Cooperation Reached

A clone with Orochimaru's own personality—it's the same familiar formula.

Ren felt quite uncomfortable walking in the low, dark, and damp cave, so he specially lit a lamp.

Led by Haku, Ren quickly arrived at Orochimaru's room.

This is a stone chamber, much drier than the passageway.

After Haku brought Ren in, he didn't leave. Ren understood the reason when he saw Orochimaru.

At this point, Orochimaru was as weak as a ninja trainee.

The pitifully low Chakra response made Ren feel that the amount of Chakra that the old man Mitokado Homura had once possessed was more than ten times that of Orochimaru.

When Orochimaru last met them, the Uchiha Clan's skin and hair had returned to their original smoothness.

Sitting on a stone bed with a wheelchair beside it, Haku walked straight to the bed and lifted Orochimaru into the wheelchair.

"Ren- kun, I'm so sorry to have shown you such a disheveled side."

"I don't care about being impolite, but given your current condition, can you still continue your research? You know, I've been providing you with the monthly funding without interruption!"

The results in Konoha are almost within reach, but Ren still hasn't given up.

Our own Orochimaru is good, but so are his flaws; he's too good.

The Orochimaru before him, who had no taboos, was the strongest being in Ren's heart.

"Actually, even if Ren- kun hadn't come, I would have come to him soon. But I have a question: I thought the new base was foolproof, so how did Ren- kun manage to find a location?"

Before Hakujo Ren arrived, Orochimaru had already thoroughly inspected the place, but couldn't figure out where he had been exposed.

"There's no need to mention such trivial matters. I possess special Sensory Ninjutsu. May I ask what business you have with me, senior?"

Ren had no intention of explaining anything to Orochimaru; he only wanted to know what Orochimaru intended to do with him.

"I feel like I'm close to finding the answers to the three questions Ren- kun asked during our second meeting. These are answers I'll never find in my true form in Konoha, but I need help now."

That was the first time we met!

Ren dismissed Orochimaru's claim in his mind, and didn't believe a single word of what followed.

The results from Konoha are almost out! You don't know the history, and you don't have a lot of data, so how can you possibly figure it out?

"Oh? What kind of help? Make it clear first. I won't provide any additional funding until there are concrete results."

Ren's disbelieving look made Orochimaru realize that it was time to show his true skills.

"Ren- kun, I've found the source of everything!"

After speaking, Orochimaru lifted his left bangs, revealing his pure white left eye, which faintly glowed with blue light.

The blue light was extremely faint; if Ren hadn't had Mangekyo Sharingan -like eye, it would have been difficult to detect.

Holy crap! Tenseigan!

Ren was startled, but then realized it was just a highly concentrated Byakugan.

Based on Orochimaru's words, Ren immediately realized the origin of the eyeball in Orochimaru's eye socket.

"The help you mentioned, senior, is it related to the moon?"

Now that Orochimaru already knew, Ren no longer concealed anything and appeared to have a perfectly calculated plan.

This is in preparation for the upcoming negotiations.

"As expected, Ren- kun knows more than I thought, so I won't go into details."

Although Orochimaru was shocked that Ren could see through the Byakugan at a glance, he still wanted to test how much Ren actually knew.

Ren wasn't bothered by Orochimaru's intentions.

"No problem, it's probably about combat, the Ōtsutsuki Clan and the Tenseigan, you know."

He actually knew?

Orochimaru put aside his thoughts and asked.

"I wonder what Ren- kun wants?"

"Follow my orders from now on. Ownership of the spoils belongs to me, while the senior retains the right to use them. I will have backups of all related research, including backups of existing results."

Ren stated his conditions without hesitation.

You're asking for too much!

This was Orochimaru's only thought after hearing it. Although having the right to use it was enough, everything had to be based on success.

Everything we have now was obtained by Orochimaru through sheer hard work and risking his life.

Orochimaru himself is now in such a wretched state, so it's true that he has confidence in Ren's strength, but those few brief exchanges back then...

This also made Orochimaru realize that Toneri's strength was unfathomable. Without being able to guarantee success, Orochimaru did not want to be easily subdued.

Especially considering that Ren himself knew about the moon, yet he didn't take any action, he might also be wary of the Ōtsutsuki Clan on the moon.

"Ren- kun, can you guarantee the success of the operation?"

"I make no guarantees. Of course, if Orochimaru- senpai feels it's not worth it, he can ask someone else for help or take action himself."

Having seen through Orochimaru's true strength, Ren wasn't worried at all. Besides himself, the only other person Orochimaru could turn to was Nagato.

Ren didn't believe Orochimaru could recruit Nagato as a henchman.

A silence fell over the room. Orochimaru, sitting in his wheelchair, hesitated for a long time before speaking.

"No problem!"

Ren said with his signature smile on his face.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you!"

Orochimaru, however, said he didn't want to talk!