Cursed Tools, Cursed Speech

In a dark, damp underground cave.

Orochimaru had fully inherited the habits of snakes. Whenever he needed to stay somewhere for a long time, he would inevitably dig himself an underground den.

"Where are that blonde chick and that white-haired pervert?"

Kamizuki asked as he followed behind Orochimaru.

Orochimaru paused and said gently, "Jiraiya is one thing, but you should show Tsunade a little more respect. She really will beat you up."

Kamizuki snorted. "That's not necessarily who would beat whom now."

Whether it was the influence of Uchiha blood or simply Kamizuki's true nature, the latter was more likely.

After advancing to the two-tomoe stage and gaining the ability to use ninjutsu, Kamizuki desperately wanted a suitable opponent to test his strength.

Orochimaru was out of the question. Kamizuki was afraid he might kill the old snake if he went all out. He would not feel bad about Jiraiya or Tsunade, though.

"It seems your strength has improved considerably recently..."

Orochimaru lit the dim lamps in the underground chamber, revealing several corpses of Iwagakure shinobi.

"Since you chose to come to the battlefield, this is something you were bound to see sooner or later. Will it make you uncomfortable?"

Kamizuki glanced at them and said calmly, "People die in war."

"It isn't that simple..."

Orochimaru placed a hand on Kamizuki's shoulder and spoke slowly. "Many deaths are necessary for victory in war, but it is not only people from enemy nations who die. Our own people do as well."

"Not only shinobi... but innocent civilians too."

He pointed at a corpse and continued, "He was not a shinobi, only a civilian from the Land of Rain who was unfortunately caught in a conflict between shinobi and died."

"Perhaps you were merely ordered to blow up a bridge, burn down a forest, or cut off a supply line. You did not mean to kill anyone, and perhaps you did not even know they were there."

"And then..."

"A few days later, you passed through that place and saw the corpses of those who had died because of you."

"They were what people called 'collateral damage.' Not even their names would be recorded."

"This was war."

"Kamizuki, were you truly ready to join it?"

"Could you bear it?"

Orochimaru had learned from Sakumo about Kamizuki's views toward enemies. What he wanted to know now was whether Kamizuki would remain indifferent to the lives of innocents.

He needed to know where Kamizuki's "line" was, to ensure that Kamizuki would not cross it.

Ordinary shinobi could still be guided, but once an Uchiha's line of reason snapped, it was almost impossible to repair.

After a moment of silence.

"Of course it would hurt..."

Kamizuki's voice was calm. "If seeing one's own kind die did not affect you at all, then you would no longer be human."

"Protecting every civilian is a little unrealistic, but..."

He raised his head to meet Orochimaru's gaze and grinned. "Your question is completely outside my considerations."

"I told you, I would not hide my existence."

"If they saw me and still did not run, then there was no such thing as innocence!"

Orochimaru was briefly stunned, then shook his head with a bitter smile. "Isn't that restriction too simple? Would you not pursue enemies who ran away?"

"You're being long-winded."

Kamizuki impatiently slapped Orochimaru's hand away. "I'm not some fixed program. Whether I chase them or not depends on my mood."

"My body and mind are perfectly healthy. Instead of lecturing me, you should go see a therapist yourself."

Was he really healthy...?

Kamizuki pulled out the Earth Grudge Fear mask from his clothes and said, "Help me improve this a little more. It's too big and inconvenient."

He was not some pervert like Madara Uchiha, who grew Hashirama's face on his body and took pride in it. Having a bulge on his body was uncomfortable no matter what.

"If it is only the size, that will not be difficult to handle..."

Orochimaru had wanted to have another heart-to-heart with his disciple, but swallowed the words at the tip of his tongue.

Forget it. A tool was a tool. It was only right for a teacher to help his disciple.

As Orochimaru worked on it, he casually asked, "I heard from the village that you seem to have mastered a special technique. Would it be convenient for you to tell me about it?"

He was prepared for Kamizuki to refuse, since he was used to it by now.

"Look at me."

Orochimaru instinctively raised his head and met a pair of scarlet two-tomoe Sharingan.

Three seconds later.

Orochimaru wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly. "Next time... give your teacher a little warning. Having so much information suddenly forced into my mind was very uncomfortable."

"I was training your mental endurance. You should thank me."

It was too troublesome to explain it sentence by sentence. This was how the Sharingan should be used.

It was cool and stylish.

Orochimaru took a long while to recover. The light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his breathing quickened involuntarily.

"A technique that uses language as a medium for Chakra to interfere with reality... What an incredible idea!"

"More than that... you actually did it!!"

"Kamizuki..."

"Compared to you, a so-called genius like me is practically a joke!"

Kamizuki curled his lips and snorted. "That is only natural. There is no need to emphasize it."

Could he not consider his teacher's feelings and be a little modest...?

Orochimaru shook his head and sorted through the information in his mind. "It currently requires the Sharingan's Pupil Power for support, but this system can be perfected. It has the potential to become as widespread as hand seals!"

"Perhaps..."

"Kamizuki, you may surpass the Uchiha ancestor and become a founder of ninjutsu, a grandmaster like the Sage of Six Paths who established an entire school!"

There were several errors in Orochimaru's words.

More accurately, the founder of ninjutsu should have been Indra, and the Sage of Six Paths was also considered an Uchiha ancestor.

But after a thousand years, that history had long been forgotten by the world.

Kamizuki was not yet twenty even across both lifetimes, and he had spent most of that time as an infant or toddler.

At heart, he was still a boy. He greatly enjoyed Orochimaru's praise and felt that his old snake had some talent for complimenting people.

"Hehe... you've got a good eye, Teacher Orochimaru!"

After working for a while, Orochimaru handed Kamizuki the Earth Grudge Fear, now covered in curse marks and compressed to the size of a fist.

"For you, Earth Grudge Fear is not a forbidden technique implanted into the body. It is more like a tool, though calling it a ninja tool does not seem quite right..."

"Given your special constitution, it is foreseeable that your way of fighting will be completely different from that of ordinary shinobi. Add to that your unusual method of casting ninjutsu..."

After pondering for a while, Orochimaru's lips curled upward. "Kamizuki-kun, would I have the honor of naming your special system?"

What he desired most was to know everything and learn every technique.

Kamizuki was almost his most satisfactory disciple. From body to mind, he was filled with limitless possibilities.

Watching him felt like witnessing the evolution of the Shinobi World. The sensation was so wonderful that Orochimaru could not help wanting to take part in it.

Kamizuki weighed the Earth Grudge Fear in his hand. It was quite light. "Do as you like."

Orochimaru thought seriously.

"Special Chakra tools like Earth Grudge Fear need to be distinguished from ninja tools... Their forms are usually altered with curse marks..."

"Your constitution is called Heavenly Restriction..."

"Then let us call them Cursed Tools!"

Kamizuki nodded casually, unconcerned with such naming. It was only a label, after all.

"As for the method of casting ninjutsu through speech—ninja language... Spirit of Words... chanting..."

Orochimaru gently shook his head, rejecting several options. Then his eyes shifted.

"Cursed Speech!"