Chapter 0119: The Fusion of Divine Tree Cells and Biological Cells

While the Ape Demon King was treating the new generation of the Shingang clan to drinks, Yakushi Kabuto carried a document bag into a research laboratory.

Inside, Orochimaru, dressed in a white lab coat and with his ocular powers activated, was hunched over an experimental table, observing a seed from the Divine Tree.

"Knock, knock, knock." Kabuto tapped on the door.

Without looking up, Orochimaru said, "Is that you, Kabuto? Come here quickly. I want to show you something remarkable!"

Kabuto walked in, handed over the document bag, and said, "Lord Orochimaru, this is the information compiled from the Shingang clan. Please take a look."

Orochimaru took the bag, set it aside without a second thought, and gestured for Kabuto to look. "Look at this. It’s truly miraculous."

Kabuto wanted to remind Orochimaru that the Shingang clan had provided two pieces of intelligence of great importance, but the words died on his lips. Instead, he leaned over the table to observe the glass vessel.

Inside the vessel was a cell. It was submerged in filthy water, yet the fragile cell had not perished. On the contrary, it radiated a green glow, devouring the contaminants.

"This..." Kabuto was astonished. The vitality of this cell was immense!

After observing for a while, Kabuto tentatively asked, "Is this a cell resulting from the fusion of a Divine Tree cell and a biological cell?"

Orochimaru nodded, clearly in high spirits. "Exactly. What else do you see?"

Kabuto watched for a moment longer and replied, "The cell's phagocytic ability is incredible. It is evolving by consuming the dirty water."

The cell emitted a green light, rapidly absorbing the surrounding substances. It didn't discriminate; everything became its nourishment. It was terrifying.

"Dirty water?"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. He casually picked up a test tube nearby containing a crimson liquid. Kabuto’s pupils constricted—if he remembered correctly, this was a highly concentrated acid. A single drop was enough to corrode a kilometer of earth.

Orochimaru poured the entire contents of the tube into the glass vessel. Not stopping there, he grabbed several other tubes, some containing liquids even more horrific than the acid.

After finishing, Orochimaru gestured to the vessel. "That was no mere dirty water; it was an extreme environment created by a mixture of reagents. Look again now."

Kabuto was bewildered. With so many volatile substances added, the cell should be dead! However, since Orochimaru told him to look, the result couldn't be simple. Could it have survived? But that was impossible! No cell could be that powerful! Even their own "immortal" cells only maintained a state of suspended animation under extreme conditions, reviving only once the environment returned to normal.

He leaned in to look. Lo and behold, the cell was still alive! Not only was it alive, but it was ravenously devouring everything around it, as if it had an insatiable appetite.

Orochimaru laughed. "While experimenting with the mutual transformation between the Divine Tree and the Ten-Tails, I wondered: what would happen if I fused a Divine Tree cell with a biological cell? This cell is the result. Looking at it, what comes to mind?"

Kabuto’s mind began to race. What did it suggest? Cellular consumption leading to strength—it was a biological cell, therefore, it meant the strengthening of a living organism! A lightbulb went off in his head. Kabuto blurted out, "Might Guy!"

Orochimaru nodded. "Precisely!"

He looked at Kabuto and continued, "Once we have mastered the Eight Inner Gates, there is no further way to enhance the physical body, and the Eight Inner Gates are only equivalent to the strength of an average member of the Otsutsuki clan. We once thought that was the peak of taijutsu, but the emergence of these 'Divine Tree-variant' biological cells is enough to propel taijutsu to a level far exceeding that of the Otsutsuki!"

Orochimaru had even worked out the plan: once the research was complete, he would replace Might Guy's cells with the Divine Tree variants, knock him unconscious, and sink him into the core of an uninhabited planet. For the Divine Tree-variant cells, nothing was inedible. In this state, Might Guy would begin to consume the planet. If everything went smoothly, Might Guy would devour the entire world, and by the end, his body would likely be larger than the planet itself!

Kabuto was stunned. Orochimaru was planning to create a race of stellar giants!

Just as Kabuto was lost in his shock, Orochimaru picked up the document bag he had tossed aside, pulled out the papers, and flipped through them casually. "Is this the summarized intelligence from the Shingang clan?"

Kabuto finally collected himself, remembering why he had come. "There are two things in there that require your attention."

Orochimaru quickly flipped to the end. "I’ve read it. Which two things?"

Kabuto felt a knot in his stomach. He had evaluated the importance of these items from his own perspective, but they were objectively significant. "One is the message brought by the human standing on the giant toad, and the other is the 'Shingang Power' that the clan uses to trade for their future."

Orochimaru understood. "Those two things."

He flipped to the page containing the message from the man on the toad, which read: "Orochimaru, I can see your future." It was clearly left by the Sage of the Six Paths.

Orochimaru remarked, "Predicting the future—such an ability is troublesome, but it is *only* troublesome."

Kabuto asked, "Lord Orochimaru, can you counter it?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "I don't have a perfect method yet. But do you remember our last battle with the Sage of the Six Paths?"

Kabuto understood immediately. During that encounter, Orochimaru had harnessed the power of over fifty million people at once to try and kill the Sage. The Sage had simply run away, which proved that even if he could predict the future, he couldn't necessarily change it.

Orochimaru said, "Unless he is stronger than I am, it may look like I am walking down the future he predicted, but in reality, this is the future *I* want. He wants to guide me onto a different path, but that is impossible."

It was like Orochimaru wanting to eat an apple. He desired the apple, and in the future the Sage predicted, Orochimaru ate the apple. If the Sage wanted to change the future—to make Orochimaru eat an orange instead—he would first have to persuade Orochimaru. Orochimaru was a man of extreme focus; he had always known what he wanted. If the Sage wanted to change Orochimaru's future, he would inevitably have to engage in a battle of intellect, will, and power. Orochimaru did not believe he would lose.

Moreover, if the Sage actually persuaded him to eat an orange, it would only be because Orochimaru decided the Sage made a fair point and he *wanted* to eat an orange. In other words, whatever future Orochimaru desired was the future the Sage would predict.

Orochimaru added, "As for the Shingang Power, I will study it after I have fully grasped the conversion between the Divine Tree and the Ten-Tails. The Shingang Power might actually be useful for associative experiments with Black Rods and Truth-Seeking Orbs."