As a scientist, Orochimaru's expertise was beyond doubt; in one night, he analyzed the characteristics of the item Uchiha Nagi gave him.
Theoretically, it truly could grant immortality, and genuine immortality at that... "Unbelievable, what he said is actually true."
Orochimaru was utterly shocked; for so many years, he had been researching the First Hokage's cells, wondering why such a powerful Sage Body, capable of instant regeneration without even hand seals, would still die.
The answer was that while the First Hokage's cells resembled plants, the First Hokage was ultimately a human, not a plant, so... he died.
Having fought constantly since childhood, despite the Sage Body's astonishing recovery speed, his cell divisions had already exceeded the number a human should have, so after the battle with Madara, the invincible First Hokage still died within a few years.
The cells before him were neither animal nor plant, but flowed from a 'person' and could truly achieve eternal life.
However, Orochimaru wasn't carried away by joy; he muttered, "Perhaps it's not limitless; maybe it reaches its limit after a hundred or two hundred divisions? This bit of blood is too little; I need more material to analyze it thoroughly."
Orochimaru looked up, his eyes flickering; the trade for Sage Art was not a loss for him.
Among the Three Great Sage Regions, Ryuchi Cave had the highest mortality rate for Sage Art.
Cultivating Sage Art by directly injecting venom with poisonous snakes, a technique with a 99.9% mortality rate, was not a bad trade for this; but when Uchiha Nagi mentioned Edo Tensei, Orochimaru grew suspicious.
"Why does he want this jutsu? The forbidden jutsu created by the Second Hokage is like a useless existence; even the Second Hokage himself never thought of using it on the battlefield..." Orochimaru muttered to himself.
Before he improved it, this Edo Tensei was utterly useless; not only did it often summon the wrong soul, but if the resurrected person had too strong a will, they could even break free from the caster's control.
For example, when he had just defected from the Akatsuki, Sasori and Deidara were ordered to pursue and kill him.
He used Edo Tensei to summon the soul of the Third Kazekage, but Sasori used his puppet technique to control the Third Kazekage's body, making the Third Kazekage fight himself.
As a result, the Kazekage was enraged, thinking that a powerful individual like himself, after death, was being so defiled, both soul and body.
He was furious and, relying on his strong willpower, his soul ultimately broke free from Orochimaru's control.
If he couldn't figure out the other party's intentions, then so be it.
Orochimaru intended to give Uchiha Nagi the Second Hokage's 1.0 version of Edo Tensei; only a fool would give him his own improved 2.0 version.
The next day, just as the sun began to peek out, Orochimaru's snake children and grandchildren informed him that they had found Uchiha Nagi's location.
Staying up all night was nothing for someone like Orochimaru; he just wanted to complete the trade quickly and obtain the experimental material from Uchiha Nagi, the material that might lead to the door of eternal life.
------
Uchiha Nagi poked the bonfire, using its residual heat to warm some water and dried rations.
When he saw a small snake appear nearby in the morning, he knew Orochimaru must have found him.
Whether those snakes were summoning beasts or had Chakra, associating them with Orochimaru was always correct.
Indeed, two hours later, just as Kimimaro was rubbing his eyes and getting up, Orochimaru appeared.
"Good morning, Nagi-kun," Orochimaru's voice was still husky and magnetic.
Soon, this magnetic voice would probably become feminine.
Uchiha Nagi smiled and got straight to the point, "You're here, Orochimaru.
It seems you've confirmed the authenticity of the goods.
Where are the items for the trade?"
"Hehe, you're quite impatient, aren't you? Please wait a moment—"
As soon as he finished speaking, Orochimaru opened his mouth and spat out a scroll, which contained the Ryuchi Cave Sage Art and Edo Tensei.
"Nagi-kun, don't say I didn't warn you, Sage Art isn't easy to cultivate; the mortality rate is extremely high, and you must go to Ryuchi Cave to train because the natural energy there is most abundant.
What are your plans? If you want to go to Ryuchi Cave, I can help you," Orochimaru said with a chuckle.
The so-called help, of course, referred to a summoning contract; without a summoning contract, one couldn't go to the Three Great Sage Regions at all.
"No need, I have my own methods."
Uchiha Nagi opened and checked it for authenticity; who would go to Ryuchi Cave? He would go to the Demon Slayer World to cultivate.
"Orochimaru, this Edo Tensei, it's the original version, isn't it? The chance of accurately resurrecting someone is pitifully small.
I want your improved version."
Uchiha Nagi hadn't seen the original version, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to bluff; he knew Orochimaru had already perfected the 2.0 version.
Orochimaru wasn't angry; instead, he said with interest, "Oh, where did you hear that I was improving Edo Tensei?"
Uchiha Nagi had already prepared an excuse, "You and Uchiha Itachi joined the same mysterious organization, right?
Later, you defected, and they sent people to pursue you.
You used the Edo Tensei of the Kazekage to fight..."
Orochimaru praised him, not angry, "I didn't expect your intelligence to be so strong."
Then he took out another scroll and threw it to Uchiha Nagi, saying, "The Second Hokage's Edo Tensei had two problems: first, it couldn't precisely locate the soul of the deceased, and second, if the deceased was too powerful in life, they could also break free from the caster's control.
Currently, I've only perfected its resurrection accuracy, but regarding controlling the deceased, I'm still improving it, because the resurrected deceased can only exert their strongest power from life when they are in a conscious state, and in a conscious state, they are prone to breaking free from control."
"If their consciousness is erased, the power they exert might not even be 10%.
So, I'm working on how to control them while erasing their consciousness, yet still allowing them to exert their power.
If I perfect the second problem by our next meeting, I'll give you the complete Edo Tensei, how about that?"
Uchiha Nagi believed Orochimaru's explanation; it meant Orochimaru was currently developing a version close to 2.0.
The last problem, how to keep the deceased conscious while allowing them to exert their maximum power, was solved by Kabuto.
Ultimately, Orochimaru chose an intermediate version, which involved erasing the consciousness of the First and Second Hokage for easier control, but as a result, the First Hokage's Wood Release, which could cover an entire city, only covered a rooftop, and the Second Hokage's Water Release became a rooftop swimming pool...
Uchiha Nagi thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, I agree.
However, I'd like to inspect the goods on the spot, if that's alright."
Orochimaru smiled, "Of course—" With that, he summoned a snake, which spat out two living people...
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