Two days later, late at night, silence reigned supreme. In a dark forest, dozens of miles away from Konoha, the night sky appeared especially boundless, and the bright moon hung high like a silver plate in the cloudless sky.
The stars twinkled quietly in the distance but cautiously faded farther deep into the space. The bone-chilling northern wind whistled through the forest, blowing the bare trees as they rattled, making eerie sounds.
Deep in the dark forest, a near boneless figure emerged from a hole in a big tree. The person was wearing a white kimono, and his face was not just pale but bloodless. His snake-like eyes emitted a dangerous radiance.
His pale hue was incompatible with the darkness but the night’s gloominess fused with his aura. This was Orochimaru, one of the three Konoha sannin that were known not only to be the strongest ninjas but also Sarutobi Hiruzen’s disciples.
Orochimaru left the tree and leisurely walked into the quiet and dark forest. After about ten minutes, he returned with a test tube in his hand. Just now, he had gone to a certain place to get some fresh experimental materials.
In the test tube, there was a pair of eyes soaked in a special solution. There was still some bloodstain around the eyeballs that floated in the solution. The pupils were staring in one direction, giving the impression that the eyes could see through them.
Orochimaru looked at the eyeballs in the test tube while walking, and he couldn’t help licking his lips with a satisfied smile on his face.
Coo, coo~ Suddenly, Orochimaru raised his head and vigilantly looked around. He didn’t notice anything unusual. The cold wind was blowing, making the woods howl in pain, cutting a rather scary picture.
Under the desolate moonlight, the forest seemed to give birth to countless concealed shadows. From the distance, it looked like the netherworld’s ghost flames were multiplying endlessly.
Orochimaru put the test tube into his ninja bag with a frown and whispered, “Am I too high-strung because the recent experiments are too intense?” Although he thought this, Orochimaru, who had a very cautious personality, stood in the same place for a long time.
He secretly used ninjutsu, mobilizing countless small snakes to find the enemies that might be hidden in the forest.
Rustle, rustle, rustle… Small snakes of various colors searched all over. Their eyes emitted green radiance, and from time to time, they would stick out their long tongues, searching for any life presence in the vicinity.
Under the whistling wind, the sounds of these snakes crawling could only be heard vaguely. Orochimaru was well aware that this experiment could not be exposed. Especially, since he had already offended Hiruzen.
Perhaps, an Anbu member sent by the Hokage was observing him secretly from somewhere.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths… Time passed bit by bit, and the snakes had already crawled everywhere they could. Now, there were different kinds of poisonous snakes all over the place.
Even the bare branches of the trees were covered with coiled shadows. In addition, birds’ cries could be heard from time to time, which seemed to be the last struggle for life, and it also seemed to be a cry for help before succumbing.
There was a faint smell of blood in the air. Orochimaru had ordered the snakes to hunt down all animals around this place, just in case. This was to prevent anyone from using ninja beasts to secretly observe him.
After a while, Orochimaru was finally convinced there were no traces of other living creatures around. Only then, did he feel relieved enough to walk towards the experiment base’s entrance.
Walking over to the tree hole he had come out from, Orochimaru extended his hand very cautiously. His arm wriggled, and a snake head came out of it, which probed inside the tree hole. After ensuring nothing was amiss, Orochimaru entered it.
The tree hole was no less than seven or eight meters deep. Orochimaru landed at the bottom. There was a hard cliff around, and only in the front, there was a dark passage. The sannin walked into it with ease and then headed down following stone steps.
After walking for dozens of meters, he arrived at a well-lit place. This was Orochimaru’s number one laboratory that stored the remains of various animals, as well as several medicinal materials and reagents.
But that was just a cover. Orochimaru came to the corner of the room, placed his hand on a specific area of the cliff, and slightly pushed it. The area sunk in and next to him, a stone gate slowly opened.
Orochimaru walked through and pressed the switch beside the stone gate, closing it behind him. Immediately afterward, he impatiently took out the test tube from his bag.
Before walking to the experiment table, he carefully took out the eyeballs in the tube with tweezers and put them into a container. Suddenly, Orochimaru sensed something. He frowned and turned around abruptly, inspecting carefully.
This lab was much larger than the one outside. There were human bodies sealed in containers, ninjutsu scrolls he developed on the bookshelves, and also a dissected corpse lying on an operating table in the middle.
In a specific corner, cells and limbs of various people with different bloodline limits were stored in a special freezing solution. There was also a bed and a chair in the innermost part of the laboratory for his use when he wanted to rest.
From Orochimaru’s position, the entire laboratory could be seen at a glance. There was no one else here but the warning signs in his heart were getting stronger by the second.
It originated from a snake’s instinct as if he was being watched by a powerful hunter. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t dare act rashly. He repeatedly observed everything in the laboratory. After all, there were several mysterious ninjutsu in the Ninja World. Perhaps, someone had certain hidden ninjutsu that could dodge perception and hide in unexpected places.
But if anyone had entered before him, then it was impossible for him to not move anything in the lab. Orochimaru carefully observed every inch of his laboratory and compared it with his memories before he left.
Time slowly passed.
“It’s precisely the same. The entire laboratory has not changed from the time I left. Could it be my misconception? Or did I return too quickly and the intruder had no time to move things…. No, it must be my misconception. If someone was truly hiding here, I would’ve already found him.”
Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips. With a strange smile on his face, he muttered, “Interesting…” He slowly stepped forward and came to a container where a human body was stored. A row of clear glass containers was neatly arranged.
Orochimaru slowly moved his head closer to the container and carefully observed the human specimen soaked in the special liquid. There was a man with his eyes closed in this container. It looked like he would open his eyes any second.
His skin was very pale because his blood was drained and a special fresh-keeping solvent was injected into his body. His hair was floating in the liquid, and his face looked awful. It was obvious he was not too happy to die.
“Well, this has no issue. There is no life activity, and there is also no trace of the Transformation Technique.”
Orochimaru placed his hand on the container and stroked it as if he was caressing something he loved dearly. The expression on his face was very gentle but in this environment, there was no warm feeling. It just looked weird.
After confirming there was nothing wrong, he lowered his eyes and his expression returned to normal. He then walked to the next container to observe it.
No problem. This one is also fine…
