Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Deep within the Forest of Death.

Trees blotted out the sky, their overlapping canopies making it nearly impossible for sunlight to pierce through. The ground was covered in thick moss, and the air reeked of damp decay.

It was a desolate place, rarely visited even by wild beasts.

Yet, somewhere beneath this forest lay a hidden world.

A narrow passage extended from the roots of a dead, massive tree. Dim lights embedded in the walls on either side barely illuminated the path forward, leading to a metal door at the very end.

Behind the door was a sizable underground space, complete with corridors and rooms.

One of these rooms had been converted into a laboratory. It wasn't large, but it was fully equipped.

The shelves against the walls were lined with jars and bottles filled with liquids of various colors. Microscopes, petri dishes, and other unnameable instruments cluttered the tables.

The smell of disinfectant permeated the air, mixed with an indescribable, sickly-sweet scent of blood.

In the center of the lab sat an operating table, and upon it lay a man.

He was hooked up to various tubes, the other ends connected to machines displaying dense arrays of numbers and waveforms on their screens.

Some tubes were inserted into his arm, others into his chest, and one extended from the side of his neck, connecting to a transparent container filled with dark red liquid.

Standing beside the operating table was Orochimaru.

Dressed in a white sterile suit, his golden, slit-like pupils were fixated on the fluctuating values on the monitors. His expression was intensely focused, as if observing the results of a delicate experiment.

After a moment, he licked his lips.

"Vital signs have stabilized."

His voice was hoarse, yet carried a hint of a smile.

"Congratulations."

The man on the operating table moved.

He propped himself up, his movements sluggish, like someone who had just woken up and hadn't fully regained their senses. The tubes swayed with his motion, causing the numbers on the machines to jump erratically.

Half of the man's face was wrapped in bandages, leaving only one eye and the other half exposed.

His right side, from shoulder to arm, was an almost colorless, sickly pale. It didn't look like skin; it looked more like dead flesh drained of all blood.

Even more disturbing was the human face with closed eyes embedded in his right shoulder.

The face was small but had distinct features, as if another person were hiding beneath his skin. It kept its eyes quietly shut, making it impossible to tell if it was dead or alive.

The rest of his body, from the left of his shoulder onward, retained a normal skin tone.

The sight was incredibly eerie.

No matter how one looked at it, this was undeniably the result of some twisted body modification.

This man was Shimura Danzo.

He ripped the various tubes from his body. As they were pulled from his skin, they made faint popping sounds, with beads of blood welling up at some of the puncture sites.

But he didn't even flinch, acting as if he couldn't feel the pain.

Sitting up on the operating table, he tested his right arm.

He clenched his fist.

Opened it.

Clenched it again.

He stared at his right hand—that pale, lifeless hand—as if feeling the power contained within it.

But in the next moment, Shimura Danzo's expression drastically changed.

A violent surge of agony spread from his right arm. It felt as though something was burning inside his veins, traveling up his arm and straight into his chest.

His face instantly contorted. He gritted his teeth and let out a muffled groan.

"Ngh!!"

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his single exposed eye became entirely bloodshot.

Orochimaru stood nearby in his sterile suit, a faint smile on his face.

Watching Danzo's suffering, he made no move to help, nor did he show any surprise. He simply spoke in a calm tone.

"Lord Danzo, although the Hashirama cells and the right arm obtained from Uchiha Obito have reached a relatively decent balance, this is already the limit."

He paused, then added, "If you want to utilize its power, we might need to proceed to the next step."

Shimura Danzo panted for a moment, his chest heaving violently as the pain in his right arm slowly subsided.

Gritting his teeth, he used his normal left hand to grip the edge of the operating table and steady himself. Sweat dripped down his cheeks, dampening the white sheet beneath him.

"What is missing?"

Danzo's voice was ice-cold, devoid of emotion.

Orochimaru licked his lips and began to explain.

"The arm Uchiha Obito left behind was far too severely damaged. I used an immature cloning technique combined with Hashirama cells to barely repair it to this state."

He walked over to a nearby console and pointed at a petri dish containing some pale pink tissue.

"However, this can also be considered a good thing. There is a unique chakra within Uchiha Obito's arm. Surprisingly, this chakra was able to fuse with the chakra in the Hashirama cells, which is what truly preserved this special arm."

"Get to the point," Danzo interrupted, his voice laced with impatience and anger.

Orochimaru's smile remained unchanged as he licked his lips again.

"The point is, both of these are Yang Style chakra, containing extreme vitality and infectious properties."

He turned around and looked at Danzo.

"Lord Danzo, whenever you use chakra, you will trigger this vitality, which will then infect your own body and throw your chakra network into chaos."

He paused, his golden, slit-like pupils narrowing slightly.

"The result is... you will eventually be consumed and assimilated by this Yang Style chakra."

The laboratory fell silent for a few seconds.

The humming of the machinery sounded exceptionally grating.

Danzo's face darkened.

He glared at Orochimaru, his exposed eye practically dripping with venom.

"Why didn't you tell me this before the surgery?"

His voice was low, every word dripping with fury.

Orochimaru smiled. It was a faint smile, yet inexplicably genuine, making it look incredibly bizarre.

"Didn't Lord Danzo say the surgery had to be done? You also said you could bear any side effects. I figured a price like this wouldn't even count as a side effect for you."

Danzo didn't speak; he just stared at him.

Unbothered, Orochimaru continued, "Of course, this infection takes time. There won't be any issues in the short term, so you don't need to worry too much, Lord Danzo."

"How long?" Danzo asked, his voice still freezing cold.

Orochimaru thought for a moment.

"Hard to say."

He tilted his head, as if calculating something.

"But you should have at least a year or two."

Danzo's expression turned exceedingly grim.

He clenched his fist again, veins bulging on the back of his pale hand.

A year or two.

He thought he had gained a new arm, the power of the Hashirama cells, and the residual chakra of Uchiha Obito.

But it turned out all of this came with a price, and that price was far greater than he had imagined.

In a year or two, he would be consumed and assimilated by this Yang Style chakra.

Then what was the point of doing all this?

"However..."

Orochimaru's voice rang out again.

"This side effect isn't entirely without its benefits, nor is it without a solution."

Shimura Danzo snapped his head up, his single eye locking onto Orochimaru. He didn't speak, but the meaning in his gaze was obvious.

Orochimaru chuckled softly and explained, "You simply need to neutralize it with an equal level of Yin Style chakra."

He raised a finger and gestured in the air.

"Yang Style and Yin Style. Once the two types of chakra reach an equilibrium within your body, there won't be any problems. On the contrary, if the two can perfectly fuse, not only will your vitality increase, but your chakra reserves will grow as well."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up, as if envisioning something incredibly beautiful.

"I even have a premonition that the perfect fusion of Yin and Yang chakra natures might give birth to an extraordinary power."

Shimura Danzo fell silent. This prospect was highly tempting.

His left eye flickered slightly, deep in thought.

"Are you talking about... the Uchiha's Sharingan?"

Orochimaru grinned.

"I didn't say that."

He waved his hand, his tone light. "You guessed that yourself, Lord Danzo."

Danzo ignored his posturing. Gritting his teeth, a sinister smile crept onto his face.

His exposed eye gleamed with a hint of madness.

"I understand."

He stood up from the operating table, his bare feet stepping onto the cold floor.

"This time, I will lead a squad to the border and take charge of the war against Kumogakure."

He paused, as if calculating his next move.

"To harvest Sharingan."

He turned his head, staring fixedly at Orochimaru.

"And after that..."

His voice dropped even lower.

"I will take Uchiha Taiga's eyes and master his power. When that time comes, I will be the Hokage of this village!"

Orochimaru licked his lips, a flash of excitement crossing his golden, slit-like pupils.

"If you can actually pull that off, I look forward to seeing it."

Shimura Danzo stared at him for another moment. Seeing that Orochimaru's expression remained unchanged, he scoffed, tore the white sheet off the bed to drape over himself, and walked straight out of the laboratory.

Orochimaru watched his retreating back, his eyes glinting as the corners of his mouth curled up into a wide grin.

'Teacher, oh teacher... did you know you're harboring a monster in your own home?'