When he saw Gua's hand fall heavily back down, Orochimaru's pupils contracted. He was terrified.
"Was that just a final rally before death?"
Orochimaru hurried to check Gua's breathing again.
"He's still breathing. His heart's still beating."
His breathing and heartbeat were slowly returning to normal. Orochimaru let out a long sigh of relief. It looked like he would be all right.
That meant Orochimaru no longer needed to find a sacrifice. He was in no hurry to figure out what had happened, either. He only needed to wait quietly for Gua to wake up.
After a moment's thought,
Orochimaru found a pile of gauze and prepared to bandage Gua's wounds.
But when he undid Gua's clothes, he was stunned to discover that there were no wounds on Gua's body, only bloodstains.
That blood wasn't Gua's!
Orochimaru was dumbfounded.
He looked at the gauze in his hands, then at Gua, whom he had stripped naked. After a brief struggle, he dressed Gua again.
"Looks like there's nothing to bandage."
Orochimaru put down the gauze, found a low stool, and sat down beside Gua.
He planned to ask Gua all about it once he woke up.
Time ticked away.
Orochimaru had never felt so at peace. Even when the Akatsuki had given him fifty million, his heart had still felt empty.
"Gua, what does the science in your mind really look like?"
Orochimaru couldn't help imagining it.
"Will it grant immortality?"
"Will it erase all suffering?"
"Will it make the Shinobi World better?"
Orochimaru didn't know. All he could do was dream. He believed that if even Gua couldn't uncover the secret of immortality, no one in this world could.
"I wasn't wrong!"
"No, you were."
"I wasn't! I was putting my Will of Fire into practice!"
"No will should