Chapter Thirteen: The Hot Springs of Hell Valley

...
The ninja world was in turmoil, everyone on edge—some were sharpening their blades, preparing to plunge into the fray, while others packed their belongings, ready to flee into the deep mountains and forests.
War would allow some to leap across social strata, while others would plummet from the heights to the depths.
In the rainy, drizzling Village of Hidden Rain, members of the Akatsuki organization were convening.
Everyone in this group was formidable, each with their own legendary tale.
There were no weaklings within Akatsuki.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s the reason I’ve been called here again? I’m busy,” Deidara complained.
Akatsuki’s current objective was money, and each member was constantly on the move.
Itachi Uchiha’s expression was cold, his eyes seemingly indifferent to everything.
Deidara mocked him, “Itachi, I heard you went looking for Orochimaru and failed to kill him, huh?”
Deidara most wanted to challenge Itachi, for Itachi always regarded his art with a contemptuous gaze.
Itachi turned to Deidara, the disdain in his eyes apparent, then looked away again.
“Ahhh!”
Deidara was infuriated—it was that look once more.
Pain, standing above, shrouded in shadow, the patterns of his Rinnegan especially clear: “Orochimaru has destroyed the Leaf Village. War is coming to the ninja world. This will affect our plans.”
Deidara raged, “That damned Orochimaru, slippery as a snake. Do we have any intel on him? I’ll go kill him right now!”
Orochimaru had betrayed Akatsuki, and the task of hunting him down was assigned to Deidara.
Itachi Uchiha said, “Deidara might not be up to it.”
Orochimaru’s immortality was too powerful; even Itachi himself wasn’t fully confident he could kill him outright.
As long as Orochimaru had curse marks, he could resurrect. Who knew how many curse marks he had?
Deidara, on the verge of exploding, shouted at Itachi, “Who are you saying isn’t up to it? Say that again!”
Pain ignored Deidara and instead looked at Itachi Uchiha. Since Itachi spoke so, there must be a reason.
Itachi explained, “Orochimaru can be resurrected through curse marks. Until we know the locations of all his curse marks, it’s unwise to make a move against him.”
Deidara jumped in again, “Who cares how many times he comes back? Every time he resurrects, I’ll blow him up again!”
Pain fell silent for a long while, then said, “Killing Orochimaru isn’t cost-effective—it would take too many resources. Still, we can’t let him get too arrogant. Deidara, you and Sasori head to the Sound Village.”
Deidara was disgruntled, “I just want to kill Orochimaru!”
Pain’s gaze swept over, locking onto Deidara, who finally relented, “Alright, I’ll go play around in the Sound Village first.”
Pain looked at all Akatsuki members, “The plan to collect the Tailed Beasts will begin ahead of schedule!”
In that instant, Akatsuki’s shadowy hand finally reached out to the ninja world from behind the scenes.
...

In the Village of Hidden Sand, Gaara and Lady Chiyo quietly left the village.
Lady Chiyo asked, “Are you certain Orochimaru knows where my grandson Sasori is?”
The death of the Kazekage was only one reason why the reclusive Lady Chiyo and Elder Ebizo returned to action—a minor one at that.
The main reason was Gaara telling Lady Chiyo that Orochimaru knew Sasori’s whereabouts.
Sasori tugged at Lady Chiyo’s heart.
Thus, Lady Chiyo and Gaara slipped out of the village, heading for the Sound Village.
“I know,” Gaara replied coolly.
Uchiha Itachi, Kisame, Jiraiya, and Tsunade had all pursued Orochimaru to no avail, proving the strength of Orochimaru’s side.
Lady Chiyo said, “Gaara, as you head to the Sound Village, remember you’re a Sand ninja. Your father died at Orochimaru’s hands!”
Gaara frowned, “Nagging.”
If not for that bespectacled young man insisting Lady Chiyo come along, he wouldn’t have left with her at all.
“You!”
Lady Chiyo was angry with Gaara but ultimately sighed. The Sand Village had treated Gaara too poorly—she couldn’t blame him.
Lady Chiyo sighed, “Though you hate your father and the village, you were born in Sand. I hope you still remember you’re one of us.”
Gaara sneered, “Heh.”
Sand Village? What’s that? Is it edible?
...

Hell Valley was shrouded in steam all year round, a white mist obscuring the sky. Orochimaru and Kimimaro finally arrived within its depths.
Inside Hell Valley was a red hot spring, filled with white bones.
“These are the remains of the Blood Pond Clan,” Orochimaru squatted at the spring’s edge.
The Blood Pond Clan had been wiped out, and their preserved bones soaked in the hot spring; this red spring possessed a kind of immortality.
“Let’s begin.”
It was Orochimaru’s favorite moment; he took out a scroll, summoned his experimental tools, and started studying the red hot spring.
Kimimaro assisted him.
Orochimaru’s research was hardly quiet. He discovered that the red spring did indeed preserve immortality, so he fished out a bone and smashed it with a hammer.
The bone shattered instantly.
But the bone had no healing ability, so nothing could be tested. Orochimaru summoned several small snakes and injected the extracted substance from the red spring into their bodies.
He cut the snakes in half and stitched them back together.
Of course, in the initial stages, countless snakes died. Gradually, eight snakes developed immortality.
Only these eight snakes—no matter how many times he injected the substance afterwards, no more would develop the ability, as if a limit had been reached.

Orochimaru began testing these eight snakes, cutting some open and stitching them together, watching them recover swiftly.
He found the phenomenon intriguing—how far could this immortality go?
He then subjected them to water immersion, fire, lightning, earth crushing—every extreme method—to see if they would truly not die.
...

When Chino and Kazekage arrived at Hell Valley, even before they entered, they could hear the sounds of fire, lightning, and other chaos from within—it was lively indeed.
The two exchanged puzzled glances and quickened their pace to enter Hell Valley.
The entrance was a narrow gorge, just wide enough for four or five people abreast. As they reached it, a torrent of fire spewed forth, as if someone inside was unleashing a Fire Release.
Kazekage immediately tackled Chino, dodging the flames.
After the fire passed, both had soot marks on their faces and bodies.
“What’s happening?”
Chino and Kazekage exchanged another glance. Why was Hell Valley’s entrance spewing fire? That wasn’t documented anywhere.
“There’s no fire now. Let’s take this chance to go in!”
They planned to charge in while it was clear, but before they could enter, a burst of lightning exploded, pouring out from the entrance.
Chino and Kazekage were blasted far away.
They thought, Hell Valley certainly deserves its name—truly dangerous.
...

Orochimaru knew there were two people outside the valley, but he didn’t care. Instead, his eyes were fixed intently on the bloody foam before him. This foam was all that remained of the eight snakes, which he had blasted into blood with ninjutsu.
But now, whenever he used medical techniques, they could come back to life.
Or rather, they hadn’t died at all, surviving in a state of blood foam.
Strangely, because the blood mixed together and couldn’t be separated, when they recovered, they were no longer individual snakes, but a multi-headed, multi-tailed serpent, bodies fused together.
The form was reminiscent of the legendary Eight-Headed Serpent!
“Could it be that the real Eight-Headed Serpent was created by similar means?” Orochimaru wondered.
Moreover, this eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent also possessed a curse technique akin to Hidan’s, though much weaker.
Orochimaru concluded that the bloodline of the Blood Pond Clan had already seeped away with the red hot spring, leaving little behind, which explained the results.
“The Blood Pond Clan’s bloodline isn’t vital. This immortality is indeed powerful, but it’s not enough. If I could add automatic cohesion and rapid healing, it would be perfect!”
Orochimaru began integrating his other experimental results into the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent.
He had no idea that this casually created creature would one day become utterly terrifying.