The night in Konoha was exceptionally dark, as if steeped in ink.
In the thick darkness of the Forest of Death, outside a stone cave nestled in a slope's fault line, snake shadows coiled and flowed through the bushes.
Hiss… hiss…
As if sensing something, the snakes raised their heads slightly, looking around and flicking their blood-red tongues.
In the distant trees, several masked figures in black appeared silently like owls, not alarming the snake swarm.
"Is it here?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in light armor and leading the group, wore a grim expression. He stood on the tree, gazing at the bottomless cave in the distance, his murmured words heavy and complex.
"Disperse," Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a deep voice.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The black figures behind him instantly scattered, fanning out like large black wings, engulfing the entire area under their sharp beaks and claws. This was the Anbu Black Ops, renowned for their efficiency, ruthlessness, and composure.
Recently, many Genin, Chunin, and even Anbu ninja in Konoha had gone missing without a trace. It was well-known that ninja who could join the Anbu were at least Chunin with specialized skills, considered pillars of strength even in Konoha. Even with Shimura Danzo's covert suppression, it was impossible to completely erase all traces.
Moreover, what angered and puzzled Danzo was the death of a Hyuga clan elder from the Main Family today, and the director of the Konoha Hospital had also suddenly disappeared under his nose.
Has that Orochimaru gone mad?
This matter finally alarmed Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was busy dealing with border conflicts in the Land of Fire. He immediately recalled the recent reports of Orochimaru's suspicious activities…
"Orochimaru…"
After a moment of silence, Sarutobi Hiruzen and two Anbu figures vanished, leaving behind only a sigh that seemed to mix disappointment and regret.
Meanwhile, in the intricate, cold, and damp drainage system beneath the mountain cave.
Drip… drip…
Only the sound of wastewater dripping into puddles could be heard, creating ripples. But in a vast, gloomy space, it had been transformed into a secret experimental base.
"No matter how many times I see it, I'm always amazed by the intricacy and wonder of this body."
Looking at the silent, complete corpse on the operating table, Orochimaru's desire and greed almost overflowed. He had once traveled throughout the ninja world and seen many well-preserved ancient corpses, but they were either distorted with bulging eyes or had swollen limbs that burst through their clothes.
However, the corpse before him was completely different. Its appearance was exquisitely inhuman, with fair skin and lustrous black hair; even its eyelashes hadn't fallen out, and its eyes were closed as if it had merely fallen asleep.
Yet, the dried torso showed signs of dehydration, and the muscles in its limbs had atrophied. Orochimaru was certain this young man was dead, but paradoxically, the body still retained a certain vitality. To Orochimaru, it felt as if the "soul" had broken free, leaving behind an empty shell of a body…
"This is the Ōtsutsuki clan," Orochimaru's chest rose and fell slightly as he licked his parched lips. After all, according to the ancient texts of the Hyuga clan, they were a powerful clan that created chakra and ninjutsu, so possessing strong vitality and souls was normal.
However, even the Ōtsutsuki clan had scarlet blood flowing through them, not the noble bodily fluids of deities. According to his conjecture, if he could transplant all the organs of this body, he might even be able to transform his own physique and bloodline, gaining incredibly powerful ninjutsu talent and vitality.
Only he, skilled in organ and cell transplantation, could perform such a surgery; even Tsunade could not. It was as if it was prepared specifically for him.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru looked at the figure on another operating table beside him, meeting a pair of white eyes that seemed to tremble with fear, and an old face contorted in shock and anger.
The latter was a fifteen-year-old boy, coincidentally similar in age to the corpse. His black, silken hair cascaded down, his young face pale and taut, with a striking "X" shaped cursed seal on his forehead. In all of Konoha, and indeed the entire ninja world, only the Hyuga clan possessed such pure, snow-white eyes, and only members of the Branch Family would be subjected to the ugly Caged Bird cursed seal.
Hyuga Kawa. That was the boy's name.
This corpse of an Ōtsutsuki clan member, along with the ancient texts detailing the Hyuga clan's ancient secrets, had been offered to him by Hyuga Kawa himself. According to the secrets recorded in the ancient texts, the Hyuga clan were direct descendants of the Ōtsutsuki, so transplantation was expected to be most effective, with minimal rejection and complications.
"Kawa, only the heart remains now. Are you ready?"
Orochimaru's face held a gentle, feminine smile, deliberately omitting the surname and honorifics, addressing him directly. This form of address typically implied intimacy or a vast disparity in status, but it was clear their relationship wasn't intimate. This was an arrogance that conveyed, "Everything you have belongs to me."
And indeed, that was the truth. As soon as the organ transplant surgery was complete, Orochimaru would implant a cursed seal on him, quickly develop the Soul Transfer Jutsu, then find a way to break the [Caged Bird] cursed seal, and finally seize this perfect body. Orochimaru wasn't worried about things spiraling out of his control; it was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child, and moreover, he was considered a waste/failure by the Hyuga clan.
"Orochimaru-sama, please proceed."
Hyuga Kawa's expression was one of fear, but his tone was exceptionally firm. His eyes, fixed on Orochimaru, were filled with admiration and gratitude: "You killed that old man and avenged my parents. I am willing to offer this body, which is not my own, to you."
Hearing this, Orochimaru smiled. It had indeed taken some effort to infiltrate the Hyuga compound and kill a Main Family elder. He presumed his good teacher must have realized by now that it was his doing. There was no alternative; he not only needed to perform the surgery perfectly but also had to use a life-sustaining sealing jutsu, requiring his full and undivided attention, leaving no room to manipulate genjutsu. The recipient had to remain conscious. So, he had no choice but to grant Hyuga Kawa's request to kill the Main Family elder who had driven his parents to their deaths, thus ensuring his willing cooperation.
But it didn't matter. He was already tired of everything in Konoha. As long as he could obtain the secrets of the Ōtsutsuki clan, even defection would be worth it.
"Orochimaru-sama, what are you trying to do?"
The speaker was another old man in a white lab coat, none other than the missing director of the Konoha Hospital, who was actually a medical talent cultivated by Danzo, codenamed "Owl." At this moment, Owl looked at Orochimaru with not just shock and anger, but overwhelming fear.
However, Orochimaru completely ignored him. After all, this old man would obediently comply soon enough. Thinking this, Orochimaru dismissed the last trace of distraction. After confirming that everything was ready, he activated the complex sealing formula beneath his feet.
Hum!
Black jutsu patterns covered Hyuga Kawa's body, binding him while supplying him with chakra. Simultaneously, the established external blood circulation device was activated, with tubes inserted into the aorta and the superior and inferior vena cava.
Now, Hyuga Kawa's kidneys, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and other organs had been replaced by the internal organs of the Ōtsutsuki corpse. Only the most crucial and dangerous organ, the heart, remained.
Splurt.
Orochimaru's hand condensed a chakra scalpel. The blade moved along Hyuga Kawa's bones and flesh, opening his chest cavity to reveal his crimson internal organs. Then, with intense concentration, he meticulously excised the living heart, preserving only a portion of the posterior wall of the left atrium and some right atrial tissue. Turning, he removed the Ōtsutsuki heart from the corpse. Orochimaru held the still, bloody heart in his hands with an almost reverent gesture, yet his movements were utterly precise and unwavering.
The heart belonging to the Ōtsutsuki clan was now placed inside Hyuga Kawa's body.
"You're actually attempting a heart transplant?" Owl, who had been silent, suddenly stammered. "Do you think just the two of us can pull this off?"
"I think you can," Orochimaru looked up at the old man, his tone cold. "Because if you can't, what happens next might get a little bloody, don't you think?"
Owl's old, slack face twitched slightly, but he still obediently stood by the operating table.
Orochimaru began the vascular sutures. His methods were incredibly primitive and daring; if even one blood vessel went wrong, the recipient would enter a dying state. But under the precise operations of Orochimaru and Owl, a large amount of chakra surged into Hyuga Kawa's body, continuously providing strong vitality, miraculously sustaining his life.
Time passed by the second, and Orochimaru's accumulated chakra gradually depleted. Fortunately, the blood vessels had begun to heal, and even the cross-shaped incision on the chest gradually closed under the power of the Mystical Palm Technique.
"Only the final step remains. I will release the life-sustaining barrier."
Owl could barely stand due to chakra depletion, and Orochimaru's already pale face turned ashen. He stared intently at Hyuga Kawa's body and murmured softly, "Kawa, don't disappoint me."
Whether it succeeded now depended on whether Hyuga Kawa could withstand this power. The power of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Thump!
A dull heartbeat, like a war drum, resonated. Veins and sinews climbed over Hyuga Kawa's body, like dense leaf veins, slightly raised and bluish. On the monitor, the life signs, deprived of external support, immediately showed drastic fluctuations.
"Aaaah!!"
Even though Hyuga Kawa had mentally prepared himself, the excruciating pain, as if his entire being was being torn apart, made him scream hysterically. The blood pumped by the heart seemed to surge and burn in his veins. Numerous capillaries on his exposed skin burst and ruptured, and his body temperature instantly rose to a scorching hot level, as if molten iron, not blood, flowed through his veins!
"Use your chakra, use your chakra to suppress and control the heart, to calm it down!" Orochimaru said in a deep voice.
Hum!
Numerous blue veins appeared around Hyuga Kawa's eye sockets, and the chakra bursting forth from his body made Orochimaru's pupils contract.
But soon, the struggling Hyuga Kawa's body stiffened. The rapidly climbing life signs on the monitor suddenly halted, then began to decline at an even more terrifying rate. A piercing beeping alarm sounded in the laboratory.
"Damn it!" Orochimaru's face instantly darkened. "The Hyuga clan should be the most compatible recipient. How could they possibly fail so quickly?!"
If even Hyuga Kawa couldn't endure it, he would have no choice but to seize someone from the Hyuga Main Family. No way, he could only cut out the heart and preserve it again before it died.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru was about to condense a scalpel with his remaining chakra.
Thump…
A faint sound entered his ears, causing his actions to suddenly halt. He abruptly looked up at the boy before him.
Thump!
Hyuga Kawa's eyes were still tightly closed, but a muffled thud emanated from his chest. This time, it was clearer than the first. The laboratory was terrifyingly silent, with only the heartbeat being exceptionally loud.
Thump! Thump-thump!
Gradually, the muffled heartbeat transformed from the initial sound of rain on plantains to a deafening drumbeat, powerfully pounding in his chest.
"This is…"
An uncontrollable joy spread across Orochimaru's face. He softly approached Hyuga Kawa's body, as if walking towards all the truths of the world, and instinctively glanced at the instruments with his golden, vertically slit pupils. Indeed, the vital signs had gradually stabilized; in fact, the various readings were almost inhuman, incredibly active, and terrifyingly strong.
This meant that, finally…
"Yes."
Someone answered Orochimaru, their voice soft, like narrating a beautiful fairy tale.
"Finally, it succeeded," he said.
Surprised and delighted, Orochimaru paused, then saw the figure on the operating table slowly open his eyes. He met a pair of familiar yet strange pupils. Those once pure white eyes, now illuminated by the surgical light, radiated a layered iridescence, flowing like molten glass, somewhere between pale green and white.
But this was not the source of the strong sense of dissonance Orochimaru felt. Rather, it was the fact that there was almost no emotional fluctuation in those eyes, as calm and profound as a bottomless pool of stagnant water.
The flowing blood was instantly evaporated by the high temperature, and a blood-red mist rose from his body, enveloping his face in a hazy shroud. Blood surged through his veins like thawing spring water, every cell breathing freely like spring buds breaking through stone, and an unparalleled power surged through his limbs.
"You…"
Beside him, Owl, witnessing this scene, his pupils suddenly dilated. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But then, the next moment.
Splurt!
The cut was swift, without pain, only cold death. There was only the sound of a wind calmer than the night breeze passing, the sound of flesh being pierced was light, silently dissipating with the wind. Orochimaru instinctively turned his head, feeling a slight prickle on his cheek as a faint tearing sound occurred. A red line gradually crept across his face, spreading inch by inch until it stopped at his cheekbone. Blood sprayed like scattered thistle flowers, and a dampness slid down his cheek.
Owl, lost in a daze beside him, felt his vision invert and tumble.
Thud!
His headless body knelt on the ground, blood spurting from his severed neck, raining red throughout the laboratory. His head hit the floor with a crisp sound like a watermelon, rolling away, leaving a trail of blood. The face on the head still held a hint of bewilderment, dying with eyes wide open as it rolled into a pool of blood. And from his severed neck, blood erupted like a fountain, showering the two remaining figures.
"I've waited for this day for too long."
Hyuga Kawa sat up, looking at the hand that had condensed the chakra scalpel, watching the blood flow to his fingertips like spring water rolling off green leaves. He looked up at Orochimaru and chuckled, "Such a night should be silent."
Three years, then another three years, and then another three years…
He had finally completed the natural talent of this frail body, obtaining his true Ōtsutsuki bloodline, and…
[Ding!]
[Your lie [Ōtsutsuki Remains and Descendant] has been judged as [Entering the Fray Himself] [Sweet Talk and Treacherous] [Making False into True]. Orochimaru has experienced intense emotional fluctuations, reaching the level of [Absolute Belief]. You have gained 10000 Truth Manifestation Points.]
[Evaluation: A deceptive trick, like a flickering shadow on a wall, even a small person can cast a giant shadow.]
[Remaining Truth Manifestation Points: 10041]
"..."
Orochimaru looked at the youthful face. In his memory, that face had always worn a timid, shrinking expression. But now, it held a profound smile. Like a child playfully pressing down on an ant's back, watching it struggle beneath a fingertip, then gently crushing it.
Pure evil.
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