The First's Aura?

Orochimaru's heart jolted when he heard those words.

As incredible as it seemed, he felt that Uzumaki Shixia wasn't the kind of ninja to make baseless claims.

"Purpose? What purpose could I have?"

Though inwardly shocked, Orochimaru forced himself to speak calmly.

Once he finished, Uzumaki Shixia replied in an utterly casual tone.

"Lord Orochimaru, didn't you join the Akatsuki to obtain Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan?"

Strictly speaking, what Orochimaru wanted was the Rinnegan.

But taking the Rinnegan was far too difficult, and the attempt had already left him scarred.

He could only settle for the next best thing and target the Sharingan instead.

Orochimaru had already realized a short while ago that Uzumaki Shixia's information was remarkably accurate.

Naturally, hearing Uzumaki Shixia reveal this made him even more astonished.

What he hadn't expected was that Uzumaki Shixia seemed determined to keep shocking him.

At that moment, he actually continued.

"In fact, I know roughly where several extremely powerful Sharingan with very unusual abilities are."

"I'm sure you'd be interested in those Sharingan, Lord Orochimaru."

Uzumaki Shixia's words struck Orochimaru like a jolt of electricity.

The Sharingan was a very unusual, truly miraculous Kekkei Genkai.

As a Sharingan developed and evolved, even the ninja who possessed it couldn't know what abilities it would have before awakening it.

If anyone else had claimed to know where some exceptionally powerful Sharingan were, Orochimaru would most likely have scoffed.

Uzumaki Shixia was different. Even an organization as secretive as the Akatsuki seemed to have no secrets from him.

Though Orochimaru couldn't understand it, Uzumaki Shixia seemed to possess an extraordinary, highly specialized intelligence-gathering ability.

It allowed him to learn things other ninja could never discover.

Orochimaru placed considerable value on that excellent intelligence-gathering ability.

After thinking for a moment, Orochimaru asked a question.

"Where are Shisui Uchiha's eyes?"

He wanted to test whether Uzumaki Shixia truly possessed such a frightening intelligence-gathering ability.

After a moment's thought, Sixia said, "One of Shisui Uchiha's eyes is in Shimura Danzō's hands."

More precisely, it was in Shimura Danzō's eye socket.

The eyes of the other members of the Uchiha Clan were the ones in Shimura Danzō's arm.

Danzo's arm was Orochimaru's handiwork.

So, of course, Orochimaru knew that Danzo possessed one of Shisui's eyes.

But that was a highly classified secret known to very few people.

Orochimaru couldn't help studying Uzumaki Shixia closely once again.

Who exactly is this fellow?

He was able to join the Akatsuki without trouble, which means his identity passed their screening.

But he even knows a secret as sensitive as Danzo possessing Shisui's eye.

Just who is he? And how did he learn all this?

Orochimaru grew a little more wary of Uzumaki Shixia.

In his view, dealing with Uzumaki Shixia would probably be quite troublesome!

But Orochimaru soon realized that he could hire Uzumaki Shixia long-term and study this enigmatic ninja.

Once he hired Uzumaki Shixia, he would not only gain his help with intelligence.

He could also carefully study and analyze Uzumaki Shixia. Once he understood him well enough, dealing with him would become very easy.

At that thought, Orochimaru spoke with a smile.

"I agree!"

"I'll hire you long-term at a monthly salary of 500,000 ryō to assist me in developing and researching ninjutsu and technology!"

[Congratulations, host! You have earned Orochimaru's approval!]

[Orochimaru intends to hire you long-term to assist him in developing and researching ninjutsu and technology, for a salary of 500,000 ryō per month!]

[Successfully accepting this long-term commission mission will reward you with one Super Draw!]

[When a long-term commission mission is settled, the commission points earned from your payment will be doubled!]

Uzumaki Shixia was ecstatic when he saw the string of system notifications.

The rewards for long-term commission missions and temporary commission missions were worlds apart!

Once he claimed this round of rewards, his physical strength and total chakra would rival the Nine-Tails.

That meant his next mission would grant him an SSSS-Rank chakra reward, officially bringing him into the Ten-Tails' realm.

Given enough time, he really could become a humanoid Ten-Tails.

"Come with me."

After deciding to hire Uzumaki Shixia, Orochimaru addressed him casually.

There was no way he carried a million ryō on him at all times.

He planned to pay Uzumaki Shixia 500,000 ryō first, then take him to one of his nearby bases to conduct some research.

"Where are we going?"

Uzumaki Shixia asked offhandedly, unconcerned.

He still hadn't heard a mission-completion notification. Apparently, he would have to follow Orochimaru and sign some sort of agreement before this mission could be completed.

Orochimaru spoke casually as he led the way.

"First, to the Money House to withdraw your 500,000-ryō payment."

"Then to one of my nearby bases. I need your help with some research."

Uzumaki Shixia nodded. Once he received the payment, his mission would count as complete.

Next, Uzumaki Shixia and Karin followed Orochimaru through the village for a while.

Then they arrived at a Money House.

Inside the Money House, Orochimaru signed a document and received a cash box containing a million ryō.

Whoosh-

Orochimaru pushed the cash box in front of Uzumaki Shixia and said,

"There's a million ryō here. Our employment agreement is now officially in effect."

"Now come to my place and help me with some research."

[You have successfully accepted a long-term commission mission: Assist Orochimaru with his scientific research!]

[System reward one: Super Draw attempts ×1]

The instant the system notifications appeared, Uzumaki Shixia couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

Long-term commission missions weren't easy to obtain.

Moreover, if the mission issuer's status didn't meet the system's criteria, the mission wouldn't trigger.

The Akatsuki stood at the pinnacle of war mercenaries in the Shinobi World, so the system recognized it as qualified to issue long-term commission missions.

Though Orochimaru was currently also a member of the Akatsuki, he was no ordinary ninja.

He already had his own faction and led a powerful ninja force, so he too was qualified to issue long-term commission missions.

Delighted, Uzumaki Shixia immediately opened the system panel.

"Give me that draw!"

[Drawing Super Reward...]

[Congratulations, host! You have drawn an S-Rank reward, unlocking one random rare attribute.]

[You have unlocked the rare attribute: world affinity. Future Commission Points draws will have a chance of yielding world affinity rewards.]

[New attribute panel entry: world affinity]

[Current Shinobi World affinity: C]

The result left Sixia rather baffled.

World affinity? What the hell was that?

And it was only an S-Rank reward.

Come on, Orochimaru! Is that all you've got?

Sixia himself hadn't noticed any change.

But Orochimaru, standing opposite him, thought otherwise.

The fluctuation that had suddenly emanated from Sixia made Orochimaru's pupils contract in utter shock!

"What did you just do?!"

Orochimaru stared at Uzumaki Shixia, his face filled with astonishment.

For a brief instant, he had sensed an extremely familiar aura erupt from Uzumaki Shixia.

The First's aura? No! It's extremely similar, but there are still some differences.

Others might not have been able to distinguish between them, but he had conducted so many experiments using that man's cells.

He couldn't have been more familiar with his aura.

Orochimaru had already been very interested in Uzumaki Shixia.

After Uzumaki Shixia suddenly unleashed that familiar, fierce presence, his interest only deepened.

But Orochimaru was soon shocked again.

The cash box in Uzumaki Shixia's hands had vanished!

"Space-Time Ninjutsu?"

Orochimaru's sinister eyes fixed on the spot where the cash box had disappeared, and he couldn't help asking.

The Summoning Technique also fell under Space-Time Ninjutsu, so such techniques weren't particularly unusual to Orochimaru.

But Space-Time Ninjutsu that required no hand seals, no technique formula, and didn't even produce chakra fluctuations was downright alarming!

The Space-Time Ninjutsu Uzumaki Shixia had used was System Space!

He had already stored the cash box inside System Space.

Seeing Orochimaru's dumbfounded expression, Uzumaki Shixia found it thoroughly amusing, but he still nodded calmly.

He gave Orochimaru the impression that it was merely a trivial trick, hardly worth mentioning.

Beside Uzumaki Shixia, Karin's little head was likewise full of big questions.

She was a natural sensor with astonishing sensory abilities, yet even she hadn't detected Uzumaki Shixia using ninjutsu just now.

Uzumaki Shixia hadn't feared Orochimaru at all before. Now that his strength had surged, he was even more eager to take a look at Orochimaru's base.

Orochimaru's original plan had been to trap Uzumaki Shixia inside his base.

But now, he decided to cooperate with Uzumaki Shixia normally for the time being.

This bizarre, eccentric ninja wasn't easy to deal with, and he held tremendous research value. Orochimaru would have to study him carefully.

With Orochimaru leading the way, the three soon arrived at his nearby base.

Once inside, Uzumaki Shixia couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

The place was a fully equipped laboratory, but none of Orochimaru's brilliant or insane creations were there.

Rustle-

Orochimaru casually unfurled a scroll and spread it on the floor. A strange formula traced in black instantly appeared on the ground.

Once he finished, Orochimaru told Uzumaki Shixia, "Sit in the center of this formula."

"I'm going to observe and study your chakra, as well as the properties of your cells."