Orochimaru, do you have the courage to defy fate?

The towering, majestic hall of the Church of Bones held three people seated at a long bronze table.

Sōgetsu occupied the head seat, his bronze chair impossibly tall, as if crafted not for a human but deliberately for a giant.

Shrouded in a veil of mysterious mist, Sōgetsu resembled a lofty deity overlooking every seat at the bronze table. Both Orochimaru and White Fang, caught in his gaze, felt a tremor that struck the depths of their souls—like facing a surging ocean, at any moment to be crushed by a raging tempest.

Almost instinctively, or perhaps from primal instinct, Orochimaru and White Fang lowered their heads.

One does not look directly upon a god.

White Fang and Orochimaru obediently bowed their heads, the arrogance and pride in the latter's eyes hidden away.

Seeing his goal achieved, Sōgetsu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Using the 'Awe' of a Sequence 6 rank, he had barely managed to rein in Orochimaru's little schemes.

Tap. Tap.

Sōgetsu tapped his index finger twice on the bronze table, his tone light and calm: "Here, you may speak freely."

The heavy pressure dissipated, and Orochimaru secretly exhaled. But he no longer dared to lift his head to look directly at him. Instead, he turned his gaze to the opposite side, cleared his dry throat, and rasped, "If you don't mind, could you tell me about yourself? I'm very interested in what happened to you, Hatake Sakumo."

Hatake Sakumo frowned slightly, silently glancing at the head seat, as if seeking permission.

"It's fine. Tell him, White Fang."

Sōgetsu smiled faintly, raising his right hand slightly: "The Twilight Hermit Society has no tedious rules. Here, you may speak your mind."

With permission granted, Hatake Sakumo finally spoke slowly. His eyes were somewhat dazed, his expression pained and conflicted: "I came here suddenly a month ago. Like you, I didn't believe him at first. But soon... he revealed fate to me."

Revealed... fate?!

The key word in that sentence wasn't 'fate'—it was 'revealed.' Catching the crucial point sharply, a shock covered the depths of Orochimaru's eyes.

"He said: In one month, I would commit suicide." Hatake Sakumo's expression turned bitter, and he sighed ruefully: "As it turned out, I did walk that path. And the reason for my suicide... as the Third Hokage's disciple, you should know it all too well, shouldn't you?"

"Hm, I know it very well indeed." Orochimaru sneered with a mocking coldness: "In the critical period before the election of the next Hokage, all unstable factors must be eliminated."

He paused slightly there, then continued in an icy tone, snickering: "And you, Hatake Sakumo—Konoha's White Fang—a man not directly aligned with the Hokage, yet possessing overwhelming prestige in the village, even surpassing the Legendary Sannin and crushing all competitors—naturally, you became the biggest 'unstable factor.'"

"So I had to die."

Hatake Sakumo lowered his head in pain. He had never imagined that the village he fought for would become the blade that claimed his life.

"Exactly. You had to die, and your death couldn't be directly linked to the Hokage." Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, crossing his fingers and licking his lips: "According to my investigation, the teammate you saved was actually a Root operative, and the source of the public opinion was also their doing."

Root was the Anbu division under Danzo's control, answering to only one man—not even the Hokage could command them.

As for whether the Third Hokage was involved in this matter... well, opinions varied.

"Yes. Cornered with no way out, I could only choose suicide." Hatake Sakumo said bitterly: "I originally planned to end the grudges of this generation with my death. But... he told me that decades later, Kakashi would die in battle in Konoha."

Not just the fate of the person involved—even the fate of others could be 'revealed'?!

Orochimaru's pupils contracted. With White Fang's precedent before him, though his reason told him this might be false, he still couldn't suppress the tremor in his heart. Stiffly twisting his neck, not daring to meet that one's eyes, his gaze fixed on the index finger resting on the bronze table, his tone carried an unconscious trace of reverence: "May I ask... what is my future fate?"

No one could resist the temptation of having the future unveiled before their eyes.

At this moment, the impulse toward the future even surpassed Orochimaru's previous obsession with immortality.

"The future you."

Sōgetsu deliberately paused for a few seconds, stringing Orochimaru along, and in the other's desperate gaze, said with amusement: "Lost everything."

Boom!

Those plain words struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Orochimaru's mind went blank, like a system crash—he was completely stunned.

What did 'lost everything' mean?

"Please tell me—what exactly did I lose?!" Facing that terrifying future, even Orochimaru couldn't keep his composure. Cold sweat beaded on his pale face, his pale gold vertical pupils trembling, radiating traces of fear.

"Literally."

Sōgetsu examined Orochimaru's spiritual body. The color aura symbolizing fear rose, and he was deeply satisfied inwardly. He continued: "You lost the position of Fourth Hokage. You lost your beloved teacher. You lost genuine friendship. You lost the dream you pursued. Until there was nothing left to lose. But the good news is—you're still alive."

"Tch..."

White Fang, sitting across, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, looking at Orochimaru with pity.

That's worse than just dying!

As for Orochimaru, after having his future fate revealed, he seemed utterly drained, slumping in his seat with vacant eyes.

His first reaction was: This is impossible.

But then reason told him—with White Fang's precedent, even if there was only a one percent chance, he couldn't face that kind of future.

Snake Sage, Snake Sage... I'm not lying to you.

At most, I left out a couple of things.

Sōgetsu savored the rare sight—Orochimaru's mental breakdown live—and chuckled inwardly.

After a moment, as if finally calming down, Orochimaru's expression returned to blankness. He let out a long breath, glanced at White Fang across from him, and said thoughtfully: "Since he's appeared here, that means his fate has already been changed by you, hasn't it?"

"In a sense, yes."

Sōgetsu leaned forward slightly, his right hand hovering beneath his chin. "But do you have the courage and will to defy fate, Orochimaru?"

He would not make promises without reason.

Every gift of fate already had its price marked in secret.

Orochimaru understood the implication. He rose slowly from his seat, like an obedient lamb lowering its proud head before the shepherd. "I offer my loyalty and my life, to carry out your will, to be driven by your command—if only I can break free from the shackles of fate."

"Very well."

A curve lifted the corner of Uchiha Sōgetsu's lips, amusement flickering in his eyes.

At last, fifteen years later, with all conditions gathered, he could take his first true step forward.