A few days later, Uchiha Zhengye visited Orochimaru's laboratory.
He had deliberately chosen a time when Hyuga Aoba would not be there.
In this matter, he was only playing the role of go-between.
If he stood there, he might influence Aoba's decision.
Orochimaru was studying a three-dimensional model of the Byakugan on a machine.
The display was full of technical terms from curse techniques. Looking at it made Zhengye feel as dizzy as if he were staring at calculus.
He recognized every symbol on its own, but the formulas they formed were beyond him.
"How's it going? Can you undo the Caged Bird?"
Orochimaru turned to him, exasperated. "If it were that easy, the Hyuga Branch Family wouldn't have suffered for so long."
"Well, they never came to you before. How could anyone else compare?"
The compliment was so blunt that Orochimaru wanted to retort, yet he could hardly object to being praised.
He didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
"The difficult part is that the curse technique uses multiple streams of Chakra that interfere with one another."
"Put simply, take apart the left side and the right explodes. Take apart the right, and the left is destroyed."
"And removing it requires some special materials."
"So... there's no way?" Zhengye asked. That was surprising. Even Orochimaru couldn't solve it?
Orochimaru smiled with quiet pride. "Of course there is."
"The Caged Bird kills Branch House members by burning out their brain nerves, forcing their souls from their bodies."
"As long as we place the soul in a safe vessel,"
"repairing that small amount of nerve damage is easy with current technology."
Zhengye's pupils contracted. "Then put the soul back?"
Orochimaru raised a hand. "In theory, yes. There are risks, but after a few trials, we can determine exactly how much