Chapter 568: Performing a Minor Surgery on Orochimaru
"What exactly is this?"
Amado stared at the turtle-shaped object in front of him, confusion flickering in his eyes.
After reaching an agreement with Kenichi, Amado had officially joined his research project.
Then he saw the object Kenichi wanted him to study.
A turtle.
That left Amado somewhat bewildered.
He was a scientist, not a biologist.
Researching a strange living creature was not exactly within his usual field.
"This thing is an extremely advanced instrument."
Kenichi shrugged.
"So advanced that even after getting my hands on it, I haven't dared to mess with it recklessly."
He looked at the time machine without revealing its true purpose.
The implications were simply too great.
Even though Amado's hope of resurrecting his daughter now rested entirely on Kenichi, there was no guarantee that Amado would remain rational after learning this machine could travel through time.
What if he immediately began thinking about returning to the past and changing his daughter's fate directly?
Because of that, Kenichi merely told him that the device was extraordinarily advanced.
He said nothing about what it was actually capable of doing.
"Can I try taking it apart?" Amado asked.
Kenichi immediately shook his head.
"No."
He did not even dare dismantle the machine himself.
There was no chance he would allow Amado to do it.
If the machine were damaged beyond repair, Kenichi's only remaining option for returning to his original timeline might be contacting the Sage of Six Paths and asking whether another such device existed somewhere in this era.
But that created another problem.
A space-time paradox.
Would removing something from the past alter the future?
It was similar to the grandfather paradox discussed in his previous life.
Still, Kenichi suspected his actions would not affect his original timeline.
His presence here had already caused numerous changes, yet none of them seemed to influence the world he remembered.
It was almost as if he existed independently of this timeline.
Kenichi suspected that was precisely why the history of this world differed so much from the original Naruto storyline.
After leaving the time machine with Amado for preliminary analysis, Kenichi returned to the laboratory he was currently using.
Technically, it was a temporary laboratory Amado had assigned to him.
They were not in Konoha, and Kenichi had not built a proper research facility of his own here, so using Amado's equipment was the most convenient solution.
The moment he pushed open the door, Kenichi saw Orochimaru staring at him with a murderous expression.
Orochimaru had already regained consciousness.
Kenichi did not particularly care.
His teacher was confined inside a specially designed containment cell.
Kenichi had built it specifically for Orochimaru.
Inside, Orochimaru could not use any of his usual escape methods.
At the same time, the cell continuously drained his chakra.
That chakra was then redirected as an additional energy source for Kenichi's own chakra refinement and compression.
"Teacher, there's no need to look so tense."
Kenichi smiled.
Orochimaru's eyes became even colder.
Teacher?
What kind of student treated his teacher like this?
At this point, Orochimaru wanted nothing more than to kill Kenichi.
However, something about the situation bothered him even more.
Kenichi knew him far too well.
Not merely his commonly known abilities.
Kenichi had prepared countermeasures for techniques and escape methods that even Hiruzen did not know about.
Some of them were secrets that not even trusted subordinates such as Kabuto had been told.
Yet Kenichi knew everything.
That left Orochimaru deeply confused.
Had he somehow been trapped in a genjutsu?
Had Kenichi searched his memories and extracted all those secrets?
Was that the reason he seemed to know Orochimaru better than almost anyone alive?
"Why do you keep calling me Teacher?"
Orochimaru finally could not tolerate it anymore.
"Do I know you?"
He genuinely could not understand it.
Why did this strange man insist on addressing him as though they shared a master-disciple relationship?
"You really are my teacher."
Kenichi smiled.
But he offered no further explanation.
Orochimaru was far too intelligent.
If Kenichi revealed too much, Orochimaru might immediately connect several clues and arrive at conclusions Kenichi did not want him to reach.
That would only create more trouble.
So Kenichi did not bother explaining.
Nor did he give Orochimaru another opportunity to continue questioning him.
His Mangekyo Sharingan opened.
A technique activated.
Orochimaru's entire body trembled violently.
Then his mouth opened involuntarily.
His soul was forced out of the host body.
Orochimaru's soul roared in fury.
However, it could neither return to the body nor move freely.
Kenichi studied the soul floating before him with obvious interest.
Orochimaru's soul was certainly unusual.
Overall, however, it still remained within what Kenichi considered a relatively normal state.
Kenichi raised one hand.
A strange form of chakra gathered in his palm.
The technique resembled the Mystical Palm Technique, but it was not the same.
Kenichi had developed it himself after studying the unique characteristics of souls.
This chakra could directly interact with spiritual matter.
More importantly, it could reshape it.
Kenichi extended his hand.
The chakra condensed into an extremely fine blade.
Then he performed a simple minor operation on Orochimaru's soul.
He carefully removed a small portion of spiritual energy and transferred the excess mass to another location within the soul structure.
Only after completing the adjustment did Kenichi stop.
He looked over his work with satisfaction.
Orochimaru's expression, meanwhile, had become somewhat vacant.
Naturally, Orochimaru had felt the changes occurring within his soul.
What he could not understand was why Kenichi had done such a thing.
[Does the soul influence the body, and can changes in the body influence the soul in return? This is a question worth investigating.]
Kenichi recorded the observation in his experimental log.
Then he returned Orochimaru's soul to the host body.
He intended to monitor the effects slowly.
There was no need to rush.
The time machine had not been fully understood yet anyway.
He still needed to continue researching that device and find a method of returning home.
"Teacher, get some rest."
Kenichi lightly patted Orochimaru's shoulder after his soul settled back into the body.
Then he left the room with a quiet chuckle.
Soul research was extremely time consuming.
Kenichi intended to proceed gradually.
His most important objective remained the same.
Understand the time machine.
Then go home.
Elsewhere, inside the Hyuga Clan compound, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Hikari were sitting together and chatting.
At some point, their conversation had shifted toward Kenichi.
"Sister Hikari, how did you meet my big brother?"
Naruto asked curiously.
"Hehe. Back then, I asked him a lot of questions."
Hikari smiled.
Then she began embellishing the story.
Kenichi himself could no longer remember how many questions Hikari had asked him after they first met.
She had practically treated him as a walking encyclopedia of the Shinobi World.
Question after question had come without pause.
The experience had nearly driven him crazy.
Fortunately, Kenichi had been able to answer most of them.
The current condition of the Shinobi World.
The different countries.
Basic knowledge about hidden villages.
Common customs.
Countless little things Hikari had never encountered before.
After absorbing that enormous amount of new information from Kenichi, Hikari had gradually developed an entirely new understanding of the modern Shinobi World.
"Don't you hate the person who destroyed the Uchiha Clan?"
In the memory Hikari was recounting, Kenichi sat on a stone beside her.
Hikari sat next to him, and both of their feet swung idly above the ground.
"I don't hate them."
Hikari's expression briefly became cold.
"I... hated my clansmen."
But the coldness quickly disappeared.
Perhaps hearing that the Uchiha Clan had already been wiped out had eased something inside her.
Kenichi scratched his head.
This underground facility had clearly belonged to the Uchiha Clan.
The map had specifically marked the location of the prison.
So perhaps Hikari had originally been imprisoned and sealed by her own clansmen.
However, she had revealed far too little information for Kenichi to confirm that theory.
"My little brother and Sasuke."
Kenichi glanced toward Naruto and Sasuke.
The two boys were still standing nearby.
Their torches had nearly burned out, yet the pair continued performing their duties as two very dedicated human street lamps.
"Are you friends with Sasuke?"
Hikari tilted her head and looked curiously at Kenichi.
"Yes."
Kenichi nodded.
"Sasuke is my disciple."
Strictly speaking, Sasuke had not started out as Kenichi's disciple.
But by this point, that description was accurate.
Hikari nodded.
Then she rested her chin in her hands and looked toward Naruto and Sasuke.
When she studied Sasuke, she could see traces of the Uchiha Clan she remembered.
The Uchiha had generally been filled with attractive men and women.
It had actually been uncommon to find a clansman who looked especially plain.
That resemblance put Hikari in a worse mood.
Kenichi was still waiting for her to respond when a low rumbling sound suddenly came from beside him.
He froze.
Then he turned.
Hikari's face had turned bright red.
She covered her stomach with both hands and glared at him with a mixture of embarrassment and irritation.
"Ahem."
Kenichi immediately looked away.
"I didn't hear anything."
Was Hikari actually a tsundere?
Her stomach had only growled.
It was hardly a serious matter.
"Um... it's almost afternoon anyway."
Kenichi remembered the supplies he had brought.
"Want to eat something together?"
Whenever Kenichi traveled outside, he normally carried enough ingredients to prepare a meal.
Bento boxes were common throughout the Shinobi World.
But in Kenichi's opinion, they simply were not good enough.
Unless he was dealing with an especially inconvenient mission, he preferred bringing fresh ingredients and cooking for himself.
Even on simple assignments like finding a cat, he often did the same.
Cooking had become one of his hobbies.
"Hmph."
Hikari's reply was barely louder than a mosquito.
"Then... I suppose we can eat something."
Kenichi glanced toward Naruto and Sasuke.
"What about my little brother and the others?"
Hikari gave him a look.
Then, without any visible movement from her, Naruto and Sasuke suddenly stumbled and collapsed onto the ground.
They had been forced to stand rigidly for so long that when the genjutsu finally released them, their legs could barely support them.
"Hurry up and cook."
Hikari brushed her hair aside.
Then she hopped back onto the stone and sat down.
Back in the present, Naruto scratched his head.
"Why does that story feel wrong?"
He knew his big brother extremely well.
"That doesn't sound like big brother's personality at all."
And based on what Naruto remembered from that day, Kenichi had never looked like anything unusual was happening.
"I think so too."
Sasuke nodded.
"Kenichi-sensei is incredibly strong. Even if it was Sister Hikari, I don't think she could overpower him."
So far, Sasuke had never encountered any ninja he believed was stronger than Kenichi.
He had even begun suspecting that the Third Hokage might not be Kenichi's equal.
Hinata gave a small nod.
After spending so much time around Naruto recently, she had gradually become less nervous.
At the very least, simply speaking in front of him no longer made her immediately faint.
Hikari curled her lips.
As expected.
That version of the story had failed to convince Naruto, Sasuke, or Hinata.
She rested her chin on her hands and looked at the three cheerful younger ninja in front of her.
"By the way, are all of you ready for the Chunin Exams?"
Hikari decided to change the subject.
Naruto and Sasuke immediately nodded with absolute confidence.
Hinata hesitated for a moment before nodding as well.
Before leaving, Kenichi had specifically pulled Hinata aside and given her some advice.
"Hinata, once the Chunin Exams begin, just activate Sage Mode."
Kenichi had smiled pleasantly.
"If someone refuses to accept your strength, punch them once."
"If they still refuse to accept it, punch them ten times."
"Keep beating them until they're convinced."
Hinata remembered every word.
Although she still felt somewhat embarrassed about fighting so aggressively, she intended to do her best.
"That sounds fun."
Hikari sighed helplessly.
"I want to participate in the Chunin Exams too."
Unfortunately, she was not officially a genin.
That meant she could not enter.
Still, when she looked at Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, Hikari could not help feeling that none of them remotely matched what an ordinary genin should be capable of.
Meanwhile, inside Amado's laboratory, Kenichi and Amado continued examining the time machine.
"This really is strange."
Amado studied the turtle-shaped device carefully.
"What exactly is this thing?"
After completing several preliminary tests, Amado had reached essentially the same conclusion as Kenichi.
The object appeared to be alive.
Yet it was also clearly a mechanical construct.
It retained several characteristics of a biological organism while simultaneously containing sophisticated artificial components.
"I'm just as curious as you are."
Kenichi examined it alongside him.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, Mr. Amado, I need you to find two genin for me."
Amado turned toward him.
Kenichi continued calmly.
"I'll use them to help resurrect your daughter."
Amado froze.
He stared at Kenichi in disbelief.
Kenichi's expression remained perfectly calm.
It was as though he had just mentioned something completely ordinary.
But Amado understood exactly how heavy those words were.
Even Kara, the organization that had previously tried to recruit him, had never dared to make such a direct promise.
Whenever they wanted Amado to complete research for them, they were incredibly efficient.
They might as well have created formal performance evaluations and deadlines.
Yet whenever Amado asked about resurrecting his daughter, he always received essentially the same response.
The time was not right.
Again and again.
"Can she really... be brought back?"
It was not the first time Kenichi had said it.
Even so, Amado still felt as though he were dreaming.
"It's not that difficult."
Kenichi waved his hand.
"Go find them."
For Kenichi, resurrecting one person truly was not an extraordinary challenge.
He had already done it several times before.
He did not currently possess the parasites he had previously used for controlling sacrifices.
But that was not much of a problem.
With the Mangekyo Sharingan, controlling two genin through genjutsu would be easy.
Once suitable sacrifices were prepared, resurrecting Amado's daughter would be simple.
"Okay."
Amado's voice trembled slightly.
"I... I'll go right now."
He hurried out of the laboratory, his steps so unsteady that he nearly stumbled.
....
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