Orochimaru's Request

"Naraku- kun, I'm quite interested in one of your Uchiha children. The other day at the Mausoleum Garden..."

He asked me what the meaning of life is. Haha, such a young child, already pondering the meaning of life.

His future is limitless. I like him very much. If possible, I'd like him to become my disciple.

Orochimaru spoke calmly, seemingly genuinely fond of the Uchiha children.

"A child? What's his name?"

Naraku looked thoughtful. Since Orochimaru said he was a child and could travel on his own, he must be around four to eight years old.

Naraku went through the children in his mind, and suddenly something occurred to him.

Is this Uchiha Itachi, pondering the meaning of life at such a young age?

"Ah, I didn't ask his name. He should be around five years old. He's already condensed Chakra; he's a very outstanding child."

"Alright, I know who it is, my nephew, Uchiha Itachi. To receive the appreciation and guidance of the legendary Sannin Orochimaru, his father should agree."

Even as the clan chief, I need to obtain his father's consent first.

Naraku neither verbally refused nor agreed, but Naraku on his understanding of Orochimaru was obsessed with Ninjutsu research and regarded human life as worthless.

Orochimaru may have a high level of teaching ability, but Orochimaru would not agree to let Uchiha disciples become his disciples Naraku of his practices of using forbidden techniques, Cursed Seal, and the Living Corpse Reincarnation Orochimaru.

As for seeking the opinion of Uchiha Itachi's father, it was merely a pretext used by Naraku.

"Heh, your nephew? My teaching is very strict, even... it might kill him."

Orochimaru glanced at Naraku. Upon hearing that he was going to take on a disciple and that Naraku claimed to be his nephew, Orochimaru couldn't help but remind Naraku that pretending to be someone he wasn't meant to be could cost him his life.

However, Orochimaru's words were completely irrelevant to Naraku's; Naraku had never intended for Uchiha disciple to become his student. A ruthless person like that, who was Tenten eyeing other people's bodies, was someone to be wary of.

"It is a great honor to be able to become an apprentice of the legendary Orochimaru."

Naraku replied insincerely, then continued:

"Orochimaru, this Cursed Seal is good, but as a ninja of our caliber, and knowing you as I do, you wouldn't do something so pointless."

Does this Cursed Seal have any other hidden function?

"Yes, the Reincarnation Ninjutsu requires the cooperation of Cursed Seal. The Cursed Seal can carry the caster's consciousness and subtly change some characteristics of the Cursed Seal."

When performing the Reincarnation Ninjutsu on the recipient in the future, it can effectively reduce the rejection and incompatibility of the soul, which is one of the prerequisites for the Reincarnation Ninjutsu.

Of course, reincarnation Ninjutsu doesn't necessarily require a Cursed Seal recipient. If there's no issue with rejection or other factors, a non- Cursed Seal recipient can also be used. That's all I can say about the development of these Ninjutsu."

Orochimaru's eyes darted around. If he continued, all the secrets of the Ninjutsu he had developed would be revealed. After explaining the advantages of the Ninjutsu, Orochimaru stopped the conversation.

"I see, that's truly an eye-opener for me."

Naraku gave a word of praise, understanding the implication in his heart.

In the original work, Orochimaru was resurrected twice. Once was during the battle between Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi, when he was resurrected and used the Eight Branches Technique, but was defeated by Uchiha Itachi's Sword of Totsuka.

She was revived a second time by Uchiha Sasuke within Anko's Heaven Cursed Seal.

This Cursed Seal Ninjutsu and its associated Ninjutsu do indeed have unparalleled advantages, but the disadvantage is that the soul is easily damaged.

Whether Orochimaru's soul was damaged during his reincarnation is uncertain.

However, Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, which splits soul fragments and parasitizes the recipient of the Cursed Seal, will inevitably cause damage to the soul.

In the original work, Orochimaru only publicly acknowledged a limited number of people who had been subjected to the Cursed Seal, and all of them died. However, the number of people secretly subjected to the Cursed Seal remains unknown.

While splitting the soul in this way allows for infinite resurrection, Orochimaru, originally a ninja with no weaknesses in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, revealed his weakness of being afraid of Genjutsu due to his Ninjutsu.

Naraku believed that this Ninjutsu was generally more beneficial than harmful, because even if Orochimaru was killed, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't be resurrected and start causing trouble again someday.

"It seems that although this Cursed Seal is excellent, it is merely a safety lock for you to use the Reincarnation Ninjutsu. In that case, Orochimaru- kun, your Reincarnation Ninjutsu should already be in progress, right?"

Orochimaru frowned slightly, inwardly sighing that Uchiha Nara, like Shimura Danzō, was an old fox who had discovered the details in just a few words.

"That's right, the reincarnation Ninjutsu has already taken shape. I will name the Ninjutsu Living Corpse Reincarnation, which is Ninjutsu that allows one to live forever."

However, the specific details are still under investigation, and these are my personal experimental results, unrelated to anyone else.

"Hey, what do you mean by related or unrelated? As partners, isn't it normal for us to exchange Ninjutsu? Besides, how boring and lonely it would be for someone to live forever."

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we, as friends, could live forever together? Tell me, what do you need to give in order to participate?

Seeing Naraku's interest in the immortality Ninjutsu, Orochimaru licked his lips, a strange glint in his eyes.

The immortality Ninjutsu is Orochimaru's exclusive possession; Orochimaru will not teach this Ninjutsu to anyone, as it is his means of survival.

Orochimaru felt that he and Naraku had talked too deeply, revealing many secrets, and that the development of forbidden techniques was nearing its end.

Compared to immortality, being the Hokage or some other high-ranking official in Konoha was meaningless to Orochimaru.

Konoha has been established for over fifty years. Compared to immortality, the Konoha is merely a temporary leader of the organization. What Konoha will be like a hundred years from now is completely unknown.

Orochimaru has mastered the immortality Ninjutsu, so he can not only live for a hundred years, but also two hundred or five hundred years. Whether Konoha will still exist by then is still unknown.

"The price for obtaining the information on the Living Corpse Reincarnation Ninjutsu is very high, Naraku- kun, do you really want it?"

Naraku glanced at Orochimaru, noticing the deep, somewhat eerie look in Orochimaru's eyes, and couldn't help but smile slightly, saying as if to a good friend:

"Well, what other price could there be? Right now, the Uchiha Clan is at its peak, and I am highly regarded by many Konoha Ninja. Perhaps soon, I will succeed as the Fourth Hokage."

Orochimaru- kun, what price is there that Konoha cannot offer?

"Naraku- kun, I am very curious about your abilities. As a fellow Uchiha, you might be stronger as the leader, but your strength..."

That's incredibly unique. Compared to you, other Uchiha Jonin worlds apart. Even in the entire Hidden Konoha, or the entire Shinobi World, it's hard to find a ninja as powerful as you.

Naraku- kun, if the price is that you become my test subject, would you be willing?

Orochimaru raised his right hand, and a white python shot out from his sleeve at lightning speed. The white snake wrapped around Naraku's upper body, and Naraku's hands were also tightly bound by the python, making it seem that he was unable to Hand Seals and perform Ninjutsu.

Orochimaru licked his lips, surprised that he had succeeded so easily. Naraku always came to his mansion secretly, without anyone knowing.

Even if he murdered Uchiha Nara, as long as he did nothing wrong, who would dare to doubt him, Sannin, Orochimaru?

"Well, I'm afraid I can't agree to that price."

However, I'll offer something else in exchange, and I'm sure you'll agree, Orochimaru- kun."

Naraku expressionless and spoke calmly.

Orochimaru, seeing that Naraku was bound, smiled with interest and said teasingly:

What would definitely interest me?

Your life