Chapter 68: After Friendly Negotiations, He Agrees to Cooperate!
Hearing Oborotsuki's judgment about him, Orochimaru's smile stiffened slightly.
His gaze toward Oborotsuki turned faintly sinister.
"Heh heh…"
"So you're a perception-type shinobi."
A moment later, Orochimaru revealed his sinister smile again.
Merely sensing that his spiritual power was extremely weak wasn't a big deal.
He didn't fear Oborotsuki that much.
But the next words from Oborotsuki caused Orochimaru's expression to change completely on the spot:
"Your Living Corpse Reincarnation isn't fully perfected yet."
"You came here not to travel, but to search for a suitable vessel for reincarnation. Am I right or wrong?"
Oborotsuki's half-smiling, half-mocking expression casually exposed his secret, making Orochimaru's face darken. His gaze became unprecedentedly serious.
"You… how do you know these things?"
Orochimaru was completely stunned.
Although a few trusted subordinates knew about his secret research,
There was absolutely no way—nor should there be any way—that Hōzuki Oborotsuki could know!
Yet facing the stunned Orochimaru, Oborotsuki gave him no chance to explain:
"Let's make a deal, Orochimaru."
"I'll provide you with a reincarnation vessel. In return, you help me summon the Reaper, possess your body, and cut open its stomach to release the sealed souls."
Oborotsuki casually waved the Reaper Mask in his hand.
"What did you say?"
"Nine… Nine-Tails?"
Orochimaru's pupils shrank sharply again. His eyes flickered as he stared at the Reaper Mask in Oborotsuki's hand.
"Heh heh… I see."
"No wonder you specifically came looking for me. But why was the Nine-Tails sealed inside the Reaper Death Seal?"
As someone who had seen the world, Orochimaru quickly regained his sinister smile out of curiosity.
After all, Kushina becoming the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was something only a handful of Konoha's top brass knew about.
The rest of the village—including the Sannin—were unaware.
Naturally, Orochimaru had no way of knowing.
And when Uchiha Obito controlled the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha, Orochimaru had already left the village.
Clearly, he still didn't know Konoha had suffered a Nine-Tails attack.
Nor did he know that his rival for the position of Fourth Hokage—Minato Namikaze—had sacrificed himself to perish together with the Nine-Tails.
"You don't need to ask too much. Just answer me: will you take this deal or not?"
Oborotsuki's tone gradually turned cold.
Orochimaru fell silent for a few seconds. A shocking cold glint flashed through his eyes.
"Heh heh…"
"As for the reincarnation vessel—I think I've already found a suitable one! No need for the trouble!"
"Your body looks quite excellent. I'll gladly accept it!"
With a cold laugh, Orochimaru actually attacked Oborotsuki for real.
He transformed into a massive white-scaled serpent and lunged rapidly toward Oborotsuki, intending to seize his body as his new reincarnation vessel.
But the next second, Orochimaru regretted it.
Whoosh—
A blade flashed.
Oborotsuki's Decapitation Greatsword came down with a heavy "thud," smashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
At the same time, Orochimaru's head was directly severed and fell to the ground.
But that wasn't all.
At this moment, an extremely terrifying wave of Sage Chakra erupted from Oborotsuki's body.
It completely suppressed every ounce of Orochimaru's chakra—so thoroughly that he couldn't even use the most basic ninjutsu.
"Ugh…"
Orochimaru's voice was weak and hoarse. His eyes filled with terror as he stared at the cold-faced, murderously intent Oborotsuki:
"Your sword speed… was faster than I anticipated… Hōzuki Oborotsuki."
"It seems… I have no choice but to cooperate with you, do I…"
Oborotsuki had only wanted to teach him a lesson.
To let Orochimaru know that opposing him would bring no good end.
Now that he saw the man submit and surrender, he withdrew his power.
"Now you should behave, right?"
Oborotsuki smirked coldly as he shouldered the Decapitation Greatsword.
Under Oborotsuki's gaze, Orochimaru's body slowly writhed, reconnecting his head to his torso and rapidly healing.
That brief exchange earlier had nearly cost him his life.
His already weakened body had expended a great deal of chakra and was now even more frail.
His spirit was exhausted.
Oborotsuki watched his recovery in amazement.
Orochimaru's survival ability was extraordinary—he possessed multiple life-saving techniques.
When necessary, he could even achieve near-immortality through soul reincarnation.
That's precisely why Oborotsuki had come to him to summon the Reaper.
After all, summoning the Reaper normally required sacrificing the user's own life.
Orochimaru looked at Oborotsuki with deep wariness:
"How should I cooperate with you?"
His voice was hoarse as he asked.
"In three days, I'll tell you the location. Go there yourself to find your reincarnation vessel."
Oborotsuki recalled the classified intelligence report he had seen earlier in Mei's Mizukage office.
In three days, the Kaguya clan would launch their attack on Kirigakure.
At that time, he only needed to guide Orochimaru to the Kaguya clan grounds—where the latter would discover the surviving Kimimaro.
As for what happened after that, it had nothing to do with him.
"And right now?"
Orochimaru asked again.
His gaze shifted to the Reaper Mask in Oborotsuki's hand:
"To summon the Reaper to possess my body, I still need a temporary reincarnation vessel. Otherwise, it's impossible for me to help you…"
"That's simple!"
As soon as Oborotsuki spoke, he vanished.
But less than two seconds later, he reappeared in front of Orochimaru—holding a white figure in his hand.
It was a spore clone dispatched by the merged Black Zetsu and White Zetsu to monitor and scout Kirigakure's movements.
Earlier, while sensing Orochimaru's chakra signature, Oborotsuki had also noticed this clone's presence.
White Zetsu wasn't Black Zetsu—their abilities differed.
While this clone was deeply hidden, its combat power was weak and its escape speed wasn't fast, so Oborotsuki had easily captured it.
Using it as Orochimaru's temporary reincarnation vessel after summoning the Reaper was perfect.
"This is…"
Orochimaru clearly hadn't seen White Zetsu in Akatsuki before.
Now, seeing the subdued White Zetsu, his eyes flickered with surprise.
But it wasn't because of White Zetsu's appearance itself—it was because… from White Zetsu's body, he sensed an extremely familiar aura.
"Heh heh… you used Flying Thunder God earlier, right?"
"Hōzuki Oborotsuki… exactly who are you…?"
Orochimaru recovered and gave a sinister smile.
This kid knew about his forbidden techniques, possessed immense strength, could use Flying Thunder God, and held the Reaper Mask that sealed the Nine-Tails…
Now, he had even captured what appeared to be a Wood Release cellular carrier.
Everything about this made Orochimaru increasingly curious about Oborotsuki.
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't, Orochimaru."
Oborotsuki glared at him. That single look made cold sweat break out across Orochimaru's body—he didn't dare ask more.
"Then can we begin now?"
He looked toward the Reaper Mask in Oborotsuki's hand.
"Don't rush. After the Nine-Tails is revived, I still need to reseal it."
"Wait here for a moment."
With that, Oborotsuki dropped the subdued White Zetsu and vanished once again.
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