Knowledge is like a circle.
Inside the circle lies the knowledge you possess, while outside the circle lies the unknown world. The less knowledge you have, the smaller your circle is, and the less you believe you do not know. Conversely, the more knowledge you possess, the larger your circle becomes, and the broader the "unknown" waiting for you to explore.
—Former Konoha philosopher, scientist, revolutionary, and current international wanted criminal: Orochimaru.
"Knowledge tempts one into crime."
No phrase suited Orochimaru better. "Acquiring knowledge" was the fundamental starting point and final destination of everything he did. If one thought about it that way, did his cruel human experiments not suddenly seem much more academic?
Unfortunately, Orochimaru acquired knowledge and studied ninjutsu purely for himself. He had absolutely no intention of benefiting the shinobi world. Even during the Shinobi World War, when the Impure World Reincarnation was running rampant everywhere, he had never once said anything like, "How I wish the thing I perfected back then had not been the Impure World Reincarnation, but a lawn mower instead."
Whether sincere or false, Orochimaru never repented.
Nor did he have anything to repent for.
Therefore, he was extremely interested in the resurrection technique Hagoromo mentioned. Although the Living Corpse Reincarnation had long since been completed, he naturally did not mind perfecting that technique further.
Perhaps the resurrection technique Hagoromo spoke of could serve as a reference for him.
"Orochimaru, the Land of Iron is a neutral country that explicitly forbids infiltration by any shinobi force. Is it really appropriate for you to set up a base here?"
After giving a simple explanation, Hagoromo brought Naruto and followed Orochimaru into one of his hideouts. This hideout was located in the permanently neutral Land of Iron.
"Heh heh. I haven't 'infiltrated' anything. I'm merely hiding here… This is the backup site for my current reincarnation."
Trying to discuss international law with this kind of criminal was clearly pointless. Perhaps it was precisely because shinobi from the Five Great Nations would not appear in the Land of Iron that Orochimaru had chosen to hide here.
"First, there is one problem. Even if the Chiyo you mentioned can use that resurrection technique, without a part of her body tissue, the formula for the Impure World Reincarnation cannot be used."
This was a little like a clever cook being unable to cook without rice. There were three basic and necessary conditions for using the Impure World Reincarnation.
First, a certain amount of DNA from the person to be reincarnated was required. Second, a living person had to be used as a sacrifice to serve as the vessel for the reincarnated person. Third, the soul of the reincarnated person had to exist in the Pure Land and be capable of being summoned. If the soul had already been sealed, the technique could not succeed.
With mere empty words, Orochimaru could not perform the Impure World Reincarnation.
"This should be enough, right?"
Fortunately, Hagoromo had long since prepared for this. Earlier, he had already obtained a strand of Chiyo's hair.
Orochimaru raised his eyelids slightly. He had not expected Hagoromo to have some understanding of the Impure World Reincarnation as well. But then again, it was, after all, a forbidden technique of Konoha.
"That will do. Next, I need to act as quickly as possible. This body truly cannot hold out much longer. I must make the corresponding preparations before the reincarnation. I assume you certainly do not want to wait another three years."
What kind of scientific spirit was this?
Even though Uncle Snake was about to drop dead, he still wanted to continue his research work.
Well, according to what Hagoromo had said earlier, there were some things he had to complete before reincarnating. Otherwise, he feared that even if he completed the reincarnation ritual, Hagoromo would kill him again afterward.
"For this reincarnation… you don't plan to use the newly acquired 'vessel'?" Hagoromo suddenly said.
Orochimaru's movement as he turned to leave paused slightly.
"You guessed it after all?"
"Wasn't that the main purpose of your trip to Konoha this time?"
"…The conditions are not yet mature. The Sharingan is a dōjutsu awakened through intense emotional change, and that is something I cannot accomplish. Therefore, I need to wait for a certain period of time."
Orochimaru answered Hagoromo's earlier question in return.
The main purpose of Orochimaru's trip to Konoha had been to take Sasuke away, but he could not immediately use him for reincarnation, because the latter had always been in an "unawakened" state.
As for the fact that Sasuke had actually awakened it long ago, even Sasuke himself had not noticed it, let alone anyone else.
Although this was an opportunity for reincarnation, if Orochimaru did that, a problem would arise…
Who could bring about that kind of "emotional change" born from love turning into hatred and then awaken the Sharingan for him?
With Uncle Snake's mental strength and composure, who could possibly frighten him?
No one really knew.
He loved no one and hated no one, so he needed to wait.
Hagoromo had no intention of bringing Sasuke back. In matters like this, he had always respected personal choice. If Sasuke wanted to "follow" Orochimaru, Hagoromo had no reason to stop him. Besides, he had no favorable impression of the Uchiha.
Moreover, Orochimaru was also guarding against this matter. The last remaining Uchiha was clearly not in this hideout.
"Kabuto, go prepare the reincarnation ritual. I will probably need to change into a new body within the next few days… Use the candidate selected last time."
Orochimaru first gave Kabuto an order, then turned his head and said to Hagoromo, "As for you, Hagoromo, you may look around as you please, but do not enter my laboratory. To be honest, I do not want you to see the process of my technique."
Perhaps because he had entered the cold, gloomy habitat of snakes, or perhaps because his passion for research had erupted, Orochimaru's mental state now looked much better than before.
After saying this, Kabuto and Orochimaru left one after another. As for Hagoromo, he had little interest in Orochimaru's underground cave. Since the other party had already said that, he would not go eagerly watch someone else work.
So…
He waited.
Hagoromo thought he would have to spend some time waiting next, but in reality, this period was much shorter than expected.
Five days later.
"That speed is a little unexpectedly fast. You've already mastered Chiyo's technique?" Hagoromo was slightly doubtful. For a forbidden technique of this kind, Orochimaru had spent far too little time.
"There is already no problem. I even perfected this technique called One's Own Life Reincarnation to a certain extent…"
"There is a reason I was able to master it so quickly. First, although one focuses on the transfer and preservation of mental consciousness while the other focuses on the restoration of the flesh, this technique has quite a high degree of similarity to my Living Corpse Reincarnation. Second, I also had a 'teacher' who could teach me the technique step by step."
As he spoke, Orochimaru glanced at the reincarnated Chiyo standing beside him. The so-called teacher was naturally her.
"Are you confident?"
Although he had received a relatively reasonable explanation, Hagoromo still asked. If this job was botched, he would have nowhere to cry.
Orochimaru's gaze returned to Hagoromo's face. After staring at him for several seconds, he said, "Hagoromo, how long do you think I have researched reincarnation, and how many times do you think I have experimented with it?"
All right.
Hagoromo had nothing to say to that.
This was a case of concern causing confusion. Do not question a professional in their own field. That was basic common sense. Orochimaru often dared to experiment on himself, so presumably there would be no problem.
"So, in order to remove the tailed beast from that child's body, you intend to kill him once as well?" Orochimaru asked.
At this point, Hagoromo had not yet told him the full plan.
"No… I only want to extract the Nine-Tails. Right, in that case, let me show you something interesting. Consider it a small repayment."
After thinking for a moment, Hagoromo said this to Orochimaru. In any case, this matter might not be possible to hide later, so making a demonstration in advance did not matter.
Although Orochimaru did not know what Hagoromo intended to do, he still made an inviting gesture.
Hagoromo did not act immediately. Only after a short while did he walk toward Chiyo. Then he drew the long blade from his back and lightly slashed the reincarnated Chiyo.
Under that gentle slash, the entire Impure World Reincarnation body simply collapsed.
"This person… you probably won't be able to reincarnate her with Impure World Reincarnation ever again."
Just as Orochimaru was astonished that the Impure World body did not recover, he heard Hagoromo's explanation.
"Then let the ritual begin. I'm getting a little impatient to meet the Nine-Tails…"
A strange light flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.
Whether or not he could reincarnate Chiyo again with Impure World Reincarnation, he had not verified it. But he believed Hagoromo's words were true, because only then did all the seemingly inexplicable things Hagoromo had done earlier truly connect together.
At this moment, Orochimaru finally understood what Hagoromo intended to do.
He even felt that this could perhaps be called…
"Great."
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