[Humans slaying Hollows must pierce their bone masks with a "Shinuchi," absorb the Hollow soul into the blade, use the Hollow soul as a guide, combine it with their own spirit as a medium, call its true name to release its initial form, and finally achieve a "Soul-Slaying Blade"...]
Upon seeing the first sentence on the scroll, Orochimaru's hand trembled involuntarily.
"Humans, by piercing the bone mask with something called a 'Shinuchi,' can actually kill 'Hollows,' and even grow stronger from it?"
"So, injecting spiritual energy, which is mental energy, into this 'Shinuchi' to forge a 'Soul-Slaying Blade,' is the path for human spirits to grow stronger?"
"But what exactly is this 'Shinuchi'?"
Orochimaru's slender tongue unconsciously traced his dry lips, looking at the subsequent content with an almost fanatical desire for exploration.
[A "Hollow" can devour myriad souls to strengthen itself. However, the thickness of a human spirit is naturally endowed, and postnatal refinement can hardly change its essence.]
[Thus, I use my own soul as a foundation, inject it into the "Shinuchi," slay Hollows to seize their souls, devour external spirits within it, nurture my own soul within the blade, gradually develop sentience, becoming as controllable as an arm.]
[When the "Shinuchi" is initially formed, it is chaotic within. Once its master uses their own soul to devour the residual spirits within the blade, and the vital essence accumulates like an abyss, the residual spirits within the blade will finally merge into one, developing consciousness and choosing its true name.]
[Upon seeing its true form within the blade and calling its true name, its spiritual power will manifest, and its abilities will be obtained. Its myriad abilities differ, ultimately reflecting the heart and mindscape of its master's soul.]
[This path, I call "Shinigami," one-third destiny, seven-tenths soul-snatching. "Hollows" and "Shinigami" are both proficient in spiritual bodies, yet they represent two sides of Yin and Yang.]
[A "Shinigami"'s soul is rich and pure, like sweet dew attracting bees, inviting "Hollows" to covet and devour them; and a "Shinigami" must also hunt "Hollows" to seize their spirits, strengthening their Soul-Slaying Blade.]
[Yin Soul and Yang Spirit, mutually generating and restraining, creation and destruction flowing, the cycle returning to its beginning...]
"Gulp..."
Orochimaru's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, making an exceptionally clear sound in the deathly silence. The words on the scroll were no longer just text; they were like an invisible blade, precisely dissecting the deepest desires within his heart.
"Devouring souls to forge a blade, wielding its true form..." His fingertips slid along the ancient ink, murmuring, "One-third destiny, seven-tenths soul-snatching."
"Yin Soul and Yang Spirit, mutually generating and restraining, creation and destruction flowing, the cycle returning to its beginning."
Orochimaru slowly raised his head. The lamplight cast shadows on his pale face, and a sigh of understanding and extreme excitement escaped from between his teeth: "So, that's it..."
Devouring other souls with a human body would only gradually lead to being influenced by those residual consciousnesses, slowly becoming less and less like oneself. But if, as the scroll said, the spiritual energy of those souls were injected into a "Shinuchi," and then a part of one's own soul were separated to devour them... allowing the souls within the "Shinuchi" to gradually merge, nurturing a blade with self-awareness and special abilities, and finally releasing its power by calling its name.
As for what a "Shinuchi" was, Orochimaru already had a guess in his mind.
Chakra blades. Since chakra blades could be infused with five elemental chakras, there naturally existed a way to infuse them with Yin Release chakra. A portion of one's own soul would be separated and infused into the blade, then stored through a special seal, and subsequently strengthened by devouring more souls until a qualitative change occurred.
"Ha! Is this what a god is?"
A nearly grotesque smile spread across Orochimaru's lips. He exclaimed with elation, "This is the so-called Shinigami, this is the so-called 'Soul-Slaying Blade'!"
"No, now it should be called, Zanpakuto!"
This was the true power within the realm of "souls"! The thought of his past research into souls only reaching the level of body replacement made Orochimaru feel incredibly foolish.
However, at this thought, he again considered the owner of this scroll. A profound sense of awe and a desire to explore continuously surged within him. What kind of terrifyingly powerful and intelligent being could personally create a world, a species, and a path to godhood? If the Sage of Six Paths' Pure Land could retain an individual's power from life, then the owner of this scroll had enabled them to surpass their power from life!
Shinigami and Hollows, living and dead. Indeed, Yin Soul and Yang Spirit, mutually generating and restraining, creation and destruction flowing, the cycle returning to its beginning.
"Whew! Calm down, calm down..."
Orochimaru exhaled deeply, forcefully suppressing the ecstasy and shock in his heart. He mused, "For a chakra blade, my Kusanagi Sword will suffice."
"So, I still lack a sealing jutsu to seal souls, and souls that I can devour."
"However, according to the scroll, the effect of devouring a Hollow should far exceed that of devouring human souls."
At this thought, Orochimaru understood. His eyes flickered as he thought, "As expected, I still need to continue searching for the entrance to the 'Hollow World,' which is the so-called 'Space-Time Anomaly'..."
Click.
The laboratory door was pushed open, interrupting Orochimaru's thoughts. Orochimaru frowned and turned to see Hidan with a dark expression.
"Heh heh."
Hidan glanced at Orochimaru's half-human, half-snake appearance, then at the corpse on the restraints table, sarcastically saying, "Still researching your crappy scroll?"
"Orochimaru, I really suspect if your brain has also been affected by that female snake in your body, causing your IQ to drop. Now you actually believe even the nonsense on a scroll."
Orochimaru said nothing, merely looking at him coldly. If it weren't for the inconvenience of going anywhere in his current form, how could he possibly choose to temporarily cooperate with an idiot like Hidan?
However, fortunately, based on the name of the servant "Grayl" previously mentioned by the scroll's owner, he had already gathered some intelligence with Hidan's help. He found some strange merchants, suspected descendants of "Grayl." According to them, they came from across the ocean. Some of them held something called "Grayl Stone," which seemed to be ore that had mutated from being infused with a certain chakra for too long. Undoubtedly, that chakra most likely came from the "Space-Time Anomaly," and the ore vein was located near the "Space-Time Anomaly."
Presumably, it wouldn't be long before he could follow those people and find the location of the "Space-Time Anomaly." By then, he, Orochimaru, would be the only existing "Shinigami"!
[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [Obscuring the Truth][Making Falsehood True][Calling a Deer a Horse]. Orochimaru has experienced incredibly intense emotional fluctuations, reaching the level of [Revering as a God]. You have gained 2500 Actualization Points.]
[Remaining Actualization Points: 38000]
At this very moment, looking at his huge sum of money, Hyuga Kawa's eyes couldn't help but flicker. Since Orochimaru hadn't yet found the "Space-Time Anomaly," he couldn't mass-produce "Hollows" yet. Placing one "Hollow" (Karin's mother) and a large number of ordinary souls in the underground palace was still acceptable, but if the number of "Hollows" surged, the underground palace's area simply couldn't accommodate them.
"The formal debut of 'Hollows' in the shinobi world will be left for later."
Hyuga Kawa smiled, thinking to himself, "But with my points, collecting some more souls and cultivating one or two 'Upper-Class Great Hollows' for experimentation is still feasible." Coincidentally, Hyuga Kawa had thought of two very suitable candidates a long time ago: the two who had never entered the Pure Land and lingered in the缝隙 between the living world and the Pure Land.
—Rin Nohara and Sakumo Hatake.
"Speaking of which."
As if suddenly remembering something, Hyuga Kawa looked at Hidan through the image, pondering, "The Chimera Technique seems to have room for manipulation as well..."
The Chimera Technique could directly allow the user to devour and fuse kekkei genkai, simply and brutally. It could even fuse summoned beasts.
"What if the Chimera Technique is used to turn kekkei genkai and other abilities into something that melts in the mouth..." Hyuga Kawa blinked thoughtfully. These mad scientists in the shinobi world seemed to be very useful tools.
Of course, Orochimaru was still his current favorite. The key at the moment was "Shinigami" and "Hollows"; the Chimera Technique was still just a concept. Before the formal debut of "Hollows," Hyuga Kawa still needed to understand the extent of what "Hollows" could do, so he needed one or two "Upper-Class Great Hollows." Rin Nohara and Sakumo Hatake were the most suitable candidates. As for where the souls to feed them into "Upper-Class Great Hollows" would come from...
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rain, below the cave where the Gedo Statue resided, the figure of 'Shadow' unknowingly appeared. Feeling the vibrations from above and the constant rustling of falling debris, he looked up, as if seeing the Konoha and Sunagakure ninja gathered within the Land of Rain.
The reason Hanzō and Nagato remained silent and did not attack Konoha and Sunagakure, who had invaded the Land of Rain, was naturally due to his orders and promises. As for the objective, it was, of course, the more the merrier.
"Come, Box of Ultimate Bliss."
'Shadow' took out the Box of Ultimate Bliss from the shadows of his sleeve, smiling, "Let me see, under my modifications, what you can achieve."
With that, he composed himself and silently chanted, "Manifestation - Modify Box of Ultimate Bliss..."
I only share the most exquisite and beautiful novels. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon DaoistWujinzi