Orochimaru: You Can Do That?

The Mask Hall.

Liu Yun nodded slightly. "I heard a story and got a little curious."

"Oh? What story?"

Orochimaru looked over.

"They say that gathering all twenty-seven masks lets you summon a powerful being."

He recounted the story the young man had just told him.

"Really?" Orochimaru nodded casually. "Aren't all the masks already gathered here?"

Liu Yun spread his hands. "That's what I thought, too."

"...It seems it's just an interesting story."

Orochimaru chuckled despite himself. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly froze.

He murmured, "Summon a powerful being... could it be?"

Liu Yun feigned confusion. "Lord Orochimaru, do you know something?"

Orochimaru came back to his senses and gave the masks on the wall a long look.

"I remembered an interesting jutsu."

"A jutsu?"

"The Reaper Death Seal." Orochimaru uttered the name, his gaze deepening. "Curiosity is an excellent quality, but don't get curious about this jutsu."

Liu Yun nodded. It seemed that even Orochimaru had no interest in pursuing this jutsu.

He wasn't curious about the jutsu itself either. The Reaper Death Seal was a classic technique that cost the caster their life.

It was the textbook example of hurting yourself before hurting your enemy. Using it meant certain death.

What truly intrigued him was just what kind of being the Shinobi World's Reaper was.

Was it a special form of life, or purely a manifestation of rules?

And... how exactly had the Uzumaki Clan developed the Reaper Death Seal?

During its initial development, how had they discovered the Reaper, communicated with it, and formed a contract?

By communicating with the Reaper and offering the caster's soul as payment, the jutsu devoured the target's soul. Both would remain trapped in the Reaper's stomach forever, hating each other.

In the original storyline, Minato had used the Reaper Death Seal during the Night of the Nine-Tails to successfully split the Nine-Tails into the "Yin Nine-Tails" and the "Yang Nine-Tails." He had given the Yang Nine-Tails to Naruto and taken the Yin Nine-Tails into the Reaper's stomach.

The Nine-Tails wasn't a living being in the ordinary sense. Its very nature was on an exceptionally high level, yet even such a being was still bound by the Reaper.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had also used this jutsu, sealing Orochimaru's arms and the souls of the First and Second Hokage inside the Reaper's stomach.

In a sense, that meant snatching souls away from the Pure Land, where the Sage of Six Paths presided...

Not only that, the Uzumaki Clan had even created Shinigami Masks that could release the sealed souls.

Between sealing and releasing them, they had taken sealing jutsu to extraordinary heights.

At that thought, Liu Yun couldn't help marveling. The Uzumaki Clan might have been severely underestimated.

Even with just the Reaper Death Seal, he couldn't yet figure out how they had made it work.

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps echoed through the deep, silent room.

Orochimaru walked over to Liu Yun's side and took down a mask to examine it closely.

"Not metal? I can't even tell what material it's made from... a marvelous creation."

There was wonder in Orochimaru's voice.

Although he had no interest in learning the Reaper Death Seal, the jutsu's remarkable nature and the legend of the masks had piqued his interest considerably.

After a moment's thought, a small snake slithered out of Orochimaru's sleeve and opened its mouth.

Orochimaru gripped the sword hilt inside its mouth and drew the blade out.

The hilt bore a snake-shaped ornament, and the long, slender blade flashed coldly in Orochimaru's hand.

Liu Yun's eyes widened. Was that the Kusanagi Sword?

In the original work, there wasn't just one Kusanagi Sword. The name referred to several swords.

Each sword had a different form and different abilities.

For instance, Uchiha Itachi's future Kusanagi Sword might have been the most unusual of them all.

It had no physical form, existing instead in Susanoo's hand, and possessed a bizarre sealing ability.

Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword, meanwhile, could extend and retract freely like a snake, giving it extraordinary flexibility.

This should count as equipment material too, right?

As he pondered this, Orochimaru gently drew the blade across one of the mask's horns.

A moment later, the mask remained completely unscathed.

Orochimaru applied more force, scraping the incredibly sharp Kusanagi Sword across it.

A grating screech rang out.

The mask was still completely unscathed, without even the faintest scratch.

Orochimaru paused, then curled his lips into a smile. "Interesting. Even the Kusanagi Sword can't damage it?"

Just then, the door to the Mask Hall opened again.

Liu Yun turned toward the sound.

Mito Uzumaki and Akina Uzumaki walked in together, followed by Minato and Ayaka Uzumaki.

"Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru set down the mask and bowed slightly. "Lady Mito, Lord Akina Uzumaki."

Mito Uzumaki's gaze swept across the empty Mask Hall, her voice tinged with nostalgia. "It's been decades since I last came here."

Akina Uzumaki nodded in wholehearted agreement.

As clan leader, he knew perfectly well what the Shinigami Masks represented.

They were the crucial keys to undoing the Reaper Death Seal.

However, of these twenty-seven keys, only one could still be used...

Ever since the village's founding, the Reaper Death Seal hadn't been used in a very long time, much less needed undoing.

He looked at Liu Yun and smiled. "Which one would you like?"

Liu Yun thought for a moment, then pointed to the one he had examined earlier.

Akina Uzumaki walked over, took down the mask, and examined it carefully before nodding. "No problem."

With that, he pressed the mask into Liu Yun's hands.

[New equipment material detected]

[Shinigami Mask (Eleventh Pact)]

[Estimated quality: purple]

[Refinement cost: 120,000 ryo per attempt]

[Special requirement: mastery of the Reaper Death Seal]

[Requirement not met. Refinement unavailable]

I've got it! My first piece of purple-quality equipment material!

What traits will it have?

Liu Yun was in high spirits.

Beside him, Orochimaru stood dumbfounded, staring blankly at the mask in Liu Yun's hands.

Wait, you could just ask for one?

And they'd actually give it to you?

Did the Uzumaki Clan not care about these masks at all?

For a moment, a jumble of emotions filled him, impossible to put into words.

A short distance away, Minato glanced at the differently shaped masks on the wall, his expression turning rather odd.

He thought of Hiruzen Sarutobi's Pipe.

That had been a precious souvenir from the Hokage, and even now, thinking about it filled him with regret.

You have to take a souvenir from Uzushio Village too, you rascal!

Minato wanted to speak but held back.

Mito Uzumaki noticed something and gently patted Ayaka Uzumaki's shoulder, signaling for her to take Minato outside for a stroll.

Liu Yun only wanted a mask. Though the Shinigami Masks held extraordinary significance, one was nothing compared with a contribution as great as saving Uzushio Village.

Akina Uzumaki would never refuse him.

But if Minato asked as well, that would be a different matter.

Akina Uzumaki wouldn't agree, and things would become awkward.

Just then, Orochimaru cleared his throat. "Lady Mito, Lord Akina Uzumaki, I would also..."

Mito Uzumaki pressed a hand to her forehead. Why did Orochimaru have to join in too?

She hastily cut him off. If everyone wanted one, even twenty-seven masks wouldn't be enough to go around.

"It's getting late. Akina, let's go see which children we should send to Konoha."