CHAPTER 257: CHAPTER 257: TSUNADE, THAT’S OUR TABLE!

One word:

Painful!

Orochimaru couldn’t quite articulate what he was feeling. He’d become a full-on tool man—a lab rat, basically. And the worst part?

Looking back...

He had no one to blame but himself!

He knew exactly what kind of person Kyoichi was, yet he’d still handed the opportunity over to him on a silver platter. In the past, maybe that could be excused.

But this time?

He had volunteered of his own accord.

Totally walked into the trap.

Still...

Orochimaru thought it over and couldn’t help but smile faintly.

It wasn’t a total loss.

If Kyoichi hadn’t stepped forward and offered to test the special cells on himself, Orochimaru probably wouldn’t have had the nerve to try it on himself first.

And as it turned out...

These cells really did seem like a diluted version of Hashirama cells. Weaker, yes—but far easier for the human body to accept and integrate.

Their vitality leaked outward rather than going berserk.

Hashirama cells?

Most people who tried to implant those ended up turning into trees, feeding the Earth with their sacrifice.

So many had tried.

And in the end, only Yamato—that naive blockhead—had managed to fully integrate them, gaining a portion of the Wood Release ability. Unfortunately...

Yamato’s Wood Release wasn’t very powerful. In terms of actual combat, he wasn’t much of a threat.

Unless he burned his life force.

But even then...

It was only so effective.

After all...

Kanda Kyoichi had already developed a working theory and method for recreating Wood Release through research. He’d even cracked the mechanisms behind life-force combustion.

So really...

Unless Kyoichi and his generation of elites suddenly dropped dead, there’d never be a need for Yamato to throw his life away in a last stand.

Orochimaru adapted quickly.

Now that it had begun, there was no point delaying. Better to start developing the process now than waste time later.

Plus...

During this period, he could observe how his body reacted—whether the cells’ corrosiveness would increase under chakra depletion, fatigue, or mental strain.

All of these were valuable test parameters.

Overall, Orochimaru snapped back into his scientific mindset very quickly. Moments after his earlier frustration, he was already immersed in his work again.

So...

Just as Kyoichi had expected:

As long as you gave Orochimaru something that piqued his interest, he could bend his principles and redefine his limits in a heartbeat.

It was no wonder he could tolerate working with Danzo.

Back home.

Kyoichi still found it all a bit absurd.

He really had gone to Orochimaru with a "let’s try this and see" mindset—hoping to implant the White Zetsu cells and find out if they would enhance his abilities or improve Sage Mode flow.

And then...

Orochimaru beat him to it.

He’d gone in looking for trouble—if someone was going to get exploited, it had to be himself.

Tsunade looked up.

"What’s going on? What were you discussing that made you run off like that?"

Didn’t even say goodbye.

Was he just showing off the Flying Thunder God?

Well, alright...

To be fair, she’d mellowed a lot since becoming Hokage. She was way more patient with others now. The only people who ever saw her true temper were her own kin.

"It’s nothing much. I just suddenly thought—if our assumptions are right, that special cell type might have some effect on dōjutsu. A regular Sharingan might not cut it, but what about the Rinnegan?"

Kyoichi said.

Tsunade frowned.

What was he even talking about?

The Rinnegan and the Sharingan weren’t remotely the same—completely unrelated things.

And yet this brat had found a way to lump them together?

She was about to shoot him down when, after thinking it over, she noticed something in Kyoichi’s tone.

Her expression froze.

"You mean..."

"Based on current research, the origin of these cells is almost certainly the First Hokage’s. Just with much weaker effects and far fewer side effects. But because of that, they’re easier for the body to accept."

By this point, Tsunade already understood what he meant.

Nagato’s eyes—those Rinnegan—probably didn’t belong to him originally. And the strain they put on his body might be enormous.

Which would explain why, despite his clear Uzumaki heritage and its associated vitality, his health had always been poor.

That powerful life force...

Had never really manifested in him.

If he received a transplant of these cells, it might help alleviate the incompatibility.

But...

"You don’t have any experimental evidence to back that up, do you? This is just speculation between you and Orochimaru. And while relations with Amegakure are stable right now, I highly doubt Nagato would agree to something like this."

Tsunade shook her head, unconvinced.

At the end of the day...

Nagato’s parents had been killed by Konoha shinobi. Even if Jiraiya, Yahiko, and Kyoichi had smoothed things over, that scar ran deep.

To ask him to come to Konoha and volunteer for this kind of experiment without any data?

Did they think he was brain-dead?

Tsunade understood Kyoichi’s urgency to uncover the enemy behind the scenes, but she couldn’t support such a rash move.

"Orochimaru’s already implanted the cells."

"...What?"

CRASH!

The table exploded.

Kyoichi’s lips twitched.

That was one of their own tables...

Ah well.

It wasn’t the first time.

"Oh come on, neechan! That was our table! Don’t get so worked up... Originally, I was the one who planned to do the transplant. I have no-hand-seal healing techniques. Implanting a small portion in my arm wouldn’t have been a big deal. Plus, I know enough medical ninjutsu to treat myself on the spot."

"You—! Hmph. Go on."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Her blood pressure was clearly climbing.

Still...

The table was already broken. All that was left was the floor—and that was a pain to repair. At least tables could be replaced.

So she quickly calmed herself.

"But Orochimaru insisted on doing it himself, sigh..."

Kyoichi didn’t mention that Orochimaru had already prepared for the procedure—he’d even left wounds open in anticipation. If Kyoichi had arrived just a few minutes later, that guy would’ve finished the transplant without him.

"That guy..."

Tsunade sighed and didn’t say more.

Back when Nawaki died, she hadn’t been the only one grieving. As the only disciple she’d ever poured her heart into, Nawaki had meant something to Orochimaru too.

His death had hit them both hard.

So...

Tsunade never really held a grudge against Orochimaru for Nawaki’s death.

That was fate. What could you do?

She was quiet for a few seconds.

"...Fine, let’s just leave it at that. So? Any issues?"

"No. So far, it’s gone smoothly. The cells are actually feeding back into his system—enhancing his life force and overall vitality. Seems like they’re pretty useful."

Kyoichi paused briefly, then smiled.

"Beyond that, I started thinking—Konoha has a lot of shinobi who were disabled in the wars. If these cells are safe and non-invasive, could we use them to create prosthetics?"

"Uh..." Tsunade blinked in surprise.

This brat...

Dared to dream big!

Prosthetics?

Could you even call that a prosthetic?

But...

If it really was harmless to the body, then yeah—there wasn’t much reason to oppose it. Especially for the civilian ninja.

Clan ninja had support structures.

Civilians? Not so much. Most of their income still came from active missions.

Even with retirement subsidies, it wasn’t the same as being an active shinobi.

Tsunade was torn.

This concept was promising, but it raised a lot of questions...

"You really think it’s feasible?"

"It’s worth exploring. Of course, everyone reacts differently to these cells. We could start with micro-samples—see how each subject reacts before doing a full transplant."

"It’s a solid plan... but there’s no precedent for this. And you know as well as I do—Konoha’s hospital is currently run by Biwako-hime and Koharu. Even if I agree, they definitely won’t."

Tsunade frowned.

"That’s why we should talk to them. Besides, this isn’t about routine care. It’s a special procedure for special cases."

"I support this kind of treatment personally... ugh, fine. I’ll talk to them sometime. What a hassle. Maybe I’ll wait until Biwako-hime retires..."

Tsunade wasn’t against the idea—just frustrated by the politics.

She’d always been in favor of medical innovation. If Koharu were the only one in charge of the hospital, she wouldn’t even hesitate to push this forward.

But with Sarutobi Biwako still around...

Tsunade had to tread more carefully.

That was someone she genuinely respected.

"This is the most important matter right now. Also, I noticed something interesting in the intel from the Anbu—apparently, in the Land of Snow, there’s a mode of transportation called a train?"

As Kyoichi spoke, he pulled out a report.

It had a sketch of the train on it. Tsunade took it and examined it carefully. A slight smile appeared on her face as she said, "I’ve heard of this thing before. It’s said to be quite bulky, and it requires tracks to be laid down ahead of time. As far as I know, only the Land of Snow has something like that in the entire shinobi world."

"This is a great invention. We need to build it too!" Kyoichi said earnestly.

"Why?"

Tsunade was puzzled. She followed up with an explanation: "You do realize this kind of thing takes up a lot of space, right? Railways require carefully planned routes, and where are we going to find that much land in the Land of Fire?"

The Land of Fire wasn’t like the Land of Snow.

The Land of Snow was covered in snow year-round—useless for farming whether or not you lay down tracks. But in the Land of Fire, every inch of land could be used for agriculture.

That was exactly what made the Land of Fire stronger than the other countries—

Abundant arable land, and national prosperity.

Building a railway line would cost an enormous amount of money.

"First of all, it would let us reinforce the borders much more quickly. Right now, if enemy shinobi attack the frontlines, it could take us a full day or more to send backup. With this, response time would be drastically reduced.

Secondly..."

"Our goods could reach other countries faster, and in greater volume. We could bring in wealth and resources from abroad."

"And most importantly—we’re not lacking food."

Kyoichi laid out the key point.

How much land would a single rail line really take?

With their Wood Release agriculture, they could accelerate crop growth many times over. The land saved was more than enough to offset the loss.

And in terms of long-term return?

The benefits of building a few railways far outweighed the cost.

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