Rengoku gently pulled up the blanket and carefully covered the two of them, then slowly closed his eyes as well.
However, he didn't fall asleep. After all, it was still early, and there were many matters waiting for him to handle.
His shadow swayed slightly, and then a clone of him slowly stood up from within it.
The clone opened the door and slipped out, disappearing outside in the blink of an eye.
Before long, the clone had already arrived at Orochimaru's laboratory.
At this moment, Orochimaru was observing Tsunade and Nawaki's every move through monitoring equipment.
Suddenly, he keenly sensed Rengoku's returning presence. Without turning his head, he spoke, "I knew you'd definitely come back."
Hearing this, Rengoku smiled lightly and replied, "Can't be helped. Too many things have piled up. If I don't deal with them, it just won't work."
Orochimaru nodded slightly, showing his understanding, but he simply continued watching the monitor, quietly waiting for what Rengoku would say next.
Seeing that no one else was around, Rengoku didn't hesitate and got straight to the point, "There's something I need to confess to you."
Orochimaru frowned slightly, a trace of confusion rising in his heart.
Rengoku had never spoken to him in such a serious manner before.
"Oh? What could make you this serious?"
Rengoku said, "It's about Shisui's eye technique, Kotoamatsukami..."
Rengoku explained the function of Kotoamatsukami to Orochimaru in detail, and also fully revealed how he had used it on him back then, holding nothing back.
As Rengoku spoke, Orochimaru's expression grew more and more solemn. But surprisingly, after hearing everything, he didn't fly into a rage.
Instead, he fell into deep thought, a contemplative look gradually appearing on his face, as if he were trying to recall and reconstruct everything that had happened that day.
Time passed bit by bit, and the entire room fell into silence.
After a long while, a glint of interest suddenly flashed through Orochimaru's narrow, cold eyes.
"Impressive. Truly impressive!"
The corners of Orochimaru's lips curled into a somewhat unsettling smile as he praised, "To think that after all these years in the ninja world, I, Orochimaru, would end up falling for your trick without even realizing it."
Then, Orochimaru raised his head and stared at Rengoku, his gaze carrying a complicated emotion that was hard to describe.
"But I'm curious. You could've kept this hidden from me forever and never let me know the truth."
"So why did you choose to tell me today?"
There was something unreadable in Orochimaru's tone.
A faint, sly smile appeared on Rengoku's lips, "Using Kotoamatsukami was actually meant to eliminate any possible suspicion and wariness between us."
"That way, we could quickly start cooperating and work together to achieve those goals."
"As things stand now, would you still feel suspicious or guarded toward me?"
At this moment, Orochimaru's body was entirely made up of Rengoku's clones. And what Orochimaru usually did was engage in the experiments and research he loved most.
Because of that, under these circumstances, there was no such thing as suspicion or wariness.
Rengoku's current approach was undeniably open and magnanimous.
Orochimaru, a person of extreme rationality, simply let out a faint snort of dissatisfaction and casually asked, "You, what else are you hiding from me?"
Originally, it was just something he said offhandedly. But Rengoku's next answer instantly drew all of Orochimaru's attention.
"Before, I mentioned to you that both Uchiha Natsuki and I are rather special existences..."
At this point, a spark of keen interest appeared in Orochimaru's narrow eyes as he stared intently at Rengoku.
This was a personal secret. It could have been left unsaid, yet Rengoku was telling him just like that. That alone showed considerable sincerity.
Meeting Orochimaru's curious gaze, Rengoku calmly continued, "To put it simply, if my relationship with someone becomes very close and friendly, I can obtain part of their abilities or chakra."
Since he had already decided to be honest with Orochimaru, Rengoku stopped holding anything back or beating around the bush and simply told him everything.
After hearing this, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and fell into thought.
A moment later, his eyes lit up in realization, "No wonder you never spend time and effort training, yet you're always so keen on going around saving people."
"Then what did you obtain from me?"
Orochimaru looked at Rengoku with interest as he asked.
Rengoku quickly formed hand seals, his fingers moving deftly as they intertwined, instantly forming a Five Elements Seal gesture.
He smiled slightly and said, "This Five Elements Sealing Technique is something I learned from you."
Then, after a brief pause, he added, "And also, the reason my soul is so strong is because I obtained soul power from you."
Hearing this, Orochimaru's interest grew even stronger. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself, even extending his long tongue.
He ran it slowly across his cheek, as if savoring some unknown pleasure.
Orochimaru eagerly pressed on, "Where does this ability come from? When you revived Kushina back then, the massive amount of life force you injected into her should have all come from her own body, right?"
Faced with Orochimaru's rapid-fire questions, Rengoku could only shrug helplessly and reply innocently, "To be honest, I really don't know how this power came about."
"But you're right. The amount of life force needed to successfully revive Kushina was simply enormous. Even Nagato couldn't withstand that level of consumption at the time. The energy I injected was indeed obtained from her."
After hearing Rengoku's explanation, Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully, indicating that he understood.
Then, changing the topic, he asked about Rengoku's plans moving forward, "What are you thinking?"
Rengoku replied, "As we now know, there are a large number of powerful Otsutsuki clan members hidden in the starry sky."
"With just my own strength, I'm afraid it's far from enough to deal with the threat they pose."
"So I think the most urgent task right now is to find a way to train another group of top-tier experts."
Although Minato was already very strong, who would ever complain about having too many strong fighters?
Just like money, you only realize it's lacking when you need it. Combat personnel are the same.
Orochimaru pointed at Tsunade, who was still unconscious, and said, "Once Tsunade wakes up, she can be counted as one of our plan's members."
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