Chapter 45 New · Eagle Squad (Ch 45)

There was a strange luster in Orochimaru’s snake eyes, and his tone was calm and firm.

“We have already conducted numerous simulations of all possible risks and developed detailed response plans for each possibility.”

This rare warmth and this solemn assurance, like a warm current, quietly flowed through the hearts of Naruto and Sasuke, dispelling some of their heaviness and uneasiness.

They put aside their pride as the strongest men in the ninja world, and even discarded their past prejudices against Orochimaru. They all stepped forward and bowed deeply to this scientist who was both their teacher and friend.

“Thank you so much!”

These four short words are powerful and do not contain any falsehood. They only express the purest and most sincere gratitude.

This bow not only reflects their admiration for Orochimaru’s extraordinary wisdom and respect for his persistent experimental spirit, but also carries their complete trust in this heavy responsibility.

For the next three hours, time seemed to be stretched out, and every minute and every second seemed particularly long and solemn.

The atmosphere in the underground ancestral hall was tense yet orderly.

With the assistance of Suigetsu Hozuki, Jūgo, and Karin, the final preparations were carried out meticulously, like a precision instrument.

There was lively water light dancing on Mizuki’s fingertips as she manipulated the water-style ninjutsu, controlling the concentration and flow direction of a certain special liquid in the culture chamber with incredible precision, ensuring that every drop of liquid was just right, without a single error.

Shigeo stood tall, like a rock rooted deep in the earth. His muscles were taut, yet he contained amazing explosive power.

With his unusually keen perception of natural energy, he acted like the most precise tuner, carefully stabilizing every energy fluctuation in the ritual venue to avoid any slight deviation that would disrupt the balance of the ritual.

Karin held her breath and concentrated. The pair of red eyes behind the lenses were like the most sophisticated radar, scanning the surroundings vigilantly, sensing every tiny flow of chakra in the air.

Her task is to ensure that the ceremony process is not interfered with by any external factors and to eliminate all potential risks.

When everything was ready, scenes in the underground ancestral hall came into view, like a picture of hell, which was chilling.

Two towering columnar culture chambers stood side by side in the center of the ancestral hall, like two silent ancient beasts, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

In the cabin on the left, golden chakra was surging, so thick that it was almost solidified. It was the destructive power of the Nine-Tailed Fox. It surged violently like golden magma, releasing a hot and violent breath, dyeing the entire cabin wall a strange golden red, as if it would explode at any time.

The right side of the cabin was filled with a sticky emerald green liquid that exuded vigorous vitality. Countless cell tissues visible to the naked eye were suspended, dividing, and proliferating in it. Those were the cells of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, which contained the endless power of Wood Release, as if a new life was being nurtured.

Behind the incubator, there was a huge support made of a strange, twisted and tangled black tree, on which hundreds of figures were densely nailed.

Those are clones created by Orochimaru based on White Zetsu, as well as the few real White Zetsu.

Their limbs were pierced by thick tree roots and nailed firmly to the support. The twisted expressions on their faces were solidified into eternal pain, silently accusing their own fate.

Connecting their spines were thick tubes that greedily extracted the weak chakra and life energy of the sacred tree in their bodies, like vines absorbing nutrients, and continuously transported them to the core of the entire ritual formation.

That power should have belonged to them, but now it has become fuel for the ambitions of others.

Surrounding the main formation, one hundred pale White Zetsu bodies were arranged in neat rows like silent sculptures, like a silent army of the dead.

They closed their eyes tightly, their lips moved silently, and they chanted the ancient and obscure Dragon Cave spiritual spell in sync with a strange frequency. Every syllable seemed to be a whisper from the abyss of hell, which was creepy.

Under the invocation of the spell, the scarlet Uchiha fan clan emblem and the emerald green Thousand Hands spiral clan emblem appeared alternately on the surface of each White Zetsu. Two completely different forces collided and merged in their bodies, emitting an unsettling humming sound.

As the ritual progressed, the ten White Zetsu bodies at the edge of the magic circle began to dissolve and collapse at a speed visible to the naked eye, transforming into pools of sticky, glowing gel-like substance.

They were like squeezed fruits, losing all vitality, and finally gathered into about one cubic meter of soul-buffering gel, emitting a strange light. They would be used to wrap the bodies of Naruto and Sasuke, buffering the impact of the fusion of souls and protecting them from collapse under the collision of two powerful forces.

At the very center of the magic circle is a huge circular groove, which is engraved with complex and ancient runes. Every stroke is full of mysterious power, as if it contains some forbidden knowledge.

Ten captured Chunins were hung above the groove by heavy iron chains. They were in tattered clothes, covered in blood, with helpless fear and despair in their eyes. They were like lambs to be slaughtered, waiting for the judgment of fate.

Orochimaru slowly walked forward, holding the Kusanagi sword that was flashing with cold light in his hand. The bright red blood was reflected in his snake-like vertical pupils, making him look particularly cold and ruthless.

His face was expressionless, but his movements were neat and precise. The long sword in his hand was like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue, piercing through the hearts of ten Chunins one by one without any hesitation, as if he was just completing a routine task.

Warm blood gushed out like a flood that broke through a dam, flowing slowly along the grooves carefully carved on the ground and quickly merging into the center of the formation, emitting a strong smell of blood that was nauseating.

Guided by the runes, the blood emitted a strange red light, and as if it had life, it kept wriggling and deforming, eventually outlining a huge double snake totem with its head and tail connected, filled with an evil and weird aura.

At the positions of the two “snake eyes” of the totem, there is a piece of broken armor stained with a little blood – that is the relic of Uchiha Madara, and a piece of seemingly ordinary dead wood – which contains the remnants of Hashirama Senju’s chakra, symbolizing the will of the two legends of the ninja world.

The entire underground ancestral hall was now filled with a strong smell of blood, ominous chakra fluctuations, and a suffocating feeling of oppression, as if the air had solidified.

Only the humming sound of flowing energy and Bai Jue’s silent chanting echoed faintly in the empty ancestral hall, like a dirge from hell, which was creepy.

Everything is ready.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other again.

Without the previous excitement, at this moment, there was no hesitation or wavering in their eyes, only the determination to burn their boats and the firmness to never look back.

They know very well that what awaits them will be unprecedented challenges and a test of life and death, but in order to change their destiny and to protect what is important, they have no choice.

They took steps at the same time, heading towards their respective incubators without hesitation. Each step was firm and steady, as if they were heading towards an unknown battlefield.

When their figures sank into the incubator, the door slowly closed with a dull sound, as if separating the two worlds.