Naruto's Strongest Force

At this moment, the system notification arrived, albeit belatedly.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for significantly altering Karin’s life trajectory.

Reward: Adamantine Sealing Chains x1.

Ding! The recruitment of Karin is successful.

Reward: Physical Healing.

Oh, great! I’ve become an energy drink, Natsuki thought, hearing the system’s voice. He considered biting himself to see if he could heal his wounds.

“Karin, do you have enough food?” Orochimaru asked, showing a rare display of patience. Karin was the only person allowed to eat in his laboratory due to her particular constitutrequiringired large amounts of energy—not just chakra, but life enwell.

Karin could replenish herself through excessive eating, and Orochimaru, being lenient with valuable experimental subjects, ensured her well-being so she could cooperate easily with his experiments.

Mouth full of mochi, Karin mumbled, “I’ve had enough, Lord Orochimaru. I feel very full.”

For Karin, following Itachi to Orochimaru had been the best decision of her life. In the Grass Village, she and her mother had been treated like tools, with her mother even dying from overuse of her healing abilities.

Living in constant fear and hatred of the Grass Village, she had eagerly accepted Itachi’s offer to leave, even if it meant going to hell—it would still be better than Grass Village.

She discovered it was like heaven upon arriving in the Land of Fields. There was delicious food, and Itachi was generous, allowing her to eat as much as she wanted.

Karin had been initially afraid of Orochimaru, but over time, she realized that he wasn’t as terrifying as she’d thought. He only asked her to cooperate with some experiments; in return, she could eat and sleep whenever she liked.

This life was a dream come true for her. Itachi had told her that Natsuki had made all of this possible, which made her deeply grateful.

Orochimaru led the group into the lab, where they saw a large machine connected to a tube. Underneath the machine was a boy with orange hair and matching eyes, looking incredibly strong.

That must be Jugo, Natsuki thought, noticing how tall he was. At around 12 or 13 years old, Jugo was already taller than Itachi, nearly 1.7 meters, just half a head shorter than Orochimaru.

When Jugo saw the group approach, his face lit up with joy. “Lord Orochimaru, Brother Itachi, Karin, you’re here!”

He glanced at Natsuki, who had the unmistakable appearance of a Uchiha, though Jugo hadn’t met him before.

“Jugo, this is Natsuki-senpai,” Itachi introduced.

Jugo respectfully bowed to Natsuki. “Natsuki-senpai, thank you for rescuing me. If you hadn’t sent Itachi to bring me here, I might have lost control and killed someone.”

Looking into Jugo’s clear eyes, Natsuki couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him. Jugo was naturally calm and loved nature, but his uncontrollable violent impulses had caused him great suffering.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for significantly altering Jugo’s life trajectory.

Reward: Cursed Seal Transformation x1.

Ding! Recruitment of Jugo is successful.

Reward: Natural Affinity.

Have I cursed Seal Transformation? I wonder what my version of it would look like, Natsuki mused. With another Natural Affinity reward, he could feel a unique energy in the air, making him realize that he needed to start training in Sage Mode soon.

Natsuki smiled and greeted Jugo before turning to Orochimaru. “How are you managing his violent outbursts now?”

Orochimaru explained, “His mind is only affected when there is an excess of natural energy. By periodically siphoning off that energy, he’s perfectly fine.”

Orochimaru patted Karin’s head. “Little Karin has strong sensory abilities. When Jugo has too much natural energy, we simply bring him over and drain it.”

Karin beamed with pride.

Orochimaru glanced at the machine behind Jugo. “It looks like it’s about done.”

With that, Jugo disconnected the tube and was free to move around.

Seeing Jugo no longer confined made Natsuki happy for him.

“I’d like to introduce you to some friends. I think you’ll like them,” Natsuki said.

“Itachi, take Jugo and Karin to meet their new companions,” Natsuki instructed.

Itachi nodded and led Jugo and Karin out.

Jugo had initially been saved by Kimimaro, who had used his bones to bind Jugo in a mental prison while enthusiastically promoting Orochimaru. Now that Natsuki had rescued him earlier, it was unclear whether Jugo would grow closer to Itachi or Kimimaro.

Wait, wasn’t someone missing from their group? Natsuki suddenly couldn’t remember. Oh well, probably nothing important.

Following Orochimaru into a private study, they discussed Itachi and Shisui’s progress.

“The eyes are independent of the immune system, and your Sharingan evolves due to a hormone secreted by the brain, which generates Yin Release chakra,” Orochimaru explained.

“But this process is imperfect. The Sharingan evolves without regard for the body’s ability to handle it, which is why Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan eventually go blind.”

“I’ve created a drug for Itachi and Shisui that blocks this hormone, preventing their bodies from being eroded by Yin Release chakra. Itachi’s inflammation has also subsided.”

“However, their visual powers won’t increase for now. I plan to wait until their bodies mature further before proceeding with the next treatment.”

Although Natsuki didn’t fully understand the technical aspects of the research, he could still provide Orochimaru with valuable insights into the theory behind it.

“How’s the progress on separating Hashirama’s cells?” Natsuki asked as he hadn’t kept in touch with Orochimaru recently.

Initially, Orochimaru thought directly injecting Hashirama’s cells would be enough, but Natsuki had warned him that the cells’ strong will made it dangerous. Without separating the Yang Release chakra from them, direct injection could lead to unwanted side effects, like transforming into a tree.

“The Yang Release chakra is difficult to isolate on a cellular level, and we still need more rare materials. However, a month ago, Jiraiya paid me a visit…”

Orochimaru recounted Jiraiya’s recent actions to Natsuki.

Natsuki narrowed his eyes in thought. He had mentioned the incident with the kidnapped infants to Danzo as an offhand remark, blaming him for it. After all, Danzo already had so much dirt on him; one more accusation wouldn’t matter.

But it seemed the Third Hokage had taken things in a different direction. If Minato hadn’t been selected as Hokage and Orochimaru hadn’t delved into dark experiments, would the Third Hokage have chosen him instead?

In this world, Orochimaru hadn’t joined the Akatsuki, assassinated the Fourth Kazekage, or attempted the Konoha Crush Plan. He was simply a scientific recluse. As for his past experiments on humans—well, that was old news.

This world was brutal, and such activities occurred in every village, though most people were unaware. After all, even Obito had been forgiven by some. Compared to that, Orochimaru’s actions seemed minor.

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