boyutpedia Page 283
Page 283
What would normally be a two-day journey was accomplished thanks to the inkbird's tireless flight.
In just over a day, that familiar, vast desert reappeared before Naruto's eyes.
Without lingering, the four landed briefly on the outskirts of Sunagakure and met up with the backup sent by Gaara.
After quickly obtaining the latest intelligence and the exact location of the Loulan ruins, they set off again.
They rushed headlong into the ruins deep in the desert.
The closer you get to the Loulan area, the more oppressive and eerie the atmosphere becomes.
The wind and sand seemed to carry an ominous, fishy smell.
"Konoha! This way!"
Just as the four arrived at a forest of severely weathered giant rocks, a low voice came from the side.
A ninja with sharp eyes and face painted with the distinctive paint of Sunagakure emerged from behind a boulder and waved to them.
Naruto immediately led the way and rushed over, anxiously asking, "How is it? Is Orochimaru still inside?"
The Sand Village ninja shook his head with a grave expression: "We cannot pinpoint Orochimaru's exact location, nor can we penetrate deep into the ruins."
As he spoke, he looked up towards Loulan and said, "This area... is almost completely filled with Orochimaru's various 'experimental subjects'!"
"Our squad can only slowly advance while painstakingly clearing out these monsters; the progress is extremely slow!"
"Experimental subject?"
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all asked the same question in unison, a bad feeling rising in their hearts at the same time.
"That's right, come with me, and be careful."
The Sand Village ninja gestured for them to follow, and carefully led them around to a relatively secluded clearing behind the giant stone forest.
The sight before them caused Naruto and his two companions' pupils to shrink abruptly!
On the open ground, there were more than a dozen... indescribable "corpses" lying haphazardly!
They are roughly human-sized, but their skin is a deathly grayish-white, as if they have lost all vitality.
Their faces are twisted and ferocious, their mouths are irregularly wide open, revealing sharp teeth, and some even have no lips.
What's even more horrifying are their limbs—
Some of the arms have mutated into giant bone sickles.
Some of their legs are like the hooves of a sheep that have turned backwards.
Some have damaged fleshy wings growing on their backs.
Some were covered in pustules and twisted tentacles...
It's like a failed work of art, forcibly spliced together and twisted from humans and various other creatures!
"What...what are all these things?!"
Naruto felt a churning in his stomach, his brows furrowed tightly, and an indescribable anger and nausea welled up inside him.
Chapter 303 Sealed Memories
The Sand Village ninja's voice carried suppressed anger and a hint of fear: "These are all failed products or byproducts of Orochimaru's research on the 'Cursed Seal'!"
"He has no reason, no thought, only a beastly killing instinct, and completely obeys Orochimaru's orders."
"Therefore, Orochimaru simply dumped them in large quantities in this area like garbage."
"These monsters are now roaming everywhere around the Loulan ruins."
"Their individual strength is generally not very strong, but their numbers are extremely large, and they feel no pain and are fearless of death!"
“Once they get involved, you’ll be surrounded very quickly, and a moment’s carelessness will result in being torn to shreds! We already have several companions…”
He choked up at this point and didn't continue.
Sakura looked at the distorted experimental subjects, who might have once been human, and couldn't help but cover her mouth.
Her emerald green eyes were filled with shock, sympathy, and intense anger: "This...this is too much...Orochimaru...how could he..."
Sasuke's face was so cold it could freeze someone to death, and his crimson Sharingan eyes flashed with undisguised killing intent.
The surrounding air temperature seemed to drop several degrees: "Is this the power he calls the cursed seal? How disgusting!"
Only Sai remained expressionless as he watched all of this.
He couldn't understand the intense emotional fluctuations emanating from Naruto and the other two—
Anger, disgust, sympathy, murderous intent.
In his "root" training, these were merely useless distractions that needed to be eliminated.
These grayish-white monsters, whether alive or dead, were nothing more than "mission obstacles" or "cleared targets" in his eyes.
He was even a little puzzled as to why his teammates would react so strongly to the corpses of several monsters.
However, at that moment, he suddenly recalled the time before he left Konoha.
The strange and abstract command given to him by the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade:
"Learn to feel emotions."
This order was more difficult for him than assassinating a daimyo.
What is emotion?
What are the standards?
He had no clue.
However, the core tenet of "Root" is absolute obedience to orders and completing tasks.
Since it was the Hokage's order, no matter how absurd or abstract it was, he had to try to carry it out.
So, Sai tried hard to recall the description in the document about "how to react when faced with a tragic scene" and attempted to move his facial muscles.
He tried to force an expression that resembled "sadness" or "anger," while speaking in his calm, even tone:
"According to database analysis, Orochimaru's behavior did indeed violate Articles 17 and 23 of the Ninja World Ethics Convention, and seriously trampled on the dignity of life."
"The large number of such test subjects significantly increases the difficulty of the task. It is recommended to prioritize the development of a cleanup strategy to improve the efficiency of the operation."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura: "..."
The three of them turned to look at him simultaneously, their expressions indescribable.
Naruto's lips twitched: "Hey... can't you talk normally for once?"
Sasuke snorted coldly: "Unnecessary nonsense."
Sakura sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation, feeling as if another special type of problem child had joined the group.
Seeing their reactions, Sai's "expression" instantly reverted to a standard fake smile, silently noting to himself:
Attempt to simulate emotional expression failed. Feedback was "abnormal" and "nonsense." Learning progress: 0.01%.
It seems that the task of "learning to be emotional" is more arduous than we imagined.
But in any case, the mission must be completed.
While cleaning up these test subjects, perhaps we can continue to observe and mimic the reactions of our teammates?
Just as Sai was quietly devising his "emotional learning plan," a heated "family meeting" was taking place in Naruto's consciousness space:
Within the space of consciousness:
The Nine-Tails was the first to raise its head, and its enormous beastly eyes "saw" the outside world through Naruto's shared vision.
It snorted in disgust, its paws slapping the water's surface in frustration, splashing water everywhere: "What are these things? Neither human nor ghost."
Minato's illusory soul instantly became extremely solemn, his azure eyes filled with shock and deep anger: "These are... these should all be the products of the failed cursed seal experiment."
"Orochimaru... he's still conducting these forbidden human experiments! And on such a large scale... just how many innocent lives has he harmed?!"
Minato, who once admired Orochimaru, spoke with a tone full of disappointment towards him.
Kushina reacted the most violently, her fiery red hair seemingly bursting into flames: "Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable! How could someone be so depraved as to do this?"
She was so angry that she wished she could rush out, use the Adamantine Lock to bind Orochimaru into a dumpling, and then smash him into the earth's core.
Even Madara Uchiha, who was usually indifferent to worldly affairs, frowned slightly at this moment.
His crimson kaleidoscope swept over the test subjects, his tone carrying a condescending, cold disdain: "Inferior immortal techniques, pursuing power but taking such crooked paths, creating a bunch of trash that are not even as good as cannon fodder."
"This scoundrel seems to be nothing more than a fool who is obsessed with cruel games for children."
To someone like him who pursues absolute power and the art of the battlefield, Orochimaru's actions were both foolish and worthless.
Nine-Tailed Fox flicked its tail and replied, "Speaking of which, Minato, didn't you go to the Dragon Vein? What exactly is that?"
Upon hearing this, Minato tried hard to recall: "Hmm... how should I put it, I only remember that I went there, but I don't remember the specific details."
Kushina added, "Yeah! You guys were gone for a long time, but when you came back, your report was almost completely blank."
Madara's expression froze for a moment: "Based on my understanding of Minato, this situation shouldn't be possible."
Minato scratched his head and said, "I don't know either, but after the investigation, all I found out was that I sealed the dragon vein, which contained extremely powerful chakra."
When it comes to chakra reserves, Kurama (the Nine-Tails) gets a bit competitive: "Extremely powerful? Stronger than mine?"
"I don't know about that, because the dragon vein had already been sealed at that time, and I couldn't investigate it in depth."
Kushina was speechless: "Can't you break it? You set that seal yourself!"
Minato smiled slightly: "I think the reason I did that was not only to seal the dragon vein, but also to seal something else, which is why I did it before."
Just as Naruto wanted to hear some gossip about his own father.
From the distant sandstorm, faint, inhuman, and chilling howls could be heard, rapidly approaching their location!
The Sand Village ninja's expression changed: "Damn it! It's the experimental subjects! They've discovered us! Prepare for battle!"
Chapter 304 The New Sound Three
The Sand Village ninja's warning had barely faded when that strange howling sound surged into their ears like a tidal wave.