"Well, whatever, it works best for me I guess." – Kuroto muttered.

The failure of being able to create an acceptable clone with his standards has taught Kuroto that he is still not sufficiently knowledgeable.

So, at this moment, Kuroto is in need dire need of the latest technology and research related to cell fusion, and this is something that only Orochimaru can give him. But Kuroto also knows that he doesn't have anything worth exchanging that Kuroto doesn't mind giving away.

After all, most things that would interest Orochimaru as exchange are either related to his own secrets or the secrets of Amatsukami, which are not what Kuroto is willing to exchange.

So, what Kuroto can offer in exchange is the information that Orochimaru wants in exchange for obtaining the research theories, experimental results, and related material.

And selling this information would also be most cost-effective.

And now that Orochimaru has expressed his need for information on 'Uchiha Tsukihi,' so Kuroto obviously plans to exploit this need to his advantage.

After the cleansing operation organized by the village, Kuroto is sure that not many of the spies left by Orochimaru are at a high level to provide him with the information on Uchiha Tsukihi.

So, no matter how much Orochimaru tries to search and investigate for information on Uchiha Tsukihi, there is nothing he would be able to obtain from any of his other sources.

As such, if Orochimaru wants to investigate 'Uchiha Tsukihi' as soon as possible, Kuroto who is a high-level member of the Anbu Black Ops is his only option. And if he is really adamant about obtaining information about Uchiha Tsukihi, then he must agree to Kuroto's side of the deal.

As such, after again reading the content on the scroll sent by Orochimaru, Kuroto took out another scroll and wrote, 'I understand Orochimaru-sama, I will try my hardest to investigate all the information on this Uchiha Tsukihi, but I have my own condition, I want all your research, theories, speculations, results, etc. on Cell Fusion.'

And after writing this message, Kuroto put the scroll inside the mouth of the one-eyed viper and sent him away.

With that out of the way, Kuroto put away the unnecessary thoughts and focused on summarizing what he learned from observing Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual.

First and foremost, Hiruko's reckless approach is an obvious no-no for Kuroto, Hiruko's finally 'success' according to Kuroto has a very big fluke factor to it which is not something Kuroto is willing to bet on.

Second, for the ritual to go perfect, the chakra of the five nature should be in perfect balance, and Yin and Yang nature should be used for guiding the entire ritual. Only in this way a perfect balance and harmony will be achieved and the ritual would be successful.

Third and most important of all, the core, that is the main body should be in an optimum state throughout the ritual.

This point has also been ignored by Hiruko during his ritual. He dared to directly swallow the other five ninjas, which is not exactly wrong, but the problem is that his forced approach caused the core, which is his own body to continuously disintegrate, repair, and reorganize, as a result greatly weakened his core as there would be countless tears within the core, leaving many hidden dangers buried inside him waiting to be unleashed in the future.

Precisely why Kuroto dared to assert Shinichi that there would be many dangers hiding within Hiruko's body.

After summarizing the lessons, Kuroto also thought of the Celestial phenomenon that Hiruko used.

One of the many reasons why Hiruko managed to complete his ritual was the celestial phenomenon of Solar Eclipse and the appearance of Aurora.

This also gave Kuroto the idea to put some of his attention on several other phenomenons' that can play a passive role in the ritual and ultimately help him in his plans, of course, Celestial Phenomenon's being one of them.

After all, The Fruit of the God Tree that Otsutsuki Kaguya ate also contained the energy of the planet, so the power of nature, that is the Natural Energy, will also play a deep role in the final ritual.

Lastly, there was the matter of some kind of Iryo Ninjutsu, which Kuroto cares about very much.

It was clearly evident that Hiruko shouldn't have survived that ritual, yet he did. Surviving such a level of cellular degradation shouldn't have been possible even with the help of leech.

As such Kuroto speculates that it was all thanks to some king of Iryo Ninjutsu, which seems to be the most reasonable explanation.

As for how Hiruko managed to learn Iryo Ninjutsu, there are two possible sources.

First is obviously Shinno. With his deep knowledge of Medical Science and Iryo Ninjutsu, it is likely that Shinno taught Hiruko some kind of technique that helped Hiruko survive the final disintegration.

The second source could be Senju Tsunade herself.

'Is it possible that Hiruko learned Iryo Ninjutsu from Senju Tsunade before he chose to defect?' – Kuroto thought, as he can't be sure about it.

Hiruko did have a very good friendship with the three Sannin, as such, it wouldn't be surprising if Senju Tsunade taught Hiruko a thing or two about Iryo Ninjutsu.

"Well, regardless of all that, one thing I can conclude is that learning Iryo Ninjutsu seems indispensable to ensure the full proof success of the ritual, and I guess I should see if I learn it because it is always best to have multiple options. Ryuumyaku does heal me, but you never know when Iryo Ninjutsu will come in handy." – After a pause, Kuroto continued, "It's just that after Senju Tsunade left, the development of Iryo Ninjutsu has basically stagnated in Konoha, most of the techniques and that are used currently were developed during the second great shinobi war… will these backward techniques really come in handy?"

In the shinobi world, technological advances generally fall into a stagnated growth period unless there is a genius to promote their advancement.

And in the case of Iryo Ninjutsu, Senju Tsunade is an unmatched genius who could have played the role of developing Iryo ninjutsu, but she left Konohagakure, therefore, there wasn't much development.

This is the reason why the entire Konohagakure was helpless, unable to treat Kakashi and Rock Lee, and needed Senju Tsunade to treat them.

As soon as Senju Tsunade returned things changed.

'But I don't know how long will it take for her to return this time. Aside from Naruto's talk-no-Jutsu, I am not even sure if anything would convince her to come back… may be Izanami? But I don't even know how to use Izanami… moreover, I am obviously not going to sacrifice an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan just to bring her back!'

Such a dilemma!

Sighing slightly, Kuroto checked over everything and left the secret laboratory.

Carefully walking through the forest, Kuroto looked at the scenery around.

"Huh… "

At this time, beautiful snowflakes were falling, covering the entire forest in a soft cover of snow, and seeing this scene, Kuroto can't help but sigh slightly.

How long has it been since he has witnessed this scene?

Remembering some of his past experience Kuroto muttered, "Another year has passed away…"

.

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Read up to Chapter - 529 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations