Chapter 346 - 347: A Plaything of Science

Chapter 347: A Plaything of Science

Naruto, holding the soundly sleeping Miharu, reached out to touch his soft little face. Watching the little fellow unconsciously rub his face against his finger, he felt even more affection for this well-behaved child.

Doesn’t cry, doesn’t make a fuss, and isn’t afraid of being poked—he’s a peerless good boy!

Then, he looked up and turned his gaze toward Orochimaru.

"I see..."

Naruto drawled, his fingers still gently teasing Miharu’s tender cheek.

"You actually want this little guy to ’provide’ for Jiraiya in his old age in the future, don’t you?"

He observed Orochimaru’s reaction and continued:

"Even though you gave Jiraiya a hard time earlier and even made him ’break down,’ you still care about him quite a bit."

Hearing Naruto’s direct teasing that hit the nail on the head, the lazy smile on Orochimaru’s face stiffened slightly.

Her golden snake pupils flickered imperceptibly for a moment, revealing a hint of annoyance at being seen through, or perhaps a sense of awkwardness from being exposed.

But she quickly regained her nonchalant demeanor, gave a cold snort, and turned her face away. Her gaze swept seemingly at random over the cold instruments in the laboratory, her tone carrying a deliberate disdain:

"Hmph!"

"Whatever happens to that old guy... it doesn’t matter!"

She deliberately used an indifferent, even somewhat disgusted tone.

"Whether he continues to travel the world gathering material for his perverted novels, or accidentally dies on some woman’s belly one day, or simply dies of old age in a Hidden Leaf Village nursing home... it has nothing to do with me!"

Orochimaru turned back, her gaze falling on Miharu in Naruto’s arms, but her eyes were somewhat vacant, as if she were looking through him at something else.

"As for this child..."

"I simply needed a stable and research-worthy sample of Immortal Fusion."

"Jiraiya’s cells were merely one of the ’conveniently’ sourced, barely acceptable experimental Materials."

"The eyes you want will take at least another month."

Seeing Orochimaru forcibly change the subject, Naruto didn’t intend to continue the conversation in that direction; after all, the matter of the eyes was more urgent.

"You created a child so quickly, yet you can’t create the eyes?"

Naruto expressed deep skepticism toward Orochimaru’s words.

"Creating eyes isn’t hard; what’s hard is the Mangekyo Sharingan. I’m still trying to create a few more pairs to see if I can directly achieve the Eternal Mangekyo in one step. Don’t be in such a hurry."

"Huh?"

Seeing the unconcealed shock and disbelief on Naruto’s face, Orochimaru smiled with great satisfaction—a pure joy belonging to a pioneer and subverter.

"Are you surprised, Hokage-sama?"

A light flashed in Orochimaru’s eyes as she spoke slowly,

"When you step out of the framework of traditional concepts like ’Ninjutsu’ and ’Bloodline’ and examine them with a’scientific’ eye, many so-called ’miracles’ and ’taboos’ are not that mysterious in essence."

She approached the screens displaying the Mangekyo cultivation images, her finger hovering over the complex gene chains and energy models:

"The so-called ’Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan’ has no fundamental difference from an ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan."

"The only difference between the two is that the ’gene sequence’ of the Eternal Mangekyo is more complete and stable."

"Ordinary Mangekyo, due to the massive emotional shock and Chakra mutation that accompany the awakening, lead to ’damage’ or ’abnormal expression’ in the parts of the gene sequence that control ocular power and cell regeneration. It’s like a precision instrument that has been over-overclocked; the internal circuitry has developed wear and tear that cannot be self-repaired, so excessive use leads to blindness."

"And the reason why ’transplanting a relative’s Mangekyo’ can evolve into the ’Eternal Eyes’..."

A cold light of insight into the essence of things flashed in Orochimaru’s eyes,

"...is not because of romantic yet ethereal reasons like ’family affection’ or ’Soul resonance.’"

"The fundamental scientific principle is that the gene sequences of a relative’s Mangekyo are highly homologous!"

"After transplantation, the relatively more complete and stable genetic information in the donor’s eye acts like a ’patch,’ filling, repairing, and even optimizing the damaged or missing sequences in the recipient’s eye."

"Two sets of homologous but individually flawed ’blueprints’ are merged, complementing each other, and finally resulting in a ’complete blueprint’ that is closer to the original perfect state."

"That is the ’Eternal Eyes.’"

Orochimaru turned around, her arms spread wide as if embracing the power of’science’ represented by the entire laboratory, her tone filled with confidence and arrogance:

"So, since the principle is understood..."

"Why must we still cling to that primitive, barbarian method with its unstable success rate and the need to sacrifice our closest kin?"

"As long as we can use technical means to actively and precisely’supplement’ those ’missing gene sequences’ in the simulated Mangekyo eyes during the in-vitro cultivation stage..."

She looked at Naruto, her snake pupils burning with the intense flames of’seeking knowledge’ and ’conquest’:

"Then, the troubling ’drawbacks’ of the Mangekyo Sharingan will naturally disappear!"

"It will... directly become an ’Eternal Eyes’!"

Orochimaru’s final words exploded in Naruto’s heart like a clap of thunder:

"The so-called Eternal Eyes... once it is analyzed and understood..."

"It is nothing more than..."

"...a plaything of science."

"Mmm~"

Miharu was woken up by Orochimaru’s voice. He opened his small eyes and, though he didn’t make a sound, he looked very unhappy.

Indeed, babies need plenty of sleep.

, , , , , , , , , ,

After reporting the Great Toad Sage’s words to Naruto, Jiraiya walked back to his less-than-tidy residence in a daze. It wasn’t until he stood at his doorstep that he slightly regained his senses.

His mind was still replaying Naruto’s words of comfort.

"If you made a wrong choice, you made a wrong choice. Don’t always regret and be angry at your past self; he was also very lost standing alone in the fog back then."

Naruto had let it go, but Jiraiya felt even more guilty.

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Inside, Konan was wearing an apron, busy in the kitchen preparing lunch.

Hearing the door open, she looked up and saw Jiraiya return. Just as she was about to greet him, her gaze was instantly drawn to the white ’little bundle’ in Jiraiya’s arms.

"Teacher, you’re ba—"

Konan’s words stopped mid-sentence.

Her eyes widened, and she looked in disbelief at the white-haired child sleeping soundly in the crook of Jiraiya’s arm.

Wait... a white-haired child in Konoha Village?

Just as Konan’s heart was filled with suspicion and various guesses were churning, Jiraiya, holding Miharu, cleared his throat awkwardly. The first sentence he spoke made Konan completely lose her composure:

"Um... Konan..."

Jiraiya scratched his head, his face carrying a mixture of indescribable and strange emotions.

"Have you... ever raised a child?"

"Huh?"

The spatula in Konan’s hand almost fell to the floor.

She looked at Jiraiya in shock, then at the child in his arms, her voice involuntarily rising:

"Teacher? Where... where did you get a child from?"

Her gaze swept back and forth between Jiraiya and the child.

Jiraiya felt an even bigger headache seeing Konan’s expression, which was so shocked it was as if her world had collapsed.

He carried Miharu to the living room, carefully placed him on the padded sofa, then turned around to face Konan, who was still in a state of petrification, and explained in as calm a tone as possible:

"This is... that kid Naruto gave him to me."

He paused, seemingly organizing his words, and then, in a flat tone as if saying ’the weather is nice today,’ he dropped the real ’bombshell’:

"He’s... mine and Orochimaru’s... son."

"..."

Time seemed to stand still.

The expression on Konan’s face froze instantly. In her emerald eyes, the original shock was quickly replaced by a sense of extreme bewilderment, confusion, and the absurdity of ’did I hear wrong or am I not awake yet?’

She opened her mouth slightly, looking at Jiraiya, then at Miharu, who was sleeping soundly on the sofa with his white hair and skin, looking like an exquisite doll, and then back at Jiraiya...

Isn’t Orochimaru a man?

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