Black Zetsu, Want to Save Your Mom?

"Yes." Uchiha An nodded frankly.

"The two great clans of Konoha both trace their ancestry back to the Ōtsutsuki Clan."

"The Uchiha Clan's ancestor is the Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, while the Hyuga Clan's ancestor is Ōtsutsuki Hamura."

"The Hyuga Clan was originally very dominant. They only needed to fuse the eyes of many clan members together to naturally synthesize the 'Tenseigan.' But because it was too easy, it often led to internal strife within the clan."

"To prevent such tragedies from happening frequently, the Hyuga Clan developed the 'Caged Bird' seal, which prevented clan members from having their eyes forcibly taken."

"But if the clan truly faced the danger of extinction, the Hyuga Main Family could instead use the 'Caged Bird' to force Branch Family members to offer their eyes, instantly synthesizing the 'Tenseigan' to turn the tide and resolve the crisis."

"This 'Tenseigan' is extremely powerful and has no side effects. It stands a cut above the ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan and is a formidable eye comparable to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Even compared to the 'Rinnegan,' it is not inferior."

"Otherwise, what do you think gives the Hyuga Clan the right to be called one of the two great clans alongside the Uchiha?"

"Just their lousy Gentle Fist?"

"I see!" Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully, fully believing Uchiha An's words.

"So, Lord Orochimaru, my goal is indeed as you said, but I haven't lied to you about the method of synthesizing the 'Tenseigan.' Go ahead and try it yourself, and you'll know."

"The problem now is that I don't have a way to break the 'Caged Bird' curse seal. Without breaking it, relying only on the few Byakugan of the Hyuga Main Family won't be enough to synthesize the 'Tenseigan.'"

"Hehe..." Orochimaru licked his lips greedily and laughed. "That problem isn't hard to solve."

"Although I don't have a way to break the 'Caged Bird' curse seal either, the Hyuga Main Family definitely does!"

"Now that I know this thing exists, I naturally have a way to obtain it."

"Don't worry, once I get it, I'll share a copy with you."

"That won't be necessary." Uchiha An refused directly. "My eyes will evolve into the 'Rinnegan' in the future, just like the one in Pain's eyes. The 'Tenseigan' isn't suitable for me."

"Is that so!" Orochimaru nodded with satisfaction, his trust in Uchiha An's words increasing significantly.

"Can the Mangekyo Sharingan also evolve into the Rinnegan?"

"This is quite a remarkable piece of intelligence!"

"But if that's the case, your goals conflict with Pain's!"

"Pain wants to capture the tailed beasts and revive the Ten-Tails, presumably to combine the Rinnegan with the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki and achieve the Sage of Six Paths' 'Art of Immortality.'"

"If he wants to dominate the ninja world and bring lasting peace, this immortality is essential. Otherwise, when he dies, his policies will die with him, and war will descend again."

"But there's only one Ten-Tails. Which of you should it belong to?"

"This is a very difficult choice to make!"

"Hehe..."

Orochimaru didn't hide his malicious smile, looking at Uchiha An with a playful gaze.

"An, I can tell you're a very ambitious man. You'll never give up the Ten-Tails."

"That means you've already figured out a way to deal with Pain, haven't you?"

"Right, your Mangekyo Sharingan has the power of 'Prophecy,' allowing you to see many things in the future. You must know everything about Pain by now, don't you?"

"That's not something Lord Orochimaru needs to worry about." Uchiha An shrugged nonchalantly.

Orochimaru's snake-like vertical pupils stared fixedly at Uchiha An's face, scrutinizing him for a long time. Seeing his indifferent expression, he flicked his long tongue, licked his lips, and laughed again.

"Tsk tsk, this 'Prophecy' ability really is unreasonable!"

"Enough, this is a matter between the two of you. It has nothing to do with me."

Seeing that his probing had yielded nothing, Orochimaru stopped chatting and sat back down in his original seat.

"So now, can we talk about the payment?" Uchiha An asked with a smile.

"We can!"

Orochimaru nodded and said generously:

"An, tell me, what do you want from me?"

"Your information is very valuable. As long as I can provide it, I won't refuse."

"Haha..." Uchiha An threw his head back and laughed. "Lord Orochimaru is indeed straightforward. Then I won't hold back."

"I need your help transplanting Hashirama Cells into me."

"I also need the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, and you'll have to make some targeted modifications and optimizations for me."

"I also need the training method for the Snake Sage Art, and you'll have to introduce me to the sage of Ryūchi Cave."

"I also need..."

Uchiha An made exorbitant demands, rattling off a long list. Orochimaru listened silently and finally nodded very simply:

"Fine, I can agree to all these conditions. Some things I can give you right now, but others will take some preparation time."

"No problem!" Uchiha An was equally straightforward.

A moment later, Uchiha An walked out of Orochimaru's room, thoroughly satisfied.

In truth, he had no idea whether the "Caged Bird" curse seal could be undone, but that didn't matter—if Orochimaru believed it could be, that was enough.

As for Orochimaru failing to extract the seal's solution from Hyuga Hiashi or other Main Family members, that only proved the Main Family was too stubborn, refusing to hand it over even at the cost of death. It could hardly be blamed on Uchiha An.

Orochimaru was also quite satisfied.

Beyond learning about the "Tenseigan" and its "Art of Immortality" from Uchiha An, he had also gained knowledge of many of his own future developments.

For instance, the development of his curse seals!

His current work on the curse seal was still in its infancy, but Uchiha An told him that in the future, through research, he would transform the curse seal into a unique form of "immortality technique," even using it to revive himself after death.

This made him even more interested in the curse seal, and he decided to invest more time into it going forward.

In research, what was often missing was direction.

Most studies wasted a great deal of time and energy, only to conclude that a certain path led nowhere.

Uchiha An, however, could tell him which Ninjutsu he would successfully develop in the future and which he had never even seen.

With this information, Orochimaru could naturally adjust his future research directions accordingly, avoiding wasted time and effort.

But Uchiha An did not tell him about the "Karma." After all, the "Karma" was also an "Art of Immortality." If Orochimaru learned of it and spent his time studying that instead of slaughtering the Hyuga Clan, that would be problematic.

Uchiha An had just returned to his room with the benefits he had obtained from Orochimaru when the corner of his eye caught a black-and-white figure emerging from beneath the floor.

"Uchiha An..."

Before Black Zetsu could finish speaking, Uchiha An grinned and asked:

"Hey, Black Zetsu, do you want to save your mother?"

"I'll help you!"