Especially after Uchiha Lieyang appeared.
Orochimaru had already decided to stop.
What truly interested him had become another question.
Did Zetsu have a soul?
Orochimaru turned toward the corner of the cabin.
Only a few fading black-and-white traces remained there.
Yin Release constructed consciousness.
Yang Release gave it form.
The First's Wood Release Cells were woven into it.
This kind of life was entirely different from a human.
It had neither normal flesh and blood nor the soul fluctuations of an ordinary ninja.
Yet it could think.
It could speak.
It could recognize danger.
It even had a personality of its own.
If all those responses were merely behavior dictated by Yin–Yang Release, then Zetsu was not truly alive.
But if he had a soul...
Orochimaru's slit pupils narrowed slightly.
That would mean Yin–Yang Release could truly create a soul.
"Interesting."
He spoke softly.
The familiar fervor had returned to his voice.
If he could examine Zetsu's soul structure, he could determine exactly what Yin–Yang Release had created.
He might even use it to perfect his own soul reincarnation technique.
Orochimaru put away the Ring and left the cabin alone.
He told no one.
Nor did he return to Amegakure.
Instead, he headed for the place where he had arranged to meet Uchiha Lieyang.
The mist over the sea gradually cleared.
Orochimaru stood on the shore and waited.
He had expected Lie Yang to appear at the appointed time.
But before Lie Yang arrived, the world around him began to change.
There was no wind.
No thunder.
The waves did not suddenly stop, either.
Yet something invisible began spreading toward him from afar.
Orochimaru's body went taut.
His heart felt as though an unseen hand had seized it.
His blood slowed.
The Chakra within him instinctively drew inward.
He looked