Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 103 Speculation

Hidden within a secluded underground space lies Orochimaru's experimental base. A sinister atmosphere permeates the air, and the stone walls gleam with a chilling light. Narrow, winding passages, like a labyrinth, lead people into an unknown abyss.

Deep within the base, in a dimly lit laboratory, flickering candlelight illuminated the darkness. A figure sat beneath the candlelight, intently examining a scroll in his hands.

This person was none other than Orochimaru, who had rushed back to the laboratory after completing his transaction with Hyuga Kanan. He was currently staring intently at the contents in his hands, a wicked smile occasionally creeping onto his lips, clearly indicating that the contents were also very shocking to him.

He was currently watching the content about the origin of chakra that Hyuga Kanan had traded, and its contents completely overturned his understanding of ninjas. It detailed the origin and evolution of chakra.

In ancient times, a divine tree suddenly appeared in the world, constantly absorbing the energy of the earth to grow.

The earth, deprived of energy, began to lose its vitality, but the divine tree continued to expand outward, absorbing energy to grow, causing many places to lose their vitality.

The divine tree, now a towering giant, began frantically absorbing energy to bear a single fruit, causing the entire world to lose its vitality.

Then a woman named Kaguya Otsutsuki appeared. She secretly picked and ate the unripe fruit from the Divine Tree, and used the power of the fruit to cut down the Divine Tree, giving the world a chance to regain its vitality.

Kaguya Otsutsuki's actions saved the world, and she was worshipped by the people, who recognized her as the savior of the world, and she was also known as the Goddess of the Rabbit.

Kaguya Otsutsuki, who ate the fruit of the God Tree, gained a powerful force, which she called chakra. She later gave birth to two children who inherited her power, meaning they were born with chakra.

After the children grew up, a world-destroying war broke out, the reason for which no one knows. All that is known is that Kaguya Otsutsuki disappeared in the end, and her eldest son inherited everything from her. In the years that followed, her eldest son founded the Ninjutsu sect, continuously distributing chakra among its members, allowing many to possess chakra. The people of the Ninjutsu sect revered the person who inherited chakra as the Sage of Six Paths.

And so, chakra began to spread throughout the world.

As time went on, humanity began to explore and utilize this power. Some individuals with special talents gradually mastered the methods of using chakra; they were known as ninjas. Through training and practice, ninjas learned to concentrate chakra within their bodies and unleash various powerful ninjutsu techniques.

The emergence of ninjas changed the world's landscape. With their unique abilities and skills, they played a vital role in warfare, protecting peace, and carrying out special missions. The techniques of ninjas continuously evolved and developed, giving rise to various schools of ninjutsu and clans.

However, the power of chakra is not inexhaustible. Overuse of chakra can bring danger and side effects. Therefore, ninjas must carefully manage and utilize this power to maintain their balance and stability.

Throughout history, ninjas have relentlessly pursued higher levels of power and境界 (realm/level). Their stories have become legends, inspiring future generations to strive and progress. The origin and evolution of chakra bear witness to humanity's exploration and growth in the pursuit of power.

Upon seeing this, Orochimaru was thrown into a state of utter confusion.

He understood the subtle hint Hyuga Kanan had given him: originally, people in the world did not have the power of chakra. It was only after the Sage of Six Paths distributed his chakra to the people of the Ninja Clan that many people with chakra appeared.

Since the Sage of Six Paths was able to distribute chakra to everyone, allowing them to inherit this power, could he also take back his chakra at any time? And what was his reason for distributing his chakra to the Ninja Clan members?

Orochimaru always maintains a skeptical attitude towards the unknown. Why did the Sage of Six Paths distribute his chakra among everyone? What was his purpose in doing so? These are the questions Orochimaru is currently pondering. Most importantly, chakra has become a weapon energy source used in modern warfare, rapidly plunging the world into chaos.

Furthermore, Hyuga Kanan used such a subtle way to imply that his chakra belonged to someone else. So, did Hyuga Kanan know anything about this? Kaguya Otsutsuki had two children, and where did the other child go? From where did Hyuga Kanan learn about these distant historical events?

The more Orochimaru thinks, the more questions he has, and the more questions he has, the more he wants to know.

Chakra is someone else's power. Orochimaru's research over this period has revealed something strange about this, but he hasn't thought about it in that direction. Now, with Hyuga Kanan's hint, he feels more and more that what Hyuga Kanan gave him is true.

If chakra is truly someone else's power, then what exactly are ninjas?

Orochimaru shook his head. How could the chakra he had painstakingly refined be someone else's power? There was no logic or evidence to prove it. Was he overthinking it? Perhaps Hyuga Kanan had only deduced it from some records in the Hyuga clan? Or perhaps Hyuga Kanan hadn't intended to give him any hints, and it was just a wild guess after he saw it?

In short, Orochimaru's heart remained unsettled throughout the night.

Orochimaru desperately wanted to find Hyuga Kanan directly and get the truth out of him. However, Orochimaru knew that even if he went to ask Kanan, the latter wouldn't tell him. The scroll's contents indicated that Kanan didn't want to tell him the truth directly, but was only subtly hinting at it. For Kanan, a powerful figure now comparable to Hiruzen Sarutobi, to resort to such methods, it meant either Kanan didn't know much either, and Orochimaru was overthinking things, or it would be very troublesome.

When Orochimaru considered the second possibility, his heart couldn't help but clench sharply.

He vaguely guessed why Hyuga Kanan could only resort to this method, but he couldn't quite believe it. If it was really as he guessed, then there were even more secrets hidden in this world.

Orochimaru's tongue involuntarily darted out, slowly licking his lips, while his heart pounded even harder. He felt as if he had once again come into contact with the secrets of the world, and this exploration of those secrets gave him immense spiritual satisfaction, making him incredibly excited.

Suddenly, Orochimaru exhaled a deep breath. This feeling was indeed very exciting for him, but he also knew that he was not yet qualified to explore its secrets.

Orochimaru, who was usually incredibly confident in his abilities, suddenly felt utterly insignificant. If his suspicions were true, then his strength was completely inadequate.

No wonder Hyuga Kanan, despite his considerable strength, is acting so cautiously. It seems this genius of the Hyuga clan is a very prudent person, knowing exactly who he is about to face.

"Then what I need to do next is to carefully verify whether the content is as I guessed, and I also need to work hard to improve my strength in order to face what will happen next."

Orochimaru secretly pondered and made his future plans. At the same time, he placed the scroll recording the origin of chakra directly over the candlelight, and the scroll slowly burned. The firelight illuminated Orochimaru's pale face, making him appear even more somber.

Watching the scroll slowly turn to ashes, Orochimaru breathed a sigh of relief. He knew it was best not to reveal such things easily. If his guess was true, and so many people knew, he would be in great danger.

At the same time, he roughly guessed Hyuga Kanan's true purpose in giving him the scroll. A smile involuntarily crept onto his lips as he thought to himself.

"It seems I underestimated Hyuga Kanan. This brat knows my personality very well and deliberately brought up this to entice me. He already knew that someone with my strong curiosity would be unable to resist exploring these unknown secrets, and that I would fall into his carefully laid conspiracy."

Was that kid trying to keep investigating and test the reaction of the person behind the scenes in order to make future plans? He was also very clear that he would continue to investigate and that he would not easily reveal this information to others.

What a perfect plan! He understood his own personality so well, and then orchestrated this deal to test the limits of the person behind the scenes, a test for his future actions.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru smiled, his eyes also filled with a strange excitement.

Orochimaru, having guessed Hyuga Kanan's purpose in this transaction, felt no sense of defeat at being outmaneuvered.

In Orochimaru's mind, only useful people are worth scheming against; useless people are probably not worth his time. Orochimaru learned about Hyuga Kanan's attitude towards others through continuous investigation. He seemed indifferent to everyone, yet he actively schemed against him. Moreover, Kanan understood his personality traits so well that they could be considered exactly like him.

"Hehe, interesting!" Orochimaru finally couldn't help but laugh, bringing a different kind of atmosphere to the dark laboratory.

Orochimaru realized that he had finally found someone who understood him, a complete stranger he had only met a few times, whose control over him was far beyond his imagination. Moreover, he was very eager to know how this person's plan would ultimately unfold.

"Then let's explore together and witness what will happen in the end. Let's see if your wind can really move the world."