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Naruto peered through his goggles at the glowing liquid in the test tube. It was a virulent shade of yellow-green, but that was only now, in its unstable state. He just needed to crystallize it.
“Interesting.” One of the Legendary Sannin craned his neck at the experiment in progress, but made no move to get closer than the doorway.
“Once again, you don’t knock, ero-sennin.”
“That title more appropriately belongs to Jiraya,” said Orochimaru dryly. There was no real heat in this exchange; not now. “I was always more concerned with research on immortality than the Path of the Sage.”
“If one has immortality, one can eventually reach Sage Mode anyway,” mused Naruto absent-mindedly, as his eyes peered at the liquid. “On that, we agree. You are by far the most practical-minded of the Sannin.”
Orochimaru made a dry sound that Naruto took a moment to register as a chuckle.
“Flattery will get you everywhere. But you know that isn’t what really matters. Ones such as you and I, we know the true importance of power.”
Naruto finally turned and looked him in the eye. “Yes, sensei. Long months of study of the Second Hokage’s forbidden jutsu, coupled with the Uzumaki Matter Conversion Seals, are about to bear fruit. It will be a power unique on this continent, one that has never been attained before.”
Had Orochimaru’s eyes flickered? What did he know? Never mind. He didn’t bother contradicting Naruto.
The liquid sat in the center of the sealing circle. Naruto made the appropriate hand signs, then cut his finger and squeezed forth a drop of blood.
A cloud of mist filled the air, as the yellow-green liquid began to froth and evolve before cooling and then hardening. A tiny, pink, metallic chip of solid rock, the size of a small gem, remained.
“Interesting,” said Orochimaru. His eyes were fixated, unblinking, on the new material. “What will you call it?”
“Given the circumstances of its creation, I think I shall call it Sakuradite,” said Naruto.