Conversation with Orochimaru

"Turning people with no blood relation into biological brothers..."

Casting aside the strange feeling, Orochimaru murmured softly.

Itachi merely looked at Orochimaru calmly. Though he appeared utterly composed,

he knew very well that if Orochimaru before him could not solve this problem, then no one in this world could.

And the plan in his heart could only be abandoned helplessly.

"Tell me, what exactly is the situation?"

The matter of blood relations that Itachi had mentioned happened to fall within Orochimaru's area of expertise.

After all, no one understood the human body, cells, and genes better than he did.

"I have a friend... One of his friends died, and he was very sad... So he wanted to use this method to continue his friend's bloodline..."

Itachi opened with, "I have a friend..."

What followed was almost entirely nonsense.

"Dead..."

After hearing Itachi out, Orochimaru stared blankly for a moment.

"You're talking about Shisui, aren't you..."

Yet Orochimaru's mind was practically monstrous. The moment he spoke, he exposed Itachi's bullshit.

Orochimaru's intelligence left Itachi somewhat stunned. He had not expected Orochimaru to be so clever.

It was truly terrifying.

The wariness in his heart surged fiercely.

Without realizing it, killing intent boiled off him as well. This feeling of being out of control displeased him greatly.

Orochimaru smiled faintly at the sharpness that flashed through Itachi's eyes and the killing intent on him, utterly unconcerned.

To be honest, the number of people Orochimaru had killed, the number who had died by his hand, was probably greater than the number Itachi had ever seen...

Such feeble killing intent was simply showing off before an expert.

"Everyone knows about your relationship with Shisui."

Thinking of the Mangekyo Sharingan Itachi had mentioned, Orochimaru felt a surge of heat in his heart as he spoke softly.

He did not want to make their relationship too tense.

To be honest, he also wanted to act now and personally take Itachi's eyes. But since Itachi had approached him on his own, that became unnecessary. If they truly fought, Orochimaru was not certain he would win.

After all, he knew the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Though the historical records described it in only scattered fragments, those fragments were still earth-shattering and terrifying.

After all, the briefer the historical record, the more serious the matter. The more long-winded the account, the more trivial it was.

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Itachi's expression calmed down.

"Can you do it?"

Itachi asked softly.

In truth, he knew there was a high chance it was possible. After all, this world was not like his previous life.

People could come back from the dead at the drop of a hat. Living Corpse Reincarnation existed, so changing bloodlines and genes should not have been that difficult.

"It's not much of a problem, but I'm in Akatsuki right now. I'm usually out doing missions, so I don't have time to research such things."

In response to Itachi's question, Orochimaru smiled faintly, speaking with complete confidence.

He was clearly negotiating terms.

He was only curious about Akatsuki. Whenever he wanted to leave, he could simply walk away.

In his view, no matter where in this world he was, he could come and go as he pleased...

In the original story, if he had not fallen to Itachi's Sword of Totsuka, he could have lived freely and comfortably until the end.

The nearly bug-like Orochimaru Style Substitution Technique made him practically invincible.

Only his soul, weakened by Living Corpse Reincarnation, counted as a weakness.

"I can't give you the Mangekyo Sharingan. If I gave it to you, I wouldn't be able to use it myself. I can only provide you with some Mangekyo Sharingan cells."

Itachi understood Orochimaru's unspoken meaning.

So he spoke softly.

Of course, he could not possibly give Orochimaru cells from his own Mangekyo. He planned to extract some cells from Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan and hand those over to Orochimaru.

"Itachi-kun, you're straightforward. Cells will be enough, though I may need you to provide them several times."

Orochimaru smiled as he spoke.

For him, with even a little of those cells, he could create an entire army...

But the Mangekyo Sharingan truly was absurd. It would need repeated cultivation, cloning, comparison, and refinement, which was why he said several extractions might be necessary.

"Fine."

Itachi nodded blandly. In any case, he did not plan to use Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan himself...

He intended to implant it in Sasuke later and help him ascend to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. This was the only thing Itachi could do for the previous owner of this body.

He just did not know whether Sasuke could still awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan without his death...

"Excellent."

Itachi's answer satisfied Orochimaru greatly.

"By the way, your summon is quite good. Can you let me sign a contract with it?"

Looking at the delighted Orochimaru, Itachi asked softly.

He was not particularly interested in the snakes. What interested him more was Sage Jutsu.

The Uchiha Clan was better suited to learning the Sage Jutsu of Ryuchi Cave.

Sasuke's Heaven's Curse Mark in the original story showed just how compatible he was with Ryuchi Cave Sage Jutsu.

After all, Orochimaru's curse marks had been developed through research into natural energy and Sage Jutsu.

This could also be considered one of Orochimaru's regrets—that he could not practice Sage Jutsu himself...

"Sure."

Upon hearing Itachi's request, Orochimaru agreed without hesitation, without even needing to think about it.

The Orochimaru of the past had pursued immortality. The current Orochimaru only wanted to perfect his immortality technique and conduct research.

Figuring out things he did not understand was one of the greatest pursuits of his life.

That was why he had achieved so much in scientific research.

Watching Orochimaru spit out a huge scroll from his mouth, Itachi found himself at a loss for words.

Especially since it was covered in quite a bit of slime...

But when Orochimaru opened the scroll and revealed the clean contract inside, Itachi finally relaxed.

He had not known he had a cleanliness obsession before, but his instinctive reaction just now told him that he did have one, at least a little...

It was simply impossible to criticize. This man stuffed everything into his mouth...

Since the crows had been raised by Shisui and Itachi together, Itachi successfully signed a contract with a second type of summon.

With a hand seal pressed down, everything was settled.

If the giant snakes he summoned later refused to obey and wanted to rebel, he could just beat them up.

"Do you have equipment for extracting cells? If you do, I can help you extract them now."

After signing the summoning contract, Itachi felt quite satisfied. He also gained a clear understanding of just how convenient and agreeable Orochimaru could be.

If his current body had not been so frail and his strength so weak, Itachi would have wanted to go all the way and ask for some Hashirama Cells.

But that was all he could do—think about it. Even though members of the Uchiha Clan had a natural advantage when facing Hashirama Cells,

the Hashirama Cells were simply too potent.

More importantly, Itachi could not possibly let Orochimaru inject him. If Orochimaru harbored ill intent during the process of taming and assimilating the Hashirama Cells, he would be finished.

He could not so easily place his life in someone else's hands.

"I have tools for extracting cells, and it's not as troublesome as you think."

Naturally, Orochimaru knew nothing of Itachi's thoughts. He merely took out a sealing scroll, then produced a small syringe?

"???"

"Don't worry, I only need to draw a tiny bit. I'm not asking to fill it..."

Seeing Itachi's bewildered little expression, Orochimaru chuckled softly.

After all, the small syringe in his hand was as thick as a little finger. If it were filled, even a Mangekyo Sharingan would be drained dry...

"How much is a tiny bit..."

At Orochimaru's words, Itachi asked weakly, like a child about to have blood drawn while facing a terrifying doctor...

"Just enough to get some on the needle..."

Orochimaru said with a kindly expression...

"Oh, right. I also have a bottle of medicine here. You can drip a few drops onto your eyeball, and the wound from the needle will heal too."

As if recalling something, Orochimaru took out a small vial with his other hand and spoke softly.