As Qiu Yang followed Snake Auntie to the base, he didn't forget to introduce himself to the five of them.
The only response was collective silence, accompanied by the tap-tap-tap of footsteps, as if they were saying they didn't welcome him.
"Come on, I'm actually pretty friendly. You don't have to be so tense and touchy."
Seeing that the Sound Four were still in their rather ugly State Two forms all the way there, Qiu Yang couldn't stand it and couldn't help speaking up again.
"..."
The Sound Four had never seen anyone friendly enough to burn Rashomon to ashes with Fire Style.
If they hadn't dodged in time, they would have lost at least a layer of skin to that Fire Style jutsu.
Orochimaru had just lost the hands he depended on to survive, then been struck by Qiu Yang's Golden Binding Genjutsu. His mood was terrible.
Hearing Qiu Yang prattle on and on, he decided not to take him to the base after all. With a cold expression, he ordered his subordinates to release their Cursed Seal states, then asked, "What sort of cooperation did you have in mind, Qiu Yang? And what did you mean when you said you could temporarily solve my arm problem?"
"Why don't you take a guess, Lord Orochimaru?"
Who was Orochimaru? Calling him "Qiu Yang" and keeping his temper in check was already the height of courtesy.
Now that Qiu Yang was still acting so unseriously, Orochimaru stopped in his tracks.
This was practically bullying a snake... no, taking things too far.
"Ahaha, I'm just messing with you, Lord Orochimaru. The atmosphere was just too tense."
Qiu Yang hurried to placate him. Seeing that Snake Auntie still looked serious, he could only purse his lips and gesture toward him.
The meaning was clear: Your subordinates are watching. I can't say it with them here!
What was with all the secrecy?
Orochimaru only grew more curious about what sort of mischief Jiraiya's student was up to, so he ordered his subordinates in a low voice, "You four, go on ahead and scout the way."
"Lord Orochimaru, this man is too—"
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
The murderous aura in his voice made the Sound Four tremble. They had no choice but to walk ahead, far enough away that they couldn't hear the conversation.
Snake Auntie's terrifying killing intent startled Qiu Yang, too, and he unconsciously put some distance between them.
So this must be the legendary killing intent made tangible. No wonder Sasuke, despite his strong mental fortitude, had been too frightened to move in the Forest of Death.
"You trust me that much? Aren't you worried I came to drag you back?"
"Then you're underestimating my abilities, Qiu Yang. Don't think that your Golden Binding Genjutsu proves anything. If I want to leave, no one can stop me... Now, can you tell me what kind of cooperation you're after?"
Qiu Yang stopped beating around the bush. He took a sealed glass tube from his robes. It contained a sample of his cells.
Then he stated his purpose, one word at a time.
When Orochimaru heard that this Uchiha wanted him to develop Hashirama Cells compatible with the cells in the tube, the excited scientist's long tongue came out and licked the air wildly.
His earlier displeasure vanished, and he even temporarily forgot the pain of losing his hands.
Only a handful of people knew that he had researched Hashirama Cells, so he asked Qiu Yang with great interest, "How did you know I had cells from the First?"
"Of course, I... I found out by reading Lord Danzo's intelligence."
Qiu Yang had almost blurted out that he knew from reading the original story, but caught himself just in time and cleverly remembered old Danzo.
He remembered that the Hashirama Cells in Danzo's right arm, along with the Sharingan embedded in it, seemed to have been Orochimaru's work.
Though the cells were only an imperfect version and the arm had to stay sealed most of the time, they really did reduce Kotoamatsukami's cooldown.
Qiu Yang also suspected that Orochimaru had tampered with something when reporting his results to Danzo, which was why the arm had to be sealed most of the time.
Qiu Yang knew he had to offer enough sincerity to get Orochimaru to take the job seriously.
"I know all about Lord Danzo's condition, so I want you to cultivate a version that's even more perfectly compatible with me."
Snake Auntie replied, "I don't think there's anything you could offer that would tempt me right now, apart from those eyes of yours... Heh heh..."
The Sharingan, or a fresh Uchiha body with awakened Sharingan.
Seeing Orochimaru's sickening, drooling gaze, Qiu Yang knew the creep was fantasizing about getting his hands on the fresh Uchiha body right in front of him.
He couldn't help taking a few steps back.
"Orochimaru, don't you already have a target? Besides, I'm not someone you can set your sights on. Just look at these eyes."
As he spoke, Qiu Yang activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to threaten him. At the same time, he couldn't help thinking that making a deal with a tiger was indeed dangerous; one slip, and he might be devoured alive.
If he hadn't clearly sensed the Flying Thunder God Kunai markers he'd secretly placed along the way, he would probably have kept at least thirty meters between himself and Snake Auntie.
"What marvelous ocular powers... Heh heh... But as you said, I can't do anything right now. My hands were taken by that old Third Hokage..."
Snake Auntie glanced at his limp, unresponsive arms, furrowed his brows, and suddenly looked up at the sky.
He might have been grieving his lifeless arms, or perhaps his teacher... who was no longer in this world.
Qiu Yang didn't care about Snake Auntie's musings. He rolled his eyes and stated the terms he had prepared.
"In exchange, I'll give you a perfect body for your reincarnation."
That bastard Danzo had even told him the secret of my Reincarnation technique?
Orochimaru's expression darkened, but he agreed to the deal.
It wasn't that Qiu Yang's offer was tempting. Orochimaru could find all the perfect bodies for reincarnation he wanted.
He simply intended to use this opportunity to get rid of Qiu Yang.
All he had to do was give him a more unstable strain of Hashirama Cells. When he fused with them, the cells would devour him, and he would die like Orochimaru's other test subjects.
For now, though, the deal was done.
Seeing that Snake Auntie had no intention of inviting him to sit down at the secret base, Qiu Yang didn't insist.
He slipped the glass tube into Snake Auntie's pocket. Before leaving, he made sure to warn him, "I suggest you do a good job, Lord Orochimaru. If I find out the goods don't match the description, you're going to regret it. And..."
As Qiu Yang said this, his expression darkened to match Snake Auntie's.
"You're definitely going to ask Tsunade to treat your hands, but you'll fail in the end. You can see for yourself when the time comes."
Orochimaru was genuinely stunned by those words. He couldn't understand how Qiu Yang knew about his plan.
Could he read minds? Impossible!
"Uchiha Qiu Yang, you're far more interesting than that fool Jiraiya."
"Can I take that as a compliment, Lord Orochimaru?"
Qiu Yang formed a sword hand seal and vanished in front of Orochimaru using the Flying Thunder God technique, showing Snake Auntie one more trick.
"You four, come here. Take me back to the base, now."
The Sound Four heard the order from a distance and hurried back to escort Orochimaru away.
When they returned to the secret base, Kabuto, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried over. "Lord Orochimaru..."
"Kabuto, restart Laboratory No. 6 immediately."
Kabuto froze. Wasn't that the laboratory where they had researched the First, Hashirama Senju's cells?
And... after all the test subjects had died back then, they had only kept some samples of Hashirama Cells there.
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