If Hagoromo could completely erase even the Impure World Reincarnation, then did that mean tailed beasts were not exempt from his "erasure" ability either?
Could an immortal chakra monster... actually be killed?
If so, that would explain why Hagoromo seemed so absurdly obsessed with tailed beasts. It was not because repeatedly beating them up was enjoyable—it was because once he was done with them, they truly would not come back.
The idea of eliminating tailed beasts was something even Orochimaru had never considered.
Wait...
If that was the case, then perhaps he would soon witness the process of Hagoromo destroying a tailed beast with his own eyes?
The more Orochimaru thought about it, the more he felt he had taken on the right job. Wasn't it just dying once? He could die for Hagoromo anytime. Any pose, any method—he would not complain in the slightest. Complete customer satisfaction.
This... was probably the ability Hagoromo had mentioned before, the power of his eyes.
What kind of dōjutsu would he display?
Unfortunately, Orochimaru would soon discover that there was no spectacular technique involved in Hagoromo's final strike against the Nine-Tails.
Just like with reincarnated Chiyo, all he needed to do was cut it once.
Well... perhaps a few extra cuts because of its size.
So...
If Hagoromo truly possessed such an unheard-of ability, should Orochimaru try to tamper with him somehow?
After all, Hagoromo was technically asking a favor of him right now.
Hagoromo had always been mysterious in Orochimaru's eyes.
Now he was even more mysterious.
At this moment, Orochimaru's thirst for knowledge was stirring restlessly.
Of course, it was only a fleeting thought.
The moment the idea crossed his mind, he immediately abandoned it.
Unless he wanted to prepare a speech beginning with, "I regret nothing in my life..."
Those things Orochimaru created—which were written as "cursed seals" but read more like "Horcruxes"—might not necessarily withstand Hagoromo's ability.
Hadn't even the Impure World Reincarnation lasted only a single slash?
If he actually asked Hagoromo about it, the answer would not be "maybe."
It would be certain death.
When used against living beings, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were the true special ability ability.
It wasn't that killing life required no understanding.
It was that understanding "death" was remarkably easy.
Being allowed to witness the Mystic Eyes in action was already generous enough.
Researching them?
Sorry.
Hagoromo had absolutely no plans to become anyone's test subject.
At this moment, Kabuto was still preparing the special room for Orochimaru's reincarnation ritual.
Naruto, who had been unconscious for several days, had already been moved there as well.
Later, Orochimaru would probably attempt to summon Chiyo again for verification purposes, but that could wait.
Right now, he was far more interested in what was about to happen.
"Uh... what kind of play is this?"
After entering the room prepared for the reincarnation ritual, the first thing Hagoromo saw was Orochimaru's replacement body.
The girl was restrained by all four limbs and fixed to an X-shaped wooden frame, as though she were being subjected to torture.
Her eyes were vacant and unfocused.
She looked completely broken.
Mentally shattered.
And judging from those curves...
Well.
Nice figure.
She appeared to be a girl around fifteen or sixteen years old.
Reincarnating into a female body?
Did Orochimaru want to experience what happened every month?
Surely Uncle Snake's curiosity wasn't that excessive.
Hagoromo began wondering whether Orochimaru had some unusual hobby.
What he did not know was that Orochimaru's current body was also female.
Its chest was simply too flat to make that obvious.
Naturally, Hagoromo was overthinking things.
Orochimaru was not Jiraiya.
He had simply selected the best available body from his collection of backups.
Gender was completely irrelevant to him.
Orochimaru had long since married science.
In any case, Hagoromo had no intention of investigating the matter further.
Business came first.
Cough.
"According to the plan, I'll release the tailed beast first. Then Orochimaru will use One's Own Life Reincarnation on Naruto. Finally, he'll perform the Living Corpse Reincarnation on himself."
"So, to be honest, preparing this room doesn't really mean much. Once the Nine-Tails is released, this place is going to suffer severe damage."
"In that situation, your Living Corpse Reincarnation ritual won't run into problems?"
Out of courtesy, Hagoromo asked the question.
Fortunately, Orochimaru was not so selfless that he intended to get himself killed.
"It won't be an issue."
"I considered that possibility in advance. To ensure the ritual can be completed as quickly as possible, this sacrifice has undergone special treatment. Her mind has already completely collapsed, so consuming her will be much faster."
"The Living Corpse Reincarnation can be completed almost instantly."
So the sacrifice did not merely look broken.
She really had been broken.
"In any case, the order of the techniques is critical."
"If there are no objections..."
"We can begin."
Three techniques would be used in succession.
Although Hagoromo had been polite earlier, the only ones he truly cared about were the first two.
First, he would undo Naruto's Triple Four Symbols Seal.
Next, Orochimaru's One's Own Life Reincarnation had to follow immediately.
As for the Living Corpse Reincarnation afterward...
What third step?
Once the first two steps were completed, Hagoromo's objective would already have been achieved.
Orochimaru's survival was his own responsibility.
"Then I'll take my leave."
Now that matters had reached the final stage, Kabuto had no reason to remain.
He had no intention of watching in person.
"Get as far away as possible if you don't want to encounter the Nine-Tails," Orochimaru reminded him.
He genuinely valued this subordinate.
Otherwise...
What if Kabuto accidentally got stepped on by the Nine-Tails?
He would die.
Or what if he got caught up in the battle between Hagoromo and the Nine-Tails?
He would still die.
Kabuto had obviously heard Hagoromo's earlier explanation.
Even without Orochimaru's warning, he would have run as far away as possible.
After Kabuto left, only four people remained in the room.
Orochimaru.
Hagoromo.
The unconscious Naruto.
And the thoroughly broken spare body prepared for Orochimaru.
"We may begin."
"I've already become somewhat impatient."
At this moment, Orochimaru unconsciously extended his tongue in his habitual manner, expressing his excitement.
Excited?
Yes, definitely excited.
Though Hagoromo had completely misunderstood what exactly was exciting him.
Taking a deep breath, Hagoromo nodded to Orochimaru, signaling him to prepare.
Then he began forming hand seals.
Undoing the outermost Four Symbols Seal that he himself had added was simple enough.
It was his own seal.
The troublesome part was the Eight Trigrams Seal underneath.
After all, that had been created by the Fourth Hokage.
Without Gerotora—the key to the Eight Trigrams Seal—Hagoromo had to painstakingly dismantle the seal layer by layer.
In fact, he had begun the process three days earlier.
Only the final step remained.
Therefore, when Hagoromo completed his hand seals and pressed a palm against Naruto's abdomen—
An enormous surge of chakra erupted instantly.
The room was flooded with it.
Then—
Although the Nine-Tails was technically a fox, the roar that echoed through the underground chamber sounded nothing like one.
It was filled with fury.
Filled with resentment.
The gigantic form of the Nine-Tails appeared within the underground chamber.
At the same time, following their prior arrangement, Orochimaru immediately activated One's Own Life Reincarnation on Naruto.
Then Hagoromo saw a white-scaled serpent burst from Orochimaru's body and shoot forward in a perfectly straight line toward the "sacrifice" bound to the X-shaped frame.
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