Chapter 34: The Priestess’s Plea for Help

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: The Priestess’s Plea for Help

Hyuga Kagami had originally intended to mention the Dragon Vein and Mōryō to Orochimaru. However, it would be difficult to explain how he knew about such closely guarded secrets, so after a moment of hesitation, he ultimately kept quiet.

Besides, judging from Orochimaru’s demeanor, he didn’t seem particularly interested in artificial Tailed Beasts.

That was perfectly understandable.

For Orochimaru, who had already mastered secret techniques such as the Eight Branches Technique and Flesh Regeneration, and was currently developing the Living Corpse Reincarnation, chakra simply wasn’t an issue.

After weighing his options, Hyuga Kagami asked, "Lord Orochimaru, what price would I have to pay to obtain the research data on artificial Tailed Beasts from you?"

Orochimaru studied Hyuga Kagami with great interest. "I’m curious. Why are you so obsessed with artificial Tailed Beasts? Is there some other reason?"

Hyuga Kagami countered, "Then why are you so fascinated by forbidden techniques? You and I are the same kind of person. When it comes to research, there doesn’t need to be a reason. Being interested is enough."

"That explanation isn’t enough to convince me."

Orochimaru shook his head, then suddenly smiled.

"Very well. I’d also like to see just what kind of monster you’ll manage to create."

Hyuga Kagami’s eyes lit up. "You agree?"

Orochimaru held up two fingers. "I’ll give you all the research data, but I have two conditions."

"Please, go ahead."

Orochimaru smiled. "First, you’ll share the results of your research with me. Second, I want you to gather information on every member of the ANBU, including the old man’s Hokage Guard Platoon."

With no room to bargain, Hyuga Kagami could only nod and agree.

That night, Hyuga Kagami received all of the village’s research data on artificial Tailed Beasts from the one-eyed viper.

From this, he could infer that before defecting, Orochimaru had already stolen the vast majority of the village’s forbidden techniques and research materials. And this was perhaps one of the reasons the village’s higher-ups had launched such a bloody purge against Orochimaru’s former subordinates.

Hyuga Kagami unfurled the scroll containing the records of the artificial Tailed Beast experiments. After merely skimming through it, his brows knitted tightly together.

The complexity of creating an artificial Tailed Beast far exceeded his previous expectations.

There were more than seven hundred different intricate technological formulas alone. Among them were many sealing formulas so complicated that even a jōnin-level ninja would have difficulty performing them.

In addition, an artificial Tailed Beast placed extremely high demands on the material used for its vessel.

According to the records in the scroll, the village had originally experimented with seventeen different high-strength materials. In the end, only one material known as Purple Clay Gel had proven barely capable of containing such an enormous amount of chakra.

Purple Clay Gel was a specialty of the Land of Swamps, a type of gelatinous clay found only in the deepest reaches of its marshes.

Precisely because of this, Purple Clay Gel was extremely difficult to extract and produced only in tiny quantities. Its market price was nearly equal to that of gold, making it an exceptionally rare and expensive material.

Hyuga Kagami had originally thought that securing an enormous source of chakra would be the greatest obstacle to creating an artificial Tailed Beast. But after reading through the research data, he realized that nearly every aspect of the project—from the technological formulas to the material used for the vessel—was a formidable challenge in its own right!

"No wonder Shinno, despite controlling the remnants of the Land of Sky, spent so many years tinkering with it and still only managed to create that half-baked Zero-Tails."

After sighing softly to himself, Hyuga Kagami put away the scroll.

At present, whether it was his accumulation of technical knowledge or his stockpile of materials, Hyuga Kagami was still far from adequately prepared. So for the time being, he simply didn’t have the ability to begin the artificial Tailed Beast project.

Early the next morning, Hyuga Kagami arrived at the ANBU reporting station.

After receiving a new ninja identification card, he officially became one of Konoha’s Special Jōnin. At the same time, he formally joined the ANBU directly under the Hokage.

Inside the equipment storeroom, Hyuga Kagami ran into Guy and Shisui.

After exchanging greetings, the three of them began carefully selecting their equipment.

At the mask rack, Hyuga Kagami took a liking to an eagle-faced mask. He put it on to test the fit and found that it suited him perfectly, so he chose it without hesitation.

Guy picked an ordinary dog-faced mask.

Shisui hesitated for quite some time between a fox-faced mask and a cat-faced mask. In the end, he gave up on the fox mask, which looked a little too sly and sinister, and chose the relatively gentle-looking cat mask instead.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage’s office...

Now dressed in their ANBU uniforms, Hyuga Kagami, Guy, and Shisui stood ramrod straight before the Hokage’s desk.

The Third Hokage carefully looked the three of them up and down before nodding in satisfaction.

"Not bad. You all look sharp. From this moment onward, the three of you will be assigned to ANBU Team Eleven."

With that, the Third Hokage lightly clapped his hands.

A figure immediately appeared beside the three of them.

The Third Hokage introduced him. "This is Kakashi. He will serve as the captain of Team Eleven."

Kakashi removed the fox-faced mask covering his face and said coolly to the three of them, "I’m Kakashi. I look forward to working with you."

Hyuga Kagami and the other two also removed their masks and politely returned the greeting.

"There’s currently a particularly troublesome mission that needs to be handled."

The Third Hokage tapped his pipe against the desk before continuing, "A few days ago, the priestess of the Land of Demons sent a request for assistance to Konoha. She wants us to dispatch ninja to help them seal an otherworldly demon that threatens the entire shinobi world. This will be your first mission since joining the ANBU."

He paused briefly.

"Mission rank: S-rank!"

The moment Hyuga Kagami heard this, his heart tightened.

Just yesterday, he had been thinking about the demon Mōryō, and today, the Third Hokage had assigned him a mission to seal a demon.

He couldn’t tell whether this was truly just a coincidence, or whether the village had somehow noticed something.

At that moment, the Third Hokage rose from his seat and turned toward the window, gazing out over the village.

"We know nothing about the details of this mission. Therefore, you must travel to the Land of Demons as quickly as possible and rendezvous with their priestess."

"The Land of Demons may have sent requests for assistance to other hidden villages as well, so you may encounter ninja from other villages during this mission."

"You must remain cautious. Avoid conflict with ninja from the other villages whenever possible."

The four answered in unison, "Yes!"

Time was short and the mission was urgent, so none of them dared to delay. As soon as they left the Hokage’s office, they headed straight out of the village and set off toward the Land of Demons.

After leaving the village, Guy excitedly said to Kakashi, "Kakashi, I’m a special jōnin now too! I’ve finally caught up with you!"

Kakashi responded listlessly, "Yeah, yeah."

Completely oblivious to Kakashi’s impatience, Guy continued cheerfully, "Kakashi, constantly chasing after each other like this—that’s what true youth is all about! Just thinking about it fills me with motivation!"

Kakashi turned his head and glanced at Hyuga Kagami and Shisui, who were trailing slightly behind the rest of the team, while continuing to humor Guy.

"Yeah, yeah."

At the rear of the group—

Noticing that Hyuga Kagami seemed somewhat distracted, Shisui asked curiously, "Senpai, is something wrong?"

Hyuga Kagami shook his head. "It’s nothing."

At the moment, Hyuga Kagami really was becoming somewhat paranoid.

He had only met with Orochimaru yesterday and discussed the issue of finding a chakra source. Yet today, he had suddenly been assigned to a mission involving the sealing of Mōryō.

The timing was simply too coincidental.

However, after carefully searching through his memories again, Hyuga Kagami recalled that it did seem to be around this time that the priestess of the Land of Demons died while sealing the demon Mōryō, leaving behind the next-generation priestess, Shion, who was roughly the same age as Naruto...