The forbidden technique that could grant immortality—of course Orochimaru couldn't wait to start researching something like that. It was his life's dream.
"Of course I didn't forget."
Shiki smiled casually.
He wouldn't fool Orochimaru about this.
Turning his head, he glanced at Tsunade, who had already been prepared. She took out a ninjutsu scroll with the words "Immortal Rebirth Technique" written on it.
Even though she had long known this was a very dangerous forbidden technique, after actually reading through it, Tsunade was still deeply shaken.
Her granduncle, the Second Hokage, had actually created such a sinister forbidden jutsu…
Tsunade still found it hard to believe.
"Is this… the art of immortality?" she muttered.
Looking at the scroll in Tsunade's hand, Orochimaru's eyes grew more and more intense.
He raised his hand, wanting to take the scroll—
—but Tsunade drew it back slightly, avoiding Orochimaru's reach.
"…Huh?"
A little puzzled, he glanced at Tsunade. With Shiki standing right here, Orochimaru naturally didn't dare to force it. Besides, he didn't think Tsunade would go back on her word.
"How you study this ninjutsu, I won't interfere…" Tsunade said.
Her tone paused for a moment. Then she fixed Orochimaru with a serious stare.
"But the people you use for your experiments must not be anyone from Konoha. Not even civilians from the village."
Even if Tsunade was a bit weaker than Orochimaru when it came to researching jutsu, she could still tell at a glance—
To perfectly research this Fushi Tensei Technique, many people would definitely die along the way.
And now that she was already the Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade absolutely could not let the lives of her own villagers become a joke in Orochimaru's experiments.
"Don't worry."
Orochimaru thought it was something more troublesome. After finally taking the scroll from Tsunade's hand, he spoke in a casual tone.
"The ninja world doesn't only have Konoha, after all."
He had never intended to use people from the village as test subjects in the first place.
Moreover...
Thinking that far, Orochimaru couldn't help turning his head to glance at Shiki standing nearby.
With just that one look, Orochimaru felt helpless.
"Even if I wanted to, with your man standing here, I wouldn't dare lay a hand on anyone from the village," he said bluntly.
To be honest, no matter how confident Orochimaru was, he didn't think he could defeat Shiki. He believed he had plenty of jutsu to save his own life—but he didn't think he could actually escape Shiki's hands.
The difference in power was simply too great. He already had to look up to that level.
"Well, don't look at me," Shiki shrugged, noticing Orochimaru's gaze and speaking in a relaxed tone. "That said, I really do appreciate Orochimaru's talent in ninjutsu research."
In that field, "Uncle Orochimaru's" ability truly surpassed ordinary people. There were basically only a handful of people in the entire ninja world who could match—or surpass—Orochimaru in this aspect. With Orochimaru around, Konoha would only grow stronger and stronger.
"Shiki-kun's eye for talent is as good as ever."
Shiki's words made Orochimaru genuinely pleased. He hadn't expected someone to appreciate him this much. That sense of recognition warmed him more than he'd imagined.
"Well, even so, I still won't allow you to use people from our village for your research," Shiki added. "Just in case Orochimaru gets… carried away, I should remind you in advance."
"Don't worry."
Now that he had obtained the art of immortality, Orochimaru naturally didn't want his research to be hindered by making a mistake here.
Using people from outside the village would waste a bit of time in the process—but for a Kage-level shinobi like Orochimaru, that was a simple problem to handle.
"In that case, there's nothing else. I'll head back first."
Orochimaru could no longer wait to return and begin studying this ninjutsu.
"Mm."
Tsunade and Shiki both nodded lightly.
Orochimaru didn't hesitate any longer. He turned and left. Only after Orochimaru had departed the Hokage building did Tsunade finally let out a quiet sigh.
"We, the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha… our hearts are drifting farther and farther apart."
Jiraiya had left the village. Orochimaru had become harder and harder to understand.
Tsunade felt like she was the only one who still resembled a "normal" person among them.
"I don't know about that," Shiki replied. "I just know that if you keep standing here talking nonsense, Shizune is going to collapse."
He didn't answer Tsunade's lament, just pointed toward Shizune.
"Huh?"
Snapped back to reality by his words, Tsunade followed his gaze.
Just as she did, she noticed that Shizune had somehow produced another thick stack of documents in her hands.
"Aaaaah, I want to die…"
Tsunade groaned in despair, but even as she complained, she immediately took the documents from Shizune and started going through them one by one.
Only then did Shizune finally relax a little.
She gave a small shrug. Shiki didn't say anything more and simply found a random spot in the office to sit down on his own.
--
And at the same time—
"At this rate, Hiruzen, how can you stay this calm?"
In the Sarutobi household, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado had come together to find Sarutobi Hiruzen. Looking at Homura—whose arm was already severed, yet who was still full of anger—Hiruzen could only shake his head helplessly.
"Since your arm is gone, wouldn't it be better to just rest properly?" he said.
It was a bit of a pity, Hiruzen thought. If only the medical-nin at Konoha Hospital were a little stronger, at the very least they might have been able to make Homura quiet down for a while.
"Hmph! Rest? Rest my ass at a time like this!"
Homura slammed the table with his one good hand, face full of rage.
"Here, have some tea."
At that moment, Hiruzen's wife, Sarutobi Biwako, came out from the kitchen. She poured tea for Koharu and Homura.
Seeing Biwako's expressionless face, Hiruzen felt a deep helplessness.
Ever since the death of Shinnosuke and Asuma, Biwako had rarely shown any other expression.
But she was his wife—no matter what he felt, Hiruzen simply didn't know how to comfort her.
"Hm?"
Homura, who was still fuming, didn't notice anything wrong at first. But Koharu, watching carefully from the side, quickly picked up on the subtle atmosphere between Hiruzen and Biwako.
After a brief moment of thought, Koharu understood.
She picked up her teacup and spoke lightly.
"Hiruzen, have you forgotten? Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Sarutobi Asuma both died because of Shiki. Don't you want to avenge your two sons?"
As expected, the instant she said that, Biwako could no longer maintain her cold, indifferent expression.
She turned her head and glared at Hiruzen with a vicious stare.
Her eyes were saying it clearly: If you dare refuse, I won't forgive you.
"…"
Hiruzen fell silent, utterly helpless.
Having known Koharu for so many years, how could he not see through this little scheme of hers?
"Of course I want to avenge my two sons if I could," Hiruzen said with a weary shake of his head. "But right now, whether it's ANBU or anything else… all those powers have already been handed over to Tsunade."
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