A Lesson for Orochimaru

Orochimaru stared at Qian Ye, the danger in his vertical pupils not fading but growing stronger.

Qian Ye's back was already drenched in cold sweat.

He knew that what he had just said had crossed a forbidden line.

But he knew even more clearly that he had no way back.

People like Orochimaru found those who could not understand them boring, while those who could understand them were dangerous.

The former would be discarded casually.

The latter might be dissected to be fully understood.

What Qian Ye needed to do now was make himself dangerous, yet useful.

Orochimaru suddenly smiled.

The laugh was soft, yet it made even the oil lamps in the command tower seem cold and sinister.

"Immortality?"

He slowly savored those two words.

"Who could resist such a temptation?"

Qian Ye did not reply.

Orochimaru took two steps forward, his gaze falling on Qian Ye's face.

"People grow old, chakra declines, flesh decays. Even legends like the Sage of Six Paths ultimately leave behind nothing but stories and bloodlines."

"So-called gods, in the end, are merely placed in stories for later generations to worship."

"If one day, every ninjutsu lay before your eyes, yet your body collapsed first—"

"That would be truly laughable."

Qian Ye's throat went dry.

This was no longer a test.

Orochimaru had opened a crack in the door deep within his heart.

It was terrifyingly dark inside.

Qian Ye had to throw in a torch, but he could not let himself burn with it.

"Lord Orochimaru, there is nothing wrong with pursuing immortality."

"The mistake is pursuing immortality in the stupidest possible way." Qian Ye spoke the latter half of his sentence.

Orochimaru's gaze remained fixed on his face.

Only the crackling of the oil lamp remained in the command tower.

Qian Ye knew that he had already stepped into a snake's nest.

Pulling back now would only make him die faster.

He raised a hand and pointed at his own chest.

"The body, this vessel, can be treated as a piece of clothing."

"When clothing is torn, most people's first thought is to change into another set."

The corner of Orochimaru's lips slowly rose.

It was a crude analogy.

But the direction was correct.

He had indeed considered a similar path.

If the flesh aged, then he would replace it.

If an old body could no longer contain new knowledge, then he would seek a younger, stronger body.

Bloodline Limits, special physiques, powerful chakra.

All of these could become new vessels.

Orochimaru looked at Qian Ye with several degrees more interest.

"Continue."

Qian Ye relaxed by half a breath inwardly.

But he did not simply flatter Orochimaru by following his train of thought.

He raised a hand and drew an X in the air.

Orochimaru's smile froze.

The command tower grew a few degrees colder.

"You reject this method?"

Qian Ye's scalp went numb, but he still forced himself to say, "Changing clothes can shield you from wind and rain, but every change leaves marks on your body."

Orochimaru's eyes darkened.

"Explain clearly."

Qian Ye immediately continued.

"The human body is not merely flesh and bone. It also has chakra pathways, neural memories, combat instincts, and cellular habits."

"A spirit transferred into a new body may survive for a short while."

"But the new vessel will reject the old spirit, and the old spirit will wear down the new vessel."

"The first replacement may only bring discomfort."

"The second may cause the loss of part of one's senses."

"By the third, combat instincts may begin to malfunction."

"After enough replacements, can you still be certain that you are the original you?"

Orochimaru said nothing.

But his fingers stopped at the edge of the table.

Qian Ye noticed that detail.

It meant Orochimaru had taken his words in.

He hurriedly struck while the iron was hot.

"If immortality is nothing but changing bodies, then it means gambling your whole self on an increasingly incomplete future."

"Every transfer may leave something behind."

Orochimaru's gaze finally changed.

That sentence had struck the thing he truly feared.

Death was terrifying.

But losing oneself was even more terrifying.

He pursued immortality in order to learn every ninjutsu, in order to see what lay deeper within the world.

If what survived in the end was only an empty shell wearing his name, then it would be meaningless.

Orochimaru's fingers remained on the table's edge, unmoving for a long while.

Qian Ye's throat was dry, and the salve on his backside still burned painfully, but he did not dare let his attention wander.

He knew that those words had pulled Orochimaru's interest back.

But interest was a dangerous thing.

Orochimaru taking an interest in someone was not necessarily a good thing.

Orochimaru stared at him for a long time, then suddenly chuckled.

"You say changing bodies means losing things."

"Then what brilliant insight do you have?"

Qian Ye's heart jolted.

Here it came.

The truly fatal question had come.

If he only knew how to reject an idea but had no solution, then Orochimaru would see him as nothing more than a useless fool playing clever tricks.

The fate of useless people on a battlefield was usually ugly.

Qian Ye forced himself to speak.

"Lord Orochimaru, I believe the path to immortality cannot focus only on the body."

Orochimaru did not interrupt him.

Qian Ye immediately continued.

"The body can fail, the mind can become disordered, and chakra can decline. If any one of these goes wrong, immortality becomes nothing but an empty shell."

Orochimaru's gaze grew more intent.

Qian Ye raised a hand and pointed to his head.

"Nature refers to the mind, will, memories, and chakra control."

He pointed to his chest and limbs again.

"Life refers to the flesh, chakra pathways, cellular vitality, and bodily instincts."

"To live long, one must cultivate nature and life together."

The corner of Orochimaru's lips slowly curled upward.

"Cultivate nature and life together?"

Qian Ye nodded.

"Simply put, the mind cannot leave the body and wander freely, nor can the body be treated as a tool to discard at any time."

"The way to truly go far is to continuously renew the original body and constantly stabilize the original mind."

"If the body is damaged, repair the body."

"If the mind is disordered, stabilize the mind."

"If the chakra pathways age, reshape the pathways."

"If cellular vitality declines, stimulate cellular renewal."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up.

That gleam made Qian Ye's scalp tingle.

This man understood.

And he understood very quickly.

Orochimaru slowly walked up to Qian Ye, close enough that Qian Ye could smell the medicinal scent and bloodstink on him.

"Continue."

Qian Ye swallowed.

"Medical ninjutsu in the Ninja World is essentially the use of chakra to interfere with the body's recovery."

"The Mystical Palm Technique can heal wounds, while Delicate Illness Extraction can remove poison."

"Lady Tsunade's school of medical ninjutsu also involves storing chakra and repairing the body at critical moments."

"All of this proves one thing."

"Chakra can alter the rate at which the body deteriorates."

Orochimaru's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Qian Ye did not stop.

"If medical ninjutsu, taijutsu training, and chakra control are combined to establish a system for long-term bodily repair, aging can be slowed."

"If mental anchors are added as well, such as memory seals, personality verification, and chakra fluctuation records, then the mind can be prevented from collapsing over long periods of time."

Orochimaru suddenly reached out and pressed a hand onto Qian Ye's shoulder.

Qian Ye nearly dropped to his knees on the spot.

That hand was cold.

Cold enough to make one shudder.

Orochimaru asked, "What do you mean by personality verification?"

Qian Ye's mind raced.

He had coined that term on the spot, but he had to make it sound convincing.

"That is a term I came up with myself."

"If someone lives too long, memories will pile up, emotions will distort, and choices will change."

"In the end, he may still bear the same name, yet no longer be the person he once was."

Orochimaru's gaze darkened slightly.

Qian Ye immediately added,

"So one's mental state must be recorded regularly."

"Use sealing techniques to preserve key memories, personality assessments, chakra fluctuations, and patterns of thought."

"Conduct a self-examination at regular intervals."

"If the deviation becomes too great, use those records to pull yourself back."

Orochimaru's fingers slowly tightened around Qian Ye's shoulder.

Qian Ye's face went pale with pain, but he did not dare cry out.

Orochimaru said softly, "Why would a civilian Genin like you think of such things?"

Qian Ye cursed inwardly.

Here it came again.

There was no avoiding this question.

He had long known that Orochimaru would never simply listen to a proposal without asking where it came from.

Qian Ye forced his tone to remain steady.

"Because I am afraid of death."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

Qian Ye raised his head to look at him.

"Marching to my death tomorrow, being shoved into the logistics unit."

"Sunagakure ambushed us on the road, and the captain's head rolled to my feet."

"A Chunin hunted me down, Rasa set his sights on me, and Pakura burned off even my pants."

"Every time I survived, it wasn't because of luck. It was because I'd already thought through how I might die."

The more Qian Ye spoke, the harder it became to suppress the fire that had been smoldering in his chest for so long.

"I have no bloodline limit, no clan, no one backing me."

"While others practice ninjutsu, I have to first wonder whether I'll live long enough to practice tomorrow."

"Others talk about the Will of Fire. All I know is that someone put my name on the list of people sent to die."

"Lord Orochimaru, is it so strange for someone afraid of death to think more?"

But Orochimaru smiled.

This time, his smile was genuine.

"Interesting."

He released Qian Ye's shoulder and turned back toward the map.

"After hearing so much about the Will of Fire, it's not bad to hear the truth once in a while."