Future Technology Unveiled, Orochimaru's Eyes Turned Red on the Spot!

The icy rain pounded against the rocks of the Valley of the End, splashing up a hazy white mist.

The black snake that had emerged from Orochimaru's sleeve cautiously approached the black scroll on the ground.

"Hiss—"

The snake clamped the scroll in its jaws and swiftly retreated into his sleeve, delivering it into Orochimaru's uninjured right hand.

He did not open it immediately. His golden vertical pupils remained fixed on the black-clad young man ahead.

"There's no poison on it, and no Explosive Tags attached."

Yoru stood atop Madara Uchiha's stone head, even idly picking at his ear.

"I came all this way to get soaked in the rain, not to waste time playing cheap tricks with you."

Orochimaru snorted coldly and, half-believing, half-doubting, tore open the scroll's seal with one hand.

He wanted to see just what this Uchiha, who had turned Leaf Village upside down, could possibly offer him.

"Rustle."

The scroll unfurled amid the wind and rain.

He only glanced at the bold line at the beginning.

The habitual cold, false smile on Orochimaru's face froze instantly.

"This... this is..."

He sharply sucked in a breath, and even his breathing rhythm fell completely apart.

At the very top of the scroll were the words: [Separation of Hashirama Cells' Yang Release Chakra and Perfect Cloning Fusion Technology].

Like a wolf that had starved for three days, Orochimaru greedily nailed his gaze to the page.

The farther he read, the more violently the muscles throughout his body trembled.

DNA Telomerase Extension Technology.

Artificial Chakra Meridian Remodeling Theory.

There was even a perfect drug formula for removing the genes responsible for Wood Release rampage!

Orochimaru felt something explode inside his mind.

He had spent half his life's work dissecting countless test subjects in sunless underground chambers, all in pursuit of immortality.

The Living Corpse Reincarnation he had developed himself required him to endure soul-rending rejection every time he changed bodies.

And after the transfer, he would still be weakened for years. It was practically a defective product.

But what did this scroll before him describe?

With just one vial of medicine, an ordinary person could perfectly fuse with the First Hokage's cells!

It could even directly use stem cells to clone a flawless young body.

It could achieve true physical immortality without side effects!

Compared to the era-defining science recorded here,

the Living Corpse Reincarnation he had once been so proud of was like a primitive playing with mud!

Crude, inferior, and utterly unbearable to look at!

"Impossible... How could the Shinobi World possess theories of this level?"

Orochimaru's perpetually pale face had actually flushed bright red from extreme excitement.

His right hand clenched the scroll so hard that his knuckles turned a sickly bluish white.

He could not even feel the pain from the bone-deep slash on his left arm, where blood continued to seep out.

He abruptly raised his head, unprecedented fanatical flames blazing in those snake-like eyes.

"Uchiha Yoru! Where did you get these things?!"

Yoru looked down at him, immensely satisfied by Orochimaru's loss of composure.

The fish had taken the bait.

"What does this amount to? It's just a little appetizer."

With both hands in his pockets, Yoru lightly leaped down from the statue, his toes landing steadily atop the water.

"Did you read the latter half of the scroll?"

Orochimaru froze, then hurriedly flipped through it in a fluster.

The next second, his eyeballs nearly pressed straight against the paper.

[Chakra Storage Battery Concept].

[Miniature Explosive Tag Gatling Gun Blueprint].

[Single-Soldier Exoskeleton Chakra Armor Requiring No Hand Seals].

Orochimaru felt his scalp go numb.

Every word written there was madly overturning everything he had believed throughout his life as the Shinobi World's foremost scientist.

"Store chakra in containers like water? Let civilians who can't use ninjutsu cast A-rank techniques?"

Orochimaru's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against stone.

"The person who wrote these things must be a lunatic with something wrong in his head!"

"Madmen and geniuses are often separated by only a thin line."

Yoru stopped three meters in front of Orochimaru, a teasing smile curling his lips.

"Orochimaru, haven't you always wanted to explore every truth in this world?"

Orochimaru stared at him without speaking, but his violently heaving chest betrayed him.

"That dump Leaf Village can't give you the stage you want."

Yoru mercilessly tore open the wound in his heart.

"That old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi only treats you as a political scapegoat. Once he's done using you, he throws you away."

"You possess all that talent, yet you can only hide in dark gutters, catching a few civilians to perform those inefficient dissections."

Yoru shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of regret.

"That's beneath you."

Orochimaru tightened his grip on the scroll, his nails digging deeply into his flesh.

He did not want to admit it, but every word the other man said stabbed precisely where it hurt most.

Yoru pointed at the item in Orochimaru's hand.

"I have hundreds more sets of technologies like those in my head."

"From planet-killing weapons capable of flattening an entire mountain with one blast."

"To genetic serums that can keep you young forever, or even change your species."

"I have them all."

Gulp.

Orochimaru swallowed with difficulty.

Even though he had long grown accustomed to death, his heart was now beating so fast it felt ready to leap out of his throat.

This was what he had dreamed of!

This was the ultimate truth he had been willing to betray his village and morality to pursue!

Seeing that the moment was right, Yoru cast out the final bait.

"Come work for me in Iwagakure."

"I'll build you the largest, most luxurious sterile laboratory in the entire Shinobi World."

Yoru's offer was simple and direct.

"Whatever equipment you want, I'll buy it. Whichever Ōtsutsuki Clan ruin catches your eye, I'll take people there and dig it up for you."

The sound of wind and rain echoed through the Valley of the End.

Water from the waterfall crashed against the rocks with deafening roars.

Orochimaru stared blankly at the scroll in his hand, then at the Uchiha youth before him, who seemed to hold everything in his grasp.

His once-proud head slowly lowered.

"Thud."

Without the slightest hesitation, this cold-blooded Legendary Sannin, renowned throughout the Shinobi World, dropped to one knee on the frigid water.

He raised his head and stared fixedly at Yoru, his eyes filled with the fervent light of a believer.

"This is... technology from the realm of gods!"

Orochimaru knelt on one knee without hesitation, his voice hoarse and trembling.

"Tell me, what price do you need me to pay?"

Yoru smiled.

"Join my research department. Funding and materials, all you could ever need!"