That snake looked pitiful.

Large parts of its body had been eaten away by Hashirama's cells—some spots had even begun to turn into plants.

If Orochimaru hadn't had prior experience handling both White Zetsu cells and Hashirama cells—suppressing the spread the whole time—the creature would've been swallowed up long ago, reduced to nothing but a tree.

Still…

You had to admit, this snake was strong.

It was clear that Orochimaru had chosen the biggest, strongest summoning beast available. His seriousness about this experiment needed no further proof.

"I was ready to move to the next step already," Orochimaru said irritably, "but I was worried I couldn't control the expanding Wood Release chakra. So I had to wait for you to return."

He was clearly frustrated.

His inability to fully wield Wood Release had become a thorn in his heart. Although his recent transplantation of White Zetsu cells allowed him to perform some basic Wood Release techniques, the level of "Greening Technique" was… well, laughable. Hardly something worthy of being called Wood Release—let alone capable of controlling the chakra born from Hashirama's cells.

"I already saved as much time as I could," Kyoichi said helplessly.

This trip had been anything but leisurely—he'd swung by another village, obtained chakra from two tailed beasts, secured a deal for Shukaku's chakra, and even negotiated collaboration with two villages.

What else did Orochimaru expect?

If it weren't for the urgency of the research institute's situation, he might've stayed out there for a small vacation before coming back.

Orochimaru muttered a few more complaints, but soon fell silent.

There wasn't much to say.

Kyoichi's return was, in itself, the greatest show of support.

He released his hold on the serpent, allowing the Hashirama cells to spread unchecked. Pale patches began to bloom across the serpent's scales, and in the blink of an eye, the whiteness spread like a rash until its entire body was snow-white.

Anyone who didn't know better might've mistaken it for an albino serpent.

Then the mutation began.

Tender green shoots burst forth from its body.

"Hissss!"

The great serpent writhed in agony, but the Hashirama cells had already taken root and sprouted. Its body twisted, bark-like textures forming on its skin.

It resembled what happened when one failed to master Sage Mode—like the stone toads of Mount Myōboku.

However…

Even a failed Sage transformation was never this brutal. Hashirama's cells devoured the host's life force and chakra relentlessly, consuming them to fuel their own growth.

That, precisely, was what made Senju Hashirama's Wood Release so terrifying—its ability to absorb life and chakra for itself.

Kyoichi's own Wood Release lacked that trait. His jutsu channeled sage chakra to make wood and vines tougher and more responsive, but they didn't have the autonomous vitality of Hashirama's creations.

The trees born from Hashirama's cells did.

Fortunately, Kyoichi wasn't using ordinary ninjutsu to control them. He guided and reshaped them with Wood Release chakra of similar nature, forcing them into the form he desired.

If he'd let them grow freely…

They might've filled the entire research complex—maybe even swallowed the whole mountain, the Hokage Rock included.

But under deliberate control, the chakra wasn't wasted on wild growth. Instead, it reinforced the structure of the wood.

The timber, once ordinary, grew denser—unyielding as iron and stone, though outwardly unchanged.

And that still wasn't its limit.

Kyoichi continued compressing its power.

Orochimaru watched closely. Though he couldn't see the inside, his sensory perception told him what was happening—the chakra within the wood was compressing and grinding against itself, waves of power surging through the structure.

Within moments, the tree's essence of life itself was evolving.

"I'll take the segment I captured earlier," Kyoichi said.

"Understood."

Orochimaru wasted no time. With an unsealing jutsu, he retrieved a fragment of the Gedo Statue.

A deep, resonant hum filled the room—

"Gu—raaaang—"

It was one of the Gedo Statue's fingers.

Madara could never have imagined this. He must have thought Kyoichi only wanted the statue to track him down.

Not that it mattered much.

Even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have been too upset.

The Gedo Statue, for all its importance, was merely a vessel for tailed beast chakra. Whether it was missing a finger or two didn't make much difference.

So long as it worked, it worked.

Kyoichi embedded the finger into the trunk of the tree.

Orochimaru's tongue flicked across his lips—this was the critical step.

If this piece of the Gedo Statue could merge with the tree created from Hashirama's cells, then they would, in essence, be creating a wooden mock-up of the Gedo Statue.

And if it could be classified as a tree...

Then the origins of the real Gedo Statue warranted serious thought.

After all, there weren't many famous trees in shinobi history. While much about the era of the Sage of Six Paths had been lost, fragments of knowledge survived—through the tailed beasts, and through a few ancients who had lived long enough to remember.

The Three Great Sages, for example.

Orochimaru's mind was already running ahead—perhaps by cross-referencing these old beings and their secrets, he could deduce what the nine-tailed beasts truly formed when united.

He was so lost in thought that he almost missed the change before him.

The tree, born from the serpent, was now fusing with the fragment of the statue. Its structure began shifting, its texture transforming to match the demonic wood.

But…

It didn't fully change.

"What's wrong?" Orochimaru asked. "It still feels like it has potential—it could grow stronger, that segment especially…"

He could sense it—the finger still brimmed with vitality. If it continued to absorb and transform, this mock God Tree could become even more powerful.

But Kyoichi halted it instead, cutting the piece away with a blade of highly condensed Sage Chakra.

"Getting too close isn't a good idea," he said simply.

Orochimaru paused, then nodded slightly, beginning to grasp Kyoichi's concern.

"You're worried Madara has some kind of failsafe?"

"Not just Madara."

Kyoichi shot him a look—half doubtful, half exasperated. He didn't buy that Orochimaru's instincts stopped there. The bastard clearly just wanted to test the limits while pretending ignorance.

"I swear…" Kyoichi muttered. "Don't push your luck, Orochimaru. Think about what we just went through—if you pull another stunt like that, Tsunade will take both your hands off."

He sighed deeply.

He understood Orochimaru's motives all too well. The man's curiosity was bottomless; of course he wanted to know whether a creation born from Hashirama's cells could rival the Gedo Statue.

But Orochimaru didn't fully comprehend the danger.

If the replica came too close to the original… what if it turned on them?

Easy for Orochimaru to be fearless—he wasn't the one at risk of having his heart ripped out.

Kyoichi was!

So who was really getting their heart gouged here?

He formed a series of seals, steadily suppressing the creation's chakra until it stabilized. Any further growth and the entire research facility would've been overrun.

And besides—

He still couldn't be sure just how closely this thing resembled the real God Tree.