Lord Madara's White Zetsu Delivery, Please Sign!

The air in the underground base felt as if it had solidified.

Orochimaru's golden pupils were fixed on the strange creature emerging from the shadows, half black and half white, like a deformed pitcher plant.

The muscles of his injured body tensed, every nerve drawn taut like a bowstring, ready to unleash a fatal strike at any moment.

Uchiha... Madara.

The name struck him like a thunderclap, exploding in his muddled mind.

How could this be?

The man who existed only in legends and history books, the Asura who had perished with the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, at the Valley of the End.

Recently, there had indeed been reports of his appearance in Konoha, and he had even personally suppressed the Nine-Tails Incident, saving Namikaze Minato and his wife from certain death.

But intelligence was just intelligence.

Until witnessed firsthand, for someone like Orochimaru, who believed in science and truth, everything was merely a questionable variable.

"Hehehe..."

Orochimaru let out a low, hoarse chuckle, his tongue flicking out to lick his dry lips, his eyes filled with scrutiny and doubt.

"To impersonate a ghost with the name of a dead man, you have quite the audacity."

He completely ignored the lure of "eternal life" offered by Black and White Zetsu, instead acting like a viper that had spotted its prey, attempting to find a weakness in the other party.

"A dead man?"

A human-like sneer appeared on Black Zetsu's half-black face.

"Orochimaru, do you think ninjutsu is such an inconvenient thing that it cannot even achieve the simple act of resurrection?"

"The Forbidden Scroll of Seals in Konoha records many forbidden jutsu, including the blasphemous - Impure World Reincarnation jutsu."

"Compared to that, resurrection seems so distant?"

"Is that so?" Orochimaru slowly straightened his body. Although blood still seeped from half of his body, the terrifying aura of a Sannin remained undiminished. "Then I am very eager to witness the abilities of your resurrected master."

Before his voice even faded, the wrist hidden in his sleeve gave a sudden flick!

"Shadow Snake Hand!"

Several venomous snakes slithered silently along the shadows of the ground, attacking Black and White Zetsu with lightning speed from extremely tricky angles!

However, Black and White Zetsu simply stood still, not even moving.

The moment the snake fangs were about to touch it, its body bizarrely merged into the ground, as if turning into a formless shadow. All attacks passed through it, missing their mark.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and licked his lips.

"Interesting... very interesting!

No hand seals, no chakra fluctuations, not even a hint of killing intent could be sensed—this jutsu completely transcends the scope of conventional ninjutsu.

Earth Release? No, there was no sign of the soil being disturbed. Space Ninjutsu? It didn't seem like it either, with no jutsu coordinates or chakra transfer fluctuations.

It was more like... reducing oneself to a part of nature, merging the physical body with the earth, a seamless integration."

He paused, his voice dropping lower.

Heh, that monster's body was simply the best experimental material.

"A pointless probing."

Black Zetsu's voice came from all directions of the base, carrying a condescending indifference.

"Orochimaru, our master is interested in you not because of your meager strength, but because he appreciates your thirst for truth."

White Zetsu's half added in a naive tone, "Yeah, yeah! Lord Madara said you're very interesting, that you like to slice and study things, and we like that too!"

"Shut up!" Black Zetsu reprimanded.

Orochimaru ignored White Zetsu's nonsensical ramblings, his mind racing.

The other party knew his identity, his pursuits, and possibly even his research.

Moreover, the one who called himself "Madara" had indeed stirred up a storm in Konoha.

Could it be... that the legends were true?

"What does your master want?" Orochimaru finally asked the crucial question.

He was an extreme egoist; he didn't believe in gratuitous goodwill in this world.

"Our master wishes to establish a new order," Black Zetsu's voice resounded from the pitcher plant's main body again as it slowly rose from the ground. "A world without war, without conflict, where everyone lives in happiness and joy."

"Ha!" Orochimaru acted as if he had heard the greatest joke. "To eliminate war by waging war? What a familiar and laughable argument."

"No, you are mistaken," Black Zetsu shook its head. "You only see the surface. Our master needs your wisdom, Orochimaru. Your obsession with forbidden jutsu, your exploration into the mysteries of life, these are indispensable cornerstones for building a new world."

"Our master said that technology is the primary productive force!"

These words precisely struck a nerve with Orochimaru.

His greatest pride in life was his intelligence and research.

"Our master knows you are researching the First Hokage's cells, attempting to recreate the power of Wood Release. But your direction, from the very beginning, was wrong."

Black Zetsu's words hit Orochimaru's heart like heavy hammers.

"My direction was wrong?!"

"Indeed." Black Zetsu's tone was filled with certainty. "You thought the power of the First Hokage came solely from his cells? Naive. It requires the power of Yin-Yang Release to harmonize them, and even more so, the perfect fusion of Uchiha and Senju power."

"And the key to unlocking all of this lies in my master's hands."

Black Zetsu suddenly slashed at the White Zetsu beside him with a blade. White Zetsu had been staring blankly at Orochimaru when Black Zetsu suddenly sliced off a small piece of his body tissue from behind. He shuddered violently and turned his head.

"Ah... that hurts?"

He looked down at his wound, then at the blade in Black Zetsu's hand, his expression confused and his tone remaining calm.

"Why did you cut me... aren't we one and the same?"

White, thread-like filaments emerged from the edges of the wound, beginning to heal slowly.

Black Zetsu used the blade to pick up a bit of the white filament and displayed it to Orochimaru.

The cells of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama!

And they were the most active, purest kind! They were more than a hundred times more refined than the defective scraps he had scavenged from various places!

"My master says this is a gift for our first meeting," Black Zetsu said indifferently. "In exchange, you need to complete a task for him."

Orochimaru's Adam's apple bobbed as he forcibly suppressed the greed and fanaticism in his heart, asking hoarsely, "What task?"

"Perfect your 'Impure World Reincarnation' jutsu."

The answer Black Zetsu gave caused Orochimaru's mind to shake once more.

This jutsu was a forbidden technique he had only just developed based on scrolls left behind by the Second Hokage; it was still in a highly imperfect stage and had not even been tested in actual combat.

How could the other party possibly know about this?

In an instant, Orochimaru felt as if he were standing naked before them, all his secrets laid bare.

This feeling made him extremely uncomfortable.

However, the chips the other party offered were impossible to refuse.

True immortality, exploring the mysteries of ninjutsu...

These words echoed in his ears like the whispers of a devil.

"Hehehe... Lord Madara, what a grand gesture."

Orochimaru licked his lips, his eyes flashing with a dangerous and excited light.

"I accept this gift. As for Impure World Reincarnation, I will perfect it into the most flawless work of art and present it before Lord Madara."

He did not say "join" or "pledge loyalty," but instead adopted the stance of a "partnership."

This was his final shred of pride.

Black Zetsu seemed to understand this and did not point it out.

"Very well, a wise choice."

It handed the small piece of White Zetsu material to Orochimaru as a gift.

Orochimaru greedily sensed that surging vitality, as if he could already see the gates of immortality swinging open for him.

"Then, I look forward to our next meeting."

Black Zetsu's body began to sink slowly into the ground.

Just as it was about to disappear completely, a voice suddenly rang out once more.

"Oh, right, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru looked up.

"My master asked me to remind you of one thing." A truly eerie smile appeared on Black Zetsu's face. "That little gift Namikaze Minato left on you—if you don't deal with it in time, it will be very troublesome."

"If you need help, you can contact us at any time."

With that, the figure of Black and White Zetsu vanished completely into the darkness.

"Bang!"

The reagent bottle in Orochimaru's hand shattered upon impact.

He looked down sharply at his shoulder, where he had been grazed by the Rasengan.

Deep within that mangled, bloody wound, a tiny, almost imperceptible-to-Chakra jutsu mark was quietly emitting a faint glow.

A Flying Raijin Mark!

That man... he even knew about this?!