Upon hearing Orochimaru's conclusion, Tatsuma felt an inexplicable sense of inevitability.
Seeing that Tatsuma seemed to accept the result easily, Orochimaru also breathed a sigh of relief. If Tatsuma had thrown a fit or even cried out in grievance, it would have been a big problem for him.
He would not comfort others. When Nawaki cried and fussed as a child, it was Tsunade who solved it with her fists. As the sensei, he was always in the role of an observer.
Fortunately, Tatsuma was a strong and good child, saving him from much trouble. Orochimaru said to Tatsuma, "We will definitely find a way."
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama, may I take a look?"
Tatsuma took the report and directly flipped to the gene locus information that Orochimaru had selected. This was not like in movies where you find differences between overlapping double helix structures.
Instead, it was a series of seemingly garbled codes. The complexity of the codes made it difficult for even the analysis team to make sense of them. However, since this detection system and expression were developed by Tatsuma and Orochimaru together, Tatsuma could naturally understand them.
The parts selected by Orochimaru were locations where mutations had occurred. By comparing the marked genes' positions on the chromosomes and gene sequence information with the gene sequence information of Hashirama Cells stored in his memory, Tatsuma could identify many points of interest.
Indeed, as Orochimaru had said, many of the gene expression patterns were becoming increasingly similar to certain segments within the Hashirama Cells. This was after excluding the more common aspects, leaving only the unique parts.
In other words, beyond the similarities between people, many of the unique, individualized gene information were also becoming more overlapping. After reviewing, Tatsuma smiled and said:
"If I get injured a few more times, will I also end up with black straight hair like the First Hokage?"
Seeing that Tatsuma could still joke about himself, Orochimaru was certain that Tatsuma was truly unaffected by this change. He responded with a smile, "Rather than looking forward to a change in hair, how about looking forward to Wood Release?"
"Wood Release."
Tatsuma glanced at Orochimaru. Since the Wood Release experiment was halted—or rather, since they were both kicked out of the Wood Release experiment—Orochimaru seemed to have an increasing desire to recreate Wood Release.
During their research, Orochimaru didn't have much desire for recreating Wood Release because he believed his research direction was correct. As long as they followed the steps that he and Tatsuma had outlined, with enough time and budget, they would eventually decipher the method for Wood Release and find a safe way to transplant it.
Early successes in the experiments also increased Orochimaru's confidence. By the mid-stage of the experiment, Orochimaru almost stopped thinking about Wood Release because he believed it would succeed naturally.
But being kicked out made it difficult for Orochimaru to accept internally, because he had already seen the path to success but found that he no longer had any access rights.
The path to success suddenly became off-limits to him, and he watched helplessly as others tarnished his Wood Release experiment.
For Orochimaru, Wood Release was like the saying, "I could have endured the darkness if I had not seen the light." Therefore, after the Wood Release experiment ended, Orochimaru became even more eager to recreate Wood Release under his own control.
Tatsuma's unexpected encounters were his important "material." Orochimaru had expressed similar thoughts more than once, and Tatsuma began to notice his unusual behavior.
Tatsuma pondered for a moment and said, "Orochimaru-sama, perhaps we were mistaken."
"Hmm?"
Orochimaru made a puzzled sound, and Tatsuma continued, "Perhaps Wood Release is not just a Kekkei Genkai of the elemental type, or rather, it's not only an elemental Kekkei Genkai.
I have a hypothesis, of course, just a hypothesis. That is, perhaps initially, Hashirama-sama's body cells were actually no different from those of ordinary people, just like mine before.
And Hashirama-sama's cells, which became Hashirama Cells, might have transformed similarly to mine because a certain type of cell appeared within him, which then devoured all other cells.
In this process, Hashirama-sama awakened to the concept of Wood Release. After all, even Kekkei Tota can be mastered by different people, let alone Kekkei Genkai, but Wood Release is the only unreplicated example in the ninja world.
But according to the notes left by the First Hokage, Wood Release is indeed a technique formed by combining Earth Release Chakra and Water Release Chakra. With his intellect, he wouldn't leave behind such meaningless deceptive information, would he?"
Orochimaru furrowed his brows. Tatsuma nodded and added, "But the Second Hokage also left another research conclusion: that a special type of Chakra is produced in the Uchiha Clan's brains, stimulating the evolution of Sharingan.
As for Wood Release, perhaps Earth and Water Chakras are merely catalysts? Or maybe there is another special Chakra that acts as a catalyst, which even Hashirama-sama did not discover?"
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru showed a serious expression, pulled over a chair, and sat down to ponder. After a while, he said, "So, what you're suggesting is that Wood Release, in addition to its characteristics as an elemental Kekkei Genkai, also has prerequisites similar to those of a physical Kekkei Genkai?
And Hashirama Cells are this prerequisite, so what we're looking for is not the genetic information contained in Hashirama Cells to decipher Wood Release.
Instead, we should aim to make this information, or rather this type of cell, propagate within the recipient's body to meet the prerequisites for using Wood Release?"
Even elemental Kekkei Genkai have genetic expressions, as there are quite a few elemental Kekkei Genkai Ninjas that appear in family lines.
This genetic information allows Ninjas with Kekkei Genkai abilities to gain instinctual Chakra distribution from their ancestors, making it easier for them to master elemental Kekkei Genkai compared to others.
What Orochimaru and Tatsuma were previously searching for was this kind of information. However, Tatsuma is now suggesting that Wood Release should be categorized as a physical Kekkei Genkai, with Wood Release being just the manifestation.
And this represents a completely different research direction from elemental Kekkei Genkai. Physical Kekkei Genkai should focus more on the purity of the bloodline.
For example, with the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, unlike the Hyuga Clan, the Uchiha have not had overly strict restrictions on intermarriage with outsiders. Many clan members without the Sharingan have married people from other clans.
According to Senju Tobirama's statistics, the chance of awakening the Sharingan in children born from Uchiha and outsiders is much lower compared to the union of two Uchiha.
However, Wood Release, or rather the extremely unique Hashirama Cells, cannot be found in the descendants of Senju Hashirama. In other words, this "prerequisite" cannot be inherited.
Realizing this, Orochimaru's eyes lit up, and he said, "During our previous experiments, we injected an excessive amount of Hashirama Cells into mice, which died shortly afterward and transformed into small trees.
Previously, we thought this was due to the experiment going out of control, but another possibility is that turning into a tree is actually the expression of this Kekkei Genkai. In other words, the transformation of mice into trees might be Wood Release."
"However, because the information carried by Hashirama Cells differs too greatly from that carried by the mouse's own cells, it leads to the uncontrollable expression of Wood Release!"
"And if the special cells in my body have the same characteristics as Hashirama Cells, meaning they can express Wood Release information, then the mice injected with an excessive amount of these special cells from me would also turn into trees."
Tatsuma continued Orochimaru's thoughts. Orochimaru nodded vigorously, having completely forgotten the morning's elegance and now filled only with fervor.
Orochimaru licked his lips, stood up, and retrieved the blood collection equipment. He fixed his gaze on Tatsuma and said, "Tatsuma, do you mind if I take a blood sample?"
Tatsuma extended his arm. Orochimaru expertly drew several vials of blood, which were then combined with anticoagulants and nutrient solutions before being placed in a petri dish.
The petri dish was then put into a special machine. As the machine was activated, an invisible short-wave blue light illuminated the blood in the petri dish, while another device nearby monitored the changes in the cells.
"Tatsuma, keep an eye on this. I'll go prepare for the mouse experiment."
After Orochimaru finished speaking, he left in a hurry. Tatsuma watched the screen, observing the cells rapidly weakening under the special light, while another type of special cell continued to consume these weakened cells.
Orochimaru worked quickly. By the time he returned with the preparations for the mouse experiment, the special cells had not yet consumed all the other cells. At this point, Orochimaru had calmed down somewhat.
It wasn't that his fervor had faded, but he needed to maintain a calm demeanor for the upcoming experiment to ensure its stability.
Tatsuma looked at the monitoring screen and had a thought. He said, "Orochimaru-sama, if our hypothesis succeeds, could we control the Wood Release experiment by using the transplantation of hematopoietic cells from Hashirama Cells to ensure controllability?"
Orochimaru pondered for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded and said, "In your previous experiments, transplanting bone marrow cells into mice altered the DNA in the recipient mice's blood.
If we induce Hashirama Cells to transform into bone marrow cells and transplant them into the recipient, then the DNA in the recipient's blood might also change, and the blood produced by the hematopoietic cells would then become Hashirama Cells.
Moreover, the blood produced by hematopoietic cells might have a higher compatibility with the recipient, reducing the risk of uncontrollable rejection reactions. Due to the nature of Hashirama Cells, the new blood cells would also consume and replace other cells.
But now, we can't conduct these experiments. Hashirama Cells have been sealed, and we have nothing but data. Unless the special cells in your body can truly express Wood Release."
"Orochimaru-sama, I've thought of a name for the cells."
"What is it? Not something you consulted Minato about, I hope?"
"Of course not. I plan to name them Divine Tree Cells, provided they can express Wood Release."
Tatsuma looked at the monitoring screen and said, "It's almost time."
Orochimaru also turned his gaze towards the screen. His heart, which had finally calmed down, started pounding vigorously again. He took out the blood from the petri dish, and the two of them approached the innocent little mouse.
Inside a glass enclosure, the mouse was cautiously moving around. In the next moment, a large hand grabbed the back of its neck, and then a syringe needle was inserted into its vein to begin drawing blood.
Then, Tatsuma handed the syringe containing his blood to Orochimaru. Without the ideal conditions of the Wood Release lab, the experiment was rough and involved multiple violations, but both were filled with high expectations.
The needle was inserted into the mouse's leg vein, and Tatsuma's blood was slowly pushed into the mouse's body.
"Eek eek eek~"
The mouse, which had become weak due to blood withdrawal and stress, became incredibly active after receiving Tatsuma's blood. It even scratched the thick, hard glass enclosure, leaving white marks.
Inside the mouse, it seemed as if something alive was continuously moving beneath its skin, growing increasingly intense.
"Bang~"
The glass shattered.
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