Chapter 124 Collapse of Jade
Ahhhhh!
The sudden feeling disappeared, and Yahiko fell from a height of ten meters, flailing his limbs and screaming.
Lying on the soft mud bed made by Nagato, Yahiko looked at the sky with some doubt about his life.
Failed again!
He could never maintain that feeling for long. But in Lu Nie's words, this was the basis for mastering this ability!
Unless you can master this ability proficiently, you can then develop subsequent abilities, or master new ninjutsu that is unique to this ability.
Carefully recalling the feeling of successfully activating his ability, Yahiko climbed out of the mud again.
From being unable to get into the state at all in the beginning, to occasionally having a flash of inspiration later, to now being able to remember that feeling of success and then replicate it.
Yahiko's progress was obvious. His only worry was that when Lu Nie came next time, he would not meet his standards and would give up teaching him.
During this period of time, he and Nagato have witnessed Kane's skills and creative abilities that shocked and numbed them. If he lost his guidance for the next step, Yahiko had a premonition that he would deeply regret it.
……
The battlefield between Iwagakure Village and the Land of Fire.
The air smelled of blood and war.
The Iwagakure came out in full force and launched offensives again and again without any hesitation, which put great pressure on the Konoha ninja troops that were confronting the Iwagakure army.
Konoha was forced to fight on multiple fronts, and had already had many frictions and battles with the Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning. Now it was facing the larger and more powerful Iwagakure troops, and was obviously short of manpower.
If the Jinchūriki of the Iwagakure Village had not been severely injured by the Third Raikage and had to recuperate in the rear instead of being involved in the battle with Konoha, the pressure on Konoha would have been even greater.
Especially when facing the Tsuchikage Ohnoki who has mastered the bloodline elimination, even Orochimaru can only try his best to contain him. The opponent's mobility and strength are not much weaker than his teacher Sarutobi Hiruzen.
If Orochimaru had not created many secret techniques to save his life and to commit suicide, he might have been taken away by Dust Release during the battle with Ōnoki.
The only one who could share some of his pressure on the battlefield was Minato Namikaze. However, Minato Namikaze, who had the Flying Thunder God, was given the task of supporting various battlefields.
In other words, Namikaze Minato is just a firefighter, not his subordinate. He can't stay on the battlefield between Iwagakure and Konoha all the time.
Orochimaru wanted to transfer the Uchiha clan to his own army, but his request was rejected by the elders. Most of the Uchiha clan were bound to the village, and even in the current situation of a shortage of combat power, the elders did not completely release the Uchiha clan.
Only a small number of Uchiha clan members were dispatched to deal with the ninjas from the Hidden Mist Village who invaded the Land of Fire.
Although Orochimaru was very dissatisfied with this, he was at the front line and there was no way he would abandon the battlefield and run back to quarrel with those old men.
What disappointed him even more was that the teacher he once admired and respected did not raise any objection, but instead acquiesced in the decision of the elders.
This made Orochimaru realize more clearly that his teacher's mentality was changing in a direction that he did not want to see.
Although he still looked strong, his mentality had inevitably aged. He no longer had the courage and spirit of a brave man that he had during World War II.
If it was the teacher back then, he would not care about Uchiha's problems if he was confident that he could suppress Uchiha.
As for the Uchiha wanting a member of their clan to become Hokage?
What does that have to do with Orochimaru? If he can succeed the Fourth Hokage, then the Fifth Hokage will undoubtedly be Lu Nie if nothing unexpected happens! Then this question should be considered by Lu Nie.
Why should he worry about this for Lu Nie?
Even his obsession with becoming Hokage has changed. The reason why he became Hokage now is that only the position of Hokage can provide him with the best research environment with the least constraints!
A blue bead with an interior as bright as a nebula was held in the palm of Orochimaru's right hand, and he stared at it intently.
Collapsed Jade·Soul Pearl/Natural Pearl.
This is an advanced product of the Hollow Mask, a ninja tool treasure that was formed by Orochimaru and Kagome working together to collect enough souls on the battlefield, and then absorbing sufficient natural power in the Ryuchi Cave.
According to what Lu Nie said and what he observed, this bead has the ability to transform a person completely, provided that one can withstand the transformation of the bead.
Depending on the chakra that the ninja possesses, the beads will strengthen the ninja in different ways.
For example, a ninja who is good at the Five Elements Ninjutsu can enhance his own chakra and the lethality of ninjutsu through the transformation of the beads.
The souls of ninjas who are good at Yin-Tun-series ninjutsu, such as illusions, will be infected and changed to a certain extent, making the already strange Yin-Tun-series ninjutsu even more bizarre.
Ninjas who are good at medical ninjutsu and Yang-tun-style ninjutsu related to the body, including physical skills, will receive the simplest and purest enhancement.
It seems clear-cut, but this is just a case of being slowly transformed by the beads after approaching them. If there are people who understand the beads and can guide and control their power, there will be more things that can be done and transformed.
For example, when a Yang-style ninja is strengthened, it can be given the power of Yin-style imagination, giving simple physical skills certain special abilities.
In addition, the bead itself is a rare treasure! It has a magnificent and unique power similar to that of the tailed beasts!
A large number of souls are mixed with natural forces. Under the combination of yin and yang, the power inside the beads is extremely powerful! When necessary, the beads can be used as tailed beasts and become the Hogyoku Jinchūriki to increase their own strength!
Of course, although the bead has no self-awareness, it does not mean that it is not dangerous. If it is not used correctly, it will make people like the virtual mask, gaining power while quickly degenerating until both the soul and the body are devoured by the bead.
But even if you master the correct method of use, there are still considerable risks. It is not in perfect condition, but a defective item.
It will take more research and time to make it perfect.
What made Orochimaru even more interested was that this bead transformed chakra into another special power, different from chakra and natural power, but that power deeply attracted him.
The immortal power that combines the two?
Feeling the tremendous power contained within the bead, feeling the power it radiates that influences and fills the surrounding space, Orochimaru's eyes were filled with strong curiosity and desire to explore.
In particular, the bead seemed to be able to sense his thoughts, and it continued to strengthen his vitality and soul along with his thoughts. This enhancement was very slight, but it was definitely sensed by Orochimaru. "Do you want me to help you test the power of this bead?"
Orochimaru looked at the Hogyoku in his hand and muttered to himself. This was the tacit understanding between him and Lu Nie in their research. If Lu Nie was not in a hurry to ask for the completed Hogyoku, it was obvious that he meant to let Orochimaru deal with it for the time being.
The Hogyoku does arouse Orochimaru's interest, especially since it can be used as a weight to influence the scale of strength on the battlefield.
What better testing ground than a battlefield?
There are all kinds of human materials here, and human lives are dying every moment. The previous order and rules have no sense of existence on the battlefield during the war.
The only thing that was lacking was probably a complete laboratory with appropriate instruments and equipment. But it didn't matter if they didn't have it. With medical ninjutsu and a large number of captives, they could also obtain sufficient and accurate test data.
In the following period of time, apart from dealing with Ōnoki and handling affairs on the battlefield and in the camp, Orochimaru devoted all his time to guiding and stimulating the power of the Hogyoku.
A large number of Iwagakure captives were almost all consumed in the Collapsing Jade experiment.
During this period, Orochimaru used the Hogyoku to create a lot of deformed monsters. In the subsequent wars, in order to utilize waste and verify the strength of the transformed bodies, he used these deformed monsters that survived the transformation as cannon fodder and threw them into the battlefield with Iwagakure.
The weakest of this transformed freak army is comparable to a Chunin among ninjas, and a few elite ones, that is, the original bodies before the transformation, can reach the Jonin level.
There is no doubt that this transformed force is powerful; the only regrettable thing is that they are out of control.
Unable to be controlled, they naturally cannot understand orders, nor can they fight according to people's wishes. They are like wild beasts with only instincts. Once thrown into the battlefield, no one cares about life or death.
A large number of experimental subjects provided Orochimaru with quite valuable experimental data for his research, which in turn gave him a deeper understanding of the power of the Hogyoku and made his use of the power more mature.
It was not until a perfect body that retained its own consciousness appeared among the captives who had undergone the Hogyoku transformation that Orochimaru was almost ecstatic and studied this perfectly transformed body from inside to outside.
For Orochimaru, he had no so-called sympathy for captives. As long as he could achieve his research, he didn't care how many captives died in his research.
After the success of the first perfect transformation, the second and third perfect transformations were also successfully created after the transformation process was improved according to the data.
Although the success rate of the transformation is still not 100%, Orochimaru has found the answer he wants from a large amount of data.
A 100% successful transformation?
Orochimaru didn't want this. This wish couldn't be achieved in a short time. What's more, he believed that the more powerful the power, the greater the risk.
It's like a forbidden technique!
They are powerful, but difficult to master!
Only people with talent can practice them perfectly. There is no need to let idiots master those forbidden techniques.
Orochimaru has always been in pursuit of genius and talent. In his eyes, fools are nothing compared to talented people.
Even Jiraiya, who was considered the last among the three ninjas, had his talent recognized by Orochimaru. After all, he had already surpassed Orochimaru by successfully mastering the Myobokusan Senjutsu.
Without going into detail about which of the two holy places' magic is more dangerous when practicing, just looking at the results, Jiraiya's talent in practicing magic has proven to be superior to his.
Although Orochimaru has now mastered some skills and abilities on how to utilize the power of nature, he is still far from the true Sage Mode.
But Bengyu can fulfill his wish!
Orochimaru has a strong intuition!
It may not be the Sage Mode, just like the Tailed Beast Mode and the Sage Mode of the Holy Land. He may be able to master a powerful force that is not inferior to the previous two, called the Hogyoku Mode.
In this way, he can be regarded as mastering the "Sage Mode" in disguise.
Inside the Konoha Camp.
In the underground space opened up by earth-style ninjutsu.
A tall fat man with the word "food" written on his clothes, a middle-aged man with pure white eyes, and a female ninja with a golden ponytail bowed respectfully to Orochimaru in front of them and said, "Lord Orochimaru!"
"You should know the existence of Bengyu, right?"
Under the dim light, looking at the three people standing respectfully, Orochimaru licked his lips and asked.
"Yes."
The three people who served as Orochimaru's guards nodded. Most of the modified bodies were suppressed and dealt with by them. Especially the female ninja from the Yamanaka clan, who had assisted Orochimaru in his research for a period of time.
"Then you should also understand the power and danger of the Hogyoku." Orochimaru said softly: "You have the right to choose."
"I am willing to accept the experiment, Lord Orochimaru!" The one who spoke was Hyuga Lan, a member of the Hyuga clan's branch. His pure white eyes stared at Orochimaru and he said without any hesitation.
Qiu Daodong and Yamanaka Xuekui also agreed one after another.
As the war escalated, the battlefield became more brutal. Even though the three of them were senior ninjas, they could not guarantee that they could escape from the battlefield unscathed every time.
In fact, under Qiu Daodong's clothes, his body was already covered with bandages soaked with blood, and the bandages were covered with healing charms.
It was the provision of healing talismans that alleviated the shortage of medical ninjas and allowed a large number of injured ninjas to survive.
"Let me go first, Lord Orochimaru!" Akimichi took a look at his companions and stepped forward. His body was more seriously injured, and he could only stand here because of his Akimichi clan's physique. If it were any other ninja, even a jonin, he would only be lying on the bed, dying and waiting for treatment.
"Remember what I told you, don't let the will of the Hogyoku erode your will." Orochimaru did not reject Akimichi Touma's self-recommendation. While guiding the power of the Hogyoku into Akimichi Touma who was lying on the operating table, he reminded him softly.
The next moment, the Hogyoku in Orochimaru's hand emitted a brilliant light under his stimulation, and the light was guided into Akimichi Higashi's body.
(End of this chapter)