Diarmuid had no idea what Orochimaru had been thinking when he invited him to stay over.
The man didn't even have a spare bed. The guest room was cluttered with a chaotic mess of experimental materials; last night, the moment Diarmuid opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of a severed arm hanging from the wall.
He felt like he was test-sleeping in a haunted house!
Orochimaru had offered to let Diarmuid sleep in his bedroom while he took the floor, but Diarmuid declined and opted for the floor himself. Who knew what kind of bizarre things were lurking in Orochimaru's bed? Imagine waking up to a snake slithering out from under the covers... Snakes weren't the problem, but the thought of where they might try to burrow was!
Fortunately, Diarmuid's physical constitution was top-tier. Though his shoulders felt a bit stiff when he first got up, the discomfort vanished the moment he stood up and rolled up his bedding.
Stepping out of the "Chamber of Horrors," Diarmuid saw Orochimaru actually preparing breakfast!
"Will you be ingesting nutrients?" Orochimaru asked, glancing back.
It wasn't a complex meal, just some fried omelets. Diarmuid nodded at first, then couldn't help but complain: "Why do you have to use a creepy word like 'ingesting'?"
"It's science," Orochimaru replied without turning his head.
Diarmuid went silent for a moment, then took a few tentative steps toward the bathroom.
Sure enough, Orochimaru asked directly, "Are you going to excrete?"
"You actually used that word too!?" Diarmuid shouted, exasperated.
He finally realized it. Being friends with Orochimaru was perfectly fine, but living with him? That was a recipe for a nervous breakdown.
Luckily, back in the Land of Birds, he and Sasori had been so absorbed in their research, and Diarmuid so busy training his Lightning Release jutsus, that they hadn't spent much time together in a domestic setting. He wondered how Sasori ever put up with Orochimaru.
Wait...
Ah, right. Sasori was a Human Puppet. He didn't need to "ingest nutrients" or "excrete," and he probably didn't even need to sleep. From that perspective, he and Orochimaru were a match made in heaven!
Once Diarmuid finished washing up, Orochimaru had breakfast ready. The two sat across from each other at the table. Diarmuid took a bite of the omelet and said, surprised, "Your cooking is actually good. I didn't expect that."
"For those of us in scientific research, cooking is merely the perfect pairing of various materials to form a new flavor profile. It's basic," Orochimaru said calmly.
Applying scientific logic to cooking? Diarmuid suddenly understood why Sasori's culinary skills were also top-tier. It seemed scientists all had this hidden talent.
"Impressive," Diarmuid remarked.
While eating, Orochimaru asked, "Speaking of which, how do you plan to handle the Tailed Beast matter? Which one is your first target?"
"The Three-Tails is the tentative choice," Diarmuid responded nonchalantly.
Danzo's deal was clearly a calculated trap. Any Tailed Beast except the Nine-Tails meant stealing from another nation. It was a diplomatic minefield.
However, Diarmuid had immediately thought of the Three-Tails, the giant turtle, Isobu. Since Kirigakure was already planning to use the Three-Tails to stir up trouble, it was only natural for him to lend a hand... and take it!
Since the First Hokage held the first Five Kage Summit, the nine Tailed Beasts were distributed among the nations. One was unique: the Seven-Tails, given to Takigakure, Kakuzu's hometown. It was the only Tailed Beast not under the direct control of the Five Great Nations. Ordinarily, the Seven-Tails would be the easiest target.
But Diarmuid felt Isobu was more suitable.
Aside from Konoha holding the strongest, the Nine-Tails, the other four great nations generally held two apiece... except for Sunagakure. This alone showed that Suna was at the bottom of the "Big Five" barrel.
Kirigakure also held two: the Six-Tails and the Three-Tails. However, Kiri was special. Normally, after receiving a Tailed Beast, a village would immediately seal it into a Jinchuriki and try to weaponize its power. But for various reasons, Kiri only had a Jinchuriki for the Six-Tails.
The Three-Tails, Isobu, remained unsealed. It was kept in a massive lake near Kirigakure. This was partly due to Isobu's temperament—it was gentle, quiet, and preferred not to move. Given a large enough lake, it was content and caused no trouble, almost like a domesticated pet. Consequently, Kiri had effectively "free-ranged" the Three-Tails.
During this Great Ninja War, they planned to seal Isobu into a Konoha ninja and send them back to Konoha to trigger a Tailed Beast rampage. It was a scheme to cripple Konoha. This plan might not have even been Kirigakure's alone; looking at the war's grand strategy, it was likely a joint plot by the Lands of Earth, Lightning, and Water. If the Mist succeeded, the three nations would launch a unified offensive against Konoha. In exchange, Kirigakure would receive concessions from the other two nations.
Unfortunately, the plan failed and instead awakened a Great Demon King. They offended Obito so thoroughly that the village suffered a grim fate. After the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, became the new Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails, he and the beast were immediately controlled by Obito. Using the Mizukage's authority, Obito tore the village apart, earning it the nickname "Village of the Bloody Mist." High-level talent fled, and the ninja were turned into monsters who had to kill their own comrades...
In short, from every angle, the Three-Tails was the perfect target for Diarmuid. He just didn't plan on moving yet.
"The Three-Tails?" Orochimaru nodded, not asking for more details, but adding: "If I have time, remember to invite me along."
"No problem," Diarmuid agreed naturally.
Breakfast ended quickly. Orochimaru wiped his mouth, his eyes burning with an eager glint as he looked at Diarmuid. "The 'ingestion' is complete. Shall we begin? I can hardly wait..."
Diarmuid was silent for a moment before nodding. "One question. Can you not bite my neck? Pick somewhere else?"
Last night, they had discussed the Cursed Seal, Natural Energy, and physical constitutions at length. Ultimately, Diarmuid couldn't resist Orochimaru's silver-tongued persuasion; he was genuinely enticed by the prospect of the "Cursed Seal's power."
At this stage, the Cursed Seal hadn't yet been twisted into a tool for creating subordinates. It was a genuine project to explore Senjutsu and Sage Mode. But that made it even more dangerous!
Orochimaru swore up and down that Diarmuid's constitution could handle it, and that he might master natural energy in record time. But Diarmuid felt uneasy; the way the man looked at him was exactly like a scientist looking at a lab rat. Furthermore, the previous twenty-nine test subjects were all dead.
Diarmuid usually had confidence in Orochimaru, but this time... it felt a bit shaky.
Fortunately, he wasn't betting everything on Orochimaru's "safety fuse." One has to rely on oneself. Diarmuid agreed primarily because of his own confidence; even if something went wrong, his Dark-Dark Fruit's power to swallow all things would act as a fallback.
It was a gamble, but there was no safe path to true power. If you go to the gym, a piece of equipment might fall and kill you anyway.
Ultimately, the two decided to go for it.
Hearing Diarmuid's request, Orochimaru was silent, appearing conflicted. "Other places are possible, but the neck is my... cough... my 'belief.' No, what I mean is, the neck would likely have the best results."
"You just let your true feelings slip, didn't you!?" Diarmuid wanted to call him out, but held back. He took a deep breath. "Not the neck. Absolutely not. It's too gross..."
"Fine," Orochimaru conceded. To use such a perfect specimen for the Cursed Seal trial, he would endure this compromise. After a pause, he asked, "Where then?"
Diarmuid looked down at his foot...
Orochimaru's face went dark. "Do you want to die?"
"Cough, don't misunderstand, I just thought these slippers of yours don't fit well, that's all." Diarmuid explained quickly.
He thought it over. He didn't want the Cursed Seal visible outside of his clothes. It looked weird. But other places felt... inappropriate. To hide the mark, he needed somewhere usually covered by clothes, but those were the places he definitely didn't want Orochimaru biting...
After a moment, Diarmuid extended his arm. "The wrist. Do it quickly, before I change my mind."
The moment he spoke, Orochimaru's head snapped forward. His neck extended like a snake, winding through the air at incredible speed toward Diarmuid's wrist.
This was a technique from the scroll Orochimaru had given him: Soft Physique Modification! Orochimaru's body no longer resembled a normal human structure.
"Diarmuid, I've learned one thing in my short life... the more you study science, the more you realize that human ability has limits. Unless you transcend humanity... I'm rejecting my humanity, Diarmuid!!!"
Diarmuid mentally filled in Orochimaru's "JoJo-esque" speech.
At the same time, a sharp sting came from his wrist. Orochimaru's fangs pierced his flesh!
A bizarre sensation followed immediately. It felt as if some unknown force was being forcibly pumped into his wrist. As the power prepared to surge through his body, another restraining force clamped down, confining it to a specific area on his wrist.
Slowly, the sensation faded until it felt like nothing had happened.
Orochimaru retracted his head, returning to his normal appearance. Diarmuid looked down. On his wrist, three Tomoe patterns had appeared!
It looked eerie, and slightly sinister.