For someone like Orochimaru—who had always pursued the extremes of research—having no answer, no clue where to even begin, was the most suffocating kind of despair.
His obsession with the Sharingan had lasted decades. He once dreamed of cultivating a pair of Rinnegan with his own hands, proving his genius and burying the word "delusion" forever.
But now… that dream collapsed in an instant.
Because even if Boruto could bring out the kaleidoscope's full potential, it was still the limit. No matter how Orochimaru looked at it, the leap from Mangekyō to Rinnegan simply wasn't something a lab could force.
Watching the light drain from Orochimaru's eyes was like watching an idol crumble. Even Mitsuki, usually calm, stepped forward nervously.
"Father… are you alright?" he asked.
Orochimaru raised a hand, barely managing a nod.
He wasn't "fine."
His ambition had been crushed.
But unless his mind stopped working entirely, he would never stop thinking.
Boruto exhaled sharply, unable to watch anymore.
"Alright, alright… You're the top genetics expert in the whole shinobi world. Isn't there some way to bind two people's bloodlines together? Like… make them 'close relatives' or whatever?"
Orochimaru blinked once—slowly.
"This is simple. If I cultivate a new embryo using two donors' blood, it will result in a combined lineage. Gene cloning. A basic technique, really…"
Then his voice froze.
His eyes widened sharply.
Because he finally realised what Boruto was implying.
Boruto smiled. "In the entire shinobi world, besides Uchiha Sasuke—who's already reached his limit—there's one other Uchiha who's just getting started, right?"
Orochimaru's expression shifted.
Before he even spoke, Mitsuki added quietly:
"Uchiha Sarada. Our classmate. The daughter of Sasuke."
Pure Uchiha blood.
Direct descendant of the strongest surviving Uchiha.
A natural candidate for the Mangekyō.
Boruto stretched lazily and added:
"If you want, I can go grab a drop of Sarada's blood right now."
At that moment, Orochimaru's emotions calmed instantly.
His breathing steadied.
That look of devastated despair slowly disappeared, replaced by composed excitement.
There was still hope.
"Boruto-kun," Orochimaru said, bowing his head slightly, "thank you for giving me a chance to complete my life's work. From this moment on, I will assist you with everything I have."
Boruto waved it off. "Then let's start by building the organisation. I already revealed myself as the leader of [Moon] back in Konoha."
Orochimaru raised a brow. "Oh? Will this be an intelligence network? Or something dangerous, like Akatsuki?"
"Both," Boruto replied easily.
"Oh dear… that will be difficult. Ten years ago, rogue ninjas were everywhere. But now? Peace has made recruiting troublesome."
"It's fine if there are only a few members. They just need to help me catch the Tailed Beasts and stir up some trouble in this boring shinobi world."
He spoke like he was listing groceries.
"Our ultimate goal," Boruto continued, "is assisting me in becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, obtaining the Chakra Fruit, and reaching immortality. That's the baseline for fighting the Ōtsutsuki."
Orochimaru blinked slowly.
"That's quite an ambition…"
It wasn't fear in his eyes.
It was pure exhilaration.
Boruto's growth, his potential—it made Orochimaru tremble with anticipation.
"So," Orochimaru asked, "our priority is recruiting members and hunting the Tailed Beasts?"
"No," Boruto corrected seriously.
"First, we choose the team uniform."
Orochimaru: "...?"
"We need something iconic," Boruto said. "Like Akatsuki's red clouds. Something that makes people shiver just looking at it."
Orochimaru pressed two fingers against his forehead.
They were having a serious conversation one second ago…
But he knew Boruto wouldn't move on until the uniform was settled.
"…What style do you want?" he asked.
"I have some contacts with underground auction houses. Custom orders are possible."
Boruto had a moment of self-reflection.
A left-side green dragon, right-side white tiger, Suzaku above, Genbu below…
Maybe even a nine-dragon coffin motif…
After a long silence, Boruto shook his head.
Too "real-world nerd" for the Naruto world.
"How about a crescent moon on the back, gold-lined patterns, and the front decorated with sealing motifs? Ideally, it should glow when chakra flows through it."
Orochimaru wrote everything down silently.
"…And the mask?" he finally asked.
Boruto is considered a dragon head. Or phoenix head.
But that didn't fit the art style here either.
A dog head? An emoji dog head…?
No. No.
"A fox mask is fine," Boruto decided. "With a cruel smile."
Orochimaru wrote it down again.
"And for other members? Same mask? Different ones?"
Boruto sighed. "Just copy a few from the Uzumaki clan's Reaper seal masks."
Orochimaru paused.
"…Understood."
Boruto then suddenly asked:
"Oh yeah, Orochimaru—where is Ryūchi Cave exactly? I'll visit soon."
This time, Orochimaru looked genuinely alarmed.
"You learned Sage Mode from Mount Myōboku already. Mixing sage energies from multiple regions… will disrupt your chakra flow. It is extremely dangerous."
"I want to try fusing all three sage energies," Boruto said casually. "Let's see what happens."
Orochimaru resisted the urge to grab him by the collar.
"And one more thing," Boruto added. "I can devour bloodline limits now. So whenever we recruit new members, make sure you collect their blood."
Orochimaru nodded slowly.
Their "handover" was complete.
More than ten days had passed since the Nue incident.
The plot had just reached the point where Sarada would soon start her search for her father.
As for the "mission" to obtain Sarada's blood?
Boruto completed that the very next day after coming home.
He sent shadow clones to school as usual while his real body travelled to a remote chain of uninhabited islands far beyond the Land of Fire—nothing but sea and scattered land.
He had only one goal:
Test his Wood Release.
Most importantly:
Sage Art: Wood Release — Deep Forest Emergence.
With his current power level, Boruto easily filled an entire island with towering trees.
Then he tested:
• wood clone
• wooden statue
• Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands
• and the keystone—
Myojin Gates.
By the time he finished, the entire island had sunk beneath the waves.
Another island erased from the map.
Flying back over the open ocean, Boruto mulled over his next steps.
Toneri once said another Tenseigan existed in the shinobi world.
But with only one eye, Boruto couldn't sense it—not yet.
And then there was White Zetsu—the Sarada-based clone.
It still couldn't withstand the Mangekyō.
So Boruto wondered:
Should I give Orochimaru some of Toneri's genes?
He is pure Ōtsutsuki, after all…
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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