"The Leaf Village not allowing the Uchiha to conduct Wood Release experiments might be because they feared that if the clan acquired the Wood Release ability, they would become even more uncontrollable."
The fusion of the First Hokage's cells with Sasuke's body was progressing extremely well. Even without the numerous tests Daniel Davis had conducted previously, he was confident that the First Hokage's cells would not be rejected by Sasuke's body.
"Well, this is convenient. I don't even need to learn the Cellular Activation Technique anymore. I had been thinking about learning it, but now it seems completely unnecessary."
The advantages provided by Cellular Activation could not compare to those of the First Hokage's cells. Even the Uzumaki clan's strong constitution paled in comparison to the First Hokage's cells.
"However, even those born with the Sage Body exhibit significant differences."
The First Hokage was born with the Sage Body, but he wasn't the only one in this world with that trait. Jugo from Orochimaru's side was also born with the Sage Body, but the gap in power between him and the First Hokage was like night and day.
The cause of this difference was Jugo's terrible control over his abilities. He couldn't control whether he absorbed natural energy from the environment, and was forced to passively absorb it. Once too much natural energy gathered in his body, he would go berserk.
Fortunately for Jugo, his Sage Body wasn't linked to Mount Myoboku's methods; otherwise, he would have turned into a statue instead of going berserk.
The three great Summoning Grounds each had their own distinct Sage Techniques, focusing on different aspects. Some had even speculated that the First Hokage had learned his Sage Techniques from Shikkotsu Forest, but this was proven to be false. However, Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Technique might have originated from Shikkotsu Forest, although this hasn't been confirmed.
Jugo's Sage Techniques were quite similar to the ones from Ryuchi Cave, suggesting that he might be a descendant of someone who learned Sage Techniques from that place.
Among the few mysteries Daniel Davis hadn't fully grasped, one was the origins of the Otsutsuki clan, those extraterrestrial beings, and the second was the three great Summoning Grounds.
After all, Gamamaru had taught Otsutsuki Hagoromo Sage Techniques, and it was thanks to Sage power that Hagoromo was able to seal his mother, Otsutsuki Kaguya.
"If an Uchiha masters the Wood Release, it would certainly be interesting for the teacher to see." Orochimaru suddenly chuckled as he watched Sasuke perfectly fuse with the First Hokage's cells.
"Would you like to try the fusion yourself?" Daniel Davis asked.
"You've found a way to perfectly fuse them?"
Orochimaru's eyes lit up as soon as he heard Daniel's words. He had always been interested in fusing with the First Hokage's cells, as that would give him access to Wood Release.
Despite years of research on the First Hokage and assisting Danzo in fusing with the First Hokage's cells, Orochimaru hadn't made much progress on his own.
Danzo was able to fuse with the First Hokage's cells due to a special circumstance: Uchiha Shin. There were many people with unique physiques in the ninja world, and Uchiha Shin was one of them. His body could fuse with any foreign material without rejection. Danzo's right arm, which contained many Sharingan, was transplanted from Uchiha Shin's arm.
Danzo's right arm allowed him to fuse with the First Hokage's cells, but this did not mean he could control Wood Release well.
"I've almost perfected it. I just need to run a few more tests. Do you have any test subjects?"
"Of course, I'll send some over right away." The chance to acquire Wood Release was an unexpected gift for Orochimaru. He didn't mind sacrificing a few test subjects, even if they were Kimimaro or Guren.
Daniel Davis didn't comment much on Orochimaru's human experiments, especially after he had learned about the sources of Orochimaru's test subjects through Kabuto.
Orochimaru had many test subjects under his control, particularly in one of his four main bases, the Southern Hideout. The people imprisoned there weren't ordinary civilians.
It wasn't that Daniel Davis was defending Orochimaru, nor was it that Orochimaru shared Daniel's moral compass regarding ordinary people. Orochimaru simply had no need for regular civilians as test subjects. Most of his subjects came from rogues, criminals, bandits, and ninjas.
Under the same conditions, these individuals had much better physical attributes than ordinary civilians.
Another reason Daniel couldn't easily criticize Orochimaru's human experiments was that most of these test subjects were volunteers.
Orochimaru was a master of brainwashing. Just look at how people like Kimimaro, Guren, and the Sound Four worshipped him, even willing to sacrifice their own bodies for him. Even Sasuke from the original storyline was deceived into voluntarily joining Orochimaru.
Many of these test subjects joined Orochimaru willingly in search of power, even Leaf Village ninja school teacher Mizuki wasn't immune to this method.
Since these people had joined willingly, even if they had been brainwashed by Orochimaru, it was hard for Daniel to say much. Frankly, even if he tried to persuade them otherwise, they might see it as meddling. Despite his experiments, Orochimaru did provide these individuals with real power.
Take for example the member of the Fuma clan, Fuma Arashi, whom Daniel had encountered before. He voluntarily sought out Orochimaru, hoping to revive his clan.
"The chakra threads of the Fuma clan, though impressive, are of no use to me." The Fuma clan had exceptional skill in controlling chakra threads, a technique that Orochimaru likely learned from them and later used to bind Sasuke in the original story. But for Daniel, who possessed his own thread techniques, it was redundant.
While working on Wood Release, Daniel did not neglect his study of ninjutsu, focusing primarily on sealing techniques. He had even modified the explosive tags with his Tongtian inscriptions, integrating them into his inscription system. Now, Daniel could draw explosive tags by hand.
"We have visitors. Would you like to meet them?" Orochimaru asked as he walked over with Kabuto.
"What kind of guest warrants your personal attention?" Daniel asked. Few people in the ninja world could surprise Orochimaru.
"Uchiha Itachi."
"It's him? Then let's go meet him."
Hearing that Itachi had arrived piqued Daniel's interest. He brought along Zabuza, and together with Orochimaru and Kabuto, they headed toward a small town situated two mountains away.
The Land of Rice Fields wasn't very large compared to the five major nations, but it was still a sizable area. The mountainous terrain made it difficult to traverse, with towns separated by numerous peaks.
Among the five major nations, the Land of Fire had the best terrain, mostly consisting of plains, unlike the other nations, which had more challenging landscapes.
Such terrain made finding Orochimaru's hidden Sound Village quite difficult. Besides, Orochimaru rarely spent much time in the Land of Rice Fields.
Even though the Akatsuki had a base in the Land of Rice Fields, they hadn't been able to track down Orochimaru.
The Akatsuki wasn't limited to its ten core members. It had numerous bases and intelligence agents. Intelligence was crucial in the ninja world, and much of the money that Kakuzu earned went towards maintaining these bases, rather than being solely used by Konan to buy explosive tags.
"Do you have any intel on the Akatsuki?"
Perched on a mountain peak, Daniel used binoculars to observe two figures wearing straw hats walking along a mountain path. Despite the hats and Akatsuki uniforms, it was easy to recognize them as Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki. Just like Zabuza's executioner's blade was iconic, the large sword strapped to Kisame's back, Samehada, was a clear identifier, even though it was wrapped in bandages.
"Were you hoping to ask about the Rinnegan?" Daniel smiled mysteriously after hearing Orochimaru's question.
"Indeed, I'm very curious about it. The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe they really existed."
For the ninja world, the Rinnegan, the strongest of the three great dojutsu, had always been considered a myth. To put it bluntly, aside from the higher-ups of the five major villages, most people wouldn't recognize the Rinnegan, even if they saw it. For example, Hanzo, despite his immense strength, didn't recognize the Rinnegan.
This was a matter of knowledge and exposure. Danzo certainly knew what the Rinnegan was, but given his personality, he wouldn't have shared this information with Hanzo. It's likely that Danzo's right arm was destroyed by an enraged Nagato.
During Danzo and Hanzo's attack on Nagato and his companions, Danzo's right arm was still intact. Given Danzo's strength, few could have taken his arm from him.
From this, it becomes evident how unjust Jiraiya's death was. Both Danzo and Itachi had seen the Rinnegan, yet neither of them mentioned it.
"Not only does the Rinnegan exist, but even the Sage of Six Paths himself still lives in some form." Of course, Daniel didn't say this out loud.
"Would you like to say hello to your old friend?" Ignoring
Orochimaru, Daniel turned to Zabuza with a playful tone.
"He's not exactly a friend, but I've always wanted to meet this senior."
As former members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Zabuza and Kisame were familiar with each other by reputation, though they had never met in person.
"Let's move to a more suitable location." Kisame suggested, pointing to a spot away from the road with a grin.
"After you."
"What's your name?" After Kisame and Zabuza walked off to fight, Itachi, who had remained silent for a while, finally spoke up, expressionless.
"I thought you'd ask about Sasuke first." As soon as Daniel mentioned Sasuke, Itachi's eyes immediately transformed into the Mangekyo Sharingan, spinning rapidly.
In an instant, Daniel found himself in a strange, blood-red world, his body bound to a cross.
"Starting with Tsukuyomi? That's bold." Daniel's face broke into a smile as Itachi appeared before him in the illusionary world.
"This is the Tsukuyomi realm," Itachi explained as a long sword materialized in his hand, which he then plunged into Daniel's body.
"Who are you really, and what do you want with Sasuke? What's your goal regarding the Leaf Village?" Itachi demanded after stabbing Daniel.
"You're asking so many questions at once. Which one should I answer first?" With a slight movement, Daniel broke free from the cross and casually pulled out the sword embedded in his body.
"The Mangekyo Sharingan is indeed powerful, but it doesn't work on everyone." For most people in the ninja world, even Kage-level individuals, being caught in the Mangekyo Sharingan's Tsukuyomi would be disastrous. But this time, Itachi's opponent was Daniel.
In terms of spiritual energy, Tsukuyomi had no effect on Daniel at all.
Genjutsu, at its core, affects the mind and spirit. Orochimaru had been instantly defeated by Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan due to his soul being vulnerable from his reincarnation technique, but Jiraiya had been able to face both Itachi and Kisame alone, partly because his soul was intact, granting him higher resistance to genjutsu.
With a grunt, the Tsukuyomi realm shattered. Itachi involuntarily staggered back several steps, blood trickling from his eyes as he clutched his face.
Tsukuyomi is a double-edged sword. Without the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, using the Mangekyo's abilities comes with significant side effects. Moreover, Daniel had forcibly broken the illusion, and the backlash had caused considerable damage to Itachi.
Immediately, Itachi leaped back several meters, flinging shuriken and kunai at Daniel while forming hand seals rapidly.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
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