True Thoughts

Orochimaru couldn't help but let out a scornful laugh.

"Using a creation technique like this in battle would be the real waste!"

"True, using a ninjutsu like this for combat is a bit wasteful." Yan nodded, agreeing with him.

"Then can you tell me how you fused the Yin and Yang attributes into Yin-Yang Release?"

Orochimaru suddenly asked, his eyes full of curiosity.

"From what I know about Kekkei Genkai, these two attributes are extremely difficult to fuse—or rather, impossible."

"Everyone possesses Yin and Yang attributes, but the emphasis differs. Take your Uchiha Clan, for example—the Sharingan is the ultimate product of Yin Release."

"To fuse them into Yin-Yang Release, you would at least need to cultivate your Yang attribute to the same level."

"I truly can't imagine how you managed it!"

"..."

Hearing Orochimaru's doubts, Yan said nothing and merely smiled as he shook his head.

What a joke. It would be a miracle if he knew. His Yin-Yang Release had been fused entirely through a system reward; even he was baffled by it.

Just as Orochimaru had said, it was about balancing Yin and Yang.

Ever since gaining Yin-Yang Release, his vitality and physical energy had been changing every moment.

The most obvious sign was that his body kept growing more terrifyingly powerful, and it still hadn't stopped.

But without anything to compare it to, Yan had no idea how far this body of his still was from a Sage Body.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have come looking for Orochimaru!

"Orochimaru, when it comes down to it, I don't really understand how Yin-Yang Release is formed either!"

Yan slowly walked up to Orochimaru and met his gaze.

"That's exactly why it needs to be studied, isn't it?"

"Hahaha!" Orochimaru covered his face and laughed, his tongue stretching longer and longer from his mouth. "Uchiha Yan, you really are different."

"You don't seem to mind me treating you as a research subject!"

"Of course not." Yan smiled faintly. "I've always been very tolerant toward talented people, but there's one condition—you have to actually be one, and you have to produce results!"

Orochimaru clearly had no idea what humility was. A cold smile curled across his lips. "If I weren't, why would you have come looking for me?"

"Heh." Yan folded his arms across his chest. "I'm leaving those five children with you. I'll come collect them in a year."

"As for whether you return to Konoha, that's up to you. But you must rejoin Konoha's ninja ranks!"

After giving the requirement some thought, Orochimaru understood immediately.

"Your ambitions truly are enormous. You actually want to accomplish something no one has managed in a thousand years!"

The smile on Yan's lips widened, growing ever more arrogant. "Everyone needs to have a dream!"

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to make this world turn in the palm of my hand and develop according to my will?"

"..."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and licked his lips with his tongue. "This path is very interesting, but the Akatsuki Organization is an enemy you absolutely cannot avoid!"

"I know." Yan didn't deny it. "The Akatsuki Organization is indeed very powerful. Until I make another breakthrough or the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu is completely perfected, Konoha can't confront them head-on."

"Even if we won, the casualties would be severe!"

Orochimaru nodded. "Since you know that, I won't say any more."

"I'll train those five children properly over the next year, but you need to give me some of your flesh and blood. I want to study them thoroughly!"

"No problem!" Yan agreed without hesitation. He casually sliced off a small piece of flesh from his arm and tossed it to Orochimaru.

After catching the flesh, Orochimaru lowered his eyes and saw that Yan's wound was rapidly healing. Before long, it had fully recovered, without even the faintest scar remaining.

"Yin-Yang Release truly is remarkable! I wonder whether you'll eventually become immortal!"

"..."

An immortal body?

That made Yan think of several people. They, too, possessed immortal bodies.

The first was Otsutsuki Kaguya.

She had already completely transcended the category of humanity—or rather, she had never been human to begin with. She was practically a conceptual being.

As long as the Ten-Tails remained, and as long as there were people on this planet cultivating chakra, she would never die.

Then there was Hidan, who came from the deeply mysterious Jashin Cult. Even if he were torn into pieces, he would still remain alive.

Kakuzu used the secret technique Earth Grudge Fear to seize the hearts of others. As long as all his hearts had not been destroyed, he would not die.

And there was Orochimaru, standing before Yan.

He had developed the Living Corpse Reincarnation and the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique, taking survival to the absolute extreme.

But without exception, aside from Otsutsuki Kaguya, the immortal bodies or methods of eternal life possessed by the others all had certain flaws. They could not be considered true immortality or invincibility.

This wasn't what Yan wanted.

But he didn't mind giving Orochimaru a reminder.

"Orochimaru, if you want to stand beside me someday and witness the scenery of the future, then I advise you to give up that method of immortality."

Orochimaru's pupils contracted at those words, his brow furrowing as he asked, "You know?"

"Of course!" Yan shrugged and smiled. "Splitting the soul and changing bodies can indeed let you live for a long time, but have you considered that souls... also have a lifespan?"

"You can replace your body, but what about your soul?"

"Not to mention that splitting the soul comes with major drawbacks. Lowered resistance to genjutsu is merely the most insignificant of them."

"..."

Hearing this, Orochimaru's expression shifted uncertainly. It was as though Yan's words had struck deep into his heart, and he unconsciously murmured, "Of course I thought of that drawback, but before now, I couldn't find any other way."

"I can't master senjutsu, and Kakuzu's and Sasori's forms of immortality aren't what I want either."

"..."

After a long while, Orochimaru regained his composure, gathered his emotions, and looked up to ask, "What else is there? Yin-Yang Release might count as one option, but you don't even know how to fuse it yourself. How could you teach me?"

"Not to mention, even if you were willing to teach me, I wouldn't dare learn it!"

"..."

"That does make a lot of sense!" Yan's lips curled upward. He did not deny the suspicion in those words. "If I taught you Yin-Yang Release, I might indeed leave a backdoor."

"Aren't you the same?"

"Once your research on Yin-Yang Release bears fruit, could you refrain from keeping something in reserve?"

"..."

"We're cut from the same cloth!" Orochimaru gave a cold laugh. He likewise did not deny it, and took the chance to mock the absent Senju Tobirama. "At the very least, the backdoors I leave behind won't be as numerous as Senju Tobirama's. And I'll tell you the complete results of my experiments, while he won't!"

"..."

"That's why I came to you!"

"..."

"Hahaha!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

After exchanging a glance, Orochimaru and Yan could not help but burst into laughter together.

Their shadows beneath them slowly stretched beneath the lamplight, looking utterly sinister, like two demons who had descended upon the Ninja World.