Konoha Library. In what should have been a quiet library, many people weren't reading. They gathered, whispering, and secretly glanced at Orochimaru, who was sitting at a corner table. Piles of history books were stacked in front of her, almost obscuring her petite figure.
"She's Orochimaru, she's so cute."
"Would it disturb her if I went over for an autograph now?"
"Ah~ She looks so cute when she's serious."
"Shh, be quieter, don't disturb others."
...Indeed, I shouldn't waste my time on history books. This world's history is practically non-existent.
It makes sense. In ancient times, history was directly cut off due to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. Afterwards, the battle between the brothers Hagoromo and Hamura and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya destroyed the land beyond recognition. It's already good that civilization didn't regress to primitive society.
Alas… The Ōtsutsuki Clan is truly inherently evil!
Orochimaru sighed softly, put down the history book in her hand, and noticed the people staring at her. She was quite helpless; even after all this time, the fans hadn't settled down.
Besides, she wasn't a big star only seen on television.
Orochimaru wanted to find records about the wing-like pattern on the airship in history books. Unfortunately, after flipping through all the history-related books in the Konoha Library, she couldn't find any records related to that pattern.
Instead, she inadvertently found records about the Tsuchigumo Clan.
Although there were only a few sentences, it still reminded Orochimaru of the Tsuchigumo Clan's impressive secret Forbidden Technique · Rappa Ten.
It was a secret Forbidden Technique that absorbed Chakra from the natural world and released it all at once, and the Chakra from the natural world was, of course, Sage Chakra.
It seemed simple and crude, and in reality, it truly was quite simple and crude.
The most remarkable aspect of this secret Forbidden Technique was its ability to absorb Natural Energy and store it as Sage Chakra.
It's important to know that besides Jugo, who was naturally able to absorb Natural Energy, others who wanted to absorb Natural Energy to condense Sage Chakra only had one path: learning Sage Mode.
The secret Forbidden Technique · Rappa Ten is very powerful, but En no Gyoja hasn't developed it yet, has he?
Once En no Gyoja develops Rappa Ten, relying on it will eliminate concerns about insufficient Sage Chakra, making it perfect for creating bundle bombs.
The Tsuchigumo Clan has never joined any Ninja Village and is a clan worth winning over.
The stool scraped against the wooden floor with a faint creak. Orochimaru was about to put the books back in their original place when a group of people surrounded her.
"Let me help you!"
"Leave it to me!"
"Uh… that, thank you."
Orochimaru stood there blankly, watching them take the books from the table and quickly put them back on the shelf, then return with autograph boards.
Soon after, Orochimaru walked out of the Konoha Library, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Root's Base
"Danzo-sama, do you know which Ninja Village this symbol belongs to?"
Orochimaru drew the wing-like symbol on a piece of paper and handed it to Danzo Shimura.
"Hmm…"
Danzo Shimura put down his work, took the paper Orochimaru handed him, looked at the symbol on it, and shook his head, saying, "I don't recall it. It should be a Ninja Village that hasn't appeared in the Land of Fire."
Danzo Shimura was certain he had never seen a Ninja Village use this symbol.
"Orochimaru, where did you see this symbol?"
Danzo Shimura felt it necessary to pay attention; Orochimaru's concern suggested this Ninja Village might cause trouble for Konoha.
"I recently went to Uzushiogakure and saw a strange airship there…"
Orochimaru spoke of the airship she saw in Uzushiogakure and the symbol she saw on it.
"Flying in the sky with a special airship, so they are Sky Ninja? It's necessary to conduct an investigation. This Sky Ninja might pose a threat to Konoha."
Danzo Shimura really wanted to immediately dispatch Root Ninja for an investigation, but he couldn't investigate blindly. Knowing only the Ninja Village's symbol, the information he had was simply too little.
"Orochimaru, what do you think?"
Danzo Shimura put down the paper in his hand and asked Orochimaru. He had long stopped treating Orochimaru as a child.
"Danzo-sama, according to Uzumaki Nano, she found the airship by the sea, and there were traces of battle on the airship. This means that the Sky Ninja likely fell into the water after battling the escorts of a merchant convoy's transport ship, or ships from the Land of Water or other island nations, which caused the airship to drift to the coast of Uzushiogakure."
Orochimaru offered her suggestion. Currently, information about the Sky Ninja was too scarce, and the only direction for investigation was the island nations.
"You mean to investigate from this angle?"
Danzo Shimura understood Orochimaru's meaning. Investigating from this angle would indeed yield information about the Ninja Village skilled in aerial combat with airships more quickly.
"Oh, Danzo-sama, these are rebirth pills, experimental samples of a pill that accelerates wound healing, not yet tested."
Orochimaru took out two dark red pills in a square container. Her purpose in coming to Danzo Shimura was not only to inquire about the Sky Ninja but also about the newly developed rebirth pills.
These pills were merely byproducts of her Regeneration Technique research, made from the healing fluid secreted by Chimera Bugs and various medicinal herbs.
"rebirth pills?"
Danzo Shimura looked at the dark red pills in the square container on the table.
"Regeneration, what kind of regeneration?"
"Danzo-sama, don't overthink it. This medicine cannot regenerate severed limbs. The function of the rebirth pill is to stimulate cell division to accelerate wound healing. It is used for Ninja on missions to preserve their lives."
Orochimaru looked at the rebirth pills on the table and calmly said, "If war breaks out again, having this medicine could also reduce casualties, right?"
During the First Shinobi World War, most Ninja deaths were due to injuries not being treated in time, leading to excessive blood loss.
Is Orochimaru thinking of her parents… Danzo Shimura looked at Orochimaru, whose expression was calm but conveyed a sense of sadness. As someone who participated in the First Shinobi World War and experienced many battles, he also felt quite uneasy.
"Orochimaru, what kind of injuries can the rebirth pill roughly treat?"
Danzo Shimura was very concerned about this question. Knowing what kind of injuries it could roughly treat would prevent fatal incidents during efficacy testing.
"As long as it's not a fatal injury, it can be treated. However, the rebirth pill has one drawback."
The fatal injuries Orochimaru mentioned were the kind that even Tsunade in the original story could only shake her head at.
"What drawback?"
Danzo Shimura looked at the rebirth pills in his hand, wondering if it was some serious drawback that would prevent combat.
"The rebirth pill stimulates cell division to accelerate wound healing, which means that taking too many rebirth pills will shorten the user's lifespan."
Orochimaru frowned slightly. The Regeneration Technique she was developing had this drawback, and the rebirth pill still had this drawback. Essentially, both achieved regeneration by stimulating cell division.
"What kind of drawback is that? When life is at stake, it's good enough to survive."
Danzo Shimura thought the medicine would have some terrible side effects. It turned out to be just a reduction in lifespan.
When faced with the choice between death and a shortened lifespan, no one would choose the former.
Moreover, being a Ninja is already a high-risk profession. The emergence of the rebirth pill will undoubtedly greatly increase the survival rate of Ninja on dangerous missions.
"Orochimaru, you haven't shown your research results to Hiruzen yet, have you?"
Danzo Shimura asked in a low voice. This was a very important matter, concerning whether he could show off in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"I was planning to show it to Sarutobi-sensei."
Orochimaru was planning to leave Root's Base and go to the Hokage Building to show the rebirth pill samples to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Orochimaru, leave this matter to me. I will show your research results to Hiruzen."
Danzo Shimura would not give up this opportunity to strike at Hiruzen Sarutobi. If he always threw reports and documents over, and if he, Danzo Shimura, didn't take this opportunity to properly humiliate him, he wouldn't be doing himself justice!
Orochimaru looked at the sinister, ill-intentioned smile on Danzo Shimura's face and guessed what he wanted to do.
Danzo-sama, can't you be a bit more mature? How did the esteemed Darkness of Konoha become like this?
Orochimaru couldn't understand. In the original story, Danzo Shimura would stop at nothing to become Hokage. He believed that anything threatening Konoha must be eliminated, thereby making countless enemies for Konoha.
Now look at Danzo Shimura in front of her: the provider of the shimura herbal tea formula, the midnight guardian of Konoha's men, wanting to use her research results to show off in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi… Where was there any sign of wanting to be Hokage?
"How childish, honestly!"
Orochimaru looked at the reports and documents on the desk and suddenly realized something.
"Could it be that Lord Danzo has realized that being Hokage isn't such a great job?"
Thinking about it, what was Danzo Shimura like in the original story?
He only managed the Anbu training department, was practically unheard of in Konoha, didn't care about anything, hid in his base when trouble arose, and only emerged when there was a chance to become Hokage.
He had never experienced how grueling it would be to become Hokage, with endless reports and documents, and a constant stream of troubles.
Danzo Shimura in the original story never had the chance to experience these things, but now that Danzo Shimura has, he naturally wouldn't think being Hokage is a good job.
Furthermore, the recent Hyuga Clan infighting had put all the pressure on the Hokage.
Orochimaru estimated that in the current Danzo Shimura's mind, only a big fool would sit on the Hokage's throne; it's a thankless job with immense pressure. Didn't Hiruzen Sarutobi, who is about his age, have a receding hairline?
Perhaps soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi would be completely bald.
At the same time, in the Hokage Office of the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi sneezed several times in a row.
"Could someone be speaking ill of me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his nose.
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