"Kiyohara-kun…"
Orochimaru's voice carried a note of curiosity.
"The aura around you… is a little unusual. The 'White Snake Power' I gave you years ago seems to have… reached a level of activity that honestly surprises me.
That isn't something the version of those cells I created back then should be capable of. Has… something interesting changed?"
Orochimaru was genuinely curious.
It was like giving someone version 1.0 of something, only for them to casually update it to version 1.2.
And the thing was, even he himself hadn't updated it to 1.2 yet.
Kiyohara's heart stirred slightly.
Was it because White Snake Kiyohara had possessed him? Or because of the effect from trying to guide Ryūchi Cave's natural energy?
Whatever the reason, though, there was no way Kiyohara was about to explain all of that.
So he deliberately put on a puzzled look.
"Really? Lately I have noticed my recovery getting better, and my body feels more flexible too, but as for the exact reason… I'm not really sure. Maybe it's just the overall improvement from training?"
Orochimaru's golden slit pupils stayed fixed on Kiyohara without blinking.
After a long moment—so long that Kiyohara was starting to question Orochimaru's gender—Orochimaru finally looked away.
Then he let out a low chuckle.
"Hehe… Kiyohara-kun, it seems the secrets you're carrying are even greater than I imagined. This body of yours… really is a fascinating treasure."
His tone carried an undisguised hunger for the unknown.
"So then, if you came all the way here today, I assume it wasn't just to catch up?"
Kiyohara followed the opening naturally.
"There are a few things I wanted to ask you about, actually. How is your curse mark research progressing? I thought maybe I might be able to help."
He needed to understand how far Orochimaru's curse mark research had advanced, and it would also help him prepare for his own future training.
As expected, Orochimaru's attention shifted immediately. He began going into detail about his latest discoveries regarding natural energy and curse mark transformation states.
Kiyohara listened carefully and occasionally asked a few pointed questions, showing a deep familiarity with the topic, which only made Orochimaru more eager to keep talking.
Once that part of the conversation wound down, Kiyohara asked, seemingly offhandedly,
"Orochimaru-sama, I've recently become very interested in snake-related secret techniques. Do you happen to have any such techniques here that I could study?"
"The Scroll of Seals didn't seem to have anything especially suitable."
A sharp gleam flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.
"The Scroll of Seals contains many forbidden techniques, yes, but it's true that they may not satisfy Kiyohara-kun's more… specialized needs. However…"
He drew the word out, like a snake sizing up its prey.
"To obtain my personal teachings, you would need to pay an appropriate price."
"Kiyohara-kun, if you're willing to promise that for the next ten years, you'll remain in Konoha as one of my important assistants and help me with my various research projects…"
Orochimaru's voice was full of temptation.
"…then I can teach you truly powerful ninjutsu."
Kiyohara laughed inwardly.
Orochimaru's human experimentation was a massive hidden danger. The day the war ended would be the day it was exposed.
That mine wasn't a question of if it would explode—only when.
And when it did, Orochimaru would be in deep trouble.
There was no way he would still have ten peaceful years left to keep researching.
As far as Kiyohara could tell, Orochimaru's countdown to defecting from the village had already begun.
The war itself was nearly over.
And really, how much time passed between the war ending and Orochimaru's actual defection?
What Kiyohara thought in his head was one thing, but the attitude he showed on his face was something else entirely.
He acted as if he were considering the offer carefully, then after a long pause, he slowly nodded.
"Learning from Orochimaru-sama is something I could never finish in a lifetime. Of course I'm willing."
As their eyes met, both Kiyohara and Orochimaru felt like they had just gotten an incredible deal.
Orochimaru smiled in satisfaction and began listing options as though he were naming treasured items from a collection.
"Very good. I have several paths available. Which direction would Kiyohara-kun like to pursue?"
"Go on."
Kiyohara said.
Orochimaru began,
"I have a summoning method that would allow you to sign a contract with Ryūchi Cave. Once the contract is made, you would be able to summon the serpents of Ryūchi Cave and learn refined snake-based techniques such as Summoning: Binding Snake Glare Spell and Summoning: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
Kiyohara shook his head.
"No, no. I already have a summoning contract with Shikkotsu Forest. It wouldn't be appropriate to form a pact with another sacred land."
Orochimaru wasn't offended. He simply continued.
"Then I also have sealing methods. I could teach you advanced sealing techniques such as the Five Elements Seal and the Evil Sealing Method. Master them, and you'd become a powerful sealing specialist, filling gaps in your skill set."
Kiyohara shook his head again.
"No. Karine-nee from the Uzumaki clan is already teaching me sealing techniques. That's enough for now."
The interest in Orochimaru's eyes only deepened.
"Oh? Then I have another option. A secret technique called Vanishing Facial Copy Technique. It's a disguise art, far superior to an ordinary Transformation Technique and nearly impossible to see through."
Kiyohara still refused.
"No. It's a good technique, but I conduct myself openly. I have no current need for disguises."
After being rejected again and again, Orochimaru didn't get annoyed, nor did he think Kiyohara was merely being difficult. Instead, he just smiled.
Then he seemed to remember something.
The young man before him was not only terrifyingly talented in battle, but also absurdly knowledgeable. He even recognized obscure bloodline limits like the Ketsuryūgan.
So then…
Did that mean he might also know something about the truly secret forbidden techniques?
A thought took shape in Orochimaru's mind.
He lowered his voice and told Anko Mitarashi to head upstairs first.
Anko looked a little confused. What was so important that Orochimaru-sama couldn't say it in front of her?
Still, she knew when it was time to leave. So she headed outside to continue training.
Once Anko was gone, Orochimaru turned his full attention back to Kiyohara.
"Kiyohara-kun, your vision truly is exceptional. Ordinary techniques don't interest you. In that case…"
He paused and carefully watched Kiyohara's expression.
"I have one more secret technique. It is called Great Snake Charmer Technique. When used, the caster sheds their skin and transforms into a giant serpent body, one made up of countless smaller snakes. It can absorb an opponent's chakra and abilities. Would you be interested in learning that?"
Kiyohara's heart stirred.
He knew the real show was about to begin.
But he only raised a brow slightly, showing just the right amount of interest.
"That technique certainly sounds powerful. But… Orochimaru-sama, do you have something even more… impressive than that?"
Hearing that, Orochimaru gave a faint shake of his head.
So Kiyohara-kun had his sights set high.
That was good.
Orochimaru appreciated that.
"Kiyohara-kun…"
Orochimaru said each word slowly.
"Have you ever heard of…"
"The Eight Branches Technique?"
Kiyohara put on a look of confusion and blank ignorance, then shook his head.
"The Eight Branches Technique? I've never heard of it. What kind of technique is it?"
Orochimaru stared at him hard for several seconds.
In the end, he seemed to confirm something—or perhaps feel a small trace of disappointment. He let out a light sigh.
"It's a forbidden technique I'm currently conceiving and developing myself. It allows the user to transform into the legendary giant serpent with eight heads and eight tails, possessing the power to destroy everything. Unfortunately… there are still many obstacles left unresolved. At the moment, it's only half-finished."
Then Orochimaru opened his mouth wide.
A moment later, he spat out a scroll.
He unrolled it.
"This is the Eight Branches Technique. Unfortunately, because it's still incomplete, the risks are extremely high. The chances of success are slim. In the hands of an ordinary person, it would likely turn them fully into a snake—or even kill them outright."
Orochimaru said,
"Kiyohara-kun is exceptionally knowledgeable. Perhaps… you might be able to figure something out from it as well. And if one day the two of us work together to perfect it…"
Kiyohara took the scroll with both hands.
"Thank you for your trust, Orochimaru-sama. This technique really does sound extraordinary. I'll study it carefully."
Orochimaru watched as Kiyohara stored the scroll away, that knowing smile returning to his face.
"And of course, if I complete the technique in the future, I'll naturally give Kiyohara-kun the finished version as well."
The two of them each had their own calculations.
Kiyohara had obtained the Eight Branches Technique.
And Orochimaru, meanwhile, had used a dangerous unfinished prototype that couldn't currently be used, plus an empty promise, to paint Kiyohara a very nice picture.
Of course Kiyohara knew Orochimaru was selling him a dream.
He simply didn't care.
It wasn't as though he was actually planning to turn himself into a snake.
As long as he could fulfill the lingering wish, that was enough.
Even if Orochimaru had handed him a perfected version, Kiyohara wasn't sure he would have dared to use it.
The darker Orochimaru became over time, the easier it would be for him to leave hidden traps inside his techniques.
Looking back, almost everyone who stayed in contact with the future Orochimaru for too long ended up with something planted in them by him.
Kabuto Yakushi. Sasuke. Anko Mitarashi.
Not a single exception.
After a few more pleasantries, Kiyohara took his leave.
Once Kiyohara disappeared into the darkness at the end of the corridor, Orochimaru stood there in the dim light, lightly licking his lips as he murmured to himself:
"How very… interesting."
…
"I completed the lingering wish, right?"
The moment he got home, Kiyohara summoned White Snake Kiyohara again.
White Snake Kiyohara temporarily possessed Kiyohara's hand and carefully unrolled the scroll to examine it in detail.
"Yes. There's definitely something there. This should indeed be what they call the Eight Branches Technique."
White Snake Kiyohara nodded.
At its core, the technique was simply one that caused seven additional heads to grow from the user.
Those seven heads could all release ninjutsu simultaneously.
And after transforming, both defense and recovery would also be greatly enhanced.
For a serpent, it really was a rare secret art.
"Good."
Once Kiyohara confirmed that even a half-finished version counted as fulfilling the lingering wish, he visibly relaxed.
Then a sphere of light drifted out from White Snake Kiyohara.
The light merged into Kiyohara's body.
White Snake Kiyohara's chakra nature seemed to be Yin-based, because Kiyohara could feel his talent for Yin Release improve noticeably.
Using genjutsu and other Yin-based techniques now felt smoother and more natural.
As for mental energy and chakra reserves, those naturally rose a bit as well.
Beyond that, Kiyohara also inherited some of the techniques White Snake Kiyohara used.
"Shedding Technique?"
Kiyohara thought to himself.
He had inherited that technique, and it felt somewhat similar to Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique.
So Kiyohara drew his ninja blade and slashed it across his own arm.
Slash.
A cut opened up.
Then, before any blood could even spill out, the wound had already sealed itself shut.
Kiyohara shook his arm and saw that no blood had come out at all.
Then he used a finger to pick at the cut and peeled away a thin layer of white skin.
Underneath it, the flesh was completely unharmed.
"Nice."
Kiyohara nodded slightly.
It wasn't like Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique, which could replace the whole body. But being able to shed skin locally and recover from injuries was still excellent.
After all, this technique didn't require drawing on the chakra stored in the Yin Seal.
The one flaw in Tsunade's techniques was that once activated, they continuously drained chakra.
Then the user had to wait for it all to build back up again.
Of course, once the seal had been formed once, recharging it became much faster.
But it was still slower than Kiyohara's own natural chakra recovery.
So having some substitute healing techniques wasn't bad at all.
Especially since this was a no-hand-seal technique.
…
Deep inside Ryūchi Cave, the temple that enshrined the White Snake Sage was shrouded year-round in cold, damp mist.
The massive white-scaled serpent coiled atop the enormous throne slowly opened its orange-gold slit pupils. The pipe held in its mouth trembled faintly, and a thin wisp of smoke curled upward.
No one could tell just how long the White Snake Sage's body truly was. It seemed as though she had become one with the temple that housed her.
"Hm?"
The White Snake Sage let out a low sound through her nose. The golden rings on her massive body touched lightly and gave off a crisp chiming sound.
As one of the sages of the three great sacred lands, the White Snake Sage also possessed means of sensing the entire ninja world and glimpsing certain threads of fate.
The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku observed the world through dreams and the Telescope Technique.
The White Snake Sage, however, listened.
Through hearing—this unique form of perception—many things that happened across the shinobi world entered her awareness.
And just now, she had sensed something.
Far away, in the direction of the Land of Fire, there was a unique fluctuation of natural energy trying to resonate with the frequency of Ryūchi Cave's sage arts.
It was unmistakably the embryonic form of Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode.
The White Snake Sage frowned.
She had vaguely felt this disturbance for some time already, but today, for the first time, she sensed it clearly.
What surprised her even more was that the source of the fluctuation did not come from any of Ryūchi Cave's contractors, nor from someone who had trained through the proper route.
And yet that person was trying to cultivate Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode.
Had Orochimaru leaked something?
The White Snake Sage narrowed her eyes.
Back then, Orochimaru had come to train in sage arts too. According to tradition, he would have had to endure the natural energy injected through the White Snake Sage's fangs.
Orochimaru had failed, but survived by luck, and there should still have been some traces of natural energy left in his body.
The White Snake Sage closed her eyes, and the enormous sage chakra accumulated over more than a thousand years slowly began to circulate.
She focused her senses more carefully.
"This is…"
Her slit pupils suddenly constricted.
In her perception, the young ninja's bloodline composition was unbelievably complex.
Uchiha blood. Yotsuki blood. The scent of Mount Myōboku's toad lineage. And even… white snake cells originating from Ryūchi Cave itself.
But that still wasn't the most shocking thing.
What truly startled the White Snake Sage was that this young man actually could use Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode.
"It's like a snake of Ryūchi Cave attempting its first shedding…"
The White Snake Sage muttered, drawing on her enormous pipe.
She had lived for over a thousand years and seen countless geniuses, including someone like Orochimaru.
But none of them had been like this young man.
Because none of them had ever possessed so many bloodline limits.
Having lived for a thousand years, the White Snake Sage knew exactly what that implied.
Like the Great Toad Sage, she had lived through the age of the Rabbit Goddess.
She had personally witnessed how the Sage brothers and the Rabbit Goddess had shattered the land with their battle.
That kind of power was something no one in the shinobi world today could possibly resist.
And now, from Kiyohara, the White Snake Sage sensed a possibility.
If he truly was a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths…
Then by training in Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode, could he perhaps walk a different path entirely?
As far as the White Snake Sage knew, the Sage of Six Paths had possessed a power known as Six Paths Senjutsu.
"A serpent leaping toward dragonhood…"
A gleam flashed through the White Snake Sage's eyes.
In the ancient legends of Ryūchi Cave, there was a special kind of being.
Not a pureblood snake, but something that kept shedding and evolving through training until it crossed beyond the boundary of "snake" and ascended into a higher form of life—a dragon.
In the past thousand years, she had only seen one such existence.
That was Orochimaru.
Unfortunately, though he had more than enough intelligence, his physical aptitude had been lacking.
But this young man before her…
The White Snake Sage slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"Tagitsuhime."
Her voice echoed through the empty temple.
A moment later, a graceful figure emerged from the shadows.
It was a beautiful woman dressed in white robes, her black hair arranged in an elaborate updo, her eyes holding the vertical slit pupils of a serpent.
"White Snake Sage, what are your orders?"
Tagitsuhime bowed respectfully, her voice soft and alluring.
"Go tell Ichikishimahime and Tagorihime to contact Orochimaru."
The White Snake Sage paused.
"Tell him Ryūchi Cave has found an interesting little one. He should pay close attention."
"Yes."
A trace of surprise flickered through Tagitsuhime's eyes, but she asked no questions and slowly sank back into the shadows.
The White Snake Sage closed her eyes once more, her enormous body coiling slightly on the throne.
"Let me see… just how far you can go, little one."
…
Konoha, Hokage Building conference room.
More than ten people sat around the long table, all of them representatives of Konoha's major clans and frontline commanders.
Kiyohara sat at Tsunade's side, calmly listening to the discussion.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at the head of the table, white smoke rising slowly from his pipe.
"…In summary, after losing the Third Mizukage, factional conflict inside Kirigakure has intensified. The group led by Genji is currently supporting Yagura Karatachi as the Fourth Mizukage."
Shikaku Nara set down the report in his hands and pushed his glasses up.
This was intelligence sent back by spies in the Land of Water.
Both Root and the Anbu had dedicated intelligence divisions responsible for infiltrating other nations and hidden villages.
"At present, the conflict over there seems to have entered a deadlock. Both Kirigakure and Sunagakure have expressed interest in peace talks."
Low murmurs spread through the room.
"Peace talks? Kirigakure lost their Mizukage. Are they really going to accept that?"
"What choice do they have? They can't even keep up with their own internal unrest right now."
"Sunagakure really got lucky. If we hadn't reinforced them in time…"
Hiruzen tapped the table lightly, and the room gradually quieted.
"Whether Kirigakure is willing or not, continuing the war benefits no one."
He spoke slowly.
"Konoha may currently hold the advantage, but the threat from Kumogakure on the eastern front still remains. It would be unwise for us to continue fighting on two fronts for too long."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"I've decided to accept Sunagakure's peace proposal. At the same time, we'll resume the Chunin Exams that were interrupted by the war. This time, we'll invite Sunagakure to co-host them with us."
The moment those words landed, the conference room grew noisy.
"A joint Chunin Exam? That's actually a pretty good way to restore relations."
"But what about security…"
"We can have Sunagakure send their examinees to Konoha, and we'll handle the protection."
Kiyohara listened quietly, but his mind was already moving rapidly.
This, most likely, would be the beginning of Pakura's death.
If he wanted to interfere in that, the best time to act would be now.
Then he could save Pakura, take advantage of her hatred for Sunagakure, and bring her under his command.
Pakura was a genius. She had simply died far too young.
If Kiyohara gave her proper support and development, she should be able to go much farther than she ever did in the original story.
She had the makings of one hell of a top-tier enforcer for him.
~~~
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