Chapter 459

After Rei's birth, another activity was added to Hui's daily routine: playing with Rei alongside Tsunade.

Tsunade's plan had backfired. 

She wanted her child to have an ordinary childhood, but she hadn't anticipated that her child would be anything but ordinary.

This was a child who could walk and talk within a month, and his development was accelerating rapidly.

His childhood would indeed be long, but it would be vastly different from an ordinary child's.

Even when his physical growth reached the equivalent of an adult human, for him, it would still be considered childhood.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

By a lakeside, Mochizuki Rei was puffing air vigorously.

It wasn't the sound of blowing a raspberry like children usually do, but serious, focused exhaling.

Except the air he exhaled was a bit hot.

It was in the form of small fireballs. With each breath, a long stream of flames emerged.

A child barely over a month old was breathing fire!

This was talent. He could not only breathe fire but also control water flow, manipulate wind, and summon lightning.

These were abilities that ordinary people could never possess in their entire lives.

Yet, for Rei, these abilities were innate.

"Dad, how can I absorb more of these fire elements? I feel like these flames are too small, not fun."

Rei approached Hui and spoke, causing Hui to smile wryly.

Due to his powerful spiritual energy, Rei could perceive the free-floating energy in the air, which, after some thought, Hui had told him to call "elements."

Fire element, water element, lightning element...

It made Hui feel like he was training an archmage.

"Your body hasn't fully developed yet. There's no rush for these things. Just take it slow." Hui explained to Rei.

At Rei's growth rate, it wouldn't be long before he could breathe out large fire dragons.

"Okay... Is Uncle Nawaki here?" 

Rei responded with a hint of disappointment, then his eyes suddenly lit up as he saw Nawaki approaching from afar.

"Uncle!"

He was quite fond of his uncle.

Because Nawaki would take him to many fun places.

Seeing Nawaki arrive, Hui breathed a sigh of relief.

Rei had too many questions, enough to make his head spin.

Better to let Rei play with Nawaki!

After entrusting his son to Nawaki, Hui went to the research base.

Currently, the research on the Ōtsutsuki Clan's genes and Devil Fruits had made some progress. The potion given to Kakashi last time was a result of this research.

Life in the Sage Shinobi Nation was starting to bore Hui.

He was eager to enter the cosmic era.

He wanted to experience other life forms in the universe.

"Have you still not been able to eliminate the side effects?"

Hui entered Orochimaru's laboratory in the research base and saw Orochimaru frowning at the materials on the table.

"Indeed. The cells of the Ōtsutsuki Clan are simply too potent for ordinary people. Once these cells enter the human body, they actively attack other cells, causing significant harm."

Orochimaru spoke, his research hitting a bottleneck. Just like his research on Hashirama Senju's cells in the original story, he struggled to solve the problem of cellular incompatibility.

"After all, they are the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Their cells are indeed of a higher order than human cells." Hui commented, pondering how to solve this problem.

As he was thinking, Orochimaru spoke.

"The bodies of ordinary people indeed have difficulty withstanding the cells of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, but what if it weren't an ordinary body? Our research has been misguided, focusing on ordinary people as test subjects. 

"After you created the Eight Gates Sage Ascension Technique, the human body is destined for evolution, becoming increasingly stronger. If it were a Fourth-Stage or Fifth-Tier Sage, such a body could definitely withstand the cells of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."

Orochimaru's words made Hui fall silent.

He understood this reasoning and had considered it himself.

However, let alone Fifth-Tier or Fourth-Stage Sages, even Third-Stage Sages were rare in the current Sage Shinobi Nation.

Moreover, each of these Third-Stage Sages was a future pillar of the Sage Shinobi Nation, individuals who had proven themselves in various aspects.

Using such people for experiments was something Hui could never do.

And Orochimaru, as he was now, couldn't do such a thing either.

That was why their research had reached an impasse.

"I will use my own body to try."

Orochimaru's words startled Hui.

"After all, I myself am a Fifth-Tier Sage. My body can definitely withstand the erosion of the Ōtsutsuki Clan's cells."

"Have you made up your mind?"

Hui didn't immediately object as there was no reason to.

Firstly, as Orochimaru said, with his current Fifth-Tier Sage body, he could certainly withstand the Ōtsutsuki cells.

Secondly, even if something went wrong, Hui had the power to reverse it.

At worst, Orochimaru would die, and his soul would go to the Pure Land.

But the Pure Land was now Hui's backyard.

He could simply summon Orochimaru's soul back from the Pure Land, clone a body using his backup cells, and perform a soul transfer.

Alternatively, he could use Orochimaru's cells to perform the Impure World Reincarnation, create a reincarnated body, and then have Madara perform the Rinne Rebirth to revive him.

Resurrecting someone was a simple matter for Hui now.

"Yes, I have decided. We don't know when the Ōtsutsuki Clan will appear. With the power they possess, very few in the Sage Shinobi Nation can currently oppose them. 

"Only by raising the overall strength of the Sage Shinobi Nation can we hope to defeat the Ōtsutsuki Clan and enter the cosmos, ushering in the interstellar age."

Orochimaru spoke. Unlike Hui, he didn't know from the original story that the Ōtsutsuki Clan's arrival was still far off. In Orochimaru's heart, there was always a great sense of urgency.

He didn't want to see the Sage Shinobi Nation, which he cherished, destroyed by the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

Hui didn't reveal the truth or clarify the situation to everyone.

After all, pressure fueled motivation. If the world was entirely peaceful and no one felt any pressure, many people would likely become complacent.

Applying appropriate pressure was beneficial to the overall development of the world.

And the Ōtsutsuki Clan was the pressure Hui exerted on the elites of this world.

"In that case, let's begin."

Agreeing with Orochimaru's idea, the two quickly began preparations.

Three days later, they conducted the experiment.

Orochimaru personally injected a syringe filled with Ōtsutsuki Clan cells into his own body.

And then... Ōtsutsuki Orochimaru was born...

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