Trading

"Heh heh... what do I get in return for giving you these?" Orochimaru said, his mind returning to a state of calm.

"I told you, a large amount of funds, technology, equipment..."

"Also, I just acquired two pairs of Three Tomoe Sharingan. You should be very interested, right?"

"After all, being in Konohagakure, you should be more aware of the power and developmental potential of the Sharingan."

"After all, Three Tomoe, to a certain extent, only signifies the very beginning..." Souya said meaningfully.

"You bastard..." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

He certainly knew the effects of the Sharingan better than anyone, having personally witnessed the capabilities of "Body Flicker Shisui" before.

And regarding the advancement of Three Tomoe—the Mangekyo Sharingan—he had naturally learned about it through various overt and covert means.

But what puzzled Orochimaru was how this ninja from Sunagakure could possess so many secrets of Konohagakure.

Not only the Forbidden Jutsu he was secretly researching, but also the hidden secrets of Konoha's prominent Uchiha clan, which he seemed to know like the back of his hand.

In comparison, the importance of the summoning contract seemed to diminish...

"You can write your name on the summoning contract, but you cannot summon Manda to fight. You can summon any other snakes at will."

"Also, when fighting against Konohagakure, you cannot use snake summoning beasts!" Orochimaru said sinisterly, narrowing his eyes.

"I never thought that you, who experiments on the corpses of your own villagers, would still have such trivial concerns?" Souya said nonchalantly.

"However, if you betray Konoha and become an enemy of Konoha in the future, will I still have to abide by this agreement?" Souya asked, as if he were being serious.

"If that day ever comes when I truly become an enemy of Konoha, then no matter what means you use against Konoha's ninja, I will not interfere!" Orochimaru's displeasure surfaced.

"Alright! I agree!" Souya readily accepted.

Orochimaru stared at Souya, and Souya met his gaze without fear.

They confronted each other like this for a while. Sasori, standing beside them, looked somewhat peculiar, as he hated waiting for others the most.

"Crack!"

The large purple lightning ball outside Orochimaru's barrier moved a short distance. Arcs of electricity jumped violently, emitting a pale purple light, and a terrifying aura seemed on the verge of exploding.

Orochimaru looked at the blatant threat and urging, and his mouth suddenly opened, stretching into an inhuman width.

Then, he spat out two scrolls from his mouth. One was about a foot high, and the other was only half a foot high.

Orochimaru placed the two scrolls on the ground, then spread his hands, appearing ready for inspection.

Souya was not polite either. He controlled a stream of Gold Dust to float outside Orochimaru's barrier.

"Sasori!" Souya gave Sasori a look.

Sasori nodded secretly, then waved his hands, and nine crystalline chakra threads were also flung from in front of him to outside the barrier.

As Sasori's fingers moved, the chakra threads danced, twisting and coiling outside the barrier.

Slowly, the chakra threads converged into an oval opening.

This opening attached itself to the surface of the barrier. Orochimaru was secretly alarmed upon seeing this.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, wondering when geniuses had become so common...

Minato Namikaze of Konohagakure, Shisui Uchiha...

The perfect Jinchuriki of Kumogakure (AB Brothers)...

And these two brats from Sunagakure before him...

With Orochimaru's mastery of Sealing Techniques, he could naturally tell at a glance that this was a "controllable opening" woven from chakra threads.

This technique demonstrated Sasori's superb puppet control skills and mastery of Sealing Techniques.

And by chance, he had encountered two Shadow-level powerhouses with profound attainments in Sealing Techniques. Even Orochimaru could only put away his own little schemes at this moment.

This was also why Souya had deliberately sought to study Sealing Techniques since he was sensible.

Because once battles reached the divine level, only Sealing Techniques remained as unnerked ninja arts.

The other elemental ninjutsu would all be reduced to mere scratching attacks.

After all, even someone as powerful as Kaguya could only sigh regretfully and turn into a moon illuminating the night sky when faced with the Six Paths' Sealing Technique.

Souya pulled open the summoning scroll. It was densely packed with many names, but Souya only recognized the last one.

Flipping to the end, Souya channeled chakra to his fingertips. Instantly, beads of crimson blood began to ooze from his five fingers.

Souya would not use the crude method of biting his finger; such a method, in Souya's opinion, was useless beyond looking cool.

As long as one was familiar with the acupoints of the human body and controlled the chakra's intensity, drilling through one's finger with chakra was a very simple matter.

Having successfully inscribed his name on the summoning scroll, Souya contentedly flipped open the other scroll.

The cover of this scroll was a dark gray color, resembling the color of soil where corpses are buried.

As his eyes fell upon it, the words "Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu" appeared before him.

After briefly reviewing the required materials, hand seals, and some precautions, and finding no significant discrepancies with his own understanding, Souya nodded gently at Sasori.

Sasori's face lit up with joy, his fists clenching unconsciously.

Souya pulled out three scrolls from his back. Along with the original summoning scroll, Souya used Gold Dust to hold up these four scrolls and send them outside Orochimaru's barrier.

"Release!"

Souya clasped his hands together, forming a sword hand sign.

Numerous black liquid bubbles suddenly appeared on the barrier's surface, and the viscous black liquid flowed back into the Starfall Rod suspended in mid-air.

Crack! Crack...

The barrier, no longer reinforced by the black runes, developed fine cracks. The spreading cracks quickly turned into distinct fissures.

CRASH!

In the blink of an eye, the barrier surrounding Orochimaru vanished.

Orochimaru glanced at the dissipating purple Lightning Ball, then at Souya and Sasori walking side-by-side.

The two were holding the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu scrolls and conversing softly.

"Heh heh! I never imagined that besides me, someone else would also be so interested in this Forbidden Jutsu."

"However, such a technique in this forbidden domain touches the wrath of the Shinigami..."

Orochimaru's sinister laughter echoed, it was unclear if it was a warning or an attempt to regain face.

He reached out his right hand, his arm transforming into a snake. It opened its mouth and swallowed the four scrolls, taking them into its belly.

"Aren't you going to check them?" Souya said, patting Sasori's shoulder before putting away the scrolls.

Indeed, throughout the history of the ninja world, only Orochimaru dared to provoke the Shinigami, and even exploit loopholes in the system...

"Since we've already confirmed our partnership, this level of trust is naturally given!" Orochimaru's hoarse voice somehow conveyed an indescribable sense of trust.

Perhaps this was his unique charisma