"Ten single-tomoe, five double-tomoe, and five triple-tomoe." Ryoma Aburame rattled the glass jar in his hand, showing Orochimaru the floating Sharingan eyes inside.
Orochimaru gave a quick glance from a distance, counting them roughly, and nodded in satisfaction.
He patted the arm preserved in a blood-filled container. "This arm perfectly fuses Hashirama's cells with a Sharingan. Yin and Yang suppress each other, preventing any rejection. As long as Chihaya To connects it to Danzo's nerves, it'll—"
"No need to explain. I don't get that stuff," Ryoma cut him off, raising a hand. He stepped aside, revealing Hairi standing behind him. "Yato's the expert. If she checks it and says it's good, the deal's on."
Orochimaru's gaze shifted to Hairi, his golden pupils glinting.
Oops. He might've just ticked off the inspector.
Hairi, who'd been quietly watching the exchange, frowned as everyone's eyes turned to her. No wonder Danzo insisted she take this mission. It wasn't just about her combat skills—there was this layer to it too!
Brushing past the others, she strode straight up to Orochimaru.
The rainy sky seemed to blur, time itself slowing.
Click!
Her pale fingers popped open the lid of the glass container. A faint, sour whiff of nutrient fluid wafted from the culture dish as Orochimaru handed her the arm. "Yato, right? You'd better check it carefully."
His golden pupils darkened, carrying a hint of menace.
"Of course I'll check it thoroughly," Hairi replied, her owl mask tilting forward slightly. Her hollow, dark eyeholes locked onto his snake-like gaze, her voice icy and eerie. "If the Hashirama cells and Sharingan in this arm aren't balanced, my teacher could die horribly. Who knows what tricks you've pulled?"
Ahem.
Ryoma coughed lightly into his fist.
For some reason, these two—whose backgrounds and experiences seemed so similar to him—were clashing hard. Barely a few words in, and it felt like they were about to throw hands.
Hairi shot Orochimaru a cold glance before refocusing on the pale arm in the glass container.
Her Byakugan zoomed in, revealing a vibrant, emerald-green chakra core pulsing with life.
That was definitely the unique chakra core only Hashirama's cells could form.
"Give me two pairs of gloves," she said.
Orochimaru's expression shifted subtly. He pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and handed them over.
One terrifying trait of Hashirama's cells was their ability to devour chakra and organic energy. You couldn't touch them bare-handed, nor could you use Yang Release chakra as a barrier like a typical medical ninja would.
Her immediate demand for gloves showed she knew Hashirama's cells inside out. Asking for two pairs proved her expertise.
The nutrient fluid storing the cells often contained acidic or alkaline solutions, which could easily corrode a single glove. To avoid accidents, double gloves were standard in experiments, with spares kept on hand. That's why she didn't even ask—she just demanded them from him.
One small detail revealed everything. That single request showcased her professionalism and lab savvy.
The killing intent in Orochimaru's eyes faded, replaced by intrigued observation. He was always lenient with talented ninja.
Hairi's next moves confirmed his hunch.
Slipping on the gloves, she lifted the arm from the nutrient fluid. She drew a kunai, used Water Release to rinse off residue, then ignited her fingertip to dry the water with a flame.
Sterilization complete.
She sliced into the arm's cross-section, stimulating the neurons with a faint Lightning Release. She repaired dead tissue with medical ninjutsu, then activated the Hashirama cells with Yang Release, checking if they were overly aggressive and whether the Sharingan could suppress their corrosiveness. After confirming, she waited for the cells to heal naturally, verifying their division capacity was intact.
Orochimaru and the others watched, captivated by Hairi's crisp technique. Her seamless blend of Five Elements ninjutsu and medical skills had an almost artistic flair.
Her kunai peeled back the fascia. The muscle fibers wriggled faintly, Hashirama's chakra surging and boiling. Even with the Sharingan's suppression, the cells were still highly active.
"The Sharingan's suppression isn't perfect. The Hashirama cells still have some corrosiveness," Hairi noted, picking out a strand of muscle to examine closely.
"I only had double-tomoe Sharingan here, so the effect's a bit weaker," Orochimaru admitted. "You can transplant triple-tomoe later to reduce the corrosiveness further."
"What if even triple-tomoe can't suppress it?" she pressed.
"Double-tomoe already keeps the cells from going wild. Triple-tomoe will definitely handle it completely. You can use a sealing jutsu to suppress cell activity normally and release it in battle. The effect won't vary much."
Orochimaru's magnetic voice carried a touch of impatience, like a grad student facing a tough thesis advisor.
This Sharingan deal meant a lot to him.
Sharingan were a rare resource only Danzo could provide. To secure enough, he'd even traded Uchiha Shin's arm.
He did have a few triple-tomoe Sharingan, but no way was he giving those to Danzo for an arm. So, he'd skimped with five pairs of double-tomoe instead.
If single-tomoe weren't so weak at suppression, he'd have used those.
Chihaya To never left the village, and the Root grunts wouldn't notice. But he hadn't expected Danzo to take this deal so seriously and send someone who actually knew their stuff.
Now that she'd caught his shortcut, the deal's difficulty just spiked.
Splash!
Hairi tossed the arm back into the culture dish, the solution splattering and leaving watermarks on the glass.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, his killing intent surging.
Ignoring his palpable hostility, Hairi removed her gloves and turned to Ryoma, who'd been waiting quietly for the verdict. "There's a slight flaw, but it's mostly fine. We can proceed with the trade."
Ryoma nodded calmly. "Good work."
"No big deal," she replied.
With a subtle nod to Ryoma, Hairi walked back to the Root side.
Danzo and Orochimaru's deal wasn't her concern. She'd done her job, checked the arm, and thrown in a little jab at Orochimaru as a warning.
Plus, she had to give Ryoma some face.
During the inspection, she'd caught a glimpse of friendly, tense emotional markers above Ryoma's head. That's when it hit her—she'd probably overcomplicated things.
Danzo likely hadn't planned for her to inspect the arm at all. When she'd asked Ryoma about the real mission, he'd flat-out said it didn't involve her, so she didn't need to know the truth.
Ryoma's call to have her check the arm was probably a last-minute move.
A chance to mess with Orochimaru and maybe settle a score for her.
Since he'd gone out of his way to help her get even, she couldn't just tank the deal and leave Ryoma to face the fallout empty-handed.
It was an unspoken understanding between them.
"Heh, sharp eye, kid," Orochimaru said, raising an eyebrow. His killing intent melted away like ice in sunlight. Since she hadn't pushed back or caused trouble, he played nice. "Four nature transformations, solid medical ninjutsu—Danzo's got himself a good disciple."
She was Danzo's student, strong too. They might work together more in the future, so no need to make enemies over a small misunderstanding.
No deep grudges here.
Fighting to the death over a clash was something only hotheaded rookies did.
Hairi felt the same.
"I read your work back when I was in Root," she said, eyeing Orochimaru's heavily modified body, so different from a normal human's. "Your insights on Yin and Yang Release were a big help to me."
Say what you want about his character—Orochimaru was undeniably brilliant.
In human experimentation, he was the ultimate authority. He also controlled key Ryuchi Cave sage resources. They'd likely cross paths again, and in the face of real benefits, a little verbal sparring was nothing.
"That theory in your book about Yin stemming from Yang was fascinating. I later proved it with my own experiments."
"Oh? You succeeded?" Orochimaru's interest piqued, his golden pupils gleaming.
"The experiment details and results are sensitive, so I can't share much," Hairi said, turning into the cryptic type she hated. "I can only say the Yin-Yang conversion theory is real."
The method for cultivating triple-tomoe Sharingan with Hashirama cells? No way she'd just hand that to Orochimaru. He'd need to trade sage resources for it.
"Can't share a bit more?" he prodded.
"It involves key steps for evolving Sharingan to higher levels, so I can't go into detail." Seeing the excited emotional markers above Orochimaru's head, Hairi smirked, reeling him in slowly.
Ahem.
Seeing the tense vibe between them weirdly soften, Ryoma interrupted for the third time.
He'd asked Hairi to inspect the arm to give Orochimaru a subtle warning. This wasn't a one-off deal, and holding the upper hand could smooth future trades. But he hadn't expected these two, who were at each other's throats, to hit it off and nearly forget the trade entirely.
"Come to my underground base sometime," Orochimaru said warmly, his eyes bright.
"We'll talk later," Hairi replied, brushing him off with a regretful look from him.
"Let's trade already!" Ryoma said, holding the jar of Sharingan as he stepped forward.
Orochimaru glanced at Hairi again, clearly itching to dig into her Sharingan evolution research, but seeing her reluctance, he let it go.
He sealed the arm, handing it over.
"Wait!" Cho suddenly spoke up, halting the exchange.
"Two unfamiliar chakra signatures are approaching the mountaintop. They're fast!" Cho's voice was grave, hands clasped as he sensed with closed eyes.
Orochimaru and Ryoma exchanged a glance, each sealing their shady goods into scrolls.
Buzz!
Purple chakra flared, veins bulging around Hairi's eyes. Her Byakugan pierced through the mountain.
Below the cliff, two bright chakra cores sped toward the peak. The deep blue one shone like a water-blue sun, dominating her vision.
That monstrous chakra volume far exceeded a normal ninja's. She'd only seen this scale in Naruto and the Nine-Tails.
Orochimaru and Ryoma deployed their own sensory jutsu.
Bad bugs and infrared detection spread out. When they sensed that terrifying chakra, both frowned.
Whoosh!
Two figures zipped over the cliff, landing on the peak.
Cho lowered his hands. No need for sensory jutsu now.
Black cloaks with red clouds, dusty and worn. Rings, sandals, purple nail polish.
A teen with red tear-troughs and a tall, blue-skinned shark-faced man stood at the peak, facing Hairi and the others from afar.
"Itachi, it's lively up here!" Kisame Hoshigaki grinned oddly, shark-like face scanning the corpses littering the ground and the masked, black-robed Hairi and company.
Itachi Uchiha's Sharingan swept over them, pausing briefly on the small figure with purple chakra before locking onto Orochimaru. "Everyone, we've got business with Orochimaru. Mind stepping aside?"
At the sight of Itachi's crimson Sharingan, Orochimaru instinctively looked down, avoiding eye contact.
"Like a ghost that won't quit!" he hissed through gritted teeth, all his earlier composure gone.
"Looking for you?" Ryoma turned to Orochimaru, his expression unreadable.
Orochimaru touched his stomach, feeling the hard orb inside, and dismissed the urge to use Reverse Summoning.
This Kaguya Clan treasure had been in his hands for nearly half a year, yet he couldn't crack its secrets.
Knives couldn't cut it, hammers couldn't smash it. It couldn't be sealed or summoned. It didn't react to chakra or natural energy—just an indestructible rock.
But the harder it was to crack, the more it itched at Orochimaru's curiosity. No way he'd give it up easily.
"Help me stall them, and I'll hand it over after," he said to Ryoma.
"That was traded for Sharingan."
"If I die, you get nothing!" Orochimaru swallowed the scroll sealing the arm, dead set on pausing the deal.
"Fine, no choice then," Ryoma sighed, his purple eyes meeting Itachi's through his dark sunglasses. "I'll handle Uchiha Itachi. You deal with the blue big guy."
"Deal!" Orochimaru agreed instantly, no hesitation, terrified of Itachi's Mangekyo genjutsu.
"Ryoma, don't look Itachi in the eyes," Hairi warned.
"Got it."
In a flash, Ryoma and Orochimaru formed a strategic alliance. Hairi looked ahead at Itachi and Kisame in their black-and-red cloaks, a sharp pain stabbing her head.
Wasn't this just supposed to be about taking down Thunder Drum Mountain?
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