Transaction

Orochimaru was, in truth, a very simple and pure person.

He possessed no concept of good or evil, and his moral compass was incredibly blurred; from beginning to end, he had only one goal: to pursue the essence of life and seek the method of immortality.

Therefore, even if it were an enemy, as long as they could provide him with sufficiently valuable test subjects, he was willing to cooperate with them.

Furthermore, Uchiha Arashi and he had no prior enmity; in fact, it was Orochimaru who had initiated today's battle.

If Uchiha Arashi had been weak, then he would be sorry—his eyes, his body, his blood, everything would have become materials in Orochimaru's laboratory. Now that Uchiha Arashi had displayed sufficient strength, the cost of continuing the fight would far outweigh the gains, so Orochimaru quickly shifted his attitude, wanting to have a talk with Uchiha Arashi.

And this was precisely what Uchiha Arashi had been expecting.

He knew well that when dealing with a dangerous figure like Orochimaru, mere words were useless, so he had anticipated the preceding battle.

"I need Hashirama Senju's cells, preferably ones that have already been adjusted. I know you have them."

Uchiha Arashi walked up to Orochimaru, his scarlet eyes fixed on him as he spoke.

"I am truly curious as to how you obtained this information, but it is unimportant. I can give you Hashirama Senju's cells, but what can you give me?"

Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Arashi with great interest.

"How about Sharingan?"

Uchiha Arashi flipped his palm, and a glass bottle appeared in his hand, filled with nutrient solution and containing three Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

"Three? Heh, you are underestimating the value of Hashirama Cells far too much..."

Orochimaru licked his lips, continuing to emit a hoarse laugh.

"No, I have weighed it quite well. Hashirama Cells are not particularly rare items; there are plenty in Konoha. Shimura Danzō has them, and the Anbu still has a surviving test subject. I could obtain what I need from either of those places, but I wish to minimize the risk, which is why I came to you."

"The Uchiha are gone; every Sharingan used is one less in existence. If you do not need them, I can terminate this transaction."

Handing over the Sharingan to Orochimaru was, in fact, a matter of indifference to him, because even if he did not hand them over, Danzō would eventually do so anyway.

For him, the greatest value of any Sharingan below the Mangekyo level was its use as a consumable for Izanagi; he felt no heartache using them to trade with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru fell silent. He looked at the Sharingan in the glass bottle, then at Uchiha Arashi. After a moment, he finally smiled.

"Very well, I agree. However, I have one more request."

"Speak."

"I need information on Uchiha Itachi."

"..."

How should he put it? It was a development that could be considered within expectations.

Orochimaru's initial move against Itachi was due to his curiosity about the Mangekyo Sharingan, but at the time, he had miscalculated the power of the Mangekyo and suffered a crushing defeat.

Now that Orochimaru had experienced the power of the Mangekyo firsthand, if he were given more intelligence, would Itachi be defeated by Orochimaru?

Uchiha Arashi thought about it and felt that such a possibility was unlikely.

Unless Orochimaru could produce another Mangekyo in advance to counter Itachi's ocular power, he would never be able to block Mangekyo-level genjutsu, especially since Itachi was highly skilled in that area.

Moreover, Itachi's own strength was not lacking; he would not fear Orochimaru in a head-on confrontation.

"Fine."

After weighing the pros and cons and finding no issues, Uchiha Arashi agreed to Orochimaru's request. "However, the number of Sharingan will be reduced by two; I can only give you one."

Putting away the original glass bottle, Uchiha Arashi quickly produced a second bottle containing only a single eye.

"Modifying the terms of the trade on the spot? That is hardly appropriate, is it?"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, his expression turning dangerous.

"Do not think I am unaware of your intentions. You want to seize Itachi's Mangekyo? With the intelligence I provide, your chances of success will increase significantly. This piece of information alone is worth the Hashirama Cells. Are you telling me you do not even want this one?"

Uchiha Arashi shook the glass bottle.

Orochimaru stared at him for a long time before finally nodding.

"Very well, we shall do as you say."

With that, he took a bamboo tube from his sleeve, placed it on the ground, and voluntarily retreated more than ten meters.

Uchiha Arashi stepped forward to pick up the bamboo tube and opened it; inside was a piece of white, flesh-like matter.

Even without touching it, he could feel the terrifying vitality emanating from the tissue.

It was indeed Hashirama Cells.

Putting away the bamboo tube, Uchiha Arashi set down the glass bottle containing the Sharingan and slowly retreated.

"If I am not mistaken, two Mangekyo should represent different ocular techniques. I am curious, what ocular technique lies within your other eye?"

Orochimaru picked up the glass bottle, glanced at it casually, and then turned his attention back to Uchiha Arashi.

"You can try to guess, or perhaps, try one more time? You might just find out."

Uchiha Arashi said with a smile.

Having successfully completed the transaction, he was in a very good mood.

"Heh, let us leave it at that. I do not have the habit of attacking immediately after a trade is concluded. Now, please tell me the information on Itachi."

Orochimaru shook his head.

Uchiha Arashi immediately revealed Uchiha Itachi's two ocular techniques to Orochimaru.

Tsukuyomi, a powerful genjutsu second only to Kotoamatsukami, and Amaterasu, which could burn all things to ash.

He did not mention Susanoo, leaving it as a small surprise for Orochimaru.

"The deal is done. A pleasure doing business."

With those words, Uchiha Arashi activated the Kamui dimension, took one last look at Orochimaru, and turned to step inside, vanishing from sight.

Orochimaru did not move the entire time, watching Uchiha Arashi depart.

Only after he was gone did Orochimaru approach the spot where the Uchiha had disappeared.

"A space-time ocular technique? How interesting..."

Two days later.

Disguised, Uchiha Arashi returned to Konoha.

Upon entering the village, he headed straight for the Hokage Building with the appointment order given to him by the Minister of Culture.

At this moment, the Hokage Building was wrapped in scaffolding, with workers rushing to complete repairs and restore the damaged sections as quickly as possible.

The incident where an entire floor of the Hokage Building had vanished into thin air had sparked intense discussion within the village recently, though that had nothing to do with Uchiha Arashi.

He found the relevant staff, showed them the documents, and completed his registration in the village.

Throughout the entire process, the Third did not appear, the advisors did not appear, and high-level officials like Shikaku did not appear either.

By the time Uchiha Arashi left the Hokage Building again, he had undergone a transformation, changing from Uchiha Arashi to Senya Arashi—yes, a new name he had come up with after much deep thought.

"Finally, I can live openly and honestly."

Stretching his body with a wide yawn, Uchiha Arashi turned and walked toward his home.