A Deal with Orochimaru

"Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan had different abilities in each eye. The left eye was called Amaterasu and could release black flames. These flames could burn anything and could not be extinguished by conventional means.

Once they touched the body, the only option was to cut away part of the body. Given enough time, one could also use Sealing Jutsu such as the Fire Sealing Method to counter them.

The ability of the right eye was called Tsukuyomi, a Genjutsu-type ability. Once you made eye contact, he could pull your mind into a Tsukuyomi world.

Within the Tsukuyomi world, time and space were both controlled by the caster. In other words, in the instant you looked into his eyes, you might have already spent more than three days in his Mindscape.

Those caught by the technique could only let him torment and harm them. That damage would be directly inflicted upon the mind and even the soul. No matter how powerful someone was, it was difficult to resist.

At the same time, the Mangekyō Sharingan also possessed a universal ability. It could summon an energy entity called Susanoo. This technique was immensely powerful, and ordinary ninjutsu could not harm it in the slightest. Its offensive and destructive power were both on the level of a Tailed Beast. It was extremely difficult to deal with."

Aoba stopped there, leaving Orochimaru wanting more.

"Such a powerful ability—offense, defense, and mental prowess, all flawless. Does he have no weaknesses?"

"Of course he does. But that will be part of our second transaction. Lord Orochimaru, I believe the information above is already enough to pay for a Kusanagi Sword."

In truth, intelligence on Itachi Uchiha was of little use to the vast majority of shinobi.

Though Itachi's character left much to be desired, his tactical ability was absurdly formidable. Ninety-nine percent of the shinobi in this world could not force him to use all of those abilities at all.

The stronger the shinobi, the more useful such intelligence became. For Orochimaru, it was urgently needed information. This was a seller's market.

Orochimaru clearly understood that as well. He gave a few sinister chuckles before speaking.

"Fair enough. State your request."

"I need Danzo's blood."

Even Orochimaru was taken aback by that request. He had expected Aoba to ask for all manner of things—secret techniques, forbidden techniques, and the like.

But he had never expected such a strange demand.

"Danzo's blood? Why would you think I have something like that?"

"I believe Lord Orochimaru certainly has it. You have cooperated with Danzo many times and performed human modifications on him. With your methods, preserving some of Danzo's blood samples should have been effortless."

Orochimaru's gaze at Aoba became even stranger. It was filled with undisguised greed.

He then took out a sealing scroll. After unsealing it, he removed a carefully preserved test tube.

"This is what you wanted."

Aoba accepted it without inspecting it. In truth, he had no way to inspect it anyway. Still, Orochimaru was reliable enough in this regard. He would not resort to fakes to fool him.

"Itachi Uchiha naturally has weaknesses. In fact, his strongest asset, the Mangekyō Sharingan, is his weakness.

The Mangekyō Sharingan has a fatal flaw: its Ocular Power is limited and cannot be restored. In other words, the more he used it, the greater the damage to his eyes. Eventually, his eyes would go completely blind.

Itachi Uchiha awakened his Mangekyō too early. Its drain should already be affecting his vision now.

There is also the most crucial point. Even if his Mangekyō did not blind him, he would not live much longer."

Those words clearly provoked Orochimaru. After all, he had been coveting Itachi's body intensely.

Awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan was an enormous boon for an Uchiha, but it was also an immense burden. Itachi Uchiha had awakened his Mangekyō too early. He had fully awakened it before his body had finished developing.

As a result, those eyes placed an enormous burden on his body. The physical manifestation of that burden was that he suffered from severe Bloodline Disease. He did not have many years left to live."

This intelligence truly struck Orochimaru. He stared fixedly at Aoba, seemingly trying to determine whether he was telling the truth. Aoba did not care, because everything he had said was true.

As he had said, information about Itachi Uchiha was worthless among lower-level shinobi. Even without using the Mangekyō, Itachi was more than a match for most people.

In fact, Aoba had still held back quite a bit. For instance, the different forms of Susanoo, as well as the possibility that Itachi Uchiha had already acquired the Totsuka Blade.

It was not that he did not want to say more. He simply could only reveal this much for now. He could already sense that Orochimaru was becoming increasingly interested in him.

Though he had more intelligence, and Orochimaru had more things he wanted, Aoba Kamikawa knew that this transaction had to end here.

If he said much more, Orochimaru might not be able to restrain himself.

"Hahahahaha..." After a piercing laugh, Orochimaru's snake-like eyes fixed themselves on Aoba.

"Aoba, I am truly curious. What exactly happened over the past three years? Where did you obtain so much information?"

"Sorry, that is outside the scope of our transaction. Lord Orochimaru, today's transaction ends here."

Aoba did not intend to drag things out any longer. He had already obtained what he needed, and facing Orochimaru placed far too much pressure on him.

"Aoba, why not consider returning to my side? You possess so much intelligence, while I possess forbidden techniques beyond your imagination. If the two of us joined forces, we could surely accomplish great things."

"Sorry, Lord Orochimaru. My answer is the same as it was three years ago. Farewell."

As he spoke, Aoba took a step back while keeping his eyes locked on Orochimaru and the other two.

Seeing Aoba retreat, Kimimaro, who had been standing beside Orochimaru without saying a word, stepped forward.

Kimimaro's strength at this point was certainly not comparable to what it would be years later, when he fought Rock Lee and Gaara. But his Bloodline Disease should not have been as severe then, either.

As a taijutsu-type shinobi, youth itself was an advantage. Aoba was not even completely confident he could defeat Kimimaro. With Orochimaru and Jugo added to the equation, he had no chance of winning at all.

But since he had dared to come, he naturally had something to rely on. He simply did not want to use it unless absolutely necessary.

"Enough, Kimimaro. Aoba is our friend. I believe we will have more transactions in the future, won't we, Aoba?"

"Of course. I believe Lord Orochimaru will be able to find me."

"Good. Then let us part ways here."