"Why?"
After Gaara discovered the black, vortex-shaped mark on his abdomen, he looked at Chiba in surprise and confusion.
Though he had not heard much about the Eight Trigrams Seal before, he could clearly sense that it was far more effective than the seal originally on his body.
Even if Shukaku's Chakra recovered later, as long as Gaara himself had no problems, he would not need to worry about it fighting him for control of his body.
But having been targeted ever since childhood, Gaara could not understand why Chiba had done this.
Doesn't he hate me for being a monster? The thought had barely surfaced before Gaara dismissed it himself. Right. He can easily keep even Shukaku in check, so why would he care much about me, someone who is, strictly speaking, merely possessed by a monster?
But that still did not allow Gaara to calmly accept Chiba's... kindness.
"There's no why. I wanted to do it, so I did." Chiba could not be bothered to explain further. "If you insist on having a reason, then consider it because I need you and Shukaku to serve as my tools and pawns in the future."
"Mm, I understand." Gaara nodded lightly, and his expression relaxed considerably.
For who he was now, compared to things like friendship, bonds, and all that other nonsense, he was more willing to accept the explanation of being tools and pawns.
"Chiba-kun, your Tenseigan has given me far too many surprises."
At that moment, Orochimaru stepped forward to stand before Chiba and asked excitedly, "Just as you said earlier, Otogakure is now part of the territory under your rule."
"Even I, the one who founded this village, am willing to accept your rule."
"So, what do you need me to do?"
"No!" However, Chiba shook his head and said meaningfully, "You should be the one telling me what you can do for me."
"I know that you must be interested in my Tenseigan, and I also know that you have always wanted to research a method of immortality."
"As it happens, I know that there is a type of people in this world who can compress their information into a special mark called Karma before they die, then implant that Karma into the body of a suitable person—or rather, a Vessel."
"Once that Karma finishes 'thawing,' they can achieve a perfect resurrection through that Vessel."
"What?" Orochimaru's pupils immediately shook. He looked stunned, even showing an utterly dumbfounded expression for the first time. "Information compression, Karma, Vessel, perfect resurrection?"
"There really is such a method of resurrection in this world?"
After all, having experienced the brutality of the Second Shinobi World War and the Third Shinobi World War, as well as the deaths of his disciple Nawaki and Tsunade's lover Dan Katō, Orochimaru had come to deeply understand the fragility of life.
Moreover, there were too many things he wanted to learn and study, while his limited lifespan restricted his learning and research.
Thus, Orochimaru had begun devoting himself to the study of immortality.
The Forbidden Jutsu Living Corpse Reincarnation had been born from that pursuit.
Its effect was simple: it allowed Orochimaru to transfer his soul into another person's body, granting him more life and a longer lifespan.
But Living Corpse Reincarnation had flaws: it damaged the soul, required three years before it could be used again after each use, and caused rejection between his own soul and the Vessel.
To Orochimaru, the Karma Chiba had just mentioned was practically a perfect upgraded version of Living Corpse Reincarnation.
But that raised a question. If such a perfect resurrection method as Karma truly existed in the Ninja World, why had Orochimaru never heard of it?
He had no impression whatsoever of the type of people Chiba spoke of.
And why would a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, someone who had never left the Hyuga Clan Compound before, know about it?
Because Karma and Living Corpse Reincarnation had similar effects, Orochimaru even harbored the faintest suspicion that Chiba had deliberately made this up to deceive him.
But that brought him back to the earlier question: very few people knew of his Living Corpse Reincarnation, so why did Chiba know?
After a brief yet complicated bout of rapid thought, Orochimaru forced himself to calm down and asked Chiba, "Then, esteemed Lord Hyuga Chiba, what must I do to obtain more information about Karma?"
"Oh?" Chiba was somewhat surprised that Orochimaru had accepted it so quickly. "You don't suspect that I'm deceiving you?"
"And you aren't curious about why I know these things?"
"There is no need!" Orochimaru shook his head. "With your strength, there is no need for you to deceive me."
"Besides, everyone has their own secrets, myself included."
"I have no need to know what your secret is. Or rather, with my current strength, I am not qualified to investigate your secrets."
"Right now, I only want to know where this Karma that can perfectly resurrect people is found, how it can be obtained, how it works, and how it can be used on myself."
"Taking a step back, even if the existence of Karma is false, I will not suffer any losses for the time being."
"Most importantly, strictly speaking, I am your captive now. What right do I have to question or oppose you?"
"Talking to smart people really is comfortable." Chiba nodded, then said, "But I already told you: you should be the one proving your value to me."
"Once the value you demonstrate is sufficient, I will naturally give you information about Karma."
Chiba was not merely making an empty promise to Orochimaru, because Karma truly existed in the Ninja World.
He was bound to make a move against the Otsutsuki Clan in the future.
Even Chiba himself was very interested in Karma.
After all, the Tenseigan could not grant him immortality.
And as everyone knew, when it came to research in the Ninja World, handing things over to Orochimaru was the right choice.
Of course, the prerequisite was ensuring that he would not suffer a backlash from him.
"..."
At that moment, after hearing Chiba's words, Orochimaru gradually furrowed his brow.
The condition of proving his own value sounded simple, but it might be harder than any other condition.
Its greatest difficulty did not lie in whether Orochimaru could truly prove how valuable he was, but whether the value he demonstrated could satisfy Chiba.
Yet the word "satisfied" was extremely subjective.
If Chiba wished, then no matter what Orochimaru did, he could simply say that he was not satisfied.
However, when Orochimaru thought of the various powerful and miraculous abilities Chiba had displayed, along with the Karma capable of perfectly resurrecting people that Chiba had mentioned, his gaze gradually became resolute. He nodded and said, "Good!"
"I will prove my value to you."
In truth, Orochimaru did not genuinely believe Chiba, but he did not mind taking a gamble.
After all, he was not some Big Fat Sheep who lost nearly every bet. He still had a chance of winning.
Before you continue