For Daniel, the reduced chakra consumption of the Wood Clone Jutsu was the most attractive feature. Combat ability came second, as he could easily compensate for that with technology. Besides, his clones wouldn't need to fight most of the time.
"Why do you all live underground?" Daniel grumbled after spending three days below ground. While Orochimaru and his followers might be accustomed to such conditions, Daniel preferred living above ground when possible. So, he had Kabuto arrange for a small villa to be built in the valley.
With the help of Earth Release ninjas, the villa was swiftly constructed—there's no denying how convenient jutsu could be.
"Starting today, you'll be living here for the time being. Haku and Karin, I'll leave you to Kabuto's care. You should also take this opportunity to learn medical ninjutsu," Daniel advised.
Medical ninjas were a key reason why the Leaf Village became the strongest among the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Without Tsunade's establishment of the medical-nin system, it's doubtful Konoha would have maintained its dominance, especially after the losses of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
Due to Konoha's location and the lingering grudges from past wars, the village had often been the most attacked. While the other villages might only fight one or two enemies during the Great Ninja Wars, Konoha found itself up against all four other major villages at various points.
Despite this, Konoha never crumbled, largely thanks to its medical ninjas. Ninja had much stronger life forces than ordinary people, and without medical ninjutsu, severe injuries would usually mean death. However, with medical ninjas on the battlefield, even heavily injured shinobi could be saved and returned to combat. These veterans, having gained experience and honed their skills, became far more formidable than untested warriors.
Battle experience was crucial for ninjas. When Naruto first faced life-or-death combat during the mission in the Land of Waves, he was paralyzed with fear. Sasuke, on the other hand, remained calm and effective in battle. The difference was experience.
Thanks to medical ninjas, Konoha boasted a significant number of battle-hardened, mid-level shinobi. Critics might mock Konoha's genin for being naive about real combat, but when it came to elite chunin and jonin, Konoha surpassed the other villages.
The "Konoha 12" (Naruto and his peers) who later became renowned in the ninja world had medical ninjutsu to thank for their growth. Without it, several of them, like Neji, Lee, and Choji, would never have recovered from life-threatening injuries. In other villages, such injuries would have led to abandonment, as only Tsunade's medical skills could heal wounds of that magnitude.
When it came to medical ninjutsu, Konoha was the undisputed leader. Surprisingly, the second-best wasn't any of the other four major villages but Orochimaru's forces. Though Orochimaru's overall power couldn't rival the great villages, his knowledge of medical ninjutsu was unparalleled, second only to Konoha. Kabuto, in particular, was a medical expert only slightly behind Tsunade.
Even the renowned Chiyo from the Sand Village surpassed Kabuto only in her knowledge of poisons.
Strictly speaking, Orochimaru's research into medical jutsu was on par with Konoha's, and in some areas, even superior. The only thing Orochimaru lacked was the resources and manpower that Konoha could devote to the training and development of medical ninjas. Establishing a capable medical ninja required massive investments, which was why the Third Hokage initially rejected Tsunade's proposal, only agreeing after witnessing the benefits firsthand.
Orochimaru, however, had made significant breakthroughs on his own. His genetic modification techniques could also be applied to medical ninjutsu, and he had developed one particularly powerful technique—Cellular Activation.
This jutsu was extraordinary, not only for medical purposes but also for greatly enhancing a ninja's power. Since chakra was extracted from the body's cells and combined with mental energy, the Cellular Activation technique could dramatically increase chakra production. The more chakra a ninja had, the stronger they became. Orochimaru and Kabuto's impressive chakra reserves were partly due to this technique.
Additionally, the jutsu conferred rapid healing abilities, akin to a weaker version of Wood Release or Daniel's biochemical viruses. While it wasn't as potent as Daniel's viral healing methods, it had the advantage of being chakra-powered, which explained why Daniel regarded it as less effective.
Even with his abilities, such as the Twin Healings and the Archangel's Breath, Daniel found the Cellular Activation technique useful.
"Understood," Haku replied earnestly. Learning medical ninjutsu would allow him to better care for Zabuza, something he had always wanted. Zabuza had often been injured, and while Haku could manage basic first aid, he had no means of treating internal injuries.
Even within the Mist Village, medical ninjas were rare, so as exiles, Haku and Zabuza had been on their own.
Karin, meanwhile, nodded seriously, knowing that she had a natural aptitude for medical ninjutsu thanks to her unique healing abilities. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, she had powerful life force and a unique healing trait that she could use to heal others.
"That guy is really pushing himself too hard. He's going to collapse from exhaustion," Daniel muttered as he studied jutsu, observing Orochimaru who had locked himself away to study the data from Daniel's tablet. The more Daniel learned about Orochimaru's abilities, the more impressed he became with the Snake Sannin's accomplishments.
Most ninja weren't highly educated. Naruto's generation, which grew up in relatively peaceful times, only attended school for six years before becoming genin and starting their missions at age twelve. Kakashi, who had grown up during the wars, graduated at age five and became a chunin by age six.
Despite these circumstances, Orochimaru had advanced scientific knowledge that would have been remarkable even in a more technologically advanced society.
"Too bad I didn't grab some of Naruto's blood to study last time. Maybe next time," Daniel mused. Out of curiosity, he had studied Karin's blood, noting that her Uzumaki constitution was highly unusual. While many Uzumaki Clan members had incredible regenerative abilities—like Kushina, Naruto, and Nagato—only Karin's bloodline had a direct healing effect on others.
"Second Hokage sure was ruthless," Daniel thought.
The Uzumaki Clan and their home, the Land of Whirlpools, had been one of the few places where a village and a nation were one and the same. While most ninja villages were subservient to their respective nations, the Uzumaki Clan had wielded direct political power.
During the First Great Ninja War, the Uzumaki Clan's homeland was destroyed, and the survivors were scattered. Despite being Konoha's allies, the Leaf Village didn't step in to protect them. Daniel believed that the Second Hokage, Tobirama, had intentionally allowed the Uzumaki Clan's downfall because he feared their power.
While the Uzumaki weren't known for their raw combat prowess, they excelled in sealing techniques, and their members were the perfect hosts for the Nine-Tails. A fully controlled Nine-Tails was a force of unmatched power, as demonstrated by Naruto in his prime.
If the Uzumaki had relocated to Konoha and passed down the role of the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki through their clan, it would have given them unparalleled influence within the village. With the potential to control all nine tailed beasts, the Uzumaki would have posed a significant threat to Konoha's existing power structure.
Naruto, as a mixed-blood Uzumaki, had occasional outbursts of the Nine-Tails' rage. But pure-blooded Uzumaki like Mito and Kushina had no such issues. Even when Kushina was reduced to a spirit, she was able to bind the Nine-Tails with her Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Had it not been for the weakening of Kushina's seal during Naruto's birth, Obito wouldn't have been able to release the Nine-Tails. In a normal situation, even someone like Obito would have struggled to defeat Kushina.
"It's a shame Hashirama had such limited foresight," Daniel reflected as he turned his attention to the blood samples from Kimimaro and Guren. Orochimaru had provided them for further study.
Bloodline limits were one of Orochimaru's research focuses, though he had made limited progress in this area. Bloodline abilities were far more difficult to manipulate than secret techniques.
Orochimaru's inability to crack the code of bloodlines made another figure all the more impressive—Hiruko, whose Chimera Technique allowed him to fuse five different kekkei genkai into his body.
"I wonder where Hiruko is now. I should also get my hands on some of Mei Terumi's blood at some point," Daniel thought, referring to the current Mizukage, the only known ninja with two bloodline abilities.
The Five Great Nations had attempted to create hybrids with multiple bloodlines before, but those experiments had mostly failed. Mei Terumi remained the only known successful case.
---
"Is this your lab? It's certainly impressive," Orochimaru commented one day as he emerged from his seclusion to find Daniel deep in his own research.
"This is my pride and joy. Red Queen, greet our guest," Daniel instructed. A little girl in a red dress appeared from thin air, waving at Orochimaru.
"What is this?" Orochimaru asked, intrigued.
"An artificial intelligence system
," Daniel explained.
"Fascinating. There's still so much more I want to learn from your world," Orochimaru said, his curiosity piqued by the AI system.
"Perhaps one day. Oh, by the way, feel free to use this lab whenever you like. I'll give Red Queen the necessary permissions."
"Then I won't hold back," Orochimaru replied with a grin, clearly eager to dive into his studies.
"Now that you're out of seclusion, hand over the records on Konoha's Wood Release experiments. Also, I want samples of the First Hokage's cells, as well as the cells of that current Wood Release user, Yamato," Daniel requested.
Wood Release and Sharingan had long been a focus of Orochimaru's research. Though he had achieved some success with Danzo, allowing the old warhawk to use a limited form of Wood Release and stabilize his numerous Sharingan, the results were still far from perfect.
Without Hashirama's cells, Danzo's body wouldn't have been able to handle the strain of all those Sharingan.
"Give me a moment," Orochimaru said, no longer surprised by how much Daniel knew. The advanced technology and knowledge Daniel had shared had shifted Orochimaru's focus. He was less concerned with the secrets Daniel seemed to possess and more eager to continue their collaboration.
---
"Why didn't they use Uchiha for these experiments?" Daniel wondered as he reviewed the data on Konoha's Wood Release trials. Many children had died in the experiments, with Yamato being the only survivor. However, Uchiha Madara had merely bitten Hashirama during a battle and later gained access to Wood Release. This suggested that the Uchiha clan had a natural affinity for merging with the Senju cells.
"It makes sense. Both Sasuke and Madara are reincarnations of Indra," Daniel concluded as he examined the results of combining Sasuke's cells with Hashirama's.
"Impossible!" Orochimaru gasped, shocked by the perfect fusion between the Uchiha and Senju cells. After all, the Uchiha and Senju clans had been bitter enemies for generations.
"It's not so impossible. The Uchiha and Senju are more closely related than you think," Daniel replied. Seeing the results, he immediately summoned Sasuke.
"The Sharingan comes with many side effects, but there's a way to mitigate them. You've heard of the First Hokage's Wood Release, right?" Daniel asked Sasuke.
"Yes," Sasuke nodded.
Konoha had always celebrated Hashirama's accomplishments. In stark contrast, Madara's legacy had been erased from the village's history books. Hashirama's legendary Wood Release had become a symbol of ultimate power.
Konoha's leadership had long sought to recreate Wood Release, but without Hashirama himself, their efforts had produced only modest results. In the hands of greats like Hashirama and Madara, Wood Release was a force to be reckoned with, but under Yamato's control, it was a shadow of its former self.
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