— — — — — —
Orochimaru stroked his chin as he studied Judge, pondering for a moment before saying, "We've already taken everything we need. Perhaps we can spare his life for now and let him continue his research?"
"In fact, we could even provide him with a few research topics that he might find interesting—topics that would also be highly beneficial to us."
"We could even leave him some research materials, making him our unwilling worker."
"This way, we don't have to worry about whether he's willing to cooperate or if he can be bound by a contract."
"As long as we periodically come back to harvest his research results, it's enough. What do you think?"
Killing him outright would be too much of a waste.
After all, he was still a top-tier scientist.
People like him were extremely rare in both the Pirate world and the Ninja world.
Not squeezing every ounce of value out of him would be a terrible waste.
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Kaito raised an eyebrow and looked at Orochimaru as if he were a ruthless capitalist exploiting workers to the bone.
But he had to admit, Orochimaru's idea aligned perfectly with his own thoughts.
He immediately nodded. "Let's go with your plan."
"Good!" Orochimaru nodded before asking, "What kind of 'gift' do you think we should leave for Judge?"
"Hmm..."
Orochimaru pondered for a while before saying, "How about the Shikotsumyaku bloodline (Macabre Bone Pulse)?"
"You still have a few corpses from the Kaguya clan, don't you? We could give him some of their remains and let him study them to see if he can unlock the secrets of the Shikotsumyaku."
"I believe he'd find it fascinating. It would be a valuable addition to his research on bloodline factors and artificial humans, yet it wouldn't expose any of our core secrets."
A bloodline that could strengthen bones would definitely be of great interest to Judge.
Of course, this would inevitably lead to him discovering the presence of chakra.
But without the knowledge of chakra refinement or access to proper shinobi training, he wouldn't be able to harness it properly.
At most, he could utilize it passively in some limited capacity.
"Shikotsumyaku, huh?"
Kaito nodded in understanding. "Sounds good. Let's leave him a chunk of Kaguya flesh."
With a wave of his hand, Kaito retrieved a Kaguya clan jōnin's corpse. He then sliced off a large chunk of flesh and placed it in a specialized preservation chamber in Judge's lab, one that maintained the biological activity of tissue samples.
After that, he stored the remaining corpse back in his sealed dimension, where time was essentially frozen.
Come to think of it, these Kaguya clan corpses had been collected years ago, back when Uchiha Naori assisted the Uzumaki clan and killed several Kaguya shinobi from Kirigakure.
Aside from this one, there were still four more Kaguya corpses and three from the Hōzuki clan.
Back then, Uchiha Naori had stored them in her inventory before handing them over to Kaito, who transferred them into the frozen-time space for preservation.
As a result, these corpses were still as fresh as the day they had died.
This was all part of Kaito's long-term plan to collect various bloodlines for future research.
"By the way, did you take the schematics and samples for the combat suits and rocket boots?"
"I think those two pieces of tech are pretty useful and worth studying."
"Maybe we could modify them and use them for Konoha's future ninja combat gear. What do you think?"
Orochimaru suddenly brought up the idea, looking at Kaito expectantly.
He firmly believed that with these combat suits, Konoha's ninja would gain a significant power boost.
"I've already taken the schematic diagrams," Kaito nodded. "As for the samples… let me check."
He focused his mind, scanning the area with his mental energy. In an instant, he locked onto the locations of two combat suits and five pairs of rocket boots. With a mere thought, he telekinetically retrieved them and stored them in his personal inventory.
Turning back to Orochimaru, he said, "All done. Let's go."
Orochimaru had no objections and immediately activated a teleportation technique, returning to his office in Konoha's research division.
— — —
A moment later, Kaito also arrived. Without hesitation, he waved his hand and placed the stolen schematics, some research materials, a full combat suit, and two pairs of rocket boots onto Orochimaru's desk.
"Here, these are for you. Study them well. I expect a full deconstruction and replication soon."
"For the combat suits, don't just copy them—simplify them as well."
"Make several different versions."
"A basic model for genin, a more advanced version for chūnin, and a full-fledged version for jōnin."
"Ideally, I'd love for every Konoha ninja to have the best version, but that's not realistic."
"I've already examined the schematics. The production process is incredibly complicated, and mass production is extremely difficult."
"The biggest issue is the scarcity of key materials. They're hard to find and ridiculously expensive."
"Distributing them to every Konoha ninja is simply impossible."
"At least, not in the short term—unless there's a major technological breakthrough that drastically reduces costs."
"Even outfitting only the jōnin would be a massive investment. If possible, we should focus on further optimizing the technology, making it cheaper and easier to produce."
Right now, thanks to Konoha's recent economic growth, money wasn't a huge issue—but that didn't mean they could afford reckless spending.
"I understand!" Orochimaru said eagerly, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the materials and finished products on the table, nodding repeatedly.
Even without Kaito's reminder, he knew this well.
Ninja battle suits need to be not only powerful but also cost-effective.
If they're too expensive, they won't be widely used.
As for selling them to other villages? That's out of the question.
This is a critical technology that directly boosts the village's strength—no way they'd share it.
"Alright, then that's settled! I'm leaving now!"
Seeing Orochimaru's enthusiasm, Kaito nodded in satisfaction and teleported away.
"Hehehe! Now, let's see what secrets you hold!" Orochimaru chuckled in obsession as he picked up a battle suit container and a stack of research documents, diving straight into his work.
— — —
—One month earlier—
The Iwa Ninjas tried to ambush the Suna Ninjas, but the Suna Ninjas got wind of the plan and prepared a counter-ambush.
In the end, they clashed in the desert of the Land of Wind.
The Suna Ninjas had the upper hand at first, dealing heavy casualties to the Iwa Ninjas.
Unfortunately, the Iwa Ninjas still had superior overall strength, especially with the terrifying presence of Onoki.
The battle ended in mutual destruction, with both sides losing hundreds of lives before retreating.
Onoki was frustrated beyond words. "Damn it! I never expected the Suna Ninjas to be so cautious. They saw through our plan and turned it against us, leading to this disaster!"
"I'm so pissed!"
Now that the Suna Ninjas were on guard, and their morale was high after the battle, attacking them again would be too difficult.
Especially since the desert was their home turf—it would be a nightmare to fight them there.
Moreover, most of the Land of Wind was a barren desert. Even if they conquered land, it might not be worth it.
So, Onoki abandoned the idea of attacking the Suna Ninja and decided to withdraw his troops back to Iwagakure.
Meanwhile, the Third Raikage led thousands of Kumo Ninjas in a surprise attack on the northern coast of the Land of Earth.
They caught the Iwa Ninja completely off guard.
Kumo Ninja stormed through cities, looting everything valuable and shipping it back to the Land of Lightning.
Onoki received the shocking news in the middle of this chaos.
"What did you just say? Say it again? Raikage led thousands of Kumo Ninjas in an invasion of our northern coastal cities? And they've already pushed into our territory?!"
Onoki's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yes! Lord Tsuchikage! Please send reinforcements quickly, or it will be too late!" The messenger ninja pleaded with tears in his eyes.
It was a massacre!
The cities Kumo Ninjas conquered were completely wiped out—most of the Iwa Ninjas stationed there had been slaughtered.
Even those who tried to hide were hunted down and killed.
The messenger was one of the few who managed to escape and bring the warning.
Ordinary civilians also suffered heavily in the attack, with countless dead or turned into refugees.
By now, more than ten cities in the northern Land of Earth were in chaos.
"Raikage! I will never forgive you for this!"
"Quick! Gather all available Jonin for an emergency meeting! We're launching a counterattack!"
Onoki roared in fury, issuing orders to his guards outside the tent.
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, the camp's Iwa Ninja Jonin gathered.
After hearing Onoki's report, the entire room erupted in outrage.
"What?! Kumo Ninja launched a surprise attack on our northern coast? And under Raikage's command, they've already taken over ten cities and invaded our territory? How is this possible?!"
"What's going on?! Why did Kumo Ninja attack us now? Shouldn't they be fighting Konoha?!"
"It's probably because of the mineral deposits recently discovered on the northern sea islands. We fought over them and took control, dealing Kumo Ninja a huge loss. They're likely retaliating."
"That makes sense! Damn Kumo Ninja—why did they have to strike now?!"
"What's the point of arguing? The priority now is to send reinforcements immediately!"
"Agreed! I propose sending an elite force to slow down Raikage and the Kumo Ninja's advance. We can't let them continue rampaging through our land! Even if we drive them out later, the damage will be unbearable!"
"Agreed!"
"Seconded!"
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