"I can't believe it—has the Sound Village already been established?" Shin asked in surprise as he followed Orochimaru to his hidden village in the Land of Sound.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly but refrained from questioning how Shin knew this information.
"Actually, I established the Sound Village only three years ago, mainly to settle my followers and secure a steady source of funding for my experiments," Orochimaru explained smoothly. It had been five years since he defected from Konoha, and with that time, he already established the Sound Village in the Land of Sound.
In the original timeline, it would be years before the Sound Village grew to a level where it could even participate in the Chunin Exams in Konoha. Despite being a small ninja village, its presence under Orochimaru's guidance made it unexpectedly remarkable.
'If only he weren't so obsessed with immortality,' Shin mused. 'He could probably take the title of Hokage without much difficulty.'
Currently, the Sound Village is still in its infancy. Most of the ninjas here were experimental subjects for Orochimaru, and some, while carefully trained, were still too young to serve as a complete combat force.
As Shin walked through the village with Orochimaru, several Sound Village ninjas observed their group curiously. Shin was accompanied by the Hyuga father and son, as well as Sara, Tsunade, and Shizune.
Hizashi and Neji, with their prominent white eyes, drew particular attention from the Sound Village ninjas. The Byakugan was known as one of the three great dojutsu in the ninja world, and anyone with even basic knowledge could recognize it.
Seeing that Orochimaru had brought back Hyuga clan members, many ninjas in the Sound Village were astonished. However, since most of Orochimaru's loyalists were still young and impressionable, few saw these newcomers as competition.
As they followed Orochimaru into his underground laboratory, Sara glanced around, muttering, "Another underground lab! Why do all ninjas do this?"
Orochimaru, overhearing her, replied, "For ninjas, it's the simplest, most effective, and least costly method of concealment."
Surprised that he could hear her from so far away, Sara stuck out her tongue playfully.
Reaching the deepest part of the underground base, they encountered a heavily reinforced cell holding a tall boy covered in various sealing symbols. His face was strikingly young, barely ten years old, though his height suggested otherwise.
Hearing footsteps, the boy opened his eyes and greeted politely, "Mr. Orochimaru, is that you?"
"I've brought someone who can truly address your issue," Orochimaru replied, a faint smile curving his lips. "It wasn't easy to convince Mr. Shin to come here. I had to put in quite a bit of effort."
"Effort? More like getting beaten down," Tsunade interjected with a smirk. "He didn't come here willingly."
Orochimaru's expression stiffened. Although he had sacrificed much in his pursuit of immortality, he still had a sense of pride. Nonetheless, he only glared at Tsunade and remained silent. They still shared some remnants of their old friendship, and he had grown somewhat accustomed to her bluntness over the years.
Jugo glanced at Shin with surprise, not expecting someone capable of subduing Orochimaru. However, his loyalty didn't lie with Orochimaru; he was only kept here to receive treatment for his uncontrollable rage.
Jugo's near-split personality disorder stemmed from his body's natural affinity for absorbing natural energy. Without a way to channel this energy, he couldn't enter Sage Mode, which drove him into a frenzied state.
To some extent, Jugo could be called a "natural sage body." However, his affinity was incomplete; combined with the true sage body of Hashirama Senju, one could theoretically sustain Sage Mode indefinitely.
Looking at Jugo, Shin said, "Solving your issue isn't difficult for me. But I need to know—after curing your mental instability, would you still want to retain your strength?"
"If you want to keep your power, there's some risk. But if you only wish to stay sane, that's simple."
Jugo didn't hesitate. "I choose the second option."
Nodding, Shin said nothing further as a black mist enveloped his hands, drawing Jugo into the dark dimension.
In truth, Shin would have preferred if Jugo had chosen to retain his strength, as it would allow him to conduct body modifications. But since Jugo made his choice, Shin would respect it. If the transformation didn't go well, he could always undo it later.
Jugo's unique physique stemmed from generations of his family living in an area saturated with natural energy. Over time, they absorbed this energy, producing a natural enzyme in their bodies that could draw in natural energy.
Orochimaru had explained this to Shin, noting that ordinary people couldn't easily extract these enzymes. However, it was effortless for Shin, who wielded the powers of the Munch-Munch Fruit.
"All right," he said, releasing Jugo from the dark dimension. Shin held a test tube containing the enzyme he had extracted from Jugo's body.
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