Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Reclusive Researcher Orochimaru

Led by an administrative ninja, Mikaze Kato arrived at a surgery room in use. According to his escort, Orochimaru was currently performing an operation inside.

Orochimaru had already been informed by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, that his classmate Mikaze Kato would be joining the project to participate in the research on the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju’s cells.

Earlier today, upon arriving at the base, Orochimaru had received reports that Mikaze Kato had reached the facility and was presently speaking with Danzo Shimura. He instructed his subordinates to send Mikaze to the operating room as soon as he finished his business with Danzo.

In the sterilization room outside the operating theater, Mikaze underwent a series of intricate disinfection procedures with the staff’s assistance, then donned special outerwear.

Only then did he push open the heavy door and step into the operating room.

Contrary to his imagination—a mad scientist with blood-stained hair and an aura of evil, conducting some bizarre, cruel, and sinister human experiment—the scene before him was nothing like that.

Instead, the operating room was brightly lit. Six figures bustled around a surgical table, all wearing attire reminiscent of a hospital’s surgical gowns. Four of them were clustered tightly around the table, focused on the procedure, while two others attended to a variety of medical apparatus.

It bore none of the trappings of a sinister underground lair. If anything, it seemed more like an operating room at the Konoha Hospital, with doctors and nurses striving to save a life.

At the head of the surgery table stood a figure with long, straight black hair and skin so fair and flawless it would arouse envy and resentment among the kunoichi of the Leaf Village.

The moment he entered, Mikaze recognized Orochimaru at a glance.

Hearing the door open and close, Orochimaru, head bowed in concentration, glanced up toward the entrance. His yellow-brown, serpentine eyes found Mikaze.

“So it’s you, Mikaze. Welcome, welcome,” Orochimaru greeted in his usual cool, slightly hoarse voice. Despite his words, Mikaze detected no warmth or enthusiasm—at least, none he could discern.

He didn’t mind. He’d known Orochimaru for years; that was just how he spoke. If not for their shared history as classmates and their reasonably good relationship, Orochimaru might not even bother with a greeting. The fact that he said “welcome” at all was already something.

Before unrelated or unfamiliar personnel, Orochimaru could be even more aloof and cold.

“Orochimaru, it’s truly hard to meet you these days. Last time we were sending Jiraiya off, we invited you to the hot springs, but you didn’t come. You’re a real recluse. Among all the shut-ins in Konoha, I’d gladly crown you the king.”

Mikaze didn’t hesitate to voice his complaint openly.

“Didn’t you say you were going with Tsunade last time? When did it become Jiraiya? Have your interests shifted recently?” Orochimaru replied, his hands never pausing in their precise manipulation of surgical tools.

He seemed unbothered by Mikaze’s jab about being a shut-in. In fact, it was a rare occasion for Orochimaru to tease Mikaze in return—a sign, perhaps, that he was in a good mood upon seeing his old friend.

“Hey, hey! Don’t spout nonsense in front of everyone. You know perfectly well what my relationship with Tsunade is like. If she hears these rumors, she’ll either beat me up or you. Who do you think she’d choose now? Besides, this isn’t even the sort of thing you’d usually say.”

Mikaze replied as he walked over to the operating table, greeting the other staff along the way.

The others in the room, busy with their tasks, acknowledged him with a polite nod but didn’t show any interest in eavesdropping, even as two of Konoha’s most talked-about jonin exchanged what sounded like juicy gossip.

Their professionalism was impressive—perhaps a testament to the training of Danzo or Orochimaru himself.

At the mention of Tsunade’s name, Orochimaru’s sharp, pale features betrayed a slight lift of his straight brows. He let the banter drop and shifted to business. “I heard from the Third that you’d be joining us here. He asked my opinion and I agreed. I’m glad you finally made it.”

“My medical ninjutsu isn’t that great—just basic battlefield triage. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be,” Mikaze replied, turning his attention to the main subject of the room.

He kept a respectful distance so as not to interfere, peering through the gap between the staff at the “patient” on the table.

The “patient” was a mature woman, attractive and well-built, lying naked on the operating table. Her limbs were strapped down, and the steady rise and fall of her chest indicated she was alive, though evidently sedated by drugs or genjutsu.

Bondage? Is Orochimaru always this extreme? Mikaze wondered, but almost immediately, what truly caught his attention were the tree-like patterns spreading across her skin. The affliction seemed to have begun at the shoulders and was now spreading further.

Clearly, the team was trying to halt this strange, wood-like transformation.

Orochimaru paused in his work at Mikaze’s modesty, glanced up with those reptilian eyes, and said, “Since when did you become so humble, Mikaze? I thought you wanted to be a free spirit, a man as unbound as the wind. This doesn’t sound like you.”

“Increase stabilizer number 8 by half a standard unit using my latest formula. For neutralizer additive number 6, decrease by two-tenths. Monitor the subject’s vitals closely and report any changes to me immediately,” Orochimaru instructed, resuming his operation.

As he issued his orders, the two staff monitoring the instruments adjusted the dosages as directed.

“Stabilizer 8, increased by 0.5 standard units. Neutralizer 6, reduced by 0.2 units.”

“Subject’s respiration normal. Blood pressure low, body temperature low… Vitals stable for now.”

Mikaze looked on with amazement. “Wood Release? Is this what happens when Wood Release gets out of control—wooden transformation of the body? Who is this woman? Is she a Konoha ninja?”

Orochimaru answered with a hint of amusement, “Wood Release? Hardly. The wood on her skin is a result of stimulating the transplanted First Hokage cells with secret medicines and jutsu. As for whether she’s a Konoha ninja—well, I chose her simply because she caught my eye." He turned to one of his assistants. "You explain to Mikaze."

The assistant, now apparently finding his voice, replied, “Lord Mikaze, this subject was once the second-in-command of a notorious bandit gang in the Land of Fire. She knew a little basic ninjutsu. Our village’s shinobi captured her alive during a raid and brought her back.”

Hearing that she wasn’t from Konoha, merely a bandit leader, Mikaze had nothing more to say.

If shinobi were the lions of the ninja world, then bandits and criminals were scarcely even hyenas. They were often more brutal toward common folk than even the worst ninja.

The weak, unable to challenge the strong, preyed upon those even weaker, and with far more vicious methods.

In his years as a shinobi, Mikaze had ended the lives of many such criminals. The woman before him was only notable for her beauty and physique; whether she lived or died hardly mattered. For all he knew, she’d killed more people than he had.

Orochimaru continued issuing orders. “Prepare to inject catalyst number 3, monitor the subject’s vitals, check the restraints…”

…

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