It was still early to go to bed. After leaving the Hokage's office, Orochimaru went straight to the Konoha Hospital.
Here, Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, had opened a quiet room for the purpose of treating Kimimaro, at Orochimaru's request.
Although it was called treatment, it was really just to extend his life, barely keeping him alive.
"Kabuto, how is Kimimaro doing?"
Upon entering the quiet room, Orochimaru saw Kabuto writing something down.
Looking at Kimimaro, who was covered in tubes, even the cold-blooded Orochimaru couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.
"Lord Orochimaru, Kimimaro's condition is getting worse. Every day, he spends half of his time unconscious. If we don't come up with an effective treatment plan, he might only have two or three months left to live."
As Kimimaro's "personal" doctor, Kabuto was very familiar with his condition.
The bloodline illness was already a very difficult disease, and there were very few cases of it being cured across the entire ninja world.
On top of that, Kimimaro's bloodline limit (Kekkei Genkai) was the rare Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse).
From ancient times until now, there has never been a successful case of curing a bloodline user of Shikotsumyaku who had developed the Kekkei Genkai illness.
Kabuto had done his best to keep Kimimaro alive this long in Konoha.
If anyone could possibly save him, it would probably be the legendary medical ninja Tsunade.
At least, he truly had no way left.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Even if Kimimaro dies, I will bring him back to life."
After saying this, Orochimaru gave Kabuto a look, signaling him to come outside with him.
Kabuto, confused, put down his pen and paper and followed Orochimaru out the door.
They hadn't walked far when they arrived at a darker and more open area.
"Kabuto, are you interested in Senjutsu?"
Kabuto felt a strange sense of danger.
Being naturally cautious, he wasn't sure what Orochimaru meant, so he chose to respond ambiguously: "Senjutsu? I'm not familiar with it, after all, I don't even have a cursed seal."
Orochimaru grinned, knowing that Kabuto was testing his intentions.
He wasn't interested in playing games with him and answered directly: "If I were to let you go to Ryūchi Cave to learn Senjutsu, would you go?"
Upon hearing this, Kabuto pretended to calm himself, adjusting his glasses, but still didn't give a direct answer.
"If even Lord Orochimaru can't learn Senjutsu, how could I, a mediocre person, ever manage it?"
"Kabuto, you mustn't underestimate yourself. To me, you're a genius."
To reassure Kabuto, Orochimaru appeared very patient. He continued speaking, word by word: "Kabuto, your strength is too weak right now. If you want to continue following me, you need to strengthen yourself, and Senjutsu is a very good way to do that. Look at Jiraiya, that fool. After he learned the Senjutsu of Mount Myoboku and could enter Sage Mode, he earned the title of 'Toad Sage' in the ninja world. Even I, in a fair fight, am not his opponent when he enters Sage Mode."
Having spent enough time with Orochimaru, Kabuto certainly knew the power of Sage Mode.
Just by looking at the cursed seals developed by Orochimaru, he understood that activating a cursed seal was essentially activating a subpar version of Sage Mode.
If even the subpar version was so powerful, the original would be even more formidable.
However, Kabuto was also aware of the dangers of learning Senjutsu.
When he first joined Orochimaru's faction, he was surprised that Orochimaru didn't learn the original Senjutsu but instead created a subpar version with the cursed seal.
After investigating, he found out that when Orochimaru learned the Senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave, he had lost half of his body.
Orochimaru's wealth of life-saving techniques had allowed him to survive, but Kabuto wasn't sure he could make it through such a thing.
"Orochimaru-sama, I..."
"Kabuto, don't be too quick to refuse."
Licking his lips, Orochimaru continued, "Since I'm sending you, it's not to send you to your death. Before you go, I'll teach you some survival skills. Even if you fail, you won't die."
Orochimaru's words were very tempting.
If successful, Yakushi Kabuto would gain the power to stand at the top of the ninja world.
If he failed, he wouldn't die.
With that in mind, any normal person would know what choice to make.
"I understand, Lord Orochimaru. I agree to your proposal, to go to Ryūchi Cave and learn senjutsu."
"Hehehe, now that's the Yakushi Kabuto I know."
Kabuto left and returned to the quiet room, continuing to observe Kimimaro's physical condition.
Orochimaru also left, heading to his laboratory to prepare the various survival skills he would teach Yakushi Kabuto tomorrow.
One of the most important things was his body's cells.
From the display screen, it was clear that Kabuto at that time had definitely injected his cells.
After all, Kabuto back then really resembled him.
From his external appearance to his tone and mannerisms, he was very much like Orochimaru.
Therefore, in order to help Kabuto successfully learn the senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave, he had to make Kabuto resemble the version of him shown on the display as much as possible.
"However, my cells are not something just anyone can handle."
Orochimaru's cells were highly dangerous.
Unlike Hashirama's cells, which devour other cells, his could assimilate them, making the person with Orochimaru's cells become more and more like him.
If one couldn't handle it, they'd become a second Orochimaru.
Kabuto on the display was a perfect example.
Even with his strength after learning the senjutsu and his strong will, he couldn't escape some of Orochimaru's tendencies. For others, it was even worse.
"I'm really starting to look forward to whether Yakushi Kabuto will, like the version on the light screen, learn the senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave."
"If he succeeds, then I'll have another subject to study senjutsu on."
"If he doesn't succeed, as long as he's not dead, I won't lose anything."
"Hehehe, Kabuto, don't let me down~"
Orochimaru: You might make a lot of profit, but I'll never lose!
In Tobirama's office.
After setting the time for the time travel with the Third Hokage, Tobirama asked them to check with Obito on how he avoids the issue of losing vision from using the Mangekyō Sharingan.
With Rin's presence, Tobirama believed Obito wouldn't hide anything from them.
"Alright, everyone can go back now."
After saying this, Tobirama left the office first.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others followed him out of the office.
Young Jiraiya took the chance to slip in with the group, trying to sneak away.
However, young Tsunade was keeping an eye on him and didn't give him the chance to slip away.
"Jiraiya, why do I feel like you're avoiding me?"
*********
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