Orthopedic Surgery

Shintaro followed Orochimaru and left the Root Organization's headquarters.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama, for the rescue." Shintaro expressed his gratitude as he followed behind.

Orochimaru replied with a half-smile, "I just happened to be passing by. By the way, I do need an assistant. Do you have time today?"

Shintaro hesitated a bit because he had promised Kurenai he would go to her house for dinner that evening. But after thinking it over, he realized it was still early in the afternoon, and he would have enough time. Moreover, Orochimaru had just helped him, so it was difficult not to give him face.

So Shintaro replied, "Yes, what would you like me to do, Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru said, "It's still about the soft modification technique. I've been spending some time researching it recently and have advanced it to the stage of in vivo experiments."

Shintaro was very surprised by this.

What Orochimaru mentioned would take time. From Shintaro's understanding, the soft modification technique was still a few steps away from being ready for in vivo experiments, and it would take several more months as well.

As a result, Shintaro left the village for a short mission and found that it had reached the stage of in vivo experiments upon his return. It was imaginable how much difficulty Orochimaru had gone through during this period.

Orochimaru noticed the possible thoughts in his mind, so he explained: "I don't have the patience to slowly develop this level of technique."

"So I sped it up a bit. After this experiment is completed, I plan to shift my research direction to develop more advanced soft modification techniques..."

Along the way, Orochimaru told Shintaro about the progress of the soft modification technique and his latest research ideas.

In his words, Shintaro was one of the few ninjas with scientific literacy, so he was willing to discuss this with him.

The two chatted and soon arrived at the research institute.

On the operating table, a young man about Shintaro's age was bound naked, his eyes covered, and he was unconscious.

"I injected him with a strong anesthetic first, which is enough to keep him unconscious for twenty-four hours, so there's no need to rush." Orochimaru handed a piece of information to Shintaro and instructed, "You need to understand his situation first."

After saying that, he went to change out of his Jonin vest.

"Ken Kazuki, thirteen years old, Konoha Genin..."

The information was very detailed, from personal information to body measurements taken with precise instruments.

This also showed Orochimaru's decisiveness.

Both the intelligence profile and the results observed by Shintaro with his Six Eyes indicated that Kazuki's talent was very poor.

Precisely because of this, Kazuki agreed to participate in Orochimaru's human experiments.

As the first live subject of this ninjutsu research, it was imaginable how much danger he faced.

Moreover, Shintaro estimated that Kazuki's reason for participating in the experiment was not only his desire to become stronger but also due to Orochimaru's powerful brainwashing abilities.

While Shintaro murmured to himself, Orochimaru had changed into a dust-free surgical gown.

"Shintaro-kun, have you finished reading the information? The changing room is to the right of the door."

He wore a green medical mask on his face and looked very professional.

Shintaro came to his senses, put the information back into the cabinet, and then went to the changing room to change into the same surgical gown as Orochimaru.

Only, Orochimaru was currently much taller than Shintaro, so the surgical gown looked somewhat puffy on him.

Orochimaru glanced at him with his vertical golden pupils, then calmly put on thin rubber medical gloves.

Shintaro followed suit and put on gloves.

Orochimaru began to explain the surgical process: "The target transformation for this experiment is mainly the limbs. Let's start with..."

His narration was very detailed, and Shintaro listened very carefully.

Orochimaru had explained that the reason for modifying the limbs was that the limbs would have the greatest increase in combat power.

Moreover, modifying the bones in the neck would significantly increase the risk of failure. According to dozens of Orochimaru's simulation experiments, the best result would be high paraplegia.

This might be one of the reasons why he was ready to abandon the direction of the soft modification technique.

He finished explaining the process and experimental ideas, then the two looked at each other and formally began the transformation operation.

Orochimaru was in charge, and Shintaro assisted.

There's no need to go into detail about the process of the experiment. It can be said that Kazuki's skin was peeled, clamped, and his bones were suctioned from the marrow.

If it weren't for the strong anesthetic injected beforehand, he would have died from the pain hundreds of times over.

After completing the skeletal transformation, Orochimaru skillfully sewed Kazuki's skin and flesh of his limbs and used Senjutsu to speed up cell division to accelerate his recovery.

Kazuki's body was like a tattered rag doll, quickly and neatly stitched back together by a master tailor.

At the same time, Shintaro injected a tube of meat plasticizer into Kazuki.

Orochimaru meticulously checked several times and confirmed that Kazuki's vital signs were normal.

The experiment was over, and all that was left was to wait for Kazuki to wake up.

Shintaro also put down the equipment in his hands with relief.

In the previous transformation operation, Orochimaru was responsible for the technical work, while Shintaro was essentially responsible for the physical work.

Orthopedic surgery had always been physical labor, even for ninjas, let alone this was not ordinary orthopedic surgery.

Orochimaru's vertical golden pupils stared at Kazuki's body, without the slightest excitement in his eyes.

Shintaro could understand this. After all, even if Kazuki completed the soft modification, he would still be just a Genin with special abilities.

Although due to his bizarre techniques, most Genin relying on close combat could be suddenly defeated, it would be difficult to deal with ninja at the Chunin level, let alone Jonin.

After all, his transformation was not perfect, for example, bones were a fatal weakness of this soft modification technique.

The results of this experiment were almost entirely disproportionate to Orochimaru's and Shintaro's hard work.

One was one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, and the other was the most dazzling genius of Konoha in recent years. Their fame began to spread in various countries.

It seemed unnecessary to work hard for Genin-level results.

However, scientific research is sometimes like this, and not all efforts will yield corresponding results.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shintaro-kun. I will handle the aftermath. You can go back."

There seemed to be a slight weariness in Orochimaru's voice.

Shintaro nodded, went to the changing room to change clothes, and left the institute.

Seeing the bright full moon rising in the night sky, he suddenly remembered something and quickly ran to Kurenai's house.

"Phew..."

Shintaro ran to Kurenai's door without stopping, took a deep breath, and was about to knock.

At that moment, the door opened.

"Kurenai, I..." As he was about to explain why he was late, he was hugged by her.

Shintaro unconsciously opened his arms, allowing Kurenai to press tightly against his chest.

"Where did you go this afternoon?! You worried me..." Kurenai said with a choked voice.

"I heard you were taken away by ANBU people. I thought..."

Shintaro's expression softened.

He held Kurenai with both hands, gently stroking her back and comforting her: "I'm sorry for making you worry."