Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation
Tianqi, along with his two wives and Shizune, traveled almost all over the Land of Fire and the surrounding small countries, thoroughly enjoying a carefree life. Four years passed in this leisurely time.
Four hundred kilometers away from Konoha, Tianqi, who had been wandering around for four years, finally chose to stop here. During these four Tianqi had returned to Konoha more than once to see Sasuke. Seeing his grandson gradually sinking into hatred Tianqi felt very helpless.
However, just today, as Tianqi was sitting alone in a restaurant, drinking and eating snacks, a person with a chilling aura arrived.
A man with black hair and a pale face saw that Tianqi was alone there, so he slowly walked over and sat down, sharing a table with Tianqi.
Tianqi glanced at the black-haired, pale-faced man and said indifferently, "It's you. How many years has it been since we last met, Orochimaru!"
Yes, the visitor was none other than Orochimaru, who had defected from Konoha and Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"It's been about twenty years since I last saw them!"
"Twenty years have passed, time flies. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru, one of the Konoha Sannin, has defected from Konoha. I never thought you would end up on this path. Sigh!" Looking at Orochimaru in front of him, Tianqi shook his head helplessly.
"My goal isn't Konoha, and Konoha can't give me what I want, so isn't it normal for me to leave?"
"Orochimaru, do you remember what I told you about the true meaning of life?"
"Of course I remember. Over the years, I've thought about this issue carefully. Human life is too fragile. A simple Kunai can take a life. Forgive my bluntness, but I don't quite agree with the six-word truth you once told me!"
Tianqi nodded in agreement with Orochimaru's words. Those six words were the true meaning of his life, not Orochimaru's. Although Orochimaru didn't say much, Tianqi could tell that Orochimaru had truly grown up; he was no longer the naive boy he once was.
"Everyone has their own true meaning of life. If you don't agree with me, it means you already have your own true meaning. Seeing the changes in you now makes me both happy and worried. I'm happy that you've grown a lot and are slowly seeing things more clearly. I'm worried that you might be going down a dead-end road. What a pity!" Tianqi shook his head slightly. He could clearly see that Orochimaru's mentality had become problematic.
"There's nothing to regret. What Konoha can't give me, I can get elsewhere. Konoha can't bind me!"
"A bird that wants to fly cannot be confined by a cage!" Tianqi paused here, then said calmly, "How about it, being subdued by a teenager in just two moves, that doesn't feel good, does it?"
"Hmm! How do you know about this?" Orochimaru's eyes widened immediately upon hearing Tianqi recount that he had been defeated by Itachi in just two moves. This was something that no one else in the organization could possibly know.
"Heh, there's nothing in this world I don't know, including that mercenary organization you used to be in, it was called Akatsuki, right?"
Seeing Tianqi's omniscient appearance, Orochimaru frowned and then relaxed. The existence of Akatsuki was no secret; the major ninja villages all had intelligence on it, so it wasn't surprising that Tianqi knew. What truly concerned him was being defeated by Itachi, who was Tianqi's grandson. There was no guarantee that Tianqi wouldn't attack him, and he had no confidence in escaping from Tianqi's hands.
"Hehe, don't be nervous, don't worry, I won't hold this against you. As long as you have the ability to take down Itachi, I won't mind at all!" Seeing that Orochimaru was a little scared, Tianqi also spoke up to reassure him.
It's best to let this grandson remain a trial pawn and keep him true to his original intentions. Besides, Orochimaru is no match for Itachi right now.
"Itachi is indeed powerful. He is worthy of being your grandson. Compared to Sen'u, I feel that his strength is even more unfathomable. He is really amazing!" Orochimaru said, unconsciously clenching his teeth. Being defeated by a newbie, especially in an instant, was a huge humiliation for a veteran like him. He now hated Uchiha Itachi to the core.
"Hehehe, Orochimaru, you've misjudged that. Itachi's talent is indeed quite good, but he's still incomparable to Sen'u. Have you ever considered that it's not that Itachi is too strong, but that you've become weaker?"
"I've gotten weaker? How could that be? My strength hasn't declined at all over the years; in fact, it's increased. I'm a true Kage Level expert!"
"A true Kage Level expert? Don't be ridiculous, Orochimaru. If you had said this to me ten years ago, I wouldn't have been able to refute it, but now I can't agree. I believe you understand better than I do that there are no absolutely perfect techniques in this world. The Living Corpse Reincarnation is not perfect either. The greater the power, the greater the side effects. I don't believe you haven't noticed that!"
Listening to Tianqi's words, Orochimaru fell into deep thought again. While he was surprised that Tianqi knew about the Living Corpse Reincarnation, he was also thinking about the so-called shortcomings. As the developer of this immortality technique, he really hadn't found any shortcomings. After all, it was something he had developed, so he couldn't see it very clearly.
Just like a novelist, the work seems perfect to them, without any flaws, but once it's published, readers will see many problems.
"How could my almost perfect immortality technique have any flaws? Brother Tianqi, you must have misjudged me this time!" Orochimaru, unable to see the problem, had no choice but to shift the blame to Tianqi, wanting to see what kind of big problem it could be.
"Perfect? Heh. If it's perfect, why did you lose to Itachi, who is also Kage Level ninja? Orochimaru still hasn't figured out the problem with this technique. You really lost unfairly!" Tianqi shook his head in disappointment and then continued to offer his explanation.
"While the Living Corpse Reincarnation allows you to change bodies and effectively gain permanent life, each body change comes at a price. Every time you change bodies, your soul is damaged, and with a damaged soul, your mental strength weakens. Although this doesn't affect your actual strength, weakened mental strength means you become less resistant to Genjutsu. Against a master of Genjutsu, defeating you would be incredibly easy, especially against a Genjutsu like Itachi. Do you understand now?"
After hearing Tianqi's explanation, Orochimaru's head buzzed, and he finally understood things he hadn't been able to figure out before.
"So that's how it is. No wonder I'm not even as good as a rising junior. The problem lies in the Living Corpse Reincarnation. It's truly a case of being both made and broken by reincarnation. Hehehe..."
"Your technique is not bad, but it cannot be considered true immortality. Once your soul weakens to a certain extent, I believe you will be unable to reincarnate. In the end, you will only live a little longer than others!"