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A short while later.
Orochimaru led Anko into the underground base.
It was a labyrinth of subterranean chambers, Beyond the laboratories, there were countless rooms used to confine human test subjects.
Candles lined both sides of the corridors. Under the dim yellow light, the faint hiss of snakes echoed through the darkness.
Anko was already used to this grim, oppressive atmosphere.
Orochimaru's research facilities were all like this.
"You will live here from now on."
"If you need anything, speak to the attendants or come to me, My room is right next to yours."
Orochimaru gave brief instructions.
After arranging Anko's quarters, he headed toward the area where Shisui was being held.
Although the most valuable pair of eyes was already gone, Shisui was still an exceptionally valuable experimental subject.
Even if it proved impossible to regenerate his eyes, there were other paths worth pursuing, such as cloning.
The technique Kotoamatsukami was something he was determined to obtain.
----
Five minutes later.
Level One Chamber.
"Lord Orochimaru."
Two personnel dressed in white protective suits bowed respectfully.
They were subordinates stationed at this base, responsible for assisting him with various tasks.
Orochimaru nodded and entered the room.
Shisui had been stripped of all clothing and tightly bound to an operating table. Numerous tubes were connected to his body.
One set monitored his vital signs at all times. Another delivered nutrient fluids to keep him alive.
As for the loss of his eyes and the injury to his tongue, both wounds were already under control.
"This damned brat."
"He actually dared to ruin my plans. I will settle this debt with the Uchiha clan."
Orochimaru snorted coldly.
"All physical indicators are still within normal parameters."
"The real question is whether the damage to his eyes can ever be reversed. Begin with cloning research first."
Orochimaru muttered to himself.
"How many female hosts are still available here?"
He asked one of his subordinates.
So-called female hosts were nothing more than ordinary civilians taken by force, or slaves purchased through underground markets.
They were occasionally used for specialized experiments, but their primary purpose was surrogate reproduction.
Fertilized embryos created through experiments would be implanted into these women, who would then carry the pregnancies to term.
When he had researched Hashirama's cells in the past, he had once conducted a large-scale infant experiment. More than a hundred newborns had been created in an attempt to integrate Hashirama's cells into their bodies.
The results had been disastrous. The rejection was extreme, and Hashirama's cells were far too aggressive.
Almost all of the children eventually transformed into trees, consumed by the Wood Release chakra.
Only one survived, Even then, his Wood Release was so weak it resembled a child's imitation.
"Reporting, fourteen remain."
"All are in good physical condition and ready for experimentation at any time."
One subordinate replied.
"Extract and clone Uchiha Shisui's cells."
"You know how to operate the equipment. In one year, I want to see fourteen newborns."
"Make sure he does not die."
"Report to me immediately if anything unexpected happens."
Orochimaru gave Shisui one final glance on the operating table before turning and leaving the laboratory.
The people here were trustworthy.
Whether bound by fear, money, or blind devotion to Orochimaru, none of them would dare disobey his orders.
"One person's energy is always limited. Perhaps it is time to bring Kabuto back from Konoha."
"As long as I am strong enough, destroying Konoha can happen whenever I choose."
"Kabuto's talent is wasted on simple espionage."
The man's cold voice echoed through the corridor.
The imprisoned test subjects trembled and pressed themselves flat against the floor, not daring to look at this figure they saw as a god of evil.
This was a madman.
A monster utterly devoid of conscience or humanity.
The night passed in silence.
----
The next day arrived.
At seven in the morning, Orochimaru awoke as usual.
Expressionless, he dressed, performed a brief wash, and stepped out of his room.
"Sensei."
Anko stood obediently outside the door, waiting.
"This is breakfast, I had them prepare sushi."
The girl smiled softly.
"Mm."
Orochimaru nodded and patted Anko on the head as a reward.
The sushi tasted decent.
Yet as he chewed, that strange sensation of hunger from before surfaced again.
He glanced at Anko, who was smiling brightly, and decided to wait until after breakfast to test his suspicion.
Not long after.
"In a few days, we will be heading out. We are going to the Land of Whirlpools. I will take you with me."
"Bear with it for these two days."
Orochimaru spoke calmly.
He could tell that Anko did not actually like living in this gloomy underground base.
That was normal, No sane person would enjoy a place like this.
Now everyone is like Orochimaru.
Although she held a high status here as Orochimaru's disciple, it meant little. She had no friends in this place.
And Orochimaru himself was always occupied with experiments, rarely having time to keep her company.
"Okay."
Hearing that they would be leaving in a few days, Anko nodded eagerly.
Without waiting for further instructions, she carried away the trayz Before leaving, she bowed respectfully to her teacher once more.
"I almost forgot about that."
Orochimaru quickly pushed thoughts of Anko aside, What mattered now was identifying the abnormality in his body.
He took out a storage scroll. Inside were the Sharingan obtained from three Uchiha the day before. Six eyeballs were suspended in a green solution.
One pair was three tomoe. The other two pairs were two tomoe.
"As expected."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
The moment the eyeballs were taken out, a deep hunger stirred within him.
It seemed that not only had his soul crossed into this body, but something else had changed as well.
"I will only know after eating them."
He muttered to himself.
Even if this failed, consuming a few eyeballs would not harm his body.
Soon, he opened the glass container and placed all six eyeballs onto a tray.
The dead eyes were preserved perfectly.
Even after a full day, they looked as if they had just been removed from their sockets.
"Hiss~"
His right hand transformed into a White Phosphorus Serpent. Its thick body opened its jaws and swallowed all the eyeballs in one bite.
This was one of the eight heads of his true form, the Eight-Headed Serpent.
He could have eaten them directly, but after some thought, he chose to use this technique instead.
A few minutes passed.
Orochimaru's body showed no immediate reaction, no improvement, no deterioration.
Just as he was about to give up, a sudden sharp pain erupted in his eyes, like surgical blades slicing into the nerves behind his eyeballs.
He coughed.
Orochimaru covered his mouth as his breathing grew rapid.
The pain was intense, no different from having a blade driven through his skull, nerves being severed one by one.
Yet he was exhilarated, The pain was quickly ignored.
"It worked."
Staring at his reflection in the mirror, Orochimaru trembled with excitement.
Those eyes had once been golden vertical pupils, Now they were the round pupils of an ordinary human.
Within the crimson glow, a single black tomoe slowly rotated around the pupil.
The One Tomoe Sharingan.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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Thank you so much for your support and for reading! Cr