Chapter 67: A Man Who Is Wealth in Himself
"Oh, it's you, Kenichi."
His teacher lifted a hand and waved calmly, as if holding an entire arm in the laboratory was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Kenichi did not scream. He did not flinch. This scene was perfectly normal.
In fact, in this experimental base, you would not be surprised to see almost any body part lying around. But if you ever saw his teacher cooking, that would be truly terrifying.
With a single glance at the arm, Kenichi had a rough idea what was going on.
Even if they had defected from Konoha, there was still a certain powerful figure in the village who occasionally needed their help.
"Teacher, is that a request from the Third Hokage?" Kenichi asked as he casually dropped a strip of Zetsu's skin into a test tube to soak.
Before extracting genes, it needed to be treated like this for a while. It made the follow up extraction smoother.
"Yes." Orochimaru checked the compatibility of the left arm, then injected something into it with practiced precision. "The Third Hokage wants to replace his arm with a better one."
Kenichi clicked his tongue.
Had the Third Hokage not already replaced his arm with something suitable? Why replace it again so soon? There should not be an irreversible rejection reaction in such a short time.
Still, Hiruzen truly was shameless. On one hand, he issued arrest warrants for Kenichi and Orochimaru. On the other, he still came asking for help.
And now he was knocking again.
"Teacher, how is the village doing now?" Kenichi could not help asking. "It looks like Konoha and Kumogakure might be heading toward war again."
Konoha had endured disaster after disaster. Naruto Uzumaki, the so called savior of the future, had already been born, but right now he was still a baby. He understood nothing and could do nothing.
And with Kenichi's interference, the future was no longer guaranteed. Some small points might remain unchanged, but the overall direction was already uncertain.
Sooner or later, the incident with Hinata would likely still happen. Kumogakure would try to force the issue, and Hizashi Hyuga would end up taking the blame.
"It's still peaceful and prosperous," Orochimaru said, sounding indifferent. "But Danzo and the Third Hokage seem to have improved their relationship quite a bit."
He did not care about corrupt Konoha. If cooperation with the village was not useful to him, he would not bother with it at all.
"Is the Third Hokage still smoking?" Kenichi walked closer and casually supported the man's left hand while he spoke. "What does his health report look like?"
At the mention of that, Orochimaru's expression brightened noticeably, as if he had finally found something pleasant in this entire arrangement.
"The Third Hokage has been coughing a lot lately," Orochimaru said slowly. "But because he smokes so much, no one finds it strange."
Kenichi nodded.
Both Hiruzen and Asuma were heavy smokers. If Orochimaru had stayed in the village longer, Asuma probably would have become a target sooner or later.
"That's good." Kenichi smiled. "Tsunade isn't in Konoha, so she probably won't notice anything unusual for a while."
If Tsunade were still in the village, it could get troublesome.
But she was gone. She had left long ago, with no clear news, and no sign of returning.
"How did things go after you joined Akatsuki?" Orochimaru asked, shaking his head slightly.
He could not use that arm after all. There were still problems.
Did he really have to use the other candidate he found before? That body was too special. Orochimaru was reluctant to hand it over to Hiruzen.
"The organization recruited a new member," Kenichi said. "Gyoku, Sasori of the Red Sand from Sunagakure."
He gave a brief report on what happened at Akatsuki's base.
Of course, he also mentioned Gai (Zetsu) and the masked man, but he revealed nothing that would expose what he truly knew.
Right now, saying too much would only invite hostility from Zetsu and Obito. It was better to pretend ignorance and watch quietly.
"It seems that organization is taking an elite route," Orochimaru said.
As he spoke, he calmly burned the useless arm. It was worthless now.
Kenichi neither agreed nor argued. Akatsuki really did follow an elite route, and in the future its numbers would remain small.
He simply did not know who he would replace by joining.
Or perhaps no one would be replaced at all, and a new ring would appear later.
"Kenichi," Orochimaru said suddenly, his tone shifting. "Do you think rejection is something every living being experiences?"
Kenichi's expression turned serious at once.
"Teacher, most people experience rejection," Kenichi answered carefully. "But the world is vast. It's hard to say there aren't exceptions."
Rejection was nearly unavoidable. Even with high compatibility, it could still happen, which was why drugs existed to suppress it.
"So," Orochimaru continued, smiling faintly as he stared at his disciple, "if someone has absolutely no rejection even toward tissue from the opposite sex, how many ways can you think of to use them?"
Kenichi did not hesitate.
"Clone them first," he replied immediately. "If cloning fails, preserve the cells. Someone like that has immense value."
What did it mean to have absolutely no rejection?
To put it bluntly, cloning such a person would be mercy for the original. He would become the greatest wealth in the world.
And if one wanted to say it more clearly, the topic itself was dangerous. A person like that could become a forbidden existence, because the value of his body would tempt people into losing their humanity.
Of course, all of that depended on one premise: that his tissues truly caused no rejection when transplanted.
If it only meant something minor, the value dropped sharply.
Still, it would never be useless. After all, if every organ in the body could be replaced without consequence, the implications were enormous.
"Just as I thought." Orochimaru's smile widened with satisfaction.
Kenichi froze for a beat, then stared at his teacher in disbelief.
"Teacher… you mean…" His voice lifted despite himself. If it was what he thought, it was absurdly good.
"Yes." Orochimaru laughed, unrestrained, the excitement plain in his eyes. "I've obtained a very special test subject."
After Kenichi introduced the concept of rejection, Orochimaru had already concluded that almost all living beings suffered it, only differing in severity.
But now, someone had appeared who had no rejection reaction at all.
"Teacher, we need to start cloning research as soon as possible," Kenichi said, suddenly very serious.
A treasure like that had to be duplicated. Otherwise, how could they conduct research without fear?
If one accident killed the original, it would be an unforgivable loss.
"That will take time," Orochimaru said, shaking his head. "Cloning is not easy. It still needs refinement."
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