Calling You Uncle Orochimaru Isn't Too Much, Is It?

"Ahem, Uncle Orochimaru is just a way of addressing you. Given your seniority, Lord Orochimaru, calling you Uncle Orochimaru isn't too much, is it?" Sōkyū Hatake coughed, not having expected to say what was on his mind out loud.

"Heh heh heh, of course there's no problem with that." Orochimaru froze for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"Hehe." Sōkyū Hatake merely smiled and said nothing more.

"Then what about copying cells? Cloning can also be understood as copying, duplicating, and doubling-taking the original cells and making identical copies of them. A body formed that way would be the most suitable body for you!" Sōkū explained the principles of cloning technology from his previous life to Orochimaru.

"According to what you're saying, the cloned me would have thoughts of his own, too? Then if I used this technology, what kept existing in this world would be a series of Orochimarus, rather than me?" Orochimaru immediately caught the flaw in cloning technology and voiced his question to Sōkū.

"Do you remember a ninjutsu called the Spirit Transformation Technique?"

"I know it. The one Dan Katō learned. It's in the Scroll of Seals. I remember it lets you transform into a living spirit, attack enemies regardless of distance, control their bodies, and enter other people's mental worlds." Orochimaru frowned as he recalled it.

"Yes, but that only lets the soul inhabit a body temporarily, not permanently. Speaking of which, you should be researching Living Corpse Reincarnation by now, right?" Sōkū looked at Orochimaru with a smile.

"How do you know?" Orochimaru's entire body tensed. Sōkū knew his secret. Living Corpse Reincarnation required experiments on large numbers of human bodies, something strictly forbidden in Konoha. If discovered, he would immediately be declared a rogue ninja and become a wanted man!

"I know a lot of things, but I won't expose you, and I'm not interested in getting involved. I still need you to help me find the ninjutsu I need." Sōkū paid no mind to Orochimaru's tense body. He understood Orochimaru's pursuit very well. Immortality was his foremost priority.

"Hehehe, you hide your secrets well, Sōkū-kun." Orochimaru sat down and looked at Sōkū expressionlessly, but his tightly clenched hands betrayed what he felt.

"Let's continue talking about immortality. Living Corpse Reincarnation lets you transfer your own mind into someone else's body, but because the mind and body don't match, rejection occurs, weakening you and even damaging your mind. With a cloned body, however, you wouldn't have that concern."

"You could clone yourself at your peak. The mental energy produced by a newly created clone wouldn't be very strong, and it would also be your own mental energy. In theory, your soul wouldn't reject your own mental energy; they would only merge. But the merged soul would have a dominant consciousness. According to relativity, the stronger mental energy would be dominant, so only you would be in control. That means after cloning yourself and having your soul inhabit the clone, you would still be you."

"But that's really just cloning technology. What does it have to do with the Spirit Transformation Technique?"

"Living Corpse Reincarnation and the Spirit Transformation Technique both have their respective flaws. The Spirit Transformation Technique is stronger when it comes to soul invasion. You could study the two and combine them into a more suitable soul ninjutsu!"

"That is a feasible approach, but Sōkū-kun, what exactly are you after by telling me so much?" Orochimaru looked at Sōkū sinisterly as he spoke. He didn't believe Sōkū would tell him all this for no reason.

"Everyone fears death, Lord Orochimaru. I hope you'll share the results of your research with me when the time comes. After all, I'm afraid of dying, too."

Orochimaru remained silent and continued looking at Sōkū.

"Of course, there are other reasons, too. You're working with Shimura Danzō now, aren't you? The Third Hokage wouldn't help you or allow you to conduct this kind of research. Working alone, you couldn't conduct human research so secretly, nor would you have so many test subjects." Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo were not the same kind of person.

Orochimaru nodded, acknowledging that his collaborator was Shimura Danzō.

"The other thing I need you to provide is evidence of Shimura Danzō secretly conducting human experiments. That way, we can release the evidence against him before he casts you aside as a pawn."

"What grudge do you have against Danzo?" Orochimaru asked curiously.

"You know my surname is Hatake. According to my investigation, the rumors that drove my father, Hatake Sakumo, to suicide were secretly spread by his Root. I won't forget that grudge." Sōkū looked earnestly at Orochimaru. He wanted to form an alliance with Orochimaru, or at the very least join his camp, to deal with the risks ahead.

Orochimaru stared into Sōkū's eyes, then spoke after a long while.

"I owe Lord White Fang a debt. He saved my life on the battlefield back then. I don't consider myself a good person, but I always repay a kindness. I accept this deal."

Sōkū let out a breath of relief. Truthfully, he had been gambling-on Orochimaru's desire for immortality and his unwillingness to be a pawn. Fortunately, he had won that gamble.

"But Sōkū-kun, Danzo currently has more information in his hands than I do. If everything is exposed, I expect I'll still be at a disadvantage. How would we deal with that?"

"Does Shimura Danzō always use scrolls to contact you?"

"Sometimes."

"Keep them all. If he dares expose your human experiments, we'll release those scrolls as evidence in response. And you need to emphasize one thing: these were research orders given to you by Konoha Village Advisor Shimura Danzō, and you simply didn't dare disobey. Leave the actual management of public opinion to me when the time comes." Sōkū had seen far too much of this sort of public-opinion manipulation in his previous life. Any one of those methods, brought to Konoha, would be more sophisticated than what a native like Shimura Danzō could manage.

Next, Sōkū began telling Orochimaru the bits of rudimentary knowledge about cloning he had heard in his previous life. After all, he had only heard about it and didn't understand its inner workings.

But these points posed no problem for an expert like Orochimaru, who had already conducted human experiments. He absorbed the knowledge very quickly, and by the time he left late that night, he had already developed a rudimentary understanding of cloning technology of his own.

Of course, Sōkū didn't place particular importance on immortality. After all, immortality meant watching his loved ones and friends leave him one by one. Although Sōkū could grant them immortality as well, not everyone yearned for it. His main purpose today had still been to draw Orochimaru into his camp.

"Heh heh heh, this is rather nice. Sōkyū Hatake, I'm truly becoming more and more interested in you." Orochimaru set down the teacup in his hand, an inscrutable trace of amusement in his eyes.