After checking on the training progress of Chi and Manji and giving them some pointers, Orochimaru left the two to their practice and walked out.
He paced slowly alone in the corridor for a long time before arriving at a discreet, ordinary-looking study in the back courtyard, identical in appearance to the other rooms in the family estate.
Examining the seemingly common quiet room, Orochimaru carefully checked the surroundings to confirm there were no special marks. Then, his pale hands began forming hand seals.
The complex hand signs shifted multiple times in the blink of an eye. As the seals were formed, a snow-white talisman, the size of an adult palm, slowly materialized on the wooden Japanese sliding door of the seemingly ordinary room.
The moment Orochimaru saw the talisman, his expression grew serious. His hand seals shifted again, and after two breaths, lines of sealing formulas composed of profound, ink-black, tadpole-like strokes appeared on the white paper.
After the sealing formulas appeared, Orochimaru immediately switched to a different set of hand seals.
Omm—
A faint hum, almost inaudible, seemed to resonate in the space. Orochimaru's hands, glowing with a faint blue chakra light, pressed simultaneously onto the top-left and bottom-right corners of the talisman. He exerted force and peeled off the arcane sealing paper.
The instant the talisman was removed, a faint blue flash of light burst across the door, disappearing as quickly as it came.
Holding the talisman, Orochimaru turned to survey the dim, empty courtyard, where only the shadows of trees and plants swayed. He meticulously sensed his surroundings with his spiritual energy, making absolutely sure no one was secretly observing. Only then did he push open the sliding door with a "Kacha!—" and walk inside.
Upon entering the quiet room, a strong smell of herbs greeted Orochimaru's nose. He expertly flipped the light switch on the nearby wall.
The room, about twenty to thirty square meters in size, was immediately flooded with light, revealing all its contents.
In the center of the room sat a long, narrow table. On the waist-high wooden table, various pharmaceutical tools and rudimentary laboratory equipment were neatly arranged.
The left and right walls were covered with black cabinets, labeled with the names of various herbs, some common, some rare. Along the wall facing the door stood six bookshelves, each taller than a man.
This room was originally the family's ninjutsu storage. The six bookshelves facing the door contained, from left to right, scrolls for the five great elemental releases: Lightning Release, Water Release, Fire Release, Earth Release, and Wind Release. The last shelf held various Genjutsu and the cultivation insights of past clan seniors. It also contained some arcane Secret Jutsu collected and created by past family members. It was, in essence, the family's most precious treasure trove.
After his rebirth, Orochimaru chose this room because of its secluded location and powerful external sealing defense. He converted it into a place for preparing secret medicine and conducting experiments. Although the facilities were basic, it was better than nothing. At least when it came to making the secret medicine, the precious herbs the family had cultivated and stored over the years were satisfactory to Orochimaru.
Inherently cautious, Orochimaru checked several specific points in the room to ensure no one but himself had entered. Finally reassured, he returned to the door and affixed the removed talisman to the interior surface.
The moment the talisman, inscribed with the arcane sealing formula, was placed on the door, a faint blue glow emanated from it. In just one breath, the entire wooden door seemed to suddenly turn into a transparent glass pane. Orochimaru, standing inside the room, could clearly see the scenery in the corridor outside.
And the instant the talisman was attached to the inside of the door, the light that had been shining onto the corridor through the door vanished. From the outside, the room appeared to be a pitch-black, ordinary quiet room, attracting no attention whatsoever.
Once these preparations were complete, Orochimaru finally lowered his guard and began preparing the secret medicine.
He retrieved the various ingredients, both common and rare, that would be used in the secret medicine from the cabinets on both walls and placed them onto a mobile cart of experimental auxiliary equipment.
Pushing the cart, Orochimaru approached the experiment and preparation table. His dark-golden pupils swept over the neatly arranged pharmaceutical tools and instruments. A hint of excitement and familiarity flickered deep within his eyes. For Orochimaru, a veritable research fanatic in his past life, coming into contact with these things again after his rebirth brought an inexplicable sense of familiarity. This was, arguably, the field he was most skilled in.
Skillfully selecting the necessary tools and turning on some instruments, Orochimaru expertly began the preparation of the secret medicine.
Ingredients were weighed with a small balance scale, then either crushed, squeezed, or scorched. After a series of complex steps, the purest essence was extracted. Following the specific proportions recalled from his memory, he used special hand seals to manipulate chakra and bind the essence of the herbs together.
A long time passed. A dazzling blue glow flashed inside the medicinal pot—made of a special metal capable of transmitting and guiding chakra—followed by a faint, thread-like yet extremely pungent, acidic odor that made one want to cry.
Smelling this odor, a sharp light flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. He stopped the chakra infusion. Enduring the acrid, pungent smell, he opened the lid of the pot and retrieved over ten pitch-black but perfectly smooth and round medicinal pills. He carefully placed these pills into a pre-prepared transparent glass vial.
Capping the bottle, Orochimaru looked at the dozen black secret pills lying quietly inside and nodded in satisfaction.
Putting the pills safely away in his pocket, Orochimaru tidied his equipment.
With everything arranged, Orochimaru went to the six precious ninjutsu bookshelves. He broke the seals on the scrolls one by one and quickly scanned their contents.
In his previous life, he had already mastered and internalized the jutsu on these shelves. However, since his rebirth, many things had changed. Orochimaru harbored a sliver of hope that he might discover some valuable new forbidden or secret techniques on these shelves.
After reading the last line of the final scroll, Orochimaru found nothing new.
Prepared for this outcome, he wasn't disheartened. He checked the sky outside, estimating that it would still be a while until dawn.
He touched the pocket containing the secret medicine. Orochimaru knew he possessed a mind full of forbidden techniques and secret methods. If he had enough time, he could grow to a terrifying extent. But time was the one thing he currently lacked most.
The Second Great Ninja War would erupt in the near future. If he couldn't acquire enough power and leverage before that war ended, he would repeat the mistakes of his past, gradually becoming a pawn or a manipulated puppet during the Third Great Ninja War, where countless powerful figures would emerge. He would once again be forced onto the path of defecting from the village and being forsaken by everyone.
The most urgent truth was that, following Orochimaru's rebirth, like the first toppled domino, everything was rapidly changing. The future had become confusing and unpredictable. The only thing that could restore Orochimaru's confidence was his ever-increasing power.
With this thought, Orochimaru decided not to return to his room to rest. Instead, he took out a soft, cream-colored cushion, sat down cross-legged on the spot, and prepared to activate the forbidden technique and use the secret medicine to temper his body, as planned.
🗒️NOTE:
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
Explore up to 10 chapters in advance!