CHAPTER 293: CHAPTER 291 : OROCHIMARU’S PLAN, DEIDARA’S RESEARCH RESULTS!!

"If you lose, then what?"

Orochimaru stared at the masked man, locking eyes with him.

What he saw were eyes that carried a hint of innocence, which made Orochimaru smile to himself.

Judging from his eyes, this "Wood Ox" seemed pretty young.

After a brief pause—

He finally spoke slowly, "If you lose, leave behind your cells and blood."

Hehe... Orochimaru was genuinely curious. How would this man’s cells compare to the First Hokage’s?

By analyzing them, he might even be able to estimate this Wood Ox’s future potential—and just how far he could go one day.

"Cells and blood?" Wood Ox paused, thinking for a moment. He understood Orochimaru’s work was the same as his sister’s—cultivating cells, then modifying them.

No... not just Orochimaru. Every village had their eyes on him.

Otherwise, back when he first made a name for himself in the ninja world, why would so many ninjas try to capture him—even Konoha was involved!

In comparison, Orochimaru’s request sounded much more reasonable.

If that was all he wanted, Wood Ox wouldn’t really be losing out.

But... Genya had warned him—Orochimaru is too cunning. If you deal with him, always stay alert.

So he hesitated.

"Do you disagree with this bet?" Orochimaru looked at Hayashi with a slightly provocative, almost mocking expression.

"Heh... this bet is in my favor. Why would I disagree?" Hayashi stared at Orochimaru, thinking carefully for a moment before eventually agreeing.

If the task wasn’t completed, he would still be fine!

Rather than doing it right away, it would be better to wait a month and continue the bet then.

If Orochimaru truly honored the bet, then everyone would be happy. But if he tried to trick him? Hayashi wasn’t one to be easily fooled.

"Since we have an agreement, would you like to come inside and sit for a while?" After they agreed, Orochimaru smiled at Hayashi, seemingly inviting him into the cave.

"No, thank you!" Hayashi shook his head and stepped back, "Since the agreement is made, I’ll come back in a month. I hope you’ll keep your word by then."

With those words, Hayashi disappeared into the snowy landscape.

"Why didn’t we capture him? He’s the Wood Style ninja we need!!" Kimimaro watched Hayashi disappear and spoke with a serious tone.

"We can’t keep him!" Orochimaru shook his head, "He’s very strong. If we try to force him, we won’t be able to hold him."

Actually, Orochimaru had been secretly observing during the battle between Hayashi and Jugo. He had already understood Hayashi’s strength. If they tried to force him, they wouldn’t succeed.

That’s why he made this bet.

"But... we’re not his match!" Kimimaro lowered his head, silent as he looked in the direction Hayashi had disappeared.

In their recent encounter, he was completely suppressed and easily defeated by the wooden ox.

The battle a month later? There was little hope!

At least in Kimimaro’s view, even if he and Jugo teamed up, they might not be a match for Hayashi—no, they were absolutely no match for him.

"I can enhance your strength!" Orochimaru smiled slightly, his expression unreadable.

"Did... Lord Orochimaru finish his research on the Curse Seal?" Kimimaro’s eyes showed some excitement. He wasn’t excited about gaining strength for himself, but for the sake of Jugo!

If Lord Orochimaru had truly understood the power of the Curse Seal, could Jugo finally control the rampaging side of himself?

"Yes, in the next few days, I’ll carve the Curse Seal for you. This seal can increase your strength!" Orochimaru smiled at Kimimaro, then led him and Jugo into the underground lair.

However, their conversation could still be heard echoing inside.

"If we still lose a month from now, do we really have to leave and meet the leader of Atsukara?"

"No, I have other plans. If he comes that day, he won’t be leaving!"

"I understand!"

The sounds of their conversation gradually faded, disappearing deeper into the underground cavern.

In Konoha village...

At the small lake.

The scenery here was once quite beautiful, but now, the place was full of pits and craters, and the lake was now half again its original size. The surrounding trees were bare.

Boom, boom~~

It seemed they were still conducting some sort of experiment. From time to time, loud explosions and flashes of fire could be heard.

"Genya, how’s my Lava Release?"

Up in the sky, Deidara stood on his bird, proudly looking at the burning area below, which looked like molten lava. This was the result of all his long hours of research!

This was the result of his work with clay, which had a lot of stability.

While certain chakra types would create chaos inside a human body, with clay, as long as you found the right proportions, they could be perfectly integrated.

However, to make different chakra elements reach a spiritual state, he still put in quite a bit of effort...

But,

Hard work paid off. Now, he had finally perfected the technique.

This means he can replicate other people’s jutsu.

"That’s impressive!" Genya nodded. He had to admit, he and Deidara had discussed this idea, but he never expected Deidara to actually pull it off.

"This is just the beginning! Let me show you something even more interesting!" After saying that, Deidara suddenly threw out a bird-shaped clay creature.

It had both wind and water attributes swirling around it, but it balanced them perfectly while flying.

"Ice Shield!" As the bird collided with the lava, the wind and water attributes merged!

In an instant!

Ice crystals spread out, and soon a thick layer of ice began to form over the entire lava.

"How is it? Isn’t it beautiful?" Deidara was a bit excited and even a little proud.

He had truly figured this out. As long as he had clay in hand, he was the ultimate ninja.

Even if he faced a lightning style user, he could now handle it.

In the future, aside from genjutsu, he would have no weaknesses.

"These are still elemental jutsu, but compared to your explosive power, they’re lacking a bit!" Genya watched the scene of fire and ice in awe but couldn’t help but pour some cold water on it.

Deidara’s explosive power was far more impactful. Using such jutsu was like focusing on the details and ignoring the big picture. It only had real use against lightning style users, and not much else.

"Genya... you’re the one who told me to do this!" Deidara was slightly dissatisfied upon hearing Genya’s words. This was his idea, and he had spent a lot of time researching it.

Now that it had succeeded, he didn’t expect to be criticized.

The power wasn’t enough?

But thinking about it, it was true. The power was indeed weaker than an explosion.

"Since you have this ability, you should replicate even stronger jutsu, not just settle for such simple elemental jutsu!" Genya continued to encourage Deidara, noticing the confusion in his eyes.

"For example... you could replicate the Dust Release of the Tsuchikage from Iwagakure."

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