A Match Made in Heaven: The Serpent and the Bean's Romance!

Ninggu Pagoda, second level. Red Kabuto was imprisoned here.

After three days and nights, after experiencing hundreds of millions of cycles within Izanami, Kabuto finally recognized himself and returned to reality. He now sat in a corner, staring blankly at the photograph in his hand.

"Kabuto, we meet again." Orochimaru's deep, hoarse voice sounded before him.

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto raised his head, his expression unusually calm.

Orochimaru said knowingly, "It seems you are no longer lost."

Kabuto lowered his head and reflected. "Yes. It was Itachi's Izanami that made me understand what kind of place I truly longed to belong to, and who I really was. It was only because you were the first person to acknowledge my existence when I had despaired of life that I willingly allowed myself to be commanded and used by you..."

Kabuto raised his head. "And Lord Orochimaru, back then, you deliberately told Tobi not to dispose of my corpse, didn't you? You had already seen through the fact that I implanted the Sharingan into my body and used Izanagi to escape..."

Orochimaru raised a brow. "Oh? You noticed..."

Red Kabuto adjusted the bridge of his nose. "Your perspective back then was far broader than mine. I simply refused to admit it and deceived myself into believing that Uchiha Riu had completely brainwashed you, causing you to abandon me... So what was your purpose in letting me live?"

Orochimaru raised two fingers. "I had two purposes. First, I did not want you to die so young. Second, I wanted to see another possibility."

"Another possibility?"

"Yes, another life that I could not experience personally... Yu had already changed my life, so I wanted you to live and let me see another possibility for my own life through you. I think I have already received