Yakushi Kabuto left the base, following Orochimaru's orders, to first search for Hiruko.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru entered a secret laboratory that even Kabuto did not know about. The equipment here was more sophisticated than that of the external lab. In the cultivation tank at the center, there lay a body almost identical to his own, the husk left over from his Living Corpse Reincarnation.
The husk remaining after the Living Corpse Reincarnation would decay rapidly, but because this particular body had been implanted with mycelium by Haruno Sakura, it instead became immensely vital. Even without Orochimaru's soul, it had become a perfect vessel.
"Fungi, strange organisms."
Having understood that the item implanted into his previous body was fungi, Orochimaru began to research these once-insignificant beings, opening doors to a new world.
