The Meeting

Having shed Orochimaru's skin, which had been entangled in countless convoluted karmic ties, the reborn Mitsuki was like a carefree wanderer who had stepped beyond the Three Realms and escaped the Five Elements. So long as he did not involve himself of his own accord, most matters in the Shinobi World basically had nothing to do with him.

However, once a living being—especially an intelligent one—had escaped the imminent threat of death, it was bound to develop higher needs.

A vigorous curiosity and thirst for knowledge were necessities for maintaining one's passion for life, especially for Mitsuki, who had been born from the will of a researcher like Orochimaru.

Aside from those interesting yet troublesome people in the Shinobi World, only Yukimura, the cloned lifeform whom Mizuki had treated specially, could still pique Mitsuki's interest.

Watching the Shinobi World rise and fall from afar, traveling through it with ease, and casually following in Mizuki's old footsteps, the reborn youth unexpectedly found someone who interested him in the Land of Waves.

Mitsuki's previous self, Orochimaru, had visited the Land of Waves many times, but this was the first time in recent years that he had properly looked at this place, which had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The bustling streets only gradually fell quiet late into the night.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mitsuki thoroughly wandered around the not-so-large streets. Roadside local delicacies and entertainment stalls alike bore his footprints.

Though Mitsuki's body looked thirteen or fourteen years old, his mental age differed greatly from that. It was not, as one might imagine, over fifty like his previous self Orochimaru's, but neither did it match the time since his birth.

Strictly speaking, Mitsuki's current mental state was that of a child who had seen much, learned many things beyond his psychological age, and