Orochimaru's body stiffened. He slowly turned his head and saw Neji "emerging" from a crystal pillar, as though he had merged with the entire Crystal Domain. The crystal longsword—the Verdant Crystal Blade—pressed against his carotid artery. One light slash would be enough to end his life.
"Truly astonishing." Orochimaru's voice trembled slightly with excitement. "So this is a Bloodline Limit's Domain Manifestation... Within the Crystal Domain, you are almost everywhere."
Neji sheathed the Verdant Crystal Blade and took a step back. "It was merely exploiting the situation. In an open area, you would not have been trapped so easily."
Orochimaru turned to face Neji, unprecedented fervor gleaming in his golden slit pupils. "Tell me, how did you do it? An ordinary Bloodline Limit could not possibly reach such a level."
Neji hesitated. By all rights, the secrets of such a ninjutsu should not be revealed so easily, especially to someone as dangerous as Orochimaru. Yet at the same time, he vaguely felt that tonight's exchange might change the direction of Orochimaru's future research—perhaps allowing him to take fewer detours and avoid those inhumane human experiments from the original story.
"Let's sit and talk." With a wave of Neji's hand, several crystal pillars warped and reassembled into a simple table and chairs.
Orochimaru took a seat readily, his gaze never leaving Neji's face, as though he wanted to read every secret from it.
Neji gathered his thoughts and began slowly. "Do you know why the same ninjutsu can vary so drastically in power depending on the ninja using it?"
"Chakra reserves, hand seal speed, elemental affinity..." Orochimaru answered without hesitation.
Neji shook his head. "Those are merely surface-level factors. The true difference lies in understanding." He raised a hand, and a small crystal appeared in his palm. "Most ninja merely use