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In other words, the higher Midorima's own chakra, the greater the power of this jutsu.
Therefore, in high-level confrontations, Midorima couldn't use it to inflict damage on the enemy—just imagine, if the opponent was Six Paths Madara, Midorima's own chakra would need to be more than half of Madara's to successfully kill him.
That level of difficulty was immense; it would be easier to just use Sage Mode or taijutsu directly.
As for the drawbacks of this jutsu, it did have them. Namely, it couldn't be used on formless objects like flames, even upon contact.
Especially since "Amaterasu" was a high-level fire release that would continue burning once it made contact. He didn't want to end up like the Third Raikage, having to sever an arm to stop the Amaterasu flames.
In short, if used skillfully, this jutsu's effects could be extremely exaggerated, and it was also suitable for travel. But if the user's own abilities were average, then the jutsu wouldn't be very useful.
Considering that prolonged use of the Mangekyō Sharingan could lead to blindness, Midorima didn't plan to use it frequently unless absolutely necessary.
As for "Susano'o," that thing was just too large and consumed too much chakra, so Midorima hardly ever used it.
In terms of ninjutsu, Midorima was already proficient in many techniques, so the next stage was to increase his own chakra reserves.
There was more than one way to quickly increase chakra. For example, finding a Tailed Beast. But currently, almost all Tailed Beasts had Jinchūriki, and these Jinchūriki were all protected by the major shinobi villages. Even if he obtained a Tailed Beast, he would still need to consider whether he could "synchronize" with it—a considerable amount of work.
Overall, given the existence of the [Cell Laboratory], the benefits of obtaining Jūgo's cells were greater.
To find Jūgo, he needed to find Orochimaru's secret base. The problem was, where was Orochimaru's secret base?
After Orochimaru's death, this seemed to have truly become a mystery.
But it wouldn't be accurate to say there were no clues at all.
After all, Kimimaro was still alive, and the Sound Five were still alive.
As long as they were alive, there must still be clues.
Midorima speculated that this clue might lie in Otogakure.
He had been to Otogakure once before but found nothing. This time, however, Midorima was very confident he could find some clues.
He was so sure for two reasons: First, the last time he went to Otogakure, the Sound Five probably hadn't yet separated from Orochimaru; Orochimaru could keep them in check. Now, Orochimaru was dead, and without him around, it was hard to say whether the Sound Five would obediently stay at the base.
Second, there was Kimimaro's illness.
Even before Midorima left the laboratory, Kimimaro had shown signs of his illness.
After all this time, it was impossible for him to be unaffected.
And without Orochimaru, if Kimimaro wanted to survive, he would inevitably seek medical help everywhere.
Considering everything, it was possible to gather relevant intelligence near Otogakure.
Midorima wasn't sure when Akatsuki might have a mission. If he still wanted to use the "Yoshida Shin" identity, he had to hurry.
Another week passed. Once his Wood Release became more proficient, Midorima set off on the road to Otogakure.
…
Sasuke lay in the prison cell, almost lifeless.
He wanted to get out, to leave this damned place. But every time he tried to escape, he was caught, beaten severely, and thrown back into the cell.
This time was the worst. He was caught by a fat guy named Jirōbō, who broke his leg bone and said to him in an extremely fierce tone, "If there's a next time, I'll take your life."
He didn't know when Jirōbō left, but he knew that after Orochimaru disappeared, his situation had been going from bad to worse. Until a month ago, after a failed escape attempt, he was directly thrown into prison.
Those who had previously treated him somewhat decently were growing increasingly impatient, and Jirōbō was among them.
If not for his desire to see his brother, he would rather die.
Sometimes, living was harder than dying.
"Hey... you... how are you?" A girl's voice came from the next cell.
Sasuke felt his eyelids were heavy, completely unwilling to open them. But the girl was like a sparrow; after calling out twice, she seemed somewhat unwilling to give up and called out a few more times.
Sasuke, as if sulking, didn't want to pay her any attention. Before long, he suddenly heard the girl crying. Only then did he reluctantly open his eyes and look towards the girl who was making the crying sounds.
Her hair was very red, like a ball of fire, completely different from her personality.
"Why are you crying?"
"I'm afraid you'll die," the girl raised her head, but there were no tears on her face.
"You don't even know me. What does it matter to you if I die or not?" Sasuke snorted coldly, frowning.
He had just moved his body slightly, aggravating his wounds again.
"Here..." The girl stretched out her arm.
Her sleeve was pulled up very high. Her slender arm seemed graspable, but the skin that should have been delicate was covered with bite marks, as if many people had bitten it over and over again.
"What?" Sasuke frowned, looking puzzled.
"Bite it. You can recover from your injuries and regain chakra," the girl said.
Sasuke turned his head away; he didn't want to owe the girl a favor.
"Be good." The girl tried hard to extend her arm, wanting to bring it in front of Sasuke, but the prison bars blocked her body. "Don't you want to escape? You must have someone you want to see, right? In your condition, you might die before you ever see him."
Only then did Sasuke open his eyes. He very reluctantly crawled to the bars and lightly bit the girl's arm.
The girl bit her lip, enduring the pain from her arm, while Sasuke's wounds healed at a visible rate.
After more than half a minute, Sasuke finally released his bite. He seemed reborn, color returning to his face. When he looked at the girl again, he was somewhat surprised. "You didn't cry?"
"Is it important?" the girl retorted.
Sasuke shook his head. It really wasn't that important.
"But, how do you have this ability?" Sasuke asked.
The girl, who had just shown a hint of joy, darkened again. "It's not a good ability. Otherwise, I wouldn't be locked up here."
"What's your name? Why are you here?"
"My name is Karin. As for why I'm here... probably because of my ability?" Karin raised her arm. "You know? There was a person here who was very sick. Then Orochimaru found me, saying he could teach me ninjutsu and have me treat that person's illness."
"And you just came?" Sasuke asked, astonished.
"I couldn't defeat Orochimaru, what else could I do?" Karin put her hands behind her head and leaned against the wall.
Sasuke thought of Orochimaru and felt an instinctive revulsion. "Was that person cured?"
Karin shook her head. "I can only heal injuries, not serious illnesses, let alone that person's terminal disease. Orochimaru must have been very disappointed? That's why he locked me up."
"That person is really pitiful... who is he?"
"Him? His name is Kimimaro," Karin spoke that person's name.
*****
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