Chapter 46: Pavlov's Dog
"Teacher, who is that girl in the cell?"
Kenichi Amamiya looked at Orochimaru with a strange expression as he asked.
"Those supplies were sent over by Root. We did leave Konoha in a bit of a rush," Orochimaru replied casually. He was focused on the pork cutlet rice bowl in front of him, which Kenichi had cooked.
Out here was nothing like the Hidden Leaf Village. Back in Konoha, if Orochimaru wanted to eat, he could walk into almost any restaurant he liked. Many shop owners would probably have offered discounts just to flatter one of the Legendary Sannin.
But now that he had defected, things were different. If they wanted to eat, they had to cook for themselves.
After tasting Orochimaru's cooking once, Kenichi had decisively taken over kitchen duty and never looked back.
Kenichi nodded slightly.
So even after defecting, teacher still maintains some kind of connection with Root.
That, he had to admit, was perfectly in character.
His thoughts drifted back to another room he had visited earlier. There was someone in there who looked very strange but whom Orochimaru valued highly.
And down in the underground cell, he had just seen an all too familiar face: the female ninja from the squad he had captured previously.
She had been sent here as well. Compared to the others, her treatment was clearly better. At least she was fed properly, while the rest barely got enough to live.
That alone made Kenichi even more certain of his guess.
Teacher is planning to use that girl as his next vessel.
Kenichi ate a few more mouthfuls of rice, then set his chopsticks down.
"Teacher, I'm done eating," he said.
Without waiting for a response, he stood up and left. On the surface, he was just going to collect the dishes and utensils used by the prisoners.
But that was not the real reason he was so proactive.
"The human brain is a fascinating thing," Kenichi murmured to himself as he descended the dim stairwell. "Memories are stored there, and the formation of subconscious reactions and habits is closely tied to it as well."
He was in the middle of conducting a very particular kind of experiment.
"Hey, did you finish your meal today?"
Kenichi placed his hand gently on the head of the female ninja in front of him and smiled.
At the same time, lightning nature chakra gathered in his palm and surged into the body of the imprisoned kunoichi, Yuki. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and she stared at Kenichi in terror.
When she had first met these two, she had thought they were both insane. Especially the boy in front of her. He was young, yet his methods were terrifying, like something a demon would dream up.
"I finished eating," Yuki replied, lowering her head, her entire body quivering.
She knew very well that if she failed to answer his questions properly, she would be punished.
Being treated like this day after day had carved a deep, instinctive fear of Kenichi into her bones.
Seeing Yuki trembling, Kenichi's lips curved slightly.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
He had once read about a famous scientific experiment: Pavlov's dog.
It was a very interesting study. After a period of regular conditioning, living creatures would show specific reactions to certain repeated stimuli.
For example, if you always turned on a light and rang a bell before feeding a dog, then after a while, the moment the light turned on and the bell rang, the dog would drool even if there was no food.
It became an instinct, something the dog could no longer consciously control.
This was known as a conditioned reflex.
Souls existed in this world, so it was hard to say whether memory was entirely stored in the brain, but Kenichi was content to test it.
If the experiment worked, that would be perfect. If it did not, it was no great loss.
The only real drawback was that this kind of conditioning needed to be repeated over a long period of time before it took firm root.
Just imagining the day when he could place his hand on his teacher's head and make Orochimaru shudder out of fear filled Kenichi with a dark, almost vindictive sense of accomplishment
Of course, that would be incredibly dangerous.
But fortunately, he still had plenty of time to prepare.
After finishing with Yuki's cell, Kenichi went to the other rooms to collect dishes and utensils. Those prisoners did not receive the same "special treatment."
Orochimaru's orders for them were simple: keep them alive.
On that point, Kenichi fully agreed.
"Even the best cook can't make a meal without rice," he clicked his tongue as he worked.
Ever since leaving home, every little thing required money.
If it were not for the valuables he had looted during the Nine Tails' attack, he would probably already be bankrupt.
Under those conditions, wasting resources to improve the prisoners' quality of life was clearly not something he was interested in.
Once he had cleared the last of the plates, Kenichi returned to the floor where he and his teacher lived and conducted their experiments.
Orochimaru had already finished eating and was now leisurely drinking tea.
Kenichi was not surprised. His teacher really was fond of tea. He drank it every single day. Kenichi had no idea when that habit had started, only that it was now firmly established.
"Kenichi, do you know about the Land of Rain?"
Orochimaru suddenly spoke, breaking the quiet.
Kenichi froze for a moment and then nodded.
"Of course."
He knew not only of the Land of Rain, but also how dangerous it currently was.
Akatsuki was there.
By now, Yahiko should already be dead. At least, that was how things were supposed to go.
But the timeline of this world was a mess to begin with, and Kenichi could not be completely certain.
"I plan to build my own power in this chaotic ninja world," Orochimaru said calmly. "There seems to be some kind of change in the Land of Rain. Go and investigate."
"Yes, teacher."
Kenichi accepted the order without hesitation.
Being able to leave the base for a while was, in his eyes, a stroke of good fortune.
The only pity was that Yuki's "training" would be interrupted for the duration.
That thought made him pause.
Had teacher realized what he was doing to Yuki and was sending him away because of it?
Fortunately, he knew that ninja were often sent out on missions anyway, so he had been careful to intensify Yuki's conditioning each day.
"Then I will head out now, teacher," Kenichi said, after quickly packing his things.
Going to the Land of Rain and eventually making contact with Akatsuki was unavoidable.
It was only a matter of time.
He had originally planned to transplant Obito's eye before that, but now it seemed better to delay it. He had no idea whether Obito was currently active within Akatsuki. If Obito saw that eye in his socket, the situation would become extremely troublesome.
Fortunately, his research was nearly complete.
He would soon be able to obtain a three tomoe Sharingan.
The only remaining question was whether that three tomoe Sharingan would remain controllable once awakened. The odds, in his estimation, were very high.
After watching his disciple leave the base, Orochimaru quietly shut the door.
He then activated multiple protective barriers and sealing arrays around the laboratory.
It was time to test a new ninjutsu.
The previous battles against Jiraiya and Hiruzen Sarutobi had not been easy victories. He had paid for them with injuries of his own.
Now was the perfect moment to verify the power of the Reanimation Jutsu.
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