"Do you have any research on Tailed Beasts?"
In the lab of Orochimaru and Kagetsu, Kagetsu asked while preparing tools for Orochimaru's experiment.
Orochimaru paused for a moment, a strange expression crossing his face as he turned to Kagetsu.
"Why are you suddenly interested in Tailed Beasts? Is it because of the Two-Tails you encountered with the Cloud Ninjas?"
"Yes, that kind of destructive power is really shocking. If it weren't for the Wood Release countering Tailed Beasts, our escape would have been much more difficult," Kagetsu replied while disinfecting the tools.
"Facing a Tailed Beast with your current strength would indeed be a disaster. But the Tailed Beast, as the ultimate deterrent for ninja villages, is not something you can study easily," Orochimaru said, trying to curb Kagetsu's overwhelming desire to research.
"I know that. I don't expect the village to let us study the Nine-Tails either. But what if we didn't need the Nine-Tails?" Kagetsu licked his lips and spoke almost frankly to Orochimaru.
"Not needing the Nine-Tails? Are you planning to find Tailed Beasts from other ninja villages for your research?" Orochimaru felt a nearly reckless curiosity coming from Kagetsu.
"Don't you realize? I'm also considered a Jinchuriki now," Kagetsu said, his tone uncertain by the end.
Theoretically, he was a Jinchuriki because he sealed a Tailed Beast within him. But in terms of power, the Tailed Beast he sealed was probably the weakest one.
Orochimaru showed a look of shock upon hearing this.
Kagetsu lifted his shirt, revealing the Eight Trigrams Seal on his abdomen, applied by Minato. At the same time, a violent and brutal chakra, different from Kagetsu's own, began to rise around him.
"Is this chakra from the Two-Tails?" Orochimaru carefully sensed the familiar chakra, his usually calm face still showing shock.
"You captured the Two-Tails?" he asked Kagetsu.
"How is that possible!" Kagetsu shook his head. His mental strength and Yin chakra were nearly exhausted; if he drew more, he would lose consciousness and fall into a berserk state and turn into a bloody corpse.
He had simply taken a part of the Two-Tails and left it at that.
"For reasons I'm not entirely sure of, I cut out a portion from the Two-Tails, and this part also contains its consciousness," Kagetsu admitted honestly about his situation.
"Dividing consciousness? How interesting!" Orochimaru's eyes lit up when he heard Kagetsu's words. He was already experimenting with splitting his own spiritual consciousness, or soul, into multiple fragments to achieve his goal of immortality through body modification and certain forbidden techniques.
What Kagetsu said piqued his interest so much that he postponed his upcoming research.
"So, you currently have another tailed beast inside you that doesn't belong to the Cloud Village?" Orochimaru licked his lips, a strong curiosity showing on his face.
He knew that possessing the chakra of a tailed beast didn't necessarily make one a Jinchuriki. For example, the infamous Gold and Silver brothers, who were responsible for the deaths of the Second Hokage and the Second Raikage, both had the chakra of the Nine-Tails.
However, he had never met anyone like Kagetsu, who could split a tailed beast into two parts while becoming a Jinchuriki herself. He sensed something that excited him deeply.
"Yes. I've even seen it in my mental space and spoken to it," Kagetsu nodded.
"How amazing," Orochimaru said with a strange smile. "You know, Kagetsu, I was once very interested in the power of tailed beasts and wanted to pursue research on it."
Kagetsu watched Orochimaru get lost in his memories, silently waiting for him to continue.
"Follow me!" Orochimaru tossed aside his tools and led Kagetsu to a spacious area in the Technology Development Department. He bit his fingertip, using his blood to create a summoning seal.
Boom!
A snake as thick as an arm appeared. Upon seeing Orochimaru, its mouth opened in a wide arc, releasing a sticky container filled with an unknown liquid.
The container was about half a meter tall, covered in dense sealing symbols.
Orochimaru squatted down, unconcerned about the sticky liquid, and gently rubbed the container, saying to Kagetsu, "I once infiltrated the Cloud Village and applied a nerve toxin to the then Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Blue B, cutting off a portion of the Eight-Tails' chakra before it went berserk."
Kagetsu was amazed by Orochimaru's boldness. Finding the identity of a Jinchuriki wasn't hard; spending some time infiltrating the village would lead to discovery, as long as one wasn't caught and put in a bit of effort.
The challenge lay in avoiding the Anbu ninjas, who both monitored and protected the Jinchuriki, achieving his goals without alerting anyone, and then escaping safely.
If Orochimaru had been discovered, with the Cloud Village's reputation for vengeance, the news would have spread throughout the ninja world. They would have gathered a large force either to launch a direct attack or to intimidate Konoha, reaping significant benefits.
However, since there were no reports of such an incident, it was clear that Orochimaru had managed to deceive everyone in the Cloud Village, including the Jinchuriki.
The berserk jinchuriki is a huge threat to any village. If there aren't strong individuals to stop and suppress them, the village will inevitably suffer massive destruction and losses.
If this happens during a time of war, it would be a significant blow to both the village and its morale.
"This jar contains the chakra I extracted from the Eight-Tails jinchuriki. Of course, it's just pure chakra. All I can do is seal it to prevent it from dissipating too quickly," Orochimaru said.
He looked at Kagetsu as if he was a precious treasure.
He wasn't excited because Kagetsu had become the Two-Tails jinchuriki; he had no particular obsession with jinchuriki, nor with tailed beasts and other bloodline limits.
What he truly wanted was to perfect his immortality technique.
At that moment, he sensed an opportunity and inspiration from Kagetsu that could help him improve a certain jutsu, giving hope to his quest for immortality!
"I can share all my research data on the Eight-Tails with you. And I can also help you master the power of the Two-Tails, but in return you need to give something back," Orochimaru raised a finger. "Help me perfect the method for separating consciousness."
"Of course," Kagetsu didn't refuse. The same technique would produce different results in everyone's hands, depending on their mindset.
Orochimaru's willingness to let him join the immortality research meant that he recognized and valued his abilities to an extraordinary degree.
****
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