruto and Orochimaru entered, Hidan immediately stood up and walked to the two of them.
The previous idiocy in his eyes was gone, replaced by immense respect, and he bowed his head, saying, "Hidan greets Lord Naruto!"
Looks like the brainwashing was very successful. Naruto thought to himself. He had just used the Nine Tails' Malice Perception to carefully sense the other party, and he hadn't detected the slightest emotional change, only loyalty!
Orochimaru, who was leading the way, said, "Hidan, go stand over there first; Lord Naruto wants to see the results of your progress with his own eyes."
"Understood!"
Hidan respectfully answered and obediently stepped back to stand still.
"Lord Naruto, allow me to demonstrate for you."
Having said that, Orochimaru directly took out a short knife from his bosom, walked to Hidan's side, and Hidan consciously raised his arm.
In Naruto's surprised gaze and Hidan's indifferent expression, Orochimaru directly chopped off half of Hidan's arm with a single knife.
Hidan didn't even blink, as if it wasn't his own hand at all.
The scene of blood spurting wildly as imagined did not appear.
Just as Orochimaru chopped off Hidan's arm, a film appeared to stop the bleeding.
Then Orochimaru took out a Sealing Scroll, and a severed arm appeared in his hand.
Orochimaru appropriately excised a portion and connected it to the severed part of Hidan's arm. In just a few breaths, Hidan was able to perfectly use this arm.
Naruto was also greatly surprised to see this, but he was still a little disappointed: "Can't it directly grow a new severed arm?"
Orochimaru naturally understood Naruto's disappointment, but he shook his head and said with some regret: "This is already the limit of the First Hokage Cells."
Naruto thought about it. Obito Uchiha was able to grow new limbs, and it seemed that Zetsu also played a role. He had to find a way to get a Zetsu over here.
"You fused Hashirama's cells into him, so he should be able to use Wood Release now, right?"
At this time, the regret on Orochimaru's face disappeared, and he returned to Naruto's side, saying with a bit of pride in his tone: "Hidan, show Lord Naruto!"
"Okay!"
Hidan immediately clapped his hands: "*Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!*"
A large number of trees suddenly emerged from under Hidan's feet. They grew rapidly as if they had life, constantly wrapping around and lifting Hidan's body. In the blink of an eye, these trees had grown into a huge humanoid figure, and Hidan stood steadily on the Wood Human's head.
"The Hashirama cells injected into Hidan's body seem to have completely fused with the Sage Art Chakra in his body, so the strength of the Wood Release is also very high."
Orochimaru explained, and to prove this, he raised the short knife in his hand again.
He didn't chop directly, but injected terrifying Wind Chakra into it before slashing down.
But it only cut open a very small opening in the Wood Human under Hidan's feet, and the small opening quickly re-adhered, as if there had never been a gap.
Seeing this, Naruto's eyes also lit up. This was much stronger than Yamato's Wood Release in the original story.
Moreover, the creations of Wood Release generally do not disappear even if they lose their Chakra supply. It seems that Wave Country has a stable resource supply.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Naruto said "good" three times in a row: "Orochimaru, I am very satisfied with this result. Is there anything you need? I can satisfy you."
Orochimaru also lowered his head: "Lord Naruto, this subordinate doesn't need anything. Rather, Hidan is already the greatest reward Lord Naruto has given to this subordinate."
This was also the truth. He was not short of equipment, funding, and he also had an immortal experimental subject. He had never fought such a wealthy battle before.
...
Naruto was quite excited when he left Orochimaru's Experimental Base.
The current Hidan, relying on Wood Release alone, already has the strength to confront ordinary Kage-level Ninja head-on.
Moreover, Orochimaru even found a way to eliminate Hidan's sense of pain, making him no different from a wild beast in a fight.
Especially when his sanity is close to zero.
I guess everything has its shortcomings.
"Hm? Suika, what's wrong?"
As he returned to his residence, Naruto saw Uzumaki Suika standing in front of his door from afar.
He didn't know how long she had been standing there; a layer of snowflakes had already settled on her shoulders. However, having replenished her vitality, Uzumaki Suika wasn't afraid of the cold anymore.
Still, Naruto quickened his pace, opened his door, and a warm aura rushed out.
Uzumaki Suika followed behind Naruto.
She began to report after Naruto sat down.
"Today, some rather special tourists arrived at the seaport."
"Special?"
"Yes, it's a film company. They said they want to film some scenes in Wave Country."
"Hm? If they want to film, let them film. As long as they pay Kakuzu."
"That's what I thought at first, but the actress with them is currently very popular and quite famous, so I came to ask you about it."
"Famous? What's the actress's name?"
"Fujikaze Yukie."
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