101 Kabuto Yakushi's Aptitude and Training

"It's fine, let them come."

Learning of his predicament, Uchiha Shinsuke remained utterly unruffled, appearing thoroughly intrigued rather than worried in the slightest.

In this regard, even the elders of the Hyūga main house could not hold a candle to him.

And rather than concerning himself with being coveted, what he truly wished to know was something else entirely.

Uchiha Shinsuke's eyes gleamed as he looked at Orochimaru, his gaze tinged with both apprehension and anticipation. "Lord Orochimaru, you said my Blood Wheel Eye is already a stable dōjutsu bloodline—is there still a chance it could become a Mangekyō Sharingan?"

The pursuit of power—of ever-greater power—was etched into the very bones of the Uchiha.

Orochimaru was not at all surprised by this. He smiled. "As for that... hard to say."

Seeing that Orochimaru hadn't outright denied the possibility, Uchiha Shinsuke's heart leaped with joy. "Please, don't keep me in suspense."

"It depends on your aptitude and your efforts."

Orochimaru cast him a glance, the corner of his mouth curling upward as he said calmly, "Just as an ordinary Uchiha must awaken the Sharingan, you will need to once again break your current equilibrium to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan."

Awaken it again, was it? That shouldn't be too difficult.

Uchiha Shinsuke mused to himself—from a single tomoe to three, and then to the Blood Wheel Eye, he was quite experienced when it came to awakening eyes.

"And even if you do awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, it will likely be limited in duration."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, gesturing at Uchiha Shinsuke. "You Uchiha find it easy to strengthen your spiritual energy, but your physical constitutions are quite mediocre. That's an area that still needs development."

With that, he brought up the example of a small horse hauling an enormous cart, explaining the current state of most Uchiha and why they were so quick to explode in a flash of temper.

Hearing this, Uchiha Shinsuke seemed to grasp something.

So the key to progress lay in strengthening the body, then.

With that thought, a host of training methods and goals immediately surfaced in his mind.

Seeing this, a faint smile tugged at Orochimaru's lips.

The method has been told to you; the rest is none of my concern. Whether you succeed or fail depends entirely on your own performance.

"By the way, there's something I need your help with."

Uchiha Shinsuke lifted his head. "Lord Orochimaru, you need only give the order."

"In the coming days, I'll be busy restoring the dōjutsu power of Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan."

Orochimaru smiled and pushed Kabuto Yakushi forward. "I'm leaving this one to you. Ninjutsu, taijutsu... in short, do your best to train him."

Kabuto Yakushi's expression remained unchanged at these words, though a flicker of surprise passed behind his glasses.

He had many notions of what his role was, but combatant had never been among them. What was Lord Orochimaru suddenly planning to do?

Train him?

Uchiha Shinsuke glanced at Orochimaru, then at the utterly composed Kabuto Yakushi. Recalling the merciless jabs the man had delivered during the surgery and at their subsequent meetings, he nearly burst out laughing on the spot.

Ninjutsu was one thing, but as everyone knew, taijutsu involved copious amounts of physical contact—making it far too easy to settle old scores under the guise of sparring.

Especially since Uchiha were a bunch of beasts with the Sharingan as a cheat device. They could hold back with perfect precision—pounding someone to the marrow of their bones while leaving not a single serious injury behind.

So that even when the victim was seething with rage, they could never find a single pretext to complain afterward.

And so, upon hearing Orochimaru's request, Uchiha Shinsuke rubbed his hands together eagerly and agreed with great enthusiasm.

And under Orochimaru's watchful gaze, Kabuto Yakushi raised no objection either. The two parties simply agreed upon a daily training schedule on the spot.

After Uchiha Shinsuke had left, Kabuto Yakushi turned to Orochimaru and asked in confusion, "Lord Orochimaru, what is it you intend to do? I don't understand. My aptitude as a ninja is nothing special—I cannot assist you in battle."

This was neither modesty nor an attempt to shirk hardship, but simple self-awareness. Aside from medical ninjutsu, his other skills were, at best, merely average.

"Do not underestimate yourself."

Orochimaru shook his head. "You possess the aptitude to cultivate senjutsu."

"Senjutsu? Me?" Kabuto Yakushi was taken aback, never having expected Orochimaru to say such a thing.

'Senjutsu' was a term utterly foreign in the shinobi world—ordinary ninja had never even heard of it. Among the Five Great Villages, only Konoha had ever produced ninja who wielded it.

To think that he himself possessed senjutsu aptitude?

Meeting Kabuto Yakushi's doubtful gaze, Orochimaru felt a flicker of hesitation himself. *Genie, are you certain Kabuto is suited for the White Snake–style senjutsu?*

Cultivating senjutsu was no risk-free endeavor; one misstep could cost him this capable assistant. Thus, Orochimaru needed to confirm again and again.

The Genie affirmed, "Of that there is no doubt. His aptitude for cultivating senjutsu may well be even greater than yours."

Seeing the Genie speak with such conviction, Orochimaru had no choice but to set aside his misgivings.

After all, at this point, the Genie had shown gaps in its knowledge and information from time to time—but never once had it engaged in baseless talk.

And after receiving confirmation from Orochimaru's own mouth, Kabuto Yakushi no longer lingered on the matter and asked directly, "Then when do I begin cultivating senjutsu?"

One who could cultivate senjutsu would unquestionably become a powerfully strong ninja, but Kabuto Yakushi regarded it merely as a process, a tool—not for his own sake, but all the better to serve Orochimaru.

"Now is not the time."

Orochimaru withdrew a dose of Yamato fusion fluid from a scroll and injected it into Kabuto Yakushi's arm.

"Aaahhhh..." Kabuto Yakushi clutched his arm, wailing as he collapsed to the ground.

After confirming that his life was not in danger and that this was merely a normal rejection reaction, Orochimaru left Kabuto to writhe on the floor.

He didn't know the reason behind the Genie's judgment that Kabuto possessed senjutsu aptitude, but letting Kabuto cultivate senjutsu directly was certainly out of the question.

Just as awakening the Sharingan was to the Uchiha, natural energy also placed an enormous burden on a ninja.

It would greatly strengthen one's physical constitution, but if one's spiritual energy couldn't keep pace, one could easily fall into a berserk frenzy.

In other words, it was all too easy to lose one's mind.

Take Manda, for instance, or the tyrannosaurus the Genie had mentioned... a colossal and mighty body would overload the brain, and past a certain threshold, one would degenerate into a mindless creature ruled by instinct alone.

Thus, while there was no fixed standard, according to the White Snake Sage, ninja possessing vast reserves of chakra were more likely to find the threshold of senjutsu.

As for why he wished to cultivate Kabuto Yakushi, the reason was simple.

Orochimaru needed a ninja who had mastered senjutsu to blaze a trail for him in achieving perfect fusion of the First Hokage's cells at the cellular level.

Kabuto Yakushi was undoubtedly an excellent choice—and if he succeeded, he would also become a fine asset.

The wailing continued for nearly a quarter of an hour before it finally stopped. Kabuto Yakushi barely managed to pull himself up from the ground, his face pale and sweat pouring off him like rain.

"This is a watered-down version of the First Hokage cell fusion fluid, but it will still greatly enhance your body's limits."

Orochimaru said, "Once you've developed it sufficiently, I'll arrange for you to cultivate senjutsu."

Kabuto Yakushi nodded with difficulty.