"Wood Release has already paved a broad road to the pinnacle for me. Your head would be no more than icing on the cake."
Those words struck Orochimaru's heart like a heavy hammer.
Arrogant!
That was Orochimaru's first reaction.
But a moment later, he had to admit that it was true. He knew better than anyone what a ninja capable of using Wood Release meant in this era. If Toru Kujyo wished, he could become Konoha's hero at any time, a future Hokage revered by thousands. The head of a rogue ninja like himself really was worth little now.
Being seen through so completely, and utterly outclassed in the very field he excelled at most, filled Orochimaru with a long-forgotten sense of... humiliation and excitement.
"Then what have you come to me for?" Orochimaru licked his lips. He knew they were about to reach the real point.
"To make a deal, of course." The smile on Toru Kujyo's face grew more enigmatic. "I need your expertise, and I can give you what you want."
As he spoke, he took two scrolls from inside his clothes and handed them to Sasuke beside him.
Sasuke accepted the scrolls, cast a wary glance at Orochimaru, and formed hand seals.
"Release!"
Two puffs of white smoke rose, revealing the contents of the scrolls before them.
They were neither gold and jewels nor rare ninjutsu scrolls.
On the left was a huge glass culture vessel containing a section of an arm that still twitched faintly. The arm was white as paper and had no bones, as though it were made of some special plant fiber. Traces of Wood Release chakra still lingered on it.
On the right was a thick stack of documents. Neatly written on the cover were the words-"An analytical report on the