Chapter 220: Teacher's Charm Increased After a Bath
Erm…
Kenichi scratched at his cheek. To be honest, he had not expected his teacher to have just finished bathing.
Kenichi did not dare stare too hard. Not because he was daydreaming, but because he genuinely feared seeing something he was not supposed to see.
"Teacher, did you just take a bath?" he asked anyway, forcing himself to respond instead of standing there like an idiot.
He did not realize that, in his fluster, he had already said something similar earlier. Fortunately, Orochimaru did not seem to care. He simply placed the documents back on the table.
"Yes. I just returned from a mission," Orochimaru replied calmly.
He dried his golden hair without haste, using a combination of Wind Release and Fire Release to blow it dry while wiping it down.
Kenichi could not help lifting his head. The moment he did, his gaze met a pair of clear blue eyes.
Orochimaru was looking straight at him.
Kenichi paused, then quickly steadied his expression.
"Teacher, what's the maximum communication range of your phone right now?" Kenichi changed the topic on instinct. If he kept focusing on Orochimaru's face, he admitted the pressure was getting a little too heavy.
As he spoke, he subtly shifted his stance, moving a little farther away. He had been too close a moment ago. Close enough that he could even catch a faint, clean fragrance on Orochimaru and find himself wondering what kind of soap he used.
"Isn't it written in the document?" Orochimaru frowned slightly, but still answered in an even tone. "The maximum stable distance is about three thousand meters. Beyond that, you need a relay station as a transfer point, otherwise call quality drops."
Kenichi caught a trace of dissatisfaction in his teacher's voice.
Orochimaru was still Orochimaru. Even in a different body, his nature had not changed at all, especially when it came to experiments and science.
"Ahem." Kenichi coughed lightly. Since his attempt at diversion had run into a wall, he switched to a new one. "Actually, Teacher, I went out on a mission earlier and obtained something… very unusual."
"What?" Orochimaru's interest rose immediately.
That earlier glance had probably meant he saw through Kenichi's little topic change. Still, as long as Orochimaru did not dwell on it, it was fine.
Kenichi also knew that if what he showed next failed to satisfy his teacher, Orochimaru would absolutely remember it, and the consequences might be worse than before.
"It's like this. Earlier, I accepted a mission on the leader's orders. The target was a ninja village in the Land of Bears. But while I was there, I unexpectedly discovered…" Kenichi began recounting everything.
At first, Orochimaru continued drying his hair casually. But as he listened, his attention sharpened. He sat down beside Kenichi, listening without interrupting.
Since it had only been a day's worth of events, there was not much room to drag it out. Kenichi finished quickly.
"So you're saying," Orochimaru said, sitting straighter, "that you found something in Hoshigakure that lets ordinary people who aren't ninja train into ninja. And it can even allow them to fly?"
He was clearly interested.
Orochimaru had researched chakra for a long time. It could be said chakra was essential to ninja, yet very few ever bothered to study its origin.
People treated chakra the way ordinary people treated air. They used it every day and rarely asked where it came from.
But Orochimaru was determined to exhaust every ninjutsu in this world. Naturally, he had developed a strong interest in the source of chakra itself.
No matter how he investigated, the only conclusion he could reach was that chakra seemed to come from an even more ancient era.
When the Sage of Six Paths first appeared, he had already mastered ninjutsu. Later, he taught others, established Ninshū, and brought the profession of ninja into the world.
But what about before the Sage of Six Paths?
The Sage never spoke of it. Or perhaps no one ever thought to ask why chakra existed in the first place. Records simply said chakra was probably brought into this world by the Sage of Six Paths.
Orochimaru had always been skeptical of that.
It was hard to believe a power like chakra, now spread through nearly the entire ninja world, had been "brought" by a single person. Every ninja who trained had chakra. One ninja might not have much, but gathered across the entire world, it became a staggering amount.
And then there were the Tailed Beasts, whose chakra seemed endless.
Could that vast quantity truly have come from one Sage of Six Paths?
Unlikely.
If one person had really accomplished that, then calling him the Sage of Six Paths would be too small. He might as well be called a god.
But Orochimaru had never found enough proof to support that suspicion, so he could only set it aside.
He did not expect to hear something this astonishing from his disciple now.
"Yes, Teacher." Kenichi nodded. "I also captured a live one. She seems to be one of the strongest in Hoshigakure."
"The strongest?" Orochimaru's interest deepened. "How would you rate her strength?"
Kenichi hesitated for a moment. "Probably around the level of those Konoha ninja who are about to be promoted to jōnin."
The other side was not quite jōnin level. The Peacock Method was special, but the combat power it provided was not that high.
"Elite chūnin," Orochimaru murmured, narrowing his eyes.
The "elite chūnin" designation was a Konoha classification. Stronger than ordinary chūnin, but still a step short of jōnin, so they were given that title.
"Why do you think people in Hoshigakure die while training that Peacock Method?" Orochimaru asked.
Since Kenichi had brought it up, he must have formed some conclusions. Orochimaru wanted to hear his disciple's reasoning.
"Teacher, I believe the meteorite contains some special power." Kenichi spoke carefully. "It can give ordinary people the qualification to become ninja, but it also comes with drawbacks. If their physique is not suited for it, it leads to crippling effects and even death."
Of course, Kenichi could not directly say the meteorite was radioactive, and that radiation was causing both the deaths and the abnormal transformation that let ordinary people become ninja.
The ninja world had no concept of radioactivity or radiation. In terms of science, it was often confused and inconsistent in application and invention.
More importantly, detecting that kind of thing was not simple, and the ninja world did not have the required machines. Verifying it would involve complicated steps and procedures.
"Exactly." Orochimaru nodded. Kenichi's idea aligned with his own. "So where is this meteorite?"
Hoshigakure's most important asset was clearly the meteorite itself. A treasure that could turn ordinary people into ninja.
Even Orochimaru found it tempting.
"I have it with me, Teacher." Kenichi took out a sealing scroll. "Do you want to examine it?"
Normally, he would never carry something like this around. Kenichi preferred to keep dangerous objects locked down.
But since he had come to see Orochimaru, he had brought it along.
"Take it out and let me see." Orochimaru nodded at once, then glanced down at the towel around his body and waved a hand. "Wait. I'll change first."
Better to avoid trouble later.
After a short wait, Orochimaru returned in clean clothes and led Kenichi to a door marked with a biohazard symbol.
"Change into a lab coat," Orochimaru instructed calmly, already putting on a white coat himself. He followed it with a mask, protective eyewear, and a full set of protective gear. "Then take it out. It needs to be disinfected afterward."
Kenichi was not surprised. He followed, changed, and retrieved his golden box containing the highly dangerous Star.
A lab coat was not something to wear casually. Generally, only medical personnel and researchers wore them. Kenichi did not know the exact situation in medicine, but he knew laboratory rules well.
In many labs, the procedure for putting on and taking off coats was strict. Some even required the coat to be destroyed upon leaving, depending on contamination risk.
Lab coats were also not allowed outside the laboratory.
Kenichi had once seen someone wearing a lab coat while filming a video in a supermarket, and it had nearly made him laugh.
Those idiots clearly did not understand laboratory rules.
After changing, Kenichi followed Orochimaru inside. Disinfectant was sprayed immediately, followed by another round of disinfection procedures, before they finally entered the lab.
"Teacher, this is it." Kenichi set the box down and spoke steadily. "If you observe carefully after opening it, you'll notice cells near the body surface start showing abnormalities. I think our protection level might need to be increased."
"Open it first." Orochimaru's gaze flicked over the box. "Why did you use gold?"
Kenichi briefly explained, "Because I found that using gold for the box significantly slows the rate of cellular abnormalities on the body surface."
If he elaborated fully, just explaining why gold could isolate it would turn into a dissertation tens of thousands of words long.
Orochimaru nodded.
Kenichi opened the box and removed the Meteorite.
The instant it was exposed, Orochimaru felt something subtle and abnormal.
A faint burning sensation on the surface of his body.
Then it began pressing inward.
Only after circulating chakra through his body did the sensation ease slightly, and only slightly.
Kenichi himself felt extremely uncomfortable. He almost wanted to step out immediately and send a Shadow Clone in instead.
"This is interesting," Orochimaru said, eyes focused. "I can feel something invisible affecting my body."
He pressed a finger against it.
The burning sensation grew stronger.
When he moved a little farther away, it weakened significantly.
It was subtle enough that, without Kenichi's warning to pay attention to cellular changes, Orochimaru might not have noticed it so easily.
"If we made protective suits out of gold…" Orochimaru toyed with the box. "No. That would restrict movement."
With the box, the sensation weakened drastically, almost becoming imperceptible.
"Teacher, I think it's best to have our Shadow Clones do the research," Kenichi said firmly. "I tested it before. Shadow Clones aren't affected."
"Shadow Clones have limitations in experiments," Orochimaru replied, unfazed. "You need constant adjustments, new instructions, new iterations. That wastes time."
He did not seem to mind the risk at all. If this body developed problems, he could simply switch to another.
Kenichi felt a headache coming on, but Orochimaru was not wrong. Kenichi usually assigned simple, repetitive work to Shadow Clones, like integrating thermobaric explosives with chakra, or managing rice improvement and cultivation.
He had not expected them to go off and try making hydrofluoric acid on their own, either.
Still, Kenichi did not back down.
"But I still think necessary protection is required, Teacher."
"Agreed." Orochimaru nodded. "Let me research it first. I'll find a way to solve the protection issue, then we can begin proper experiments."
.....
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