Only five of the 18 children survived Orochimaru's curse seal operation.
Of course, these were the ones Orochimaru witnessed. There should be a group or a dozen of groups of experimental subjects before these kids. If it was the first experiment, it would be impossible to have such a high success rate, and the power of the Senjutsu shouldn't be so easy to obtain.
Compared with the original, the types of curse seal have changed, but the five children haven't changed. It was still the same small group of, Jurobu, Tayuya, spider guy, and doubled head guy. The only difference is Kimimaro.
Masahiko also saw the state of the new curse seal, and it looked even more disgusting than the original. Originally, when activated, the user gets stained by pitch-black drawings, but now it has become white… snake scales.
Although they did gain strength, Masahiko really couldn't accept this. He's a man who pays attention to appearance… Originally, Jurobu is a little chubby cute sumo kid, and Tayuya could be considered a pretty girl, but now he can barely look at them with their snake-scale faces.
As for spider kid and double-headed guys, they are inherently ugly…
Therefore, Masahiko quietly became worked on his pills for Orochimaru. This kind of medicine is very difficult to cook, and the materials are precious. With the same materials, ordinary medical ninjas can make three or four pills, but Masahiko has made nearly twenty pills, and with this, he paid Orochimaru what he owed him before.
It didn't take long to dispense the medicine. In the rest of the period he stayed there, Masahiko concentrated on teaching the three kids his original Taijutsu techniques, and the result was "great."
Insufficient lethality isn't a problem for Kimimaro. Those "soft" moves, after a bone protruded from his palm, became deadly ultimate moves.
However, the most impressive was Haku, who learned this martial art even faster than Kimimaro. "She" who cannot harm her enemy with heavy strikes was born in harmony with this kind of martial arts.
As for Karin…
"Karin, you're doing it wrong again! The punches you're throwing are so fierce, you will get easily caught if you don't hit the target!"
"Still wrong, come on…."
One week later, Kimimaro and Haku succeeded in learning most of the techniques, but Karin was abandoned by Masahiko…
Masahiko felt that it's too difficult for Karin to be "soft" judging by her character. The more he looked at her, the more he remembered Tsunade.
However, he still couldn't see any specific effect behind these Taijutsu techniques. Masahiko has developed his martial arts by fusing various Taijutsu techniques, and it's good to be able to learn most of it in one week.
Masahiko can only wait now for the growth of these children with peace of mind, then decides later whether they should carry forward with these techniques based on the effect.
As for now, they are leaving Otogakure.
"Go back, pack up, and get ready to go!"
Karin got overjoyed, "Elder, are we finally leaving this place?"
She had heard some bad things about Orochimaru, and they way he looked at her made her think that he will end up secretly capturing her; thus, she had long wanted to leave Otogakure.
Masahiko nodded, "Well, it's been two months since we came here, so it's time to leave. Have you decided where to go next?"
Kimimaro and Haku didn't say a word. Karin looked around, then her eyes widened, "Elder, the three of us want to go to the Land of Wind and see the desert!"
"You all decided on this?" Masahiko asked again with a smile.
"Yes, all of us!" Karin replied decisively.
"Well, since you all want to go to the Land of Wind, let's go to the Land of Earth."
"Oh!" Karin cheered subconsciously but then felt that something is wrong, "Earth? The Land of Earth?"
Masahiko said with a smile, "Kimimaro, do you want to go to the Land of Earth."
"God wants to go. I want to go."
"Haku, how about you?"Masahiko winked at him.
Haku hesitated at first, looking at Karin, then whispered, "I want to go."
Masahiko nodded in satisfaction, "That's good, get ready to go."
Karin's little face flushed, "Elder, didn't you say that democracy is a good thing? How about listening to what we want?"
"That's true. I've always been a man who insists on democracy. But didn't you listen? Kimimaro and Haku want to go to the Land of Earth, and you want to go to the Land of Wind, it's two to one, and I'm not even considering myself here, so we're going to see Uncle Onoki."
"Augh…"
...
Saying goodbye to Orochimaru, Masahiko took the three children and embarked on the journey again.
Otogakure is located in the southwest corner of the Shinobi World, but Iwagakure is in the northwest corner. The distance between the two is really not short, and it can take a ninja five or six days to reach.
Masahiko didn't use his spaceship, nor did he fly with the kids. They traveled all the way to the Land of Earth on feet, which took nearly half a month.
There were many filler episodes on the way, fighting evil and promoting good and turning bad lack into good fortune. The Shinobi World has never been very peaceful.
Masahiko was watching quietly from the side the kids experiencing these events, and they didn't let him down, and even grew up in this short period.
On the way, they also passed by a Ninja Village of an old acquaintance, Takigakure. It's a pity that Kakuzu was out. Masahiko really wanted to find him and talk about the past.
When they entered the territory of the country, the speed of the group was slower. Masahiko took this opportunity to tell the kids about the specialties of this country… Although most of the things sold in the shops were shipped from the Land of the Whirlpools.
At the end of June of Konoha's 54th year, the group finally arrived in a mountain forest near Iwagakure.
"We're going to arrive at Iwagakure soon, and you'll see the village that caused a huge loss to Konoha not long ago," Masahiko said with a smile.
The kids' eyes were a little excited, and they felt a little ambitious. If it weren't for Masahiko, at their age, it would have been impossible for them to cross the Ninja World and increase their knowledge.
"It's only five or six kilometers away, we…." Masahiko was about to say something, but it was cut off short, then he looked in the distance with a surprised expression.
"Elder, what's the matter?" Haku knew something was off.
Without Masahiko's explanation, there was a burst of explosions not far away.
"This seems to be…."
Masahiko carefully perceived his surroundings for a moment, smiled, stretched his arms, then took out a… slingshot.
The corner of Karin's mouth twitched, "Elder, why do you have such a thing?!"
Masahiko smiled and said, "Oh, this?! I confiscated from Naruto after he broke my house's window."
"Then why did you keep it on you?"
Masahiko smiled stiffly, chuckled, then said, "It's not important. It's almost noon. I'm gonna hunt you guys a bird to eat."
Masahiko bent down to pick up a stone, then aimed at the sky under the surprised eyes of the three kids.
A giant white bird just flew up, Masahiko released the slingshot rubbers, and the giant bird's head exploded instantly.
The bird got shot, and there was also a boy with yellow hair on the giant bird, who fell, and while spinning in the air, he shouted, "Which bastard did this?"
Masahiko spread his hand then shrugged, "Oh, it seems that I've hit someone accidentally."