I Only Forgive Geniuses

"This is..." Seeing Yueguang Han's movements and watching him cut open his own forearm, Orochimaru revealed a shocked yet delighted expression. His gaze toward Yueguang Han was burning with eagerness.

Yueguang Han's forearm did not bleed profusely. Instead, the opened flesh was filled with black-and-gray matter that seemed to writhe. The wound was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Through the part that had yet to heal, they could all see the steel beneath Yueguang Han's muscles. The metal seemed to have replaced his bones.

At that moment, Orochimaru had already come up with several guesses about the direction of Yueguang Han's future abilities. One of them even made him turn green with envy, because it was the immortality he had been pursuing. Some people were born with things others could only dream of.

At that moment, Orochimaru's gaze toward Yueguang Han changed. It was as if he had seen the future of his own life, and intense hope blossomed in his eyes.

It was the same kind of hope those children he had bewitched showed when they looked at him—the anticipation of the future.

"This..." Minato Namikaze was also staring blankly.

No wonder Yueguang Han was able to kill so many Sand Shinobi while only possessing Genin-level strength and still remain completely unharmed! Minato Namikaze understood now.

No wonder Yueguang Han had been naked back then. With this ability, he may not be immortal, but killing him isn't something ordinary ninjutsu or attacks can accomplish. In contrast, Yueguang Han's attacks are extremely dangerous and difficult to defend against.

Seeing the way Orochimaru was looking at him, Yueguang Han had no choice. Orochimaru had already begun his forbidden experiments and was pursuing immortality. Revealing the trump cards of his T800 skeleton and Blood Robot would undoubtedly be a great temptation to Orochimaru, which was very disadvantageous for him.

But this had been a necessary move. Yueguang Han knew his own situation. He only had Genin-level strength. That was enough to kill enemies, but not enough to protect himself.

Barrett was ultimately only an attack template. It could not guarantee that he would survive being surrounded by so many Sand Shinobi. Revealing Barrett would only be redundant, and Orochimaru would certainly continue questioning him.

After all, Orochimaru was the supreme commander of this battlefield. Yueguang Han was currently only a Genin, and he could not fool an interested Orochimaru with a few casual words.

For Orochimaru, the supreme commander of the battlefield against the Sand Shinobi, making an unknown Genin disappear would be far too easy.

Therefore, rather than hiding everything and letting Orochimaru use his methods to make him disappear in secret, it was better to reveal himself and place himself under the eyes of the higher-ups. He could then openly go to more major battlefields against the Sand Shinobi.

Besides, he possessed the Tech Template, so his trump cards would only continue to increase.

At the same time, he hoped that the trump cards he had revealed would be attractive enough—attractive enough for Orochimaru to take him seriously and be reluctant to discard him.

Orochimaru needed to suppress his impulse, at least until Yueguang Han had gotten his revenge. Orochimaru had not yet developed Living Corpse Reincarnation.

"Lord Han's Kekkei Genkai has truly given me quite a surprise!" After turning over many thoughts in his mind, Orochimaru smiled at Yueguang Han and said, "With such a powerful Kekkei Genkai, Lord Han has more than proven both his achievements and his... innocence."

"I don't want the credit. I want to keep the Sand Shinobi forehead protectors I obtained, so I can use them to pay respects to my deceased parents in the afterlife." Yueguang Han answered without hesitation.

On a chaotic and perilous battlefield, when no one could prove your achievements, the enemy corpses and spoils were the only means of proving them—even if you had merely picked up the forehead protectors and corpses.

"Strictly speaking, Lord Han shouldn't be able to receive credit if he wants to keep the Sand Shinobi forehead protectors he obtained. But who can blame me for being the supreme commander of this battlefield?" Orochimaru chuckled.

"Lord Han, feel free to take the Sand Shinobi forehead protectors you obtained and use them to pay respects to your parents. I won't erase your achievements either."

Orochimaru was essentially doing Yueguang Han a favor, and he was doing it in his own name.

"I can prove Yueguang Han's achievements. The Sand Shinobi corpses were all inspected by me and the people under my command, and they were indeed all killed by Yueguang Han. We also confirmed the identities of some of the Jonin among them," Minato Namikaze said from the side.

Although Minato Namikaze had seen through Orochimaru's intention to curry favor, he did not say anything. First, he was not a rigid person, and he had no standing to advise Yueguang Han to give up paying respects to his parents.

Second, he genuinely hoped that Yueguang Han could receive this credit. After all, it was a tremendous achievement. On the way back, Yueguang Han had told him that he had sold everything valuable in his home for the sake of revenge, including the house.

"With Minato's testimony, that makes things even better," Orochimaru said with a smile. Then he asked, "Lord Han, how about becoming my disciple?"

That smile from Orochimaru had none of its usual sinister quality. Clearly, he was being very serious.

"Huh?" Yueguang Han was somewhat dumbfounded by that smile. Orochimaru wanted to take him as a disciple, and he was even being so serious about it?

Nearby, Minato Namikaze was also stunned when he heard Orochimaru's words. Then he understood. A genius like Yueguang Han was indeed enough to move Lord Orochimaru. Even he felt tempted.

"Lord Han, become my disciple. I will definitely train you into an outstanding and powerful shinobi," Orochimaru said again.

Although Yueguang Han wanted to agree immediately, he held himself back. Orochimaru was simply too dangerous, and Yueguang Han's mind began racing.

Orochimaru wanted to take him as a disciple because he had become excited upon seeing such a promising prospect, but he definitely was not sincere. Orochimaru would indeed teach him seriously, but he certainly had ulterior motives.

Regarding Orochimaru's motives, Yueguang Han thought of two possibilities. First, Orochimaru wanted to study his Bloodline Limit. Taking him as a disciple would make researching his Bloodline Limit much more convenient, and might even make it perfectly legitimate.

Second, the original story had mentioned that Orochimaru participated in the competition for the position of Fourth Hokage. Even the Third Hokage had initially favored Orochimaru becoming the Fourth Hokage.

The competition had already begun during this period. The Third Shinobi World War was its stage, and having a powerful disciple who could be rapidly nurtured would undoubtedly be a very strong bargaining chip for Orochimaru in his bid for the position of Fourth Hokage.

After becoming Hokage, that disciple would also be a powerful asset—perhaps even his right-hand man.

Of course, Yueguang Han could not rule out other reasons he had not considered.

"I'm sorry, Lord Orochimaru. Although your kindness is very tempting, I've already found the path that suits me," Yueguang Han said after much consideration. In the end, he still rejected Orochimaru.

Becoming Orochimaru's disciple had its advantages. It would make many things more convenient and allow him to do things ordinary shinobi could not.

The first problem was that Yueguang Han knew very well how poor his own shinobi talent was. He simply was not cut out for it. There was only so much of Orochimaru's teachings he could absorb, and becoming Orochimaru's disciple would greatly increase the risk of exposing his biggest secret.

Second, Yueguang Han had the Tech Template as his cheat. With the mindset of a modern person shaped by constant exposure to the internet, the Tech Template was his best way forward. It was the only path available to him.

Third, whatever convenience he gained from becoming Orochimaru's disciple would only turn into even more trouble after Orochimaru defected.

Although Yueguang Han's blunt rejection left Orochimaru somewhat displeased, compared to his eagerness, that tiny bit of displeasure was quickly forgotten. Smiling, he said, "It's all right. If Lord Han changes his mind in the future, you can come to me at any time. No matter when, I will still be willing to take you as my disciple and teach you wholeheartedly. Even if you aren't my disciple, if there's anything you don't understand, you can always come and ask me."

"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Orochimaru," Yueguang Han said apologetically.