On New Year's Day, a riot broke out in Konoha Prison. A group of fugitives led by Uchiha Setsuna was arrested by a Root squad that arrived in time, after severely wounding several members of the Police Force. After interrogation by Root, it was determined that this was the work of Kumogakure spies and had nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan.
This made Clan Chief Uchiha Ken breathe a long sigh of relief, exclaiming that with Orochimaru's arrival, Konoha was at peace, and with Orochimaru here, justice had arrived! Meanwhile, Minato and Orochimaru officially began their exploration of the path of biological evolution. Using Wood Release as a cover, Minato told Orochimaru a story about peas.
After hearing it, Orochimaru exclaimed, Genius!
Minato didn't quite understand. Does this even count as being a Genius?
How should I put it? It's like what you said before, Minato-kun—children usually find it difficult to perfectly inherit the talents of their parents. It's precisely because of this that people want to uncover the mysteries within, but with the current technological level of the Ninja World, it's still impossible to fully explain the principles of heredity and variation. Orochimaru made an analogy. If biology is like building a house, then the current level of understanding among researchers isn't even the foundation. But Minato-kun, you're starting from the roof. I never thought Wood Release could be used for scientific creation, hehe... perhaps this is the difference between a Genius and an ordinary person?
Senior, you flatter me. It was just an accidental discovery. Minato's face turned red from Orochimaru's praise. After all, this was entirely thanks to Mendel and had nothing to do with him; he was merely a transporter of knowledge. Fortunately, he had indeed conducted experiments in this area, so it was barely justifiable.
Minato-kun, there's no need to be so humble. Orochimaru smiled. This experiment means that as long as we have enough test subjects, we can intercept the genetic information belonging to the Bloodline Limit, thereby completely uncovering its mysteries. Of course, with current conditions, there's still a long way to go to achieve this goal. Root's equipment doesn't yet meet the requirements for this.
Orochimaru's tone was somewhat helpless. A scientist's wisdom can transcend the era, but technological conditions cannot. Therefore, this would be a long process, and it was very likely he might not get the results he wanted within his lifetime. However, despite his helplessness, he wasn't discouraged in the slightest. On one hand, he was confident in himself, and on the other, his conviction was firm enough.
Minato didn't have much of a reaction. In the original story, Orochimaru was hunted by Konoha and the Akatsuki Organization while also offending Sunagakure and Kumogakure. Yet he still managed to establish Otogakure, create Living Corpse Reincarnation, and build laboratories all over the Ninja World. Now, without those constraints and with official status and funding from Root, his research progress would only be faster.
Not dwelling on that issue, Minato asked about the progress of the experiments. Speaking of which, how are those Uchiha test subjects doing?
Two Two-Tomoe died, while the remaining Three-Tomoe all survived. However, they still can't completely suppress the invasiveness of the first hokages cells. Death is only a matter of time, but at the very least, it proves our direction is correct. Orochimaru smiled, feeling that Minato was truly his lucky star.
It seemed that the powers of the Senju and Uchiha indeed possessed complementary characteristics. However, the cycle of this research wouldn't be short. For now, he still had to focus his research on the reincarnation technique; otherwise, he might move to the Pure Land due to the limits of his lifespan before uncovering the secrets of the Bloodline Limit. For a researcher, nothing is more heartening than finding the right research direction.
In the days that followed, Orochimaru devoted nearly all his energy to these two research projects. But he didn't forget his primary duties. Unlike Danzo, who was a troublemaker, Orochimaru monitored the movements of various forces in the Ninja World from an observer's perspective. For emerging forces with certain technology or scale but low threat levels, he would first try to contact and cooperate with them, rather than blindly suppressing and plundering like Danzo.
Although there was no direct evidence for the dirty things Danzo did in the past, the Ninja World is only so big; everyone knew who was responsible for what. Combined with the huge difference in attitude between the Third Hokage and Danzo, Konoha appeared to other forces as a hypocrite that said one thing and did another. So, the change in attitude Orochimaru now displayed not only brought him many new technologies but also significantly improved Konoha's reputation.
Minato's life continued as usual, moving between school and home every day, occasionally visiting Mito with Sister Tsunade and her brother, or dropping by Orochimaru's place. This lifestyle continued for two and a half years. Two and a half years was enough time for many things to happen. For instance, Tsunade successfully mastered the Yin Seal and developed the Strength of a Hundred Technique along the way. Jiraiya returned from his training at Mount Myoboku, and his whole demeanor had become much more serious. Unlike before, when he would look like a lecherous pervert at the sight of a women's bathhouse, there was now a hint of righteousness between his brows.
The Orphanage opened a small ranch, raising many livestock, and even had a small fish pond. Now the children could eat meat every day and no longer needed Minato's help. At school, Yakushi Nonou and Kushina became best friends, remaining inseparable every day. Unknowingly, they formed a trio with Minato and Kushina.
Of course, the biggest change was Minato's strength. He had completed the Nature Transformation for all five Chakra attributes, successfully developed the Rasenshuriken, and learned many medical Ninjutsu and Uzumaki Clan sealing techniques along the way. Currently, Minato was practicing his signature technique—the Hiraishin. He had obtained this technique from Orochimaru.
Root was truly great! Who said Root was bad? Root was simply too good! In two and a half years, Minato had studied almost the entire scroll of seals, along with many Ninjutsu from other villages obtained through Root's channels. Even his Chakra reserves had surpassed those of most Jonin. Unfortunately, Kakashi was still in his mother's womb, so Minato couldn't determine exactly how many Kakas of Chakra he had.
It's worth mentioning that recently, his body had also undergone some wonderful changes. For example, his appetite was growing larger, and his strength was becoming greater, showing a trend toward becoming a high-vitality tank like those in One Piece. Combined with the powerful recovery and Mental Energy brought by Shinra Bansho, Minato was certain that, not considering the Otsutsuki Clan, no one in the Ninja World was his match anymore. The only threat, Uchiha Madara, was also old and frail, nothing to fear!
Of course, that's how he boasted; if he actually encountered Uchiha Madara, he would definitely turn and run without a second thought.
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