A moment later.
Orochimaru woke up.
"How is it?"
"I feel... somehow different..."
Fū blinked and spoke.
If Orochimaru had once been a mad scientist,
then... he now had the air of a philosopher who had transcended the secular world.
Most importantly...
"The evil aura on your body... is gone."
Fū, who had never considered becoming friends with Orochimaru, walked over and looked at him.
"Can I be friends with you? Long-haired uncle."
"Heh heh, of course."
Orochimaru nodded.
His change was noticed by Hyuga Sho at once.
Orochimaru now seemed to have completely let go of everything.
No...
It would be more accurate to say he had become detached from worldly concerns.
He was very calm. Very calm.
"The key to this waterfall isn't erasing the darkness in your heart, but 'recognizing yourself.'"
Orochimaru looked at Naruko, Fū, and Motoi.
"As long as someone is human, there will be darkness in their heart. That can't be avoided. But if you can calmly accept it, you can recognize your true self... Recognizing yourself may not bring you 'success,' but those who fail to recognize themselves... will definitely end in 'failure'!"
Orochimaru did not preach from a position of superiority.
Instead, he sincerely voiced his true realization.
"An unharmed version of Izanami..."
Sho suddenly spoke.
"What?"
Orochimaru was puzzled.
It seemed he still did not know about Izanami.
Izanami was a technique of the Uchiha Clan that corresponded to Izanagi.
Izanagi transformed an unfavorable situation into a dream, making it a form of escape from reality.
Izanami, on the other hand, made people recognize reality.
Those who could not recognize reality would be trapped forever within their own consciousness, struggling against the Genjutsu sealed by Izanami.
It could be said...
Izanami was the perfect counter to Izanagi.
It could also restrain