Leaf Village's SSS-rank Rogue Ninja, the Ultimate Murder King-Uchiha Ryobu

Before long, Liao Wu was engrossed in a scroll as big as a child.

It was the Uchiha Clan's Fire Style Scroll, probably taken by Madara when he left. It contained plenty of advanced Fire Release Ninjutsu.

The elemental Ninjutsu Liao Wu knew were all entry-level C-rank techniques: the Great Fireball Technique, Small Fireball Technique, and Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

As for Lightning Style, he knew Earth Run.

That was not even counting basic techniques like the Clone Technique and Transformation Technique.

Liao Wu was reading about a Fire Style technique called Great Fire Annihilation. It was Madara's signature move. Though only B-rank, in his hands it was as powerful as a Forbidden Technique.

Liao Wu had barely memorized Great Fire Annihilation when Black Zetsu took away the Uchiha Clan's Fire Style Scroll.

"What are you doing? What's that for?"

Black Zetsu's voice held no emotion whatsoever. "You still need to develop a technique to restore Lord Madara's youth. Don't waste all your time on Ninjutsu."

He had to meet today's quota first, or he would get shocked.

Helpless, Liao Wu looked at Ryūsetsu, who was curled up nearby, unsure what to do.

Ryūsetsu was the same age as Itachi, but Itachi was a Ninja who had been to war and seen blood.

For a little girl like Ryūsetsu, not bursting into tears after being dragged into this eerie Underground Space already showed impressive nerve.

Liao Wu walked over. "Ryūsetsu, tell me about your Dragon Life Reincarnation Technique."

"..."

Ryūsetsu glanced at Liao Wu and stayed silent.

Liao Wu put on a vicious expression and took off his Rogue Ninja Forehead Protector to show her. "Hmph! See this? It's a Rogue Ninja Forehead Protector."

"I'm Leaf Village's SSS-rank Rogue Ninja, the Ultimate Murder King—Uchiha Ryobu."

Ryūsetsu looked at his Forehead Protector. Up close, the scratch on it looked like it had been drawn on. The color was even wearing off.

Liao Wu noticed the little flaw too. He pulled out a pen and drew over it.

He put the Forehead Protector back on. "Back in the day, I took a watermelon knife in each hand and hacked my way from the Konoha Gate to the Hokage Building. I kept going back and forth for three days and three nights. Blood ran like a river!"

"And the whole time, I just kept swinging and cutting, swinging and cutting. I never blinked once!"

Ryūsetsu wondered whether his eyes had dried out after going so long without blinking.

Though she had only recently become a Ninja, she knew S-rank was the highest rank for a rogue Ninja. There was no such thing as SSS-rank.

Liao Wu threatened her. "Hand over your Forbidden Technique if you know what's good for you, or I'll slaughter your whole village!"

"..."

Ryūsetsu said nothing. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground.

Grass Village might be small, but it was as resilient as the grass. Ryūsetsu's teacher had taught her that.

Tobi had tired of hitting Obito, so Obito finally had a chance to catch his breath. Instead, he got to his feet without even pausing and cursed at Liao Wu. "You bastard, Liao Wu! Threatening a child that young? Are you even human?"

Liao Wu ignored Obito. Seeing that Ryūsetsu was not intimidated, he gave a cold laugh. "A tough one, huh?"

"Hmph. Grass Village must be so small that you've never heard how terrifying I, Uchiha Ryobu, am."

"The Sage of Six Paths was born a thousand years before me. Was it because he feared me, or because two kings can't share a throne?"

"Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were born before me too. Were they getting a head start, or avoiding my might?"

As he spoke, Liao Wu made a point of looking behind him. Seeing Madara sleeping away like a useless husband, he relaxed.

"When I close my eyes, night falls. When I open them, day breaks. So tell me, Ryūsetsu: are you scared?"

"[・_・?]"

Black and White Zetsu stood beside Madara, stunned by Liao Wu's wild performance.

White Zetsu asked the better-read Black Zetsu, "What's he doing?"

Black Zetsu was baffled too. "No idea. Trying to scare a kid?"

Unable to frighten Ryūsetsu, Liao Wu grabbed her leg and began to beg. "Please, Ryūsetsu, teach me your Forbidden Technique. Otherwise, we're both going to die."

Ryūsetsu finally responded. "I can't. It's my village's Forbidden Technique. My teacher told me not to pass it on to anyone else."

Liao Wu seized Obito and gathered Lightning Release Chakra in his hand. Obito immediately howled as the current coursed through him.

"Liao Wu, you son of a—¥%#..."

"See that, Ryūsetsu? When I said I killed without blinking, did you think I was joking?"

In the end, she was still a little girl. She had not yet completed a Ninja's formal training.

The sight of Obito writhing and wailing under torture frightened Ryūsetsu. She took a few steps back. "But... my Forbidden Technique is a Kekkei Genkai. My teacher said only I can learn it."

Liao Wu snapped, "I don't care. Teach me first!"

"O-okay..."

Before long, Ryūsetsu had explained the principles of Dragon Life Reincarnation to Liao Wu.

It really was a Forbidden Technique exclusive to someone with that Kekkei Genkai. To learn it, Liao Wu would first have to develop the Chimera Technique to version 2.0 and steal Ryūsetsu's Kekkei Genkai.

But the technique sacrificed its user's life to revive someone on the verge of death. He was not stupid. Why would he waste one of the Chimera Technique's precious slots on Dragon Life Reincarnation?

Yet if he failed to restore Madara's youth, he would die.

Even if Liao Wu could not learn Dragon Life Reincarnation, he could study it. The technique was an advanced transformation of Yang Release Chakra.

Life-based Secret Techniques were all transformations of Yang Release Chakra. Tsunade's Creation Rebirth and Chiyo's Life Reincarnation both worked that way.

Liao Wu's Plunder Regeneration was also Yang Release.

After fusing with White Zetsu Cells, Liao Wu had grown increasingly adept at using Yang Release.

Given his familiarity with his own Forbidden Technique and what he could learn from Ryūsetsu's Dragon Life Reincarnation, he could probably develop a version of Plunder Regeneration that worked on others in two or three weeks.

But finishing too quickly would be a mistake. He needed to master a few advanced Fire Style techniques as soon as possible, get thoroughly acquainted with his White Zetsu Cells, and raise his strength before Madara returned to his peak.

With that in mind, Liao Wu told Zetsu to fetch pen and paper. He was ready to begin working out the design for Plunder Regeneration 2.0.

Version 1.0 of Plunder Regeneration focused on absorption. Version 2.0 would focus on release.

He would give his own life force to someone else, then absorb another person's life force to replenish it.

It sounded simple, but the technical hurdles were anything but. Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion, for instance, were just splitting atoms and joining them together.

Yet the technology for the former was more than seventy years ahead of the latter.

Orochimaru headed toward the Land of Grass with Edo Hiruko.

Along the way, Orochimaru had threatened Hiruko into revealing the Chimera Technique.

Version 1.0 of the Chimera Technique could accommodate only one Kekkei Genkai. To Orochimaru, that was nothing special.

Orochimaru himself was still at version 1.0. He had not become a full-fledged believer in bloodline supremacy or witnessed the ultimate power of the Mangekyo and Wood Style.

He was still so pleased with the power he possessed as one of the Sannin that he looked down on everyone else.

At Orochimaru's level, many people with a Kekkei Genkai were not even fit to carry his shoes.

The Clan Leaders of the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga Ninja Clans in the village all bowed and scraped when they met Orochimaru.

Gaining a single Kekkei Genkai meant little to him.

What Orochimaru truly valued was Plunder Regeneration, which had grown out of the Chimera Technique—in other words, Liao Wu's Immortality Technique.

Orochimaru had developed Living Corpse Reincarnation too, but it came with many restrictions.

It had a long cooldown, and he had to consider whether a new body was compatible with his soul.

He also risked damage to his soul during reincarnation and was vulnerable to a backlash.

It was nowhere near as simple and brutal as Liao Wu's Forbidden Technique. Cooldowns? Compatibility? Forget all that. He could seize a living person and absorb that person's life force in moments.

That was the perfect form of immortality for Orochimaru.