Naruto: Kurotsuchi Mayuri

"Unbelievable!"

At the campsite, Shisui, while eating, couldn't hide his astonishment at Kagetsu's methods.

Although Kagetsu had previously demonstrated techniques that could enhance a ninja's abilities, those were at least based on trained ninjas.

But now, ordinary people, not even ninjas, could bypass years of learning and training and directly gain power equivalent to a Chunin, or even a Special Jonin. It felt like a dream!

If Shisui hadn't witnessed it himself from start to finish, he would never have believed it.

According to Kagetsu, this technique wasn't perfect. However, in Shisui's eyes, that was just Kagetsu being overly critical of his own work.

Once this technique was revealed, no ninja village would ignore it.

Not even Konoha!

In fact, Shisui felt an inexplicable fear creeping into his heart.

If—if this technique became widespread, would the grueling training and education that ninja underwent from childhood still hold any value?

If jutsu could be mastered without long hours of practice, if power could be gained without rigorous effort, then wouldn't that render the hard work of countless ninjas meaningless?

After all, years of painstaking training might not yield as much progress as one application of Kagetsu's technique.

To be honest, Shisui was now completely unsure about what Lord Orochimaru and Kagetsu were trying to achieve.

"What's on your mind?" Anko asked, noticing Shisui's distracted state. She casually patted his shoulder with her greasy hand, having just finished eating grilled rabbit meat.

Her body had been enhanced through repeated experiments by Orochimaru and Kagetsu, and along with that, her appetite had grown to rival that of the Akimichi clan.

A single rabbit was barely enough to serve as a snack and whet her appetite.

But traveling in the wilderness, eating her fill was a luxury. So, she satisfied her cravings with the rabbit and then obediently pulled out the Military Rations Pills Kagetsu had prepared for her. 

With a grimace, she began to pop them into her mouth one by one, chewing reluctantly and swallowing with a pained expression.

Kagetsu's Military Rations Pills were effective, providing all the chakra her body needed to function. However, they had one glaring flaw—one that Anko found utterly unacceptable: they tasted awful.

"It's nothing!" Shisui, who had been nudged awake, stuffed the remaining piece of slightly cooled roasted wild rabbit into his mouth, shook his head, and finished eating.

"You're overthinking again, getting all sentimental. Why can't you just be straightforward like other Uchiha?" Anko sighed.

She felt a sense of helplessness toward her two teammates. The illusions she once held about having ideal companions had long since been dispelled.

Looking at Kagetsu and Shisui, they were undoubtedly two handsome men. But one was obsessed with corpses, spending all his free time locked in a mysterious lab when not on missions.

The other was the pride of the Uchiha, celebrated as the epitome of the new generation—a near-perfect ninja, with exceptional strength and character. 

Yet, he was constantly lost in thought about unattainable ideals like world peace or the unity of clans and villages.

From her experience with Shisui, Anko figured he had once again cornered himself with these unanswerable questions.

This wasn't a situation her carefree nature was equipped to handle, but Anko had her own way of dealing with it. She knew exactly how to pull Shisui back from his spiral.

"Kagetsu, it's your turn!" she said, tossing the responsibility to the quiet Kagetsu, who had been calmly eating his food nearby.

That was her tried-and-true method—whenever there was a problem, ask Kagetsu.

If Kagetsu couldn't solve it, go straight to Orochimaru!

Why bother using her own brain when there were people smarter than her?

"?"

Kagetsu raised his head, his gaze sweeping over both Shisui and Anko's faces.

"I'm amazed by your technique," Shisui said with an awkward smile, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "To raise an ordinary person's strength to at least Chunin level in just three days… could this revolutionize how ninja are trained in the future?"

"You're referring to the question of, 'If strength can be gained without effort, then what's the point of hard work?' aren't you?" Kagetsu said, precisely pinpointing the heart of Shisui's inquiry.

It was clear that Kagetsu's approach challenged the education and beliefs Shisui had been taught and instilled with since childhood.

"Yes," Shisui nodded. This method seemed good on the surface, but deep down, it gave him an uneasy, almost reluctant feeling that he couldn't shake off.

"This method can be tested on a small scale," Kagetsu explained, "but it's not suitable for large-scale implementation yet.

Their strength is artificially granted, and without further modifications, their potential is nearly locked at a certain level.

Moreover, gaining power doesn't automatically make someone a true warrior. They still need to familiarize themselves with it and train diligently to fully integrate this sudden strength into their abilities.

Right now, their combat experience is far too shallow. In one-on-one battles, they might be able to defeat some ordinary Chunin using their new abilities. 

But if a fight drags on or their abilities are exposed, they'll inevitably be targeted and countered.

So, no matter what, effort is always essential. The only difference is that their starting point is slightly higher."

Hearing this, Shisui nodded in agreement.

The borders of the Land of Fire.

The battlefield between Iwagakure and Konoha.

Inside Orochimaru's tent.

Orochimaru's golden eyes gleamed with excitement as he looked at the scrolls Kagetsu had sent him. The scrolls documented Shinnō's experiments and knowledge.

These scrolls sparked new ideas in Orochimaru's mind.

As a brilliant thinker, the fact that Orochimaru could draw inspiration from the knowledge recorded on these scrolls—and even feel amazed—proved Shinnō's exceptional expertise.

At the very least, the scrolls revealed an alternative path, one that aligned with Orochimaru's earliest vision of achieving immortality.

That path was body transfer!

Humans die because their bodies sustain fatal injuries. But what if, at the brink of death, one could replace their body with a new one?

By constantly switching bodies and keeping oneself in a perpetual state of youth, wouldn't it be possible to avoid death altogether?

Orochimaru's research had long followed this path.

The development of the Cursed Seal, the transfer of souls, spirit, and chakra—all of it was aimed at preparing for body replacement.

However, body replacement comes with a critical issue: the compatibility between the soul and the new body.

An unsuitable body would weaken his abilities and place an undue burden on him. 

For example, if his powerful soul were forcibly crammed into a weak body, it would be like squeezing an elephant into a tiny, confined space.

He would feel discomfort, and the body—the new vessel—would also bear immense pressure.

But within Kagetsu's research, he glimpsed another path to immortality. This was a path entirely opposite and contradictory to the immortality of the physical body.

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