Orochimaru, I Know Why You Joined the Akatsuki

Orochimaru wore a strange expression, his slit pupils contracting. For a moment, he could not figure out what the other man wanted.

"Lord Orochimaru, there's actually more to my unique abilities than that!"

"Watch..."

As Uzumaki Shixia finished speaking, his body began to change rapidly.

Bzzzz-

Uzumaki Shixia, who had looked perfectly normal a moment ago, transformed into a body of energy wreathed in lightning.

"Hmm?"

"This is..."

Even Orochimaru, the Shinobi World's great scientist, was astonished by the sight.

He had seen similar abilities before. Some ninja could turn their bodies almost entirely into water.

Although that ability was quite impressive, it was not enough to truly tempt Orochimaru.

Uzumaki Shixia's ability, however, did tempt him.

Transforming his body into lightning would give him an unimaginably high affinity for Lightning Release.

Not only that, but lightning could also serve as a power source for many energy-consuming ninja tools.

Uzumaki Shixia's Lightning Release chakra was also exceptionally pure.

According to the intelligence Orochimaru had gathered, Uzumaki Shixia's Lightning Release ninjutsu was top-notch as well.

Thinking of all this, Orochimaru could not help taking a keen interest in Uzumaki Shixia!

He thought to himself, Excellent! Truly excellent!

Could this be some entirely new kekkei genkai?

What's more, would a body that can so easily enter a state of pure energy really age?

Energy can weaken and disappear, but aging isn't a property of energy!

At that thought, Orochimaru grew even more tempted.

If he could obtain Uzumaki Shixia's body and reincarnate into it...

His pursuit of ninjutsu might enter an entirely new realm!

But first, he needed to test whether Uzumaki Shixia's abilities were all show and no substance.

They might look incredibly enticing, only to prove utterly mediocre in practice.

He looked Uzumaki Shixia up and down, then spoke.

"Come with me. I'll test your abilities and determine whether you're worth hiring long-term."

As a researcher, Orochimaru would not jump to conclusions.

Uzumaki Shixia nodded casually at his words.

"No problem."

Karin, on the other hand, was a little nervous. After all, these two had nearly come to blows just moments ago.

In a clearing, Uzumaki Shixia and Orochimaru stood facing each other.

Karin stood a short distance away, her delicate fists clenched, deeply worried for Uzumaki Shixia!

Orochimaru let his hands hang at his sides without adopting any fighting stance.

Even among ninja, he was an exceptionally unusual presence.

He had no need for a specific fighting stance. Under any circumstances, he could unleash all manner of bewildering ninjutsu.

"Heh-"

"Are you ready?"

Orochimaru glanced at Uzumaki Shixia's youthful face.

Almost everything he knew about Sixia's strength came from Kakuzu.

But he had never personally seen Sixia fight, so he did not know how strong Sixia truly was.

At Orochimaru's words, Sixia beckoned to him, signaling that he could attack.

But instead of throwing a hand, Orochimaru threw his head!

Whoosh-

His neck stretched out in an instant, like rubber.

His head seemed to become that of a terrifying snake as it lunged at Uzumaki Shixia to bite him.

Whizz-

Facing Orochimaru's attack, Sixia raised a hand and pointed, using Lightning Finger.

Lightning Finger was an ability that released Lightning Release chakra through the fingers.

Bzzzt!

A streak of lightning shot toward Orochimaru, but his head easily dodged it.

Guiding his neck with his head, Orochimaru stretched, twisted, and spun several times in a bizarre fashion before finally biting into Uzumaki Shixia's neck.

Crackle!

Bzzzz-

But Uzumaki Shixia, who had looked perfectly normal a moment before, instantly transformed into a body of lightning energy.

The moment Orochimaru bit down, the high-voltage current shocked him, leaving him charred outside and cooked within.

At the same time, a pair of hands suddenly tore open the neck of Orochimaru's body a short distance away.

Then Orochimaru crawled out of his original body.

Orochimaru's ninjutsu had always had a few very distinctive features.

Namely, Orochimaru spat out snakes, snakes spat out Orochimaru, Orochimaru spat out Orochimaru, and snakes spat out snakes.

Now, after abandoning his original shell and escaping the electricity coursing through his body...

Orochimaru formed hand seals with both hands, then slammed them onto the ground!

"Summoning Technique: Many Snakes Formation!"

Once the technique was complete, Orochimaru opened his mouth, and countless summoned snakes surged toward Uzumaki Shixia, snapping at him.

The sight frightened Karin so badly that her little face went deathly pale.

Almost the entire ground was covered in snakes.

Yet Uzumaki Shixia was not the least bit concerned by such a technique.

"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"

Crackle!

Bzzzz-

With the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's enhancement, the power of Sixia's Lightning Release ninjutsu had increased enormously.

The instant he unleashed the technique, a web of lightning formed all around him.

That web grew denser and denser.

Before long, the web of lightning had turned into a pool of electricity!

No matter how many snakes Orochimaru's Many Snakes Formation contained, they would all be reduced to dust in that pool of lightning.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Orochimaru's hands soon lunged toward Sixia like two snakes, seeking to bite him.

Bzzzt!

Blue electricity flashed around Sixia, and in the next instant, he appeared behind Orochimaru.

To earn his employer's approval without beating him to death, Sixia quickly settled on a plan.

"Lightning Release: Lariat!"

Appearing behind Orochimaru, he smashed a fist into him.

Thud!

With a dull impact, Orochimaru crashed heavily to the ground.

A short distance away, Orochimaru emerged from the mouth of a giant snake.

The two traded attacks for several rounds, neither able to get the better of the other.

But just then, Orochimaru suddenly felt a jolt of dread!

Some force seemed to have locked directly onto him.

He would have to confront the next attack head-on, unable to negate it with his various Orochimaru-Style Substitution Techniques.

Naturally, what had locked onto Orochimaru was Sixia's Mantra.

Strictly speaking, he had only locked onto Orochimaru's chakra.

No matter how Orochimaru used his Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique, the strongest source of chakra on the battlefield would surely mark the location of his real body.

"Thirty Million Volts: Thunder Beast!"

After locking onto Orochimaru's position, Uzumaki Shixia unleashed searing lightning straight at him.

Roar-

A tremendous beast's roar suddenly rang out.

In the next instant, countless blue arcs of lightning converged furiously, forming an enormous, terrifying Thunder Beast!

The Thunder Beast's entire body carried an unimaginably terrifying voltage.

After throwing back its head and roaring at the sky, the Thunder Beast raced toward Orochimaru's real body.

Faced with such an attack, even Orochimaru dared not be careless.

"Triple Rashomon!"

Without the slightest hesitation, he rapidly formed hand seals and slammed both hands onto the ground!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three enormous gates burst up from the ground one after another, towering into the sky to shield Orochimaru.

Rumble!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Thirty Million Volts: Thunder Beast that Uzumaki Shixia had casually unleashed soon tore through all three Rashomon gates in succession.

By then, however, the enormous Thunder Beast had expended a great deal of its power.

In that state, the Thunder Beast no longer posed any threat to Orochimaru.

At Orochimaru's command, a giant summoned snake suddenly appeared and charged straight into the Thunder Beast.

Boom-

A terrifying explosion erupted in an instant.

Orochimaru vanished from the explosion site, appearing before Uzumaki Shixia a moment later.

His sinister eyes now stared intently at Uzumaki Shixia.

He could hardly have been more satisfied with Uzumaki Shixia's body!

Not only did it possess several wondrous properties, but his mastery of Lightning Release was practically divine!

If Orochimaru reincarnated into Uzumaki Shixia's body in the future, he would surely be able to develop many excellent ninjutsu.

Before Uzumaki Shixia could attack again, Orochimaru spoke first.

"That's enough!"

"I've seen what you can do."

"Next, I intend to hire you to assist me in researching ninjutsu and certain other technologies."

"Although you'll only be assisting with my research, I can still pay you at the rate of an A-rank commission mission. I'll pay you 200,000 ryo."

[New commission mission discovered!]

[Employer: Orochimaru]

[Mission objective: Orochimaru is very interested in you. Use your unique physical properties and abilities to assist Orochimaru's research!]

[Mission payment: 200,000 ryo.]

[Mission rank: A]

[Mission reward: 200 commission points]

Hearing that, Uzumaki Shixia immediately refused!

No way!

He was not looking for a one-off deal.

Given Orochimaru's wealth and research needs, he could easily afford to hire Sixia long-term.

After receiving the generous rewards from his last long-term commission mission, Sixia had developed quite a taste for them.

Now, whenever he encountered a promising employer, he wanted them to offer him a long-term employment agreement.

"Lord Orochimaru, I have some conditions for your commission mission."

"First, researching and developing ninjutsu and other technologies takes a great deal of time."

"Helping you with that sort of research will take up a considerable amount of my time, so you need to pay me more and hire me long-term."

Uzumaki Shixia's meaning was simple and clear: pay more!

"Second, while assisting you with research and development of ninjutsu and other technologies, I won't cooperate with any research project I don't agree to."

"Third, if I need to provide biological material, you are forbidden from cloning my cells."

"Fourth..."

Uzumaki Shixia's words left Orochimaru utterly speechless.

Was he hiring Uzumaki Shixia to assist with his research?

Or was Uzumaki Shixia hiring him to help Uzumaki Shixia research himself?

Besides, there seemed to be no need to hire Uzumaki Shixia long-term.

Once they reached his territory, he had plenty of ways to bring Uzumaki Shixia under his control.

But just then, Uzumaki Shixia spoke again.

"Orochimaru, I know why you joined the Akatsuki."