The Wheel of Fortune?
It sounded like a pathway connected to destiny.
In a way, it seemed to fit his life perfectly—chasing the shadow of fate.
The first half of his life had been spent searching for the "Child of the Prophecy," and now, in the latter half, he was chasing a fate that was almost impossible to achieve.
Looking back, it was somewhat laughable.
Jiraiya hesitated for half a second, then turned to Orochimaru. "If I swallow this thing directly, would I become like you?"
"Perhaps. Or perhaps not."
Orochimaru seemed to finally take a real interest in him. He sat back in his chair and said with a meaningful smile, "Directly consuming the 'Beyonder Characteristics' carries a high chance of losing control. To put it in terms you can understand, it means becoming a monster without reason. So… are you sure you want to take that risk?"
"After all, we were comrades once. You really want me to become a monster?"
Jiraiya's mouth twitched slightly, and he said, a bit speechless, "Seriously?"
"Of course~"
Orochimaru laughed even more brightly. "Opportunities to study former comrades aren't common. And since this is the 'Wheel of Fortune' pathway, I'm curious about its Beyonder abilities. Don't worry, if you turn into a monster, I promise I'll dissect your body carefully."
"…Should I even thank you for that?"
The courage Jiraiya had gathered moments ago was completely shaken by Orochimaru's words.
Actually eating this thing—setting aside its disgusting appearance and taste—was already terrifying.
The thought of becoming a monster and lying on a lab table while a former comrade studied him sent chills down his spine.
"So… are you giving up?"
Orochimaru sounded slightly disappointed, pursing his lips as if regretful. "Looks like I won't get the chance to study that foolish brain of yours."
"You're hoping something happens to me, aren't you, you bastard!" Jiraiya glared at Orochimaru. "I still remember you, even Tsunade and I, we've been thinking of you all this time!"
"So what?"
Orochimaru's impatience surfaced. "Are you going to eat it or not? If not, I'm leaving."
"Eat? Who said I wouldn't eat?!"
Jiraiya glared at Orochimaru fiercely, but then lowered his gaze toward the silver, ouroboros-like serpent. A complex expression crossed his face.
"Orochimaru, there's one thing you have to promise me. If I really turn into a monster, you have to help Konoha through that crisis."
"Why?"
Orochimaru's expression remained indifferent. "What Konoha becomes has nothing to do with me."
"You were born in Konoha!" Jiraiya stared at him angrily, gritting his teeth. "Don't forget, no matter what you are now, at least Konoha never wronged you, right?"
Orochimaru's index finger tapped lightly on the table, as if pondering.
After a moment, a faint smile appeared on his pale face. "Fine, I'll promise you. Can you eat it now?"
"Not yet, let me prepare myself mentally!"
Jiraiya gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth to swallow it directly.
Gulp!
The palm-sized extraordinary item slid down his throat.
In an instant, Jiraiya felt his soul being torn from his body by some unknown force.
It was as if he were drifting between illusory worlds: one representing the material, one representing the soul, and another—an indescribable, special world.
He saw countless silver, intricate symbols, forming a head-to-tail, scale-less phantom serpent. Its surface was covered in dense patterns and symbols that rotated like interlocking gears.
Around each gear were inscribed countless different markings, which converged in innumerable illusory rivers to form a blurry, unreal, gigantic circular wheel!
Yet, to those outside, Jiraiya appeared completely dead.
No sign of life could be detected, not even his chakra. It was as if he had entirely vanished. Under such circumstances, there was little doubt—he was dead.
"Did it fail?"
Orochimaru's eyes showed a trace of regret.
At that moment, Kabuto, wearing his glasses, walked in. He glanced at Jiraiya, who looked dazed and utterly lifeless, and said calmly, "Lord Orochimaru, is he the subject of this experiment?"
"Yes, but unfortunately, it seems to have failed."
Orochimaru showed slight regret as he steadied himself on the table and stood up. "What about the other subjects?"
Kabuto pushed up his glasses and shook his head. "There were a total of 4,400 subjects who were directly given the Beyonder Characteristics of the twenty-two pathways. The survival rate did not exceed ten percent. Among them, the success rate of the 'Wheel of Fortune' pathway was 0.0%."
In fact, the 'Wheel of Fortune' Beyonder Characteristics that Jiraiya held came from Orochimaru himself.
He had secretly collected Beyonder Characteristics from many pathways. One reason was his own 'White Tower' pathway, which allowed him to study these characteristics and create special tools.
Another reason was to accumulate power to counter Iwagakure and Onoki.
Orochimaru had researched almost all of the twenty-two divine pathways, but there was one pathway that, until now, had never succeeded.
That was the Wheel of Fortune pathway.
"Strange. Why does the Wheel of Fortune pathway fail completely?" Orochimaru furrowed his brows, unable to understand the experiment's result.
Logically, although the probability of success was low when directly using the Beyonder Characteristics of the twenty-two divine pathways, each pathway had nearly a hundred subjects.
The numbers alone should have compensated for the failure rate. Even with such low odds, there should have been at least one or two successes.
Other pathways were fine, but the Wheel of Fortune pathway—every single one failed!
"Lord Orochimaru, I have a thought. I'm not sure if it's correct."
The light reflected off Kabuto's glasses as he spoke slowly, "The Wheel of Fortune pathway, although we know nothing about it currently, judging from the name alone, seems to be related to fate."
"Interesting perspective. Continue."
Orochimaru's eyes glimmered slightly, as if he had found a direction.
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
Kabuto Yakushi gathered his thoughts and continued, "If I'm guessing correctly, the Wheel of Fortune Pathway should value 'luck' more."
"Luck, rather than will, personality, or endurance?"
Orochimaru's gaze shifted subtly, turning toward Jiraiya.
*******
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