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After further discussions with Danzō, Orochimaru began preparing for the experiments.
To facilitate this, Danzō had even arranged for a large underground facility—spanning at least 200 square meters across two floors.
The upper level was filled with equipment. Just the nutrient pods large enough to hold a person numbered four, as far as Midorima could see. As for the other instruments, Midorima wasn't too familiar with them, recognizing only basic lab tools like test tubes, beakers, and alcohol lamps.
The lower floor was a prison, its cells sturdy enough to hold ordinary people.
However, such defenses were hardly enough to restrain shinobi. To address this, Orochimaru came up with a rather unique solution—injecting the prisoners with a special reagent to weaken their physical abilities, rendering them unable to resist.
After all, the Curse Mark wasn't something to be used carelessly.
It wasn't that he couldn't apply it—just that it wasn't necessary.
Midorima wasn't entirely sure what this reagent was, but it served as a warning to him: he had to stay far away from these things. Otherwise, even without the Curse Mark, he'd be no match for Orochimaru.
The day after seeing the lab, he spotted the first "test subject" in the prison—a young shinobi, judging by the forehead protector, from Konoha.
Was he surprised?
Considering Konoha's past actions, this didn't shock Midorima at all.
Experiments like these had been conducted with the Third Hokage's approval—though that era was long gone now.
Perhaps due to the injection of some unknown substance, the subjects' bodies weakened, making them prone to sudden death once placed in the nutrient solution.
Midorima didn't comment on it.
What happened in Konoha wasn't his business. Thanks to his lack of strenght, even if he want to interfere, it would be near impossible.
The only thing he could do was use medical ninjutsu to ease the pain of those injected with the reagent, making their suffering slightly more bearable.
That said, seeing Orochimaru from behind in a white lab coat really gave off "Aunt Snake" vibes—as long as you didn't look at his front.
At first, Midorima assumed that since Orochimaru had conducted similar experiments before, it would take only a week or two to get results. After all, Orochimaru was a genius when it came to research.
That also meant there'd probably only be one or two test subjects.
However, the experiment's progress was far from what Midorima had expected.
People were sent into the prison, then carried out to be buried. In just two weeks, ten individuals had gone through this process.
Midorima was baffled. For someone who had mastered forbidden reincarnation techniques, transplanting Hashirama's cells shouldn't be that difficult, right?
Later, he learned there were multiple reasons for this.
First, Orochimaru hadn't performed this experiment in a long time and needed to regain his touch.
Second, when Orochimaru defected from Konoha, he hadn't taken the previous experimental data with him. And those who knew about the research, fearing leaks, had burned the records.
Danzō, ever the cautious man, had secretly made a handwritten copy—burning the original while keeping his own transcript.
In the first week, Orochimaru followed Danzō's copied data—only to realize, after a week of hard work, that the records were wrong.
Midorima could relate to copying mistakes.
Back in his past life, he'd copied homework answers and still gotten the wrong line—let alone experimental data. Numbers were just numbers; who cared which one was written?
Then Orochimaru snapped, nearly setting the lab on fire.
It was like pulling an all-nighter to write a thesis, only to find out the foundational data was wrong.
The second week, Orochimaru started from scratch—making things much harder.
Danzō wasn't happy. After all, the first week had cost five shinobi. Valuable resources.
Orochimaru shoved Danzō's data in his face. "Wrong. I have to redo everything."
"That can't be! I copied the original records!"
"Copied the original? Why didn't you just keep the original and burn this trash instead?"
"Do you know how much effort I put into copying this?"
"I don't care if it was effort or blood—it's still garbage. Oh, and don't stop supplying test subjects."
"What?! Do you realize Konoha's higher-ups have already noticed ten missing shinobi in two weeks? If this keeps up, they will find out!"
"Then I guess we'll have to wait." Orochimaru peeled off his bloodstained gloves and tossed them into the trash. "I'll stay until after the Chūnin Exams at most. I have my own plans—I can't waste time here forever."
Danzō's facial expressions were the most entertaining Midorima had ever seen—torn between fury and restraint, frustration and forced composure, before finally storming off in suppressed rage.
Angry as he was, Danzō still obeyed, continuing to supply Orochimaru with new "test subjects."
Over the next month and a half, Danzō provided 26 individuals. 24 of them were "disposed of"—a staggering "consumption" rate. But at least the necessary data was finally recorded.
Midorima had been waiting for Danzō to bring out the Sharingan—that was what he truly wanted.
Danzō seemed to share the sentiment. In the final week, he visited almost daily, his gaze constantly flickering toward Orochimaru. Had Orochimaru asked, Midorima wouldn't have been surprised if Danzō pulled out a handful of Sharingan from his sleeve right then and there.
But Orochimaru's lips remained sealed, as if glued shut.
Even with the data secured, he showed no urgency, seemingly intent on delaying further.
After some thought, Midorima had a guess.
Orochimaru hadn't originally known about the Chūnin Exams, but Danzō's reminder might have planted an idea. Was he planning something big during the event?
Perhaps he intended to pull off his scheme first, then operate on Danzō—knowing full well he might need Danzō to clean up the aftermath.
During Orochimaru's experiments, Konoha had noticed the dwindling number of shinobi.
In the first month, a shinobi went missing nearly every two days, putting immense pressure on the village and prompting heightened security.
The following month, no more shinobi disappeared within the village—but those returning from missions began getting ambushed en route, vanishing without a trace. This further heightened tensions, leading to increased patrols.
No one would've guessed the attacker was Danzō.
A few days later, ROOT delivered the final batch of "test subjects"—three in total.
Two were shinobi Orochimaru would use for transplant practice. If successful, he'd proceed with Danzō's surgery. If not, they'd need to find more.
The third was a girl.
When Midorima saw her, his face darkened.
Seriously? How was she this unlucky? Why did he keep running into her?
The girl was none other than Tsunade's apprentice—Shizune.