Inside the cell, the second Seimei dropped the name "Orochimaru," every half-dead guinea pig in the room twitched like someone jammed a kunai in their spine.
That's the kind of trauma only the snake can leave behind.
But right now neither Seimei nor Orochimaru gave a single fuck about those lab rats. All eyes (real and borrowed) were locked on each other.
Silence stretched, thick and nasty.
Finally the snake spoke again, voice smooth as venom: "Since you're here, I'm guessing Itō and the rest are already fertilizing the ocean floor."
He paused, watching Seimei's face for any twitch, any tell.
Nothing. Stone-cold mask from start to finish.
Oed.
Orochimaru gave a dramatic little sigh. "Kids these days are terrifying. Fine. What do you want?"
Seimei tilted his head. "Aren't you the one who came looking for me?"
Orochimaru knew exactly what he meant (those dead idiots on the boat), but he wasn't about to waste breath arguing.
"Alright, I'll bite. Can I have Danzō back? My proudest masterpiece, you know."
"Nah. Spoils of war. Finder's keepers."
Flat rejection, zero hesitation.
Orochimaru just stared, calm as a corpse, waiting for the real pitch.
He already knew Seimei wasn't handing the old warhawk over; asking was just a courtesy before the real game started.
And Seimei wasn't dumb either. The second he clocked something off about the guy in the corner, he flicked the Byakugan back on.
One hard look and the truth was glaring: this wasn't the real Orochimaru.
Just some poor bastard with a sliver of the snake's spirit riding shotgun. Either a Curse Mark puppet or a temporary Living Corpse Reincarnation jump.
Explains why the body's half-dead but the mind's sharp as a scalpel.
Which also means grabbing this meat suit and shaking it for intel isn't happening.
So yeah, he's gotta be the one to open his mouth first.
No more dancing.
"I need the birthplace of the murder demon." Straight to the point.
Orochimaru actually blinked. Out of every twisted request he'd prepped for, that one didn't even make the list.
He'd only caught Jūgo a year ago. Hardly anyone even knew the guy existed. How the hell did Seimei not only know the name but zero in on him like a bloodhound?
Long tongue slid out, licked his lips (classic thinking tic).
After a beat he probed: "Jūgo, huh? How'd you even hear about him?"
"None of your damn business. Just tell me where he was born."
Tone sharp enough to cut glass. Orochimaru didn't flinch, just filed away the fact that Seimei didn't correct the name.
So he already knew "murder demon" = Jūgo.
Knew the identity, but not the origin? That's… deliciously weird.
Seimei let the silence cook. He heard the test in the snake's question and didn't bite; better to keep the bastard guessing, throw him off balance for whatever trade came next.
But Orochimaru didn't even try to haggle.
Just dropped the name of a waterfall deep in the mountains, casual as hell.
Seimei actually blinked this time. First crack in the mask.
He expected a price, blackmail, some creepy favor. Not a freebie.
They weren't friends. Hell, Seimei had tried to stop the snake's defection years back; technically enemies. And he was still holding Danzō's Edo Tensei body hostage.
Yet Orochimaru just handed over the intel like it was candy.
Then it clicked.
The snake didn't just grab Jūgo; he dissected the guy's entire backstory. That birthplace? It's swimming in raw natural energy, thick enough to choke on.
Orochimaru already guessed what Seimei was planning.
And instead of charging for it, he gave it away… because now he gets to watch.
Park some observation snakes at the falls, sit back, and study every move Seimei makes when he shows up.
A free front-row seat to the experiment.
In Orochimaru's eyes, Seimei just volunteered to be the next specimen.
Seimei almost laughed out loud.
"Heh… sly bastard."
He'd known the risk the second he decided to squeeze Orochimaru for the location. Being watched was part of the deal.
But so what?
He's only sending shadow clones to slurp up natural energy anyway. Let the snake watch. Best he'll figure out is that Seimei cracked Sage Mode.
And Sage Mode ain't a trump card he needs to hide anymore. Let the whole damn world know; come try me.
Everything else is noise.
Priority one: secure a natural-energy goldmine so his next body transformation doesn't hit a wall.
That's it.
Small-time mind games don't mean shit when you're strong enough to crush anyone who tries them.
Seimei gave the trembling lab rats one last bored glance, then slammed a hand to the floor.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Dragon Dive.
The ground swallowed him whole, and he was gone, underground base, snake puppet, and all that creepy bullshit left behind in the dark.
Next stop: the falls.
Time to gorge on power while the snake watches from the shadows and thinks he's the one in control.
Cute.