Listening to Orochimaru's words, Tatsuma glanced at a bottle of suspension placed next to him and asked, "Is it this thing?"
"Yes."
Orochimaru picked up the bottle of suspension and gently shook it, stirring up some of the sediment at the bottom. As he watched the particles float up and down inside the bottle, Orochimaru said:
"I discovered a unique group at the exact coordinates of Ryuchi Cave in the real world. They seem to have a natural ability to accept and even wield a peculiar kind of power.
I've seen this kind of power in Ryuchi Cave as well. Although it's very rare, I can confirm that this power originated from Ryuchi Cave.
So I collected blood from a clone of someone who could contain that power, and I also gathered some substances tainted with that power to bring back for research.
When their blood merges with yours, it enters a strange state of calm, almost as if it stops moving. But when external chakra stimulates it, the blood becomes more active than usual.
After intense activity, whether it's your cells, the Divine Tree Cells, or the cells containing that power, they all simultaneously weaken. The Divine Tree Cells lose their ability to devour other cells."
"Natural energy?"
Tatsuma took the bottle of suspension and examined it under the light. Orochimaru nodded and said, "It seems you know about it. I was wondering how I would explain it to you."
"I heard about it in Shikkotsu Forest."
Setting the bottle down, Tatsuma said, "It's one of the necessary conditions to learn Sage Mode. When mental energy, physical ability, and natural energy achieve balance within the body, one enters Sage Mode."
Hearing this, Orochimaru squinted slightly and said, "Is this the First Hokage's technique? The same one Jiraiya struggled for years to learn but never mastered?"
"Yes, I will probably learn it as well, but I don't feel like I've met the conditions yet."
Tatsuma nodded. Sage Mode was mysterious to most people, but since Orochimaru was also a successor of one of the three great sacred places, he would eventually understand it. There was no need to hide anything.
Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully and then asked, "Do you want to try it? By absorbing a small amount of natural energy, you could suppress the activity of the Divine Tree Cells in your body."
Tatsuma shook the bottle of suspension that had started to settle again and asked, "How would I try it? By drinking it?"
"Drinking it would make it too hard to control the intake. Try this instead. I got it from Konoha Hospital just for you."
As he spoke, Orochimaru handed over an inhaler typically used by asthma or bronchospasm patients, though the bottle had no label.
When Tatsuma received the item, Orochimaru said, "This bottle contains 200 presses. Based on the amount of Divine Tree Cells in your body and your own condition, my recommendation is to not inhale more than four presses in one cycle."
"How long is one cycle?"
"The full duration of a single battle."
Hearing this, Tatsuma nodded and said, "It's not too late now. Orochimaru-sama, would you be willing to do a blood test for me?"
"Of course."
Orochimaru took out the blood collection equipment, and Tatsuma extended his arm. A blood test was needed before and after to make comparisons.
After drawing the blood, Orochimaru said, "I'll send this for testing. Deplete your chakra and come back to me."
"Thank you."
Tatsuma nodded, removed the cotton swab pressing on the needle mark, and within a few seconds, the puncture had completely healed, leaving no trace.
This only proved that the Divine Tree Cells were leaving more and more marks on his body. However, to understand the pros and cons of the Divine Tree Cells within him, these efforts were necessary.
Tatsuma used the Flying Thunder God technique to leave, distancing himself from the village and finding a lake. The quickest way to exhaust his chakra was by casting large-scale ninjutsu using his "Sea Overturning" talent to "pour out" his chakra.
Standing by the lake, Tatsuma picked up the inhaler, removed the cap, placed the mouthpiece in his mouth, exhaled deeply to clear his lungs, and then slowly inhaled while gently pressing the bottom of the inhaler.
As a licensed and certified doctor from Konoha Hospital, Tatsuma was naturally familiar with how to use such medications and equipment, needing no instruction.
"Hiss~"
A small mist of the drug entered his lungs with his inhale, quickly spreading and being absorbed. Tatsuma thought for a moment and took another press.
Not noticing any immediate changes in his body, Tatsuma clapped his hands together and began refining chakra within himself.
As a seasoned ninja, Tatsuma was used to always reserving enough chakra for emergencies, though he wouldn't always fully replenish his chakra reserves in every situation.
As Tatsuma refined his chakra, he noticed that the speed of the refinement was significantly faster than before. It didn't feel like he was transforming chakra, but rather that it was surging out on its own.
After completing the refinement, Tatsuma began forming hand seals, then took a deep breath and exhaled toward the lake.
"Fire Release! Great Fire Annihilation!"
A line of fire shot out from his mouth and instantly expanded into a sea of flames spanning over a hundred meters, scorching the lake's surface.
The chakra within Tatsuma flowed out like a stream, rapidly depleting. The feeling of recklessly burning through so much chakra was a kind of joy Tatsuma had never experienced before.
As for the rising water temperature and the fish that were eventually brought to the surface, flailing—Tatsuma didn't have much compassion to spare for them.
With a long exhale, Tatsuma completely exhausted the chakra he had just refined, feeling a bit dizzy and weak, a rare reminder of the low-blood-sugar-like sensation of fatigue.
After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he pressed the inhaler again, giving himself another dose. Then, he continued to push his Endless-enhanced cells to extract even more chakra.
After inhaling from the inhaler four times and nearly exhausting his stamina, Tatsuma finally stopped this reckless behavior. With the little chakra he had left, he used the Flying Thunder God technique to return to Orochimaru's lab.
"Huff... huff..." Tatsuma kept taking deep breaths, sweating profusely from the rapid loss of energy. Orochimaru pointed to a drawer and said, "There's some whole milk and chocolate in there."
"Alright," Tatsuma replied weakly as he started searching through Orochimaru's supplies. Meanwhile, Orochimaru approached with a new blood collection kit. By the time Tatsuma had unwrapped the chocolate, Orochimaru had already started drawing blood.
Thanks to Tatsuma's assistance, Orochimaru, who wasn't formally trained in this field, had become more skilled at blood collection than most doctors and nurses at Konoha Hospital.
As Orochimaru finished drawing blood, Tatsuma barely managed to swallow his first bite of chocolate.
It was fortunate that Minato wasn't around; otherwise, seeing Tatsuma devouring the chocolate would have made Minato realize that Tatsuma's claim of not liking chocolate back then had been a huge lie.
After finishing the chocolate and milk, Tatsuma sat and waited for his body to recover, while Orochimaru expedited the testing of his blood sample.
Finally, the foggy feeling in Tatsuma's mind cleared, and Orochimaru returned with two reports and a smile on his face. He said, "It's effective. The amount of Divine Tree Cells in the samples before and after has barely changed. However, judging by your condition, the rapid recovery ability provided by the Divine Tree Cells seems to fail during this process. If you plan to use this inhaler, you'll need to weigh the pros and cons carefully."
"Yes, I felt that too."
Tatsuma nodded, taking the two reports and reviewing them. Finding no other issues, he set the reports down, pulled out the inhaler, and asked:
"Orochimaru-sama, is this inhaler expensive to make?"
"Not at all. It's just made from plants or soil tainted with natural energy, crushed and packaged with a propellant. Given your metabolism, it won't place any burden on you."
"Of course, this process can also cause minor issues, like coughing or phlegm buildup. If you experience coughing, you can use a bronchodilator alongside it," Orochimaru said with a smile. "Just use it as needed. If you run out, you can go refill it at Konoha Hospital. I don't think it's necessary to buy a filling machine just for you."
Tatsuma nodded and smiled, replying, "If the cost is low, I can probably use it during training too, right?"
"Yes, but keep in mind, this isn't exactly medicine. We still don't know what long-term effects natural energy and Divine Tree Cells might have coexisting in your body. So for now, it should only be used as a short-term suppressant, not for daily use."
"I understand."
Tatsuma put the inhaler away and asked, "Orochimaru-sama, is it possible to share the details of your next mission?"
Orochimaru nodded and said, "There's nothing secret about it. It's just those small northern countries. During the war, the borderlines became unclear for a while, and now it's turned into a long-term dispute, with everyone fighting over land."
"The solution was simple. I drew up a new border for them and made it clear that if they didn't agree to the Land of Fire's proposal, the Land of Fire would withdraw all its troops and ninjas. They can sort out their problems on their own, and once they do, they can come back and sign a new protection agreement with the Land of Fire."
"As expected from you, Orochimaru-sama. But would the Third Hokage and the Daimyo really give you that kind of authority?"
Orochimaru's approach was simple and direct, yet highly effective. From how quickly he returned and his relaxed demeanor, Tatsuma couldn't help but admire it.
Orochimaru, used to Tatsuma's compliments, showed no emotional reaction. He calmly replied to Tatsuma's question, "Whether they give me the authority or not is their business. What matters is that those small nations believe I have that authority. They wouldn't dare verify it with the Daimyo or sensei. And even if they did, the Daimyo and sensei wouldn't be foolish enough to contradict me."
"That's true, but this means your schedule, Orochimaru-sama, will be on hold for a while, right?"
"That's correct. Do you have any ideas? Have you found a new Kekkei Genkai sample? Unfortunately, we don't have the funds to start a new project right now."
Orochimaru seemed quite troubled by this. Tatsuma nodded and said, "Before you came up with a method to suppress the Divine Tree Cells today, I actually had an idea, but it's not something I can use now."
"You can't use it?"
Orochimaru immediately grasped the key point and became interested. Looking at Tatsuma, he urged him to continue. Tatsuma didn't hold back and said, "My previous idea was to combine it with the Delicate Illness Extraction Jutsu to peel away some of the Divine Tree Cells.
I made some modifications to the Delicate Illness Extraction Jutsu. While it's still a distance from being able to extract the resilient Divine Tree Cells, I can already extract various autologous cells from a normal person's body, including necrotic cells, aging cells, and cancer cells."
"Are you thinking of selling it?"
Orochimaru's eyes lit up; the medical and economic value of this technique was quite high. Tatsuma's expression darkened as he replied, "What do you mean by 'selling'? Medical matters can't be called selling. This is called a technology license."
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