At the mention of those words, the Uchiha squad fell into a heavy silence.
They had no idea what the "Cursed Seal of Heaven" was, but they understood exactly what "zero chance of survival" meant. But looking at the charred boy before them, they figured treating a dead horse like a live one was their only hope.
A glimmer of desperate resolve appeared in the eyes of the Uchiha, including Fugaku. Orochimaru, observing their expressions, smirked inwardly. The fools took the bait.
"Of course," Orochimaru hissed with a raspy chuckle, "this isn't free. I will strike a deal: if the boy dies, his body belongs to me." He paused, then added as an afterthought, "You can keep the eyes."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
The Uchiha flared with rage. Fugaku's face turned ice-cold. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! We will never hand over the remains of an Uchiha to you."
However, Seiichiro Uchiha raised his bloodshot eyes and barked, "What remains?! That is Ren Uchiha! He is still alive! Fugaku, are you going to stand by and watch him die again?!"
Seiichiro glared at the future Clan Leader with pure venom. "I am his teammate. The decision rests with me!"
"Seiichiro, you..." Fugaku started to protest, but at the mention of "watching him die again," his voice died in his throat.
Seiichiro didn't even look at him. He had reached the limit of his disappointment. He turned his 3-Tomoe Sharingan toward Orochimaru and spoke with chilling clarity:
"The opportunity is right here. Even if it's a gamble I'm destined to lose, I'm going all in. Orochimaru, save Ren!"
"If he doesn't make it, you can have the body. But if you dare desecrate his remains..." Seiichiro's voice dropped to a murderous whisper. "I will hunt you for the rest of my life."
As Seiichiro spoke, the other seven Uchiha flared their Sharingan in unison. The message was clear: Save him, but if you try anything funny, you're not leaving this cave alive.
Orochimaru merely raised an eyebrow and let out a dry hum, indifferent to the threat. He brushed past them and stood over Ren.
Ren Uchiha still had a spark of life left.
Deep inside his gut, the Little Zero-Tails was working overtime. It was greedily devouring the extreme emotions radiating from Seiichiro's awakening and pumping dark chakra into Ren's system.
"Ha... ha...!" The little creature panted, flipping its mask and sticking its tongue out in exhaustion.
Using this dark energy, Ren's body was intermittently triggering [Body Activation], which, combined with his newly acquired [Immortality] talent, was barely keeping his heart from stopping. But the rate of necrosis was still outpacing his recovery.
Orochimaru stared at the boy. His golden pupils burned with heat. This body... it has too many secrets. Simple Body Activation shouldn't be enough to keep a charred husk breathing.
As for the Cursed Seal? Orochimaru didn't actually have a success yet. At this point in time, he had just taken Anko as his student but hadn't marked her. He had no intention of saving Ren; he just wanted to trick the Uchiha into handing over a prime specimen.
With a cold, raspy laugh, Orochimaru leaned down. He extended his neck like a snake and sank his fangs into the only patch of unburnt skin on Ren's neck.
As the fangs pierced the flesh, jagged black patterns began to crawl across Ren's body. A three-tomoe floral pattern bloomed beneath his collarbone.
The Cursed Seal was a byproduct of Orochimaru's obsession with the Sage Power of Ryuchi Cave. It was designed to provide a limitless supply of natural energy. Normally, a human body would be corroded by this energy, turning into a mindless monster.
But Ren Uchiha was anything but normal.
As the chilling natural energy flooded his system, his Combat Instinct took over, forcibly redirecting the power into the [Body Activation] loop. This jutsu didn't care where the fuel came from—if it could use dark chakra, it could certainly use this.
Slowly, the charred husk began to change.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
Ren's blackened heart began to beat with renewed vigor. The carbonized skin started to crack, revealing raw, red, lidless flesh beneath—like a snake shedding its old, dead skin to reveal the new.
"Hm?" Orochimaru's pupils shrank. "What is this?"
The "doctor" was stunned. He knew the fatality rate of the Cursed Seal better than anyone; even Danzo had told him to stop wasting time on such a "dead-end" project. He had been prepared to watch Ren die.
And yet... it was working.
Orochimaru's smirk froze. He wasn't sure whether to be thrilled at his success or disappointed that he had lost his "legal" claim to the corpse.
Meanwhile, the Uchiha squad watched in awe, their gazes toward Orochimaru turning from hostility to profound respect. Who knew this snake-man had such legendary medical skills? Truly, a miracle worker! We owe you one, Dr. Orochimaru!
Deep underground...
White Zetsu saw the opening. Ren's body was starving for chakra. Quietly, he extended a pale tendril through the soil, touching Ren's foot and planting a Spore Technique. Hidden and silent, he began funneling even more chakra into the boy.
And so, through the combined (and mostly accidental) efforts of Seiichiro, the Zero-Tails, Orochimaru, and White Zetsu...
A medical miracle of the shinobi world was born!