"Mr. Deng, Ms. Mi has left due to an urgent matter. I apologize for your wasted trip."
Perhaps because Orochimaru referred to Uchiha Madara as "old Mr. Deng," the people at the Laboratory Base all called him "Mr. Deng," completely unaware of what "old Mr. Deng" meant, thinking that this elderly man was simply named Mr. Deng.
"No matter, I will come again next time."
Uchiha Madara arrived at the Laboratory Base once again, expecting to see Ms. Mi conducting research as usual, but found that Ms. Mi was absent due to an urgent matter. Greatly disappointed, he planned to return home.
Looking at the numerous small trucks parked outside the Laboratory Base, the sound of their engines reached him. Uchiha Madara looked over and saw the small trucks driving over the sea.
This is Scientific Ninja Tools… Is this what Ms. Mi meant by "technology changes the world"?
Uchiha Madara still firmly believed that Infinite Tsukuyomi could bring peace to the world, but he didn't just stay in the Mountain Graveyard. He often came to this Laboratory Base, partly to understand the current situation of the Ninja World, and partly to observe Ms. Mi's scientific research capabilities.
The appearance of the small trucks made him begin to realize Ms. Mi's extraordinary scientific research capabilities.
Given his age, even if he awakened the Rinnegan, he wouldn't live much longer. For this, he was conceiving a plan, a grand plan to bring permanent peace to the world.
Ms. Mi's abilities in scientific research reminded him of Senju Tobirama, who developed numerous Ninjutsu specifically for the Uchiha Clan. He chose to leave Konoha partly because of the text on the stone tablet, but a larger reason was his realization that the next Hokage would be Senju Tobirama, and the Uchiha Clan's situation would become even more difficult, suffering oppression from the Village.
However, when he chose to leave Konoha, no one was willing to follow him. This was his greatest disappointment and what bothered him the most.
Ten years had passed since Senju Tobirama's death, and the Uchiha Clan's development had taken a different direction than he had envisioned. Even now, he refused to acknowledge that those people with bright, sunny smiles on television were members of the Uchiha Clan.
The driver noticed Uchiha Madara looking their way, pulled the car over beside him, and leaned out to ask, "Mr. Deng, would you like to try it?"
"I don't know how to drive."
Uchiha Madara looked at the small truck in front of him, a thought of trying it arising in his mind, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself because he couldn't drive.
"Don't worry, Mr. Deng, it's very simple."
"Then I'll give it a try."
Uchiha Madara got into the car and sat in the passenger seat. After watching the person's operations, he imitated him and drove the small truck around on the sea, doing a surprisingly good job.
"Mr. Deng, what do you think? Isn't it interesting?"
"Indeed."
Uchiha Madara nodded. Driving and running on two legs were completely different sensations. Driving gave him a very novel and enjoyable experience.
Perhaps, I should ask Ms. Mi to get me a car.
It would be a good way to pass the time while waiting for the Rinnegan to awaken.
Uchiha Madara was idle every day now. On one hand, he couldn't expose himself, and on the other hand, his strength had weakened significantly with age, so running around everywhere could easily get him into trouble.
Therefore, he now had plenty of time to squander.
Ryūchi Cave
Orochimaru sat cross-legged in the cave, concentrating on controlling the Sage Chakra within her body.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
The stalactites above the cave twisted and elongated as if they had come to life, then immediately returned to their original state, becoming lifeless inanimate objects again.
"Orochimaru, you're completely useless. How many times have you tried, and you still can't imbue inanimate objects with life?"
Ichikishimahime floated in the air with her legs crossed, suppressing her inner shock, and deliberately spoke words to belittle Orochimaru. She didn't want to admit that Orochimaru was the most talented person she had ever seen.
"I can't help it, because I'm rather clumsy."
Orochimaru had no intention of arguing with Ichikishimahime and followed her words. Having just briefly succeeded in imbuing the stalactites with life, she had a new understanding of Inorganic Reincarnation.
Inorganic Reincarnation is a Sage Art that imbues inanimate objects with life and controls them, similar to an application of Yin-Yang Release. Yang Release Chakra is used to inject life into forms, and Inorganic Reincarnation is no different.
This means that the Sage Chakra used for Inorganic Reincarnation is more inclined towards the fusion of Yang Release Chakra and Natural Energy?
Sage Chakra is refined from spiritual energy plus body energy plus Natural Energy in a 1:1:1 ratio, which means that Sage Chakra also possesses nature transformation.
This is undeniable, as can be seen from the Sage Arts performed by Jiraiya, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yakushi Kabuto in Sage Mode.
"Hey, hey! What are you thinking about?"
Ichikishimahime floated in front of Orochimaru, saw her deep in thought, and waved her hand.
"Please don't disturb me."
A white snake tail pushed Ichikishimahime aside. Orochimaru stood up, looking at the stalactite above.
Let's try it. Confirm my idea.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
Orochimaru formed hand seals, and Sage Chakra imbued the surrounding inanimate objects with life. This time, unlike before when only a single stalactite was briefly animated, large sections of stalactites came alive. Even the ground animated, writhing and transforming into numerous snakes that opened their mouths to bite Ichikishimahime.
"You… you succeeded?"
Ichikishimahime looked at Orochimaru, who had successfully performed Inorganic Reincarnation, in disbelief, dodging the snakes made of earth.
"I succeeded, but my mastery of Inorganic Reincarnation is not yet perfect."
Orochimaru released Inorganic Reincarnation, looked at Ichikishimahime, and thanked her: "Thank you for helping me with my training."
"Don't think that just because you thanked me, the harm you caused me will disappear!"
Ichikishimahime pointed at Orochimaru; she hadn't forgotten how Orochimaru had commented on the trial she had painstakingly prepared.
Seeing Ichikishimahime still holding a grudge, Orochimaru spread her hands: "To be honest, the trial you prepared was as childish as your appearance."
Orochimaru had already phrased these words very subtly.
"Ugh…"
Ichikishimahime clenched her fists, fuming with anger.
Tagorihime's figure appeared in the cave, looking at the furious Ichikishimahime, and said with a smile: "Oh my, you two are getting along quite well~!"
"Which eye of yours saw us getting along quite well?"
Ichikishimahime suspected Tagorihime had a problem with her eyes; it was clearly her being unilaterally humiliated.
"Dinner is ready, do you want to eat? Tagitsuhime and I made it, you know~!" Tagorihime smiled, her face undergoing subtle changes, "Perhaps we added some things that might cause something terrible to happen if eaten?"
"Then I'll just eat what I brought myself."
Orochimaru walked to a stone platform nearby where her clothes were placed. She was currently wearing a rather revealing crop top, as her previous clothes were unsuitable with a snake tail growing from her back. She took out a scroll from her clothes and unsealed it.
Whoosh—!
A small mountain of snacks appeared before Tagorihime and Ichikishimahime. The two Snake Princesses' mouths hung open, their eyes wide as they stared at the pile of snacks.
"Here are soldier pills that can replenish a lot of Chakra. Would you like to try them? The flavors vary, so be careful not to eat a flavor you don't like."
Orochimaru rummaged through the mountain of snacks, found a packet of soldier pills labeled "Akimichi Clan Special! Weird-Flavored soldier pills!", and shook it at Ichikishimahime and Tagorihime.
She always felt that there might be some flavors in there that she would never want to try, so she might as well let these two Snake Princesses taste them.
"soldier pills? Aren't those hard-to-swallow emergency medicines?"
Ichikishimahime flew to Orochimaru's side. She was more interested in the mountain of snacks than the soldier pills.
"I didn't expect you to love snacks so much."
Tagorihime covered her mouth and chuckled. Orochimaru's image in her mind had always been mature and composed, and this pile of snacks changed her impression of Orochimaru.
"What you're referring to are the old soldier pills. These are new soldier pills, with a formula I improved. They restore more Chakra and taste good. Don't you both like Chakra very much?"
Orochimaru threw a soldier pill to Ichikishimahime. "Also, these snacks were given to me by a friend…"
Recalling the enthusiastic Akimichi Clan, it seemed every single person wanted to stuff their snacks into her hands.
Every time she went to the Akimichi Clan, it was like this. How much did they want her to have a physique like theirs?!
She didn't even have calorie control methods; if she got fat, it couldn't be converted into Chakra!
"Sigh, it's hard to refuse such hospitality."
Orochimaru sighed. The Akimichi Clan was so enthusiastic that she was almost afraid to go there anymore.
"What flavor is this? It's delicious."
After some mental preparation, Ichikishimahime ate a soldier pill and found it tasted quite good. It was a flavor she had never tasted before, and she could feel the soldier pill providing her with Chakra.
"Let me try!"
Tagorihime curiously picked up a pill and threw it into her mouth, then made a constipated expression.
"I told you, the flavors are different."
Orochimaru tried hard to maintain her expression, not letting herself laugh.
"Tagorihime, dinner is ready, I told you to call Orochimaru to eat…"
Tagitsuhime arrived in the cave, saw the mountain of snacks, and then saw Ichikishimahime holding a packet of soldier pills next to Tagorihime, and was instantly speechless.
"Tagitsuhime, want some?" Orochimaru pointed at the snack mountain beside her, "I can't finish all of these myself."
Orochimaru wasn't very interested in snacks. She rummaged out a packet of apple-flavored soldier pills, opened the packaging, and took two pills into her mouth.
While the Three Snake Princesses were searching for snacks that interested them in the snack mountain, Orochimaru walked aside, to a place where she wouldn't disturb them, and continued her training in Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation.
Bang—!
Suddenly, a loud bang accompanied by an angry roar was heard. Orochimaru's hand seals paused, and she looked in the direction of the sound.
"That should be the Great Snake Nest, where the largest snakes in Ryūchi Cave live."
Ichikishimahime floated to Orochimaru's side, holding the bag of apple-flavored soldier pills, throwing them into her mouth one by one. The bag of weird-flavored soldier pills had long since been tossed somewhere unknown.
Orochimaru saw Ichikishimahime eating soldier pills like snacks and reminded her: "Eating too many soldier pills is not good for your brain."
"Mind your own business!"
Ichikishimahime threw the soldier pill she was about to put in her mouth at Orochimaru.
The white snake tail transformed into a white snake and ate the soldier pill.
"Didn't you eat some too!"
"I ate a very small amount, it won't have an effect."
Orochimaru looked at Ichikishimahime with the gaze one would give an idiot, as if saying, I'm fine, but you're different.
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