42

"Sure enough, ordinary chakra infusion methods are far too slow…," Orochimaru muttered. "They can't even give permanent properties to the metal."

"You're right, Shintaku," Orochimaru continued. "Only by entering a state of spiritual transformation, where chakra is as fluid and free as possible, can we alter the metal at a deeper level."

---

"Do you feel it, Orochimaru?" Nara Shintaku asked. "The agitation, the swirling memories, the unfulfilled desires… These spiritual forces can cause the chakra metal to change. This means we must use our own souls to forge it."

---

"Shintaku, the metal is shrinking," Orochimaru noted. "But this isn't enough. We've added too many artificial elements; they aren't enough to fully reflect the soul."

"What are you planning, Orochimaru-sensei?" Nara Shintaku asked cautiously.

"I'm going deeper," Orochimaru replied with a sly smile. "Do you know how pearls form inside shells?"

Nara Shintaku's eyes widened. "What a crazy idea, Orochimaru-sensei…"

---

Pain.

Nara Shintaku awoke to an excruciating sensation, as if a sharp grain of sand had embedded itself into his soul, constantly cutting at it. The pain was relentless, and his physical symptoms reflected the agony—dizziness, palpitations, vomiting, fever, and uncontrollable muscle spasms.

Orochimaru's suggestion of using the "pearl method" had pushed them to their limits. They used Yin-Yang Release to alter the chakra metal's properties, embedding it within their souls so that the friction between soul and metal would forge something new.

The process was simple in theory but horrendously painful in practice. The soul and metal rubbed against each other, stimulating deep emotions, desires, and hidden memories, which then became infused into the metal itself.

They didn't intervene in the process. They only endured the soul-wrenching pain, occasionally using spiritual transformation techniques to repair the damage. What the metal would become in the end was entirely up to their own psyches.

---

"Haha… so this is what it feels like," Orochimaru said through labored breaths, staggering toward Shintaku with a bundle of dried food. His face was pale, drenched in cold sweat, yet a twisted smile remained. "No wonder the Mangekyō Sharingan requires extreme pain and the experience of love and loss. It's essentially a form of self-dissection."

He chuckled, as if intoxicated by the experience. "You peel back your soul, dredge up your emotions, and reveal the deepest parts of yourself, just as one might cut into their own flesh and expose their heart."

Nara Shintaku barely reacted to Orochimaru's words, his focus instead on the task at hand.

"You remain calm despite this soul-level pain," Orochimaru marveled. "Even your hands don't tremble…."

Shintaku stayed silent. This ability to endure pain was part of the changes Kurotsuchi Mayuri had made to him. Without those modifications, he wouldn't have survived such experiments.

"Well, you're a monster anyway," Orochimaru smirked. "We've used half of the village's chakra metal, but it's still not enough."

"We'll take the rest from the village stockpile," Nara Shintaku said evenly.

"Yes, but even that might not be enough…" Orochimaru pondered.

"The technique is working, but the cost is high," Nara Shintaku remarked. They had used 100 grams of chakra metal, but after the process, only 10% remained, barely enough to contain their souls. They would need more.

---

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was astonished.

"You're back already? Didn't I give you 100 grams?" the Hokage asked, rubbing his temples in frustration. "What could you possibly need so much chakra metal for?"

Orochimaru grinned. "Sensei, who said there hasn't been any progress?"

He opened his palm, showing nothing at first. But as he refined his chakra and activated Yin-Yang Release, the chakra metal embedded in his soul began to materialize. Slowly, a thin, crystal-clear iron sheet, glowing faintly with white light, appeared in his hand.

The Third Hokage's eyes widened. "What… what is this? Space-time ninjutsu?"

"No," Orochimaru corrected, "it's more akin to a creation."

"Yin-Yang Release?" The Hokage leaned closer, staring in disbelief at the strange piece of metal. He couldn't comprehend its significance.