Orochimaru hadn't expected that the so-called conflicts in the ninja world were, at their core, nothing more than family affairs among Kaguya Otsutsuki's clan.
After Hao Shuai finished explaining, Orochimaru was left speechless for a long while.
Only after a moment did he ask, "Boss, you still haven't told me what the God Tree of the Otsutsuki clan does."
"Back to the God Tree," Hao Shuai said. "The Otsutsuki clan plants them on planets. Once a God Tree takes root, it absorbs the life force of everyone on the planet, eventually producing a massive fruit. Eating the fruit not only grants the Otsutsuki power, but also makes them more perfect."
"So you plan to plant a God Tree yourself and eat its fruit?" Orochimaru asked, making sure.
Hao Shuai nodded, thinking to himself, As expected of Orochimaru. He figured out my ultimate goal right away.
As for whether Orochimaru would try to stop Hao Shuai from planting a God Tree—
Hao Shuai hadn't even considered it.
After all, who was Orochimaru?
He was the sort of person who'd conduct experiments on living people to research forbidden techniques.
Expecting his conscience to suddenly kick in and stop Hao Shuai from planting a God Tree was out of the question.
Once he understood Hao Shuai's goal, Orochimaru already knew what he needed to do next to prove his worth.
He was eager to return to his lair and get back to his research.
But remembering what had happened before, he asked before leaving, "Boss, are there any other instructions? Otherwise, I'm planning to return to Sound Village."
"Return to Sound Village?" Hao Shuai asked, baffled. "You're just going to leave? What about your Konoha Crush Plan?"
"You know about my plan, Boss?" Orochimaru asked in surprise.
Actually, if Hao Shuai hadn't brought