The Hidden Truth

Orochimaru only just realized it now.

No wonder this guy had suddenly called him Lord Orochimaru a moment ago! It was all just to make him look into those eyes and fall for the paralyzing ocular jutsu.

"Uchiha... Qiuyang, how could you..."

Orochimaru gritted his teeth, struggling to move his body, but unfortunately, his spirit in the mental world was firmly pinned down by three nails, leaving him completely unable to budge.

This was quite dire!

Back when Itachi used it on him, and even the first time Qiuyang used it, he could still rely on his willpower to try and move.

But this time... he was completely powerless to resist.

It was enough to prove that the ocular power of the guy in front of him had reached a terrifying level.

"You don't need to be nervous. I was just afraid you might suddenly regret it and refuse to give them to me, and besides, I never intended to back out of this deal."

Qiuyang offered a word of comfort, took several scrolls from his robe, sat down on the spot, and began carving sealing formulas onto the precious scrolls.

He only had about a dozen of these specialized scrolls made from rare materials, and they had cost him the earnings of several Uchiha family shops.

Thus, Qiuyang focused his chakra and carved with extreme care.

Although Orochimaru's body couldn't move, his eyes still could. One glance was enough to see that what Qiuyang was carving was actually the Uzumaki clan's technique for temporarily sealing living things.

Could it be... he wanted to take these Tailed Beast parts away right now?

Snake Auntie had guessed correctly. After ruining one scroll, Qiuyang finished preparing the remaining necessary scrolls in less than three minutes.

He first walked over to the instrument containing the miniature Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and tapped his fingers skillfully across the keyboard.

While operating it, he didn't forget to chat with the scientist, Snake Auntie:

"I really do appreciate Lord Orochimaru. I originally thought I only needed to prepare five pre-carved scrolls, but I didn't expect you to give me such a big surprise."

Six Tailed Beast parts, plus a small Demonic Statue of the Outer Path capable of hosting Tailed Beast chakra—it was like a gift package specifically arranged for him by the heavens.

Soon, the liquid in the instrument that promoted metabolism was replaced with an anesthetic liquid to put the organisms inside into a deep sleep.

After completing these steps, Qiuyang activated the technique to seal the entire tank into a scroll.

"How do you know how to operate these instruments..."

Watching the things he had cultivated for so long being taken away, Orochimaru widened his snake eyes and let out a roar of impotent rage, deeply regretting his decision to bring Qiuyang directly into the laboratory.

He had assumed Qiuyang wouldn't understand such technical things and that he would need someone like himself, who understood the technology, to cooperate.

As it turned out...

Qiuyang bypassed Orochimaru and continued to operate the control panel, using the same method to replace the liquid in the outer Tailed Beast parts with anesthetic, then told Snake Auntie:

"What's so hard about that? To check if you had tampered with the cells you gave me, I specifically went to many laboratory equipment suppliers to learn about them. By the way..."

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered the question of whether Snake Auntie had cheated him or not, so in the gaps between switching liquids in the various tanks, he paced over to Orochimaru and asked with a grin:

"Tell me, Lord Orochimaru, did you actually tamper with the Hashirama Cells you gave me back then, hmm??"

Orochimaru felt uncomfortable being stared at by Qiuyang's red blood-red eyes and forced himself to speak in as normal a tone as possible:

"Heh heh... didn't Qiuyang-kun succeed in the fusion? That proves the Hashirama Cells I gave you were... were..."

Orochimaru couldn't continue the lie, because his own slit pupils had also turned into the three-tomoe shape, and he became dazed.

Just like that, while still under the paralyzing curse, he was hit with a superimposed Sharingan genjutsu.

Seeing how easy it was, Qiuyang lamented that Living Corpse Reincarnation was such a mediocre technique; the genjutsu resistance of Snake Auntie after his soul loss was probably even lower than Deidara's.

The last time he got the Hashirama Cells, he didn't use genjutsu to interrogate Orochimaru because he considered that he might need to cooperate with him later.

But now... the new season had begun, meaning Snake Auntie's life was on a countdown, and he could finally ask for the truth:

"So now, can you honestly tell me whether you tampered with the Hashirama Cells you gave me back then!"

"I had Kabuto... inject my... Cursed Seal power... into the cells I gave you."

Orochimaru answered with a dull gaze. Qiuyang's eyes twitched, and he asked in a hushed voice:

"If your hidden Cursed Seal successfully took root, what would the characteristics be?"

Qiuyang didn't know that Snake Auntie's Cursed Seal power had already dissipated during the battle against Sasori's poison; he only knew that he hadn't felt any physical discomfort to this day.

"The characteristics would be the same as Sasuke's... leaving a tomoe-like curse mark on the neck..."

Phew... so it seems I didn't get hit.

Hearing that this was the characteristic, Qiuyang let out a breath, and his tense nerves finally relaxed.

He was absolutely certain that when he had checked his whole body for signs of a Hashirama face appearing, he had never found any tomoe symbols on himself.

Still, one thing was certain... cooperating with a guy like Snake Auntie was truly like asking a tiger for its skin; one careless move and you'd get caught.

He kicked the still-dazed Orochimaru a few times as if venting, then turned back to see that the anesthetic liquid in the other instruments had finished filling, and hurried over to seal the tanks into the scrolls one by one.

Because Snake Auntie hadn't been honest, Qiuyang decided not to honor his initial promise to leave some samples for him to study.

The laboratory fell into a brief silence, punctuated only by the occasional "pop" of a successful seal.

Once everything was settled, Qiuyang walked back to Snake Auntie and glared, dispelling both the paralyzing curse and the genjutsu.

Orochimaru snapped awake from the genjutsu and immediately leaped backward, putting distance between himself and Uchiha Qiu Yang. Cold sweat drenched his body as he asked in a grim voice:

"Uchiha Qiu Yang... what exactly did you just do to me? Do you have any idea how much you've angered me??"

As he spoke, Orochimaru brought his hands together, regaining some sensation in them, and prepared to retaliate with Wood Release ninjutsu.

"Orochimaru, how many times must I say it? None of your tricks will have any effect before these eyes of mine."

How could he not know the properties of the White Zetsu body used for the trade? Before Orochimaru could finish his technique, Uchiha Qiu Yang completed his own Wood Release hand seals:

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Bloom"

No sooner had the words left his lips than the sound of plants growing crackled across the ground. Two vines, each as thick as a man's waist, erupted from the earth and surged toward Orochimaru...

Snap!

The vines tore Orochimaru's Wood Release-transformed hands to shreds, pierced through both his feet, and bound him tightly. Then, two flower buds began to bloom right beside him.

Orochimaru let out a cry of extreme frustration:

"Argh, aaaaah... Why is the potency of your Wood Release higher than mine? Why??"

The strength of the Wood Release Orochimaru could wield using the reincarnated White Zetsu body was significantly inferior even to Yamato, capable at most of only transforming his own limbs.

Techniques like Deep Forest Emergence, Deep Forest Bloom, or Bringers of Darkness, which required forcing plants to grow from the earth, were completely beyond his reach.

"Hmph, this is the price for trying to swindle me."

Uchiha Qiu Yang lowered his hands after finishing the seals, and the flower buds bloomed simultaneously, releasing a thick, lethal toxin.

Having done all this, he used the Flying Thunder God technique to flee the laboratory, and... he did not take the Shinigami Mask with him.

Uchiha Qiu Yang knew full well that Orochimaru would not be easily taken down by those toxins, but it would certainly be enough to give him a taste of misery.