Xuan Yu happily ran through the numbers in his head as he followed Orochimaru at an unhurried pace.
Before long, he arrived at Orochimaru's secret laboratory.
The room was filled with all sorts of precision instruments, along with plenty of strange experimental materials.
Xuan Yu glanced around a few times, completely baffled. He had no idea what kind of cutting-edge black technology Orochimaru was tinkering with now.
As soon as they entered the lab, Orochimaru skipped the small talk and got straight to work making a scroll.
Xuan Yu noticed that Orochimaru seemed to be inscribing some kind of Sealing Jutsu formula onto it.
But his own Sealing Jutsu was still at Lv0, so he couldn't make heads or tails of the mysteries behind the sealing array Orochimaru was drawing.
After a flurry of activity, Orochimaru spread the finished scroll out in front of Xuan Yu and said calmly, "Put your hand on this sealing formula, then pour your Chakra into the scroll. Once that's done, we'll move on to the other projects."
But Xuan Yu didn't do as he was told. Instead, he smiled lazily. "Snake Bro, that's not how this works. We agreed that I'd show you what makes me special, then provide you with a sample to study. I'm giving you some of my Chakra as research material now, so our deal is complete. If you want me to help with any other experiments, that'll cost extra."
Orochimaru's expression darkened. "The Chakra you lose will recover before long. Do you really think this little bit of research material is worth fifty million ryo?"
Xuan Yu shrugged, unconcerned. "Snake Bro, that's not right. Think about it: can the Sage of Six Paths' Chakra really be compared to that of an ordinary ninja? Mine might not be on the Sage of Six Paths' level, but it can't be far off."
He continued with a beaming smile, "Besides, I'm not charging you fifty million just for a sample. Didn't I also let Snake Bro watch a spectacular show for free?"
Orochimaru was so stumped that he couldn't respond for a moment.
Thinking it over, he had indeed gotten to watch Xuan Yu show off his skills for free. He'd even played a part in the performance himself.
Still, no matter how he looked at it, that wasn't worth fifty million ryo.
But when he thought of Xuan Yu's monstrous talent for ninjutsu and his incredible rate of growth, he ultimately decided to pay up.
After all, Orochimaru had already decided that he would find the right opportunity to bring Xuan Yu completely under his control.
Even if he didn't groom Xuan Yu as his next reincarnation vessel, he would keep him as a backup.
That way, the money he paid Xuan Yu now would simply go from his left hand back to his right in the future.
With that in mind, Orochimaru snorted, pulled a checkbook from his robes, wrote out a staggering check for fifty million ryo on the spot, and handed it to Xuan Yu.
Xuan Yu took the check, his face instantly lighting up with a smile.
He called out teasingly, "That's my Snake Bro, always so generous! You'd better hurry up and study my Chakra. At the rate I'm growing, it might undergo another transformation before long. Don't forget to come work with me again then!"
As he spoke, Xuan Yu pressed his palm against the sealing formula on the scroll and began slowly feeding Chakra into it.
He could clearly feel that the scroll Orochimaru had hastily made was actually a container for storing Chakra.
He had no idea what it was meant to do, but he found the sealing formula rather interesting and couldn't help wanting to learn it while he was at it.
Xuan Yu continued pouring Chakra into the scroll at an unhurried pace, smiling as he said, "Snake Bro, this sealing formula of yours is pretty interesting. How about giving me a copy of the scroll, too? Once I learn it, I can help you figure out what could be improved."
Orochimaru gave a sinister smile and didn't take the bait.
At that moment, Xuan Yu's reaction had confirmed one of his suspicions.
Xuan Yu didn't know many ninjutsu techniques and was eager to learn new ones.
That meant that the next time they worked together, Orochimaru wouldn't have to waste money.
He could just toss Xuan Yu a few useless, lackluster techniques as payment.
Xuan Yu, meanwhile, had other plans.
Every time he worked with Orochimaru from now on, he would still collect his fee—and make sure Orochimaru threw in at least one extra ninjutsu technique.
Wouldn't that make Orochimaru one of his reliable sources for learning new techniques?
Before long, Xuan Yu felt that the scroll couldn't absorb any more Chakra. He stopped and lifted his hand from it, then asked in confusion, "Snake Bro, is this sealing scroll broken? Why can't I get any more Chakra into it? Or is it already full?"
Orochimaru shook his head. "Impossible. This sealing scroll has a capacity beyond your imagination. As a Leaf Village ninja, you've heard of Hatake Kakashi, haven't you?"
He smiled faintly and continued, "The scroll can hold enough Chakra to store all of Kakashi's. There's no way you filled it up this quickly."
Xuan Yu clicked his tongue and laughed. "Heh, so it's just one Kakashi's worth of Chakra. Why make it sound so complicated? And isn't one Kakashi's worth kind of pathetic?"
He couldn't help thinking of a scene from the original story.
When Kakashi taught Naruto to train in Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, he admitted that Naruto had a hundred times as much Chakra as he did.
At the time, Xuan Yu had assumed Naruto's Chakra reserves were just ridiculously high.
After all, Naruto was born into the Uzumaki Clan and had a naturally strong foundation.
Only now did he understand: Naruto wasn't the only one with incredible Chakra reserves. Kakashi was just that weak, too!
A top jonin of the Leaf Village had a Chakra reserve of only one Kakashi's worth. No wonder his blue bar ran dry in every battle.
While Xuan Yu was secretly laughing at Kakashi, Orochimaru stepped forward to examine the scroll.
As he carefully inspected the sealing array, he teased, "One Kakashi's worth of Chakra? That's an interesting way to put it. Your Chakra reserves really are impressive, though. I can tell you just used up a large amount of Chakra, but you don't seem much weaker."
He put the scroll away and nodded. "Anyway, our deal is done. You can leave."
Xuan Yu nodded and grinned. "All right, Snake Bro. Take your time with the research. We've got plenty more chances to work together!"
Orochimaru smiled coldly. "Yes. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
He hadn't made a move against Xuan Yu yet.
He suspected that the Xuan Yu he had seen over the last few days had all been Chakra Clones.
Attacking a clone would be pointless and would only put Xuan Yu on his guard.
He was better off maintaining their partnership, studying Xuan Yu over time, and letting him lower his guard.
Given enough time, he would find an opportunity to act and make Xuan Yu his reincarnation vessel.
Of course, Xuan Yu knew Orochimaru was up to no good. But he didn't mind taking the opportunity to milk him for all he was worth, making a fortune from the notorious Sannin.
After leaving Orochimaru's hideout, Xuan Yu hurried straight to a nearby bank and cashed the fifty-million-ryo check. Then, without hesitation, he poured the entire sum into his Pay-to-Win System.
Before you continue