Inside a training room in Otogakure, Jugo was practicing a Jutsu that his clones couldn't help with.
Snake replacement.
The jutsu was incredibly complicated, but it basically involved transferring the soul to a new body within oneself.
Imagine Ukon and Sakon.
Sakon is outside, Ukon is inside, the jutsu creates a perfect copy of one's own body within itself, but not only that, this copy absorbs the flesh, bones and blood of the original body, leaving only the skin when you exit. This is basically what Jugo can do with ease, it's no wonder he learned it so easily.
He discovered that Orochimaru had created this jutsu based on the power of Jugo's curse again, leaving him speechless. It seemed that his clan had been extensively researched by Orochimaru, no wonder he was the last one left.
The downside of this Jutsu? The chakra consumption is immense, but that's for Orochimaru himself, who needed many steps to make it possible. Jugo has extreme control over his own body, being able to remove and reconnect pieces of flesh with ease.
To be blunt, this jutsu is perfect for him.
The downside? It was disgusting as hell, but considering that he could theoretically survive as long as he wasn't disintegrated all at once, he was very happy to learn that.
Jugo was ready to start learning Sage Mode as well, he could already summon ordinary snakes, but he still had to go to Ryuuchi Cave to find a snake like Manda and meet the snake sage to learn Senjutsu.
Orochimaru had already told him all the steps, except that he failed, but Jugo didn't care, even if he failed to take a bite, he wouldn't die. His body had been accustomed to natural energy for a long time.
While he was considering taking some time to travel to the cave, he received a report that left him speechless.
--x--
(10 minutes earlier)
The clone in charge of managing the base was working irritably in his office, Orochimaru was busy training Karin, Kabuto had other things to do so he ended up there.
It was at this point that an Anbu ninja entered, yes, now he had an Anbu, two to be exact.
Looking at the purple hair and the female figure with the cat mask, he knew it was Guren. - Jugo-sama, a message has arrived from the Daimyo.
Jugo sighed and picked up the letter, even though the man had been controlled by Orochimaru for a long time, some of his problems still required ninja assistance.
This was one of those cases.
When he opened the letter and began to read, his eyes grew increasingly strange, a slightly embarrassed look appearing on his face as he coughed slightly to hide his shame.
Serious problems had arisen.
Remember when Jugo used Eternal Winter and practically plunged an entire region into a tremendous Snowstorm?
Well, this snowstorm didn't pass quickly, the cold front it generated caused a series of weather problems, such as hurricanes and a drop in temperature across a large area.
In summary, 70% of the country's rice crops had been lost and the number was growing. Furthermore, due to the cold front, fishing and hunting were also affected and these were just the visible effects currently.
That's no small feat, the Land of Sound was formerly known as the Land of Rice for a reason, enough to export to most countries in the ninja world.
But now? Now they would barely be able to feed themselves, let alone export.
Jugo sighed, he really should have gone further and tested this and caused trouble for other countries.
It was cool to see scenes of mass destruction in anime, but only when you were in a position of power could you visualize the consequences.
He thought he shouldn't use that jutsu in his own country in the future, but for now, he allowed himself to send this information to Jugo so he could decide what to do.
As soon as Jugo found out about this, he started thinking of a solution. The problem was food and the Land of Sound wasn't rich. Orochimaru took most of the money for research, so having a surplus would be good, especially if they weren't in debt.
Besides the fact that there were trade agreements, non-compliance with these agreements would lead to a series of unfavorable measures.
So, Jugo frowned thoughtfully, but soon his eyes lit up as he thought of something, he quickly ran to Orochimaru, finding him teaching Karin in the private library.
The man's arms were still bandaged, but it hurt less now.
He bowed as soon as he saw Jugo, Karin was surprised, but soon followed suit.
-Jugo-sama!- She exclaimed, surprised.
But Jugo hit her on the head with his fist and said. -Try again.
Karin lowered her head, clutching the spot in pain and pouting, but a slight smile still appeared at the corner of her mouth as she cried out. -Aniki!
Jugo smiled and patted the girl's head. -Better yet, how's your training going?
-I can already use the adamantine sealing chains for 10 minutes!- She said, full of pride.
Jugo smiled and complimented her lightly, before looking at Orochimaru and talking about the problem.
Orochimaru frowned thoughtfully, but seeing Jugo's calm expression, he asked. -Jugo-sama, do you have any ideas?
-Hashirama. - Jugo spoke calmly.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed, but then he shook his head. -Hashirama's soul was sealed by that old man.
-Yes, but that's not what I was talking about.- Jugo smiled slightly.
A few hours later, Orochimaru approached with a syringe containing a light green, almost white, liquid.
-Are you sure about this, Jugo-sama?- Orochimaru asked, worried.
-At most, I'll expel it.- Jugo shrugged.
Yes, his idea is to learn the Wood Release style directly from the source, using his cellular ability. Especially after learning from Ukon and Sakon, he's certain he wouldn't die, at most, he'd lose some of his flesh, but that would heal quickly.
Orochimaru didn't try to stop him again, the next moment he placed the needle in Jugo's arm and squeezed the syringe.
The liquid flowed rapidly into him, at first, he only felt that the area was a little cold, but soon Hashirama's cells began to spread at high speed.
At the injection site, a white face slowly began to form. Inside, Jugo felt a battle raging between his cells and Hashirama's, like a battlefield where one tried to destroy the other, but he didn't even flinch from the pain. Instead, he activated Sakon and Ukon's cellular fusion ability. The next moment, Jugo's cells stopped fighting, entered Hashirama's cells and began to fuse with them from the inside.
Again and again, Hashirama's cells continued to resist, but it was like punching cotton candy, the moment they punched each other, they passed through the cell wall without any blockage and began to alter the organelles inside Hashirama's cells.
Half an hour. Half an hour was how long it took for the white face to disappear completely, leaving Jugo's perfectly healthy skin in its place. Jugo smiled happily as he clasped his hands in a gesture that looked like a prayer.
The next moment, the plant that had been purposefully placed in front of him began to move, quickly, a gigantic vine sprouted and covered the entire room.
Jugo could feel the connection, as if it were easily controllable by him, even though he currently didn't know the seals for the wood style, it was even easier to do than the "Rotten Style", but still more difficult than the ice style.
Orochimaru also had an animated look, he had already tried to fuse Jugo's cells and even Ukon and Sakon's, with Hashirama's before.
They were all failures, so I wasn't very confident about this.
Jugo's cells attracted a large amount of natural energy, which caused Hashirama's cells to become extremely excited, in the end, everything transformed into plant material out of control.
But this time it was different, Jugo had extreme control over his body and it wasn't just the cursed power within him, but also a Wraith sequence 5!
A series of factors turned an impossible event into a possible one.
Jugo wasn't actually very interested in the wooden style, for him, having it was good, but not having it didn't matter. He was preoccupied with other things and hadn't even thought about it.
To be more honest, he was more interested in Suigetsu's technique than in the wood style, after all, being able in transforming himself into a water elemental is incredibly useful, even if for him now, it's just the icing on the cake.
The wood style is good, but so what? Even with all his power, Jugo can easily destroy him with the "rotten style".
To prove his point, Jugo let his fingers form zombie-like claws, putrid black energy emanated from his nails, the rancid smell spreading through the room, but neither Jugo nor Orochimaru cared, as soon as he scratched the vine, it began to wither at a tremendous speed.
Ten seconds later, all that remained was a wilted, smelly and yellowed plant lying on the ground.
The fact is that the Wood Release style has some merit, but that's only because it's used by Hashirama, not because the Wood Release is the most powerful. Aside from its powers against Tailed Beasts, it doesn't really have that much practical value.
He prefers the ice style and the rotten style.
But now he's learned anyway, because the best part about the wood style is the accelerated plant growth.
Finally, he could fix the mess he himself had caused.