"Greetings, Lord Orochimaru."
Kaede respectfully bowed to Orochimaru.
The matter had already been settled, there was no other choice. All he could do now was move forward on this path and think of how to deal with it.
"Mhmhmhm..."
Orochimaru looked at Kaede with a sly, almost eerie chuckle. "Things here are done. Come with me."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Orochimaru's figure flickered and disappeared from the hall.
Kaede turned to glance at Hiruzen Sarutobi. Seeing him nod, he bowed and also vanished, flashing forward to follow Orochimaru.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two swiftly left the central observation tower.
Kaede followed behind Orochimaru, his mind racing to formulate how to handle this new "sensei." Orochimaru eventually stopped at a location within the Forest of Death.
"Here..."
Kaede looked around. This was the spot where he had fought Hoshigaki Kisame. The water had mostly receded, but the ground remained muddy and damp.
Orochimaru's gaze swept across the area. Soon, he found an arm in the mud, the one Kaede had severed from Kisame during the battle.
"ugh!"
With a slight smirk, Orochimaru suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a sticky scroll. Grabbing it, he opened it and, in a sudden motion, extended his tongue. It wrapped around Kisame's severed arm, pulling it back and placing it onto the scroll.
Poof!
With a puff of white smoke, the arm disappeared, sealed into the scroll.
Having finished the process, Orochimaru turned to Kaede, holding the scroll. "That unique physique... It's the first time I've seen something like it. Quite valuable for research. In the future, if you encounter other special types of ninja… try to bring me some samples."
Kaede's mouth twitched slightly as he nodded. "understood."
"Let's go."
Orochimaru rolled up the scroll with his tongue and swallowed it again, then continued walking.
Seriously… Can we not do that? That's just… gross…
Kaede couldn't help but complain inwardly. Somehow, he felt even more drained than after his battle with Kisame. Still, he followed Orochimaru helplessly as the two soon left the Forest of Death.
After reaching an area closer to Konoha, Orochimaru formed a hand seal, and a hidden underground passage suddenly opened beneath the ground.
This must be Orochimaru's secret base, Kaede surmised as he followed him inside.
Sure enough, the base was dark and somber in tone. After passing through a long and silent tunnel, they entered a large hall filled with bizarre and disturbing sights, grotesque insects floating in fluid, organs like hearts and livers on display.
Fortunately, Kaede had studied medicine in his previous life. He had a strong tolerance for such things and wasn't fazed at all. In fact, he mentally criticized the rough preservation work on some of the specimens.
"As expected of Sakumo's son. You seem unusually comfortable in my lab," Orochimaru commented as he observed Kaede's calm demeanor. "Seems you're quite suited to being my student."
"Is this Lord Orochimaru's research facility?"
Kaede asked, playing along, even though he already knew.
Orochimaru nodded. He walked to an empty glass container, regurgitated the scroll containing Kisame's arm, retrieved the severed limb, and dropped it into the jar.
once done, he swallowed the scroll again and turned to Kaede. A flicker of amusement shone in his snake-like eyes. "You've likely inherited many taijutsu and ninjutsu techniques from Sakumo. You probably don't need most of my methods. But given your level, I'm sure you know what you're lacking."
Kaede thought for a moment and raised a key concern. "My chakra reserves aren't very large. I wonder if Lord Orochimaru has a method to increase them."
"Chakra, huh?"
Orochimaru smiled. "With your physique, in a few more years, your chakra should rival that of a jonin. But… I assume you want more, sooner. Hm… there is a way."
Kaede's eyes lit up. He waited in silence for more details.
Orochimaru looked away and glanced around the room at the various preserved samples. "Chakra is extracted from the body's 130 billion cells, in combination with mental energy. Boosting mental strength is hard, I've got nothing particularly effective in that department. But as for increasing the energy of your cells… I do have something."
With that, Orochimaru spat out another scroll and extended his tongue to pass it to Kaede.
Kaede accepted it, mentally sighing, Well, guess I'll never touch food with this hand again…
Still, his desire for knowledge outweighed the disgust. He opened the scroll and immediately saw the title written at the top:
Cell Activation Technique!
"This technique increases the vitality of your body's cells. It doesn't just boost chakra; it also enhances your healing ability."
Orochimaru folded his arms and added, "It's the foundation of many of my techniques. But with your Sakumo sword style and affinity for Lightning Release, you won't need those follow-up jutsus of mine anyway… and it looks like you wouldn't want to learn them even if I offered. Hehe…"
After hearing Orochimaru's explanation and skimming part of the scroll, Kaede had a solid grasp of the technique, it enhanced a person's regenerative and cellular energy.
If I'm not mistaken…
This was probably the basis for Orochimaru's more advanced techniques like "Shedding Skin" and "Cellular Regeneration." Without high cell vitality, achieving near-immortality would be impossible.
"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru."
Kaede respectfully bowed again.
This technique was a perfect fit for him, no, more than perfect.
ordinary methods of enhancing the body couldn't completely negate the side effects of the Eight Gates. But this… this technique could counteract some of the backlash. Because rather than just strengthening the body, it revitalized it,boosted its healing and cellular regeneration.
"Go ahead and begin your training," Orochimaru said. "If you're curious about my experiments, feel free to observe."
With a slight smile, he walked off into his lab, eager to begin studying Kisame's arm.
Kaede was mildly curious about Orochimaru's research, but his desire to master the Cell Activation Technique was far stronger. After bowing once more, he quietly left the research base.