The cells of Senju Hashirama, once they devour the host, will sprout into trees. And the thing before their eyes... It looked alive, but in essence—wasn’t it just another kind of tree? As a researcher, encountering two phenomena with such high similarity was something Orochimaru simply couldn’t ignore. Whether Senju Hashirama had any connection to the God Tree, Kyoichi couldn’t say for certain, but his inclination was that there was. The resemblance between the two was just too striking. "What’s the origin of this thing?" Orochimaru circled around it, then finally turned his gaze on Kyoichi and Nagato. Though Kyoichi had offered him an explanation, Orochimaru was sure that wasn’t the whole story. The two of them were definitely concealing some far more terrifying secret. This thing’s background was no simple matter! "Did you notice its eyes?" A sudden flash of insight struck Orochimaru’s mind, but for a moment he couldn’t quite link it to anything specific. Kyoichi wouldn’t bring up such a crucial detail for no reason, especially not after Orochimaru had just asked. Orochimaru racked his brain. Then, suddenly, he thought of something that matched the number "nine"... and it was frightening. Orochimaru inhaled sharply, staring in shock at Kyoichi and Nagato. Nagato, however, remained unreadable. Orochimaru guessed the boy had only drawn the same conclusion because Kyoichi suggested it—that the Tailed Beasts might somehow be tied to this creature. "You made the leap all the way to that?" Orochimaru muttered in disbelief. "Ordinary people would never think to connect the Tailed Beasts to this. But I suppose it makes sense—Tailed Beasts are, after all, aggregates of chakra..." There was no question. The Gedo Statue itself must originally have possessed chakra. Otherwise, a body so formidable would be meaningless. If there was truly a connection between the two... Terrifying as it sounded, the more one thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. No flaw in the logic. Unlike Nagato, Orochimaru quickly seized on another key point. The Gedo Statue could not be the Sage of Six Paths himself. Because even after dividing the Tailed Beasts, the Sage still lived on for a time—something confirmed by the Nine-Tails’ own words. Then the question arose... What exactly was this creature to begin with? Why had its body taken on this wooden form? Was it always wood to begin with, or did it only transform into this tree-like state after its chakra was extracted? These were crucial questions. An immense research subject! Orochimaru’s mind was alight with both excitement and frustration. In the past, he had felt the pool of researchable mysteries shrinking, leaving him occasionally restless. But ever since Kyoichi established this research institute, he kept stumbling across puzzles so vast that they could consume a lifetime of study. How did this guy keep unearthing such earth-shattering discoveries every few months? Orochimaru eyed Kyoichi suspiciously, his mind screaming what the hell, what the hell. "Want to study it yourself?" "Of course I do..." Orochimaru answered without hesitation. Then he shot Kyoichi a glance—this brat... Completely irresistible! "We’ll leave it here. Research it if you have time. If not, forget it—it’s not anything crucial. Oh, and by the way, we suspect Madara might be using this thing to cultivate those creatures of his." Kyoichi reminded him. Orochimaru thought about it, and the more he considered, the more plausible it seemed. It truly could serve as a vessel for cultivating special cells. Its vitality was immense, but unlike Hashirama’s cells, it didn’t spread uncontrollably. Implanting it into one’s own body was another matter entirely. Orochimaru was reckless, but not suicidal. Especially here in the research institute—there were experiments one could attempt, and experiments one must not. He might indulge his compulsions at times, but he was well aware: certain acts wouldn’t just endanger him or his test subjects, but the entire shinobi world. ——The Hashirama Cells, for example. --- Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵 Meanwhile, Tsunade returned to the village from the Forest of Death with her team. Long before setting foot back home, she had already braced herself for Sarutobi-sensei’s nagging—and prepared a full set of counterarguments. This time, it hadn’t been a fruitless mission. On the contrary, they had gained plenty: not only summoning the Gedo Statue, but uncovering its secrets, and foiling some of Madara’s schemes. Had Madara succeeded in gathering all the Tailed Beasts, the entire shinobi world would have faced catastrophe. Facing the Third Hokage, Tsunade still felt a little guilty. The matter was no small thing. If their earlier suspicions were true—if Madara and the Gedo Statue were truly one— Then this mission might very well have been a battle for the fate of the entire village, even the world itself! They were simply fortunate the outcome was good. "Tsunade, what exactly happened? Back there in the Forest of Death—what were you doing?" The Third Hokage stood, golden staff in hand, clad in a jonin flak vest. The instant the Gedo Statue had been summoned, he’d thought it was a Tailed Beast attack—especially with Kushina coincidentally present at the scene. His thoughts had gone into chaos. Oh no... Kushina’s lost control! But now, Tsunade had returned looking as if nothing had happened. "Ahem, Sensei, it was nothing—just a little experiment." "Uh..." The Third knew Tsunade too well. The more politely she addressed him, the bigger the trouble. Normally, she never held back—always calling him "old man" without a shred of respect. Now she was suddenly calling him "sensei"? That alone set off alarms in his head. "What happened, exactly?" The Third nearly smacked her on the head with his staff. "We had Nagato try to track Madara’s location, but it failed, and Madara sensed us instead. So, on the spot, we decided to summon that thing. And then..." "Tsunade! Do you realize how dangerous that was? And you didn’t even inform us?!" He knew all too well how powerful Madara was. Dealing with him required the utmost caution. And yet this brother-sister pair had gone ahead with their reckless antics, dragging their comrades along without a second thought. His breathing grew heavy. The fact that Tsunade had come back safe, looking calm, meant the outcome must have been contained. "A good result doesn’t justify acting recklessly like that!" "Yeah, yeah, I get it... Oh, right, old man—this thing might be tied to the Nine Tailed Beasts! Luckily we summoned it first. If Madara had managed to gather all nine, it would’ve been disastrous for us." Tsunade hurriedly shifted the topic. The Third nearly laughed from sheer frustration—the moment she felt the pressure ease, she went back to calling him "old man"! Hearing the second half, his expression grew serious. "Tied to the Tailed Beasts?" Tsunade described the Gedo Statue and their deductions, without exaggeration. And even without embellishment, it was enough to chill the blood. The Third immediately thought of going to see it with his own eyes. "Since Kyoichi is the one handling it, I’m reassured. For now, let’s settle the village first—the disturbance earlier was sensed by many." "Mm, mm, I understand..."