On the battlefield between Konoha and Hidden Cloud, the night raid planned by Minato and Jiraiya together had been a resounding success.
In this battle, Konoha had not only crippled the nearly thousand-man force Hidden Cloud had stationed on the front lines, but also surrounded every surviving Hidden Cloud shinobi.
After achieving their strategic goal of encirclement, Konoha had not pressed the attack to wipe out or capture all the Hidden Cloud shinobi.
Instead, they had deliberately let several of them escape and return to their village with the news, planning to lure reinforcements into a trap.
To support Jiraiya and the others' plan, Danzo, who had remained in Konoha, urgently dispatched a five-hundred-shinobi force under Orochimaru's command to reinforce the front.
By then, more than two thousand shinobi had gathered on Konoha's front lines. They also had four Kage Level powerhouses: Jiraiya, Minato, Orochimaru, and Mitokado Homura, who had not yet fully grown old.
With such forces and numbers, even if Hidden Cloud mobilized every last soldier, it would struggle to gain the upper hand.
Not to mention, Konoha held both the advantage and the strategic initiative.
Victory was within reach. Konoha's entire army was in high spirits, eager for battle.
That night, the same evening Orochimaru arrived at the front-line camp with reinforcements, Shiraishi met him in a dense forest ten kilometers away, in the direction of six o'clock from the camp.
Moonlight filtered through the withered branches and dappled Orochimaru's figure. Combined with his deathly pale face and twisted smile, it gave him the look of someone straight out of a horror movie.
Shiraishi stood beside a pool not far ahead, watching Orochimaru emerge from the shadows, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"How is the body in the laboratory developing?" Shiraishi's first concern was still his new body.
"Everything is going smoothly. Danzo, on the other hand, has been making quite a few moves." Orochimaru gave a twisted grin.
Shiraishi had already guessed that Danzo wouldn't stay quiet after he left the village, so he wasn't particularly surprised. He simply asked, "What does he want?"
Orochimaru's tongue slid out of his mouth. He walked up to Shiraishi and smiled sinisterly. "He asked me if I could place an undetectable seal inside the body."
"He's also gone to talk with Kushina several times recently. I think he wants to make use of her Sealing Technique."
Shiraishi looked at Orochimaru before him and said with a smile, "Looks like you made the right choice."
Orochimaru stared straight at Shiraishi with his serpentine pupils. "All I seek is immortality."
"I told you, I can give you anything you want."
As he spoke, Shiraishi raised his right hand and joined his fingers into a sword sign. Under the moonlight, he reached toward Orochimaru's forehead.
Orochimaru didn't dodge. Instead, a crazed delight showed in his eyes, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Shiraishi pressed his outstretched fingers to the center of Orochimaru's brow. A Visualization Diagram depicting a Yin Spirit appeared in Orochimaru's mind.
It showed an Impermanence figure wearing a black hat and black robes, holding a Soul-Striking Whip in one hand and a chain in the other, with three little ghosts shackled at the far end.
Long ago, the Great Ancestor of the Nine Nether Sect had gone to the Underworld, where he saw the remains of many fallen Yin Spirits, as well as images of some of them.
After returning to the human world, he recreated each of those Yin Spirits and made their images into Visualization Diagrams for his disciples.
After joining the Nine Nether Sect, disciples began their cultivation by visualizing Yin Spirits such as Impermanence. Only after their Cultivation gradually advanced would they condense their own Yin Spirit Dharma Manifestation.
The Impermanence Soul-Locking Visualization Diagram Shiraishi passed on to Orochimaru was the Nine Nether Sect's first Visualization Diagram for beginners. Daily visualization could nourish and strengthen the soul.
"Every morning and evening, quiet your mind and meditate on this idol I've given you. It will strengthen your soul."
At Shiraishi's words, delight appeared on Orochimaru's face. Most of his attention was focused on his mind as he studied the idol.
At first glance, the idol seemed unremarkable. It lacked the awe-inspiring might that Deities in myths and legends possessed, the kind that commanded every direction.
But when Orochimaru immersed his mind in it, the image in his thoughts seemed to come alive. Just one glance from the black-robed Deity made Orochimaru feel as if he had fallen into an icy cellar. A chill rose from the depths of his soul.
Shiraishi slapped Orochimaru, jolting him out of his meditation.
"When you visualize the idol, you must hold on to your sense of self. Don't do it for more than fifteen minutes at a time. Otherwise, your soul and body won't be able to withstand it. You could even become lost in the image and be reduced to a fool," Shiraishi warned.
Shiraishi had taught Orochimaru the Visualization Diagram, but not the cultivation method. That increased the risks of Orochimaru's visualization and limited both the time he could spend practicing and how far he could go.
Orochimaru's heart tightened. He had nearly been lost in the idol's presence just moments ago.
"Are Deities truly real in this world?" Orochimaru grew ever more curious about the things Shiraishi knew.
Shiraishi smiled meaningfully but didn't answer.
"What else do you need me to do?" Orochimaru calmed down. The Visualization Diagram Shiraishi had given him had let him experience what true divine might was like, and only deepened his craving for the knowledge Shiraishi possessed.
If Shiraishi was willing to share that knowledge with him, Orochimaru would pay any price. Danzo, the shinobi of the village—anyone who could help him obtain knowledge, he would offer up to Shiraishi.
"Next time Danzo comes to you, agree to whatever plan he proposes," Shiraishi said with a cold laugh.
"You want me to help you gather information?" Orochimaru thought he had figured out Shiraishi's objective.
"You can think of it that way."
Of course, Shiraishi's goal wasn't so simple. He was using Danzo to make him the catalyst that would complete Minato's transformation.
A close friend Minato had trusted had died at the hands of the Hokage he had always respected. And in this conspiracy, his own wife had become an accomplice in his friend's death.
Then there was the final message Shiraishi had prepared, along with the dying wish entrusted to Minato in that message: the path they had envisioned to bring about peace.
When Minato learned the "truth" about his friend's death and read the letter, what path would he take in the future?
Thinking of this, Shiraishi's smile widened. He looked at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, what do you think of Ryūchi Cave and Senjutsu?"
"I'm still looking for the location of Ryūchi Cave." As one of Ryūchi Cave's summoning-contract holders, Orochimaru was deeply interested in Senjutsu.
But he was different from Jiraiya. Jiraiya had reversed his summoning and gone straight to Mount Myōboku, where the Great Toad Sage had recognized him as the teacher of the child of prophecy. Two sages under the Great Toad Sage's command had then carefully guided and cared for him.
Though Orochimaru had made a contract with Ryūchi Cave, he had never entered it. He hadn't even figured out its exact location.
His only contact with Ryūchi Cave was through his contract, which let him summon its snakes to fight.
"Do you want to go after them?" Orochimaru offered. "If you want, I can have you sign a contract with Ryūchi Cave right now."
Hearing this, Shiraishi smiled. As expected of Orochimaru: when it came to pursuing his own goals, he could sacrifice anything.
"Good. I'll come find you after this war is over."
With that, Shiraishi took out a Bone Ring and tossed it to Orochimaru.
"When you want to contact me, just feed it Chakra."
Shiraishi's voice still lingered in Orochimaru's ears, but he had already vanished without a trace.
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