Five full years had passed, and every experiment brought Orochimaru one step closer to the answer.
The essence of this space-time passage lay in folding space and shortening distance. At the entrance, there was also a genjutsu trap hidden. It was precisely that layer of illusion that had kept Orochimaru from ever stepping into it personally.
Even so, by now he had not only completely decoded its basic structural principles—he could even build a rudimentary prototype passage with his own hands.
Success was only one step away.
"The energy supply problem still can't be solved… This passage connects the moon and the surface, spanning such an enormous distance. The amount of chakra required is far beyond what any shinobi can provide. Could it be… tailed beasts?"
"What a pity… but where would I find a suitable tailed beast? The One-Tail in Sunagakure… might be easy to get."
He pulled his gaze away from the dense records covering his workbench and decided to shelve the thought for now and finish the experiment he hadn't completed last time.
"Jūgo—how's your recovery?"
As his words fell, the tall young man with orange hair stepped out from the shadows and stood respectfully behind Orochimaru.
Jūgo was the source of the curse mark—born with a Sage Transformation constitution and able to absorb natural energy on his own. He was also the key factor in this experiment.
Using the senjutsu chakra inside Jūgo as an alternative energy source to build a space-time passage had already proven that improving the quality of the energy could indeed extend how long the passage remained stable. This time, Orochimaru intended to use pure natural energy.
Natural energy was the most widespread and abundant power in heaven and earth. If it worked, there would be no need to hunt tailed beasts.
"Orochimaru-sama, I have no problems."
Jūgo didn't say whether he was "ready." That kind of thing was meaningless—Orochimaru wouldn't give him room to negotiate.
"No problems" meant: after this experiment, my body won't affect the next one.
"Mhm." A sharp glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. "Stand in front of the apparatus. Don't actively refine chakra. The machine will draw the natural energy directly from your body, and I'll construct the space-time passage."
He incorporated his research insights from the Flying Thunder God into it—carving coordinates into the formula as anchor points. Then he mobilized chakra, formed hand seals, and began constructing the passage.
Once the structure stabilized, Orochimaru activated the apparatus. It extracted natural energy from within Jūgo and rapidly injected it into the passage.
The instant that surging natural energy poured in, that pure, primal power violently repelled the chakra-built structure. The surface of the passage looked like a mirror struck by a pebble—spiderweb cracks spread in an instant, and then it collapsed with a boom, annihilating completely.
"Failed." Orochimaru wasn't surprised in the slightest. He immediately pulled out paper and pen and began recording.
"Cause of failure: conflict between natural energy and chakra."
"Improvements: 1) Construct the space-time passage directly with natural energy. 2) Construct it with senjutsu chakra, then inject both natural energy and chakra at the same time (e.g., tailed-beast chakra). Also need to verify whether tailed-beast chakra can combine with natural energy."
"Looks like the need to capture a tailed beast has to be moved up…"
As he seriously considered that possibility, the laboratory's communications system suddenly chimed, and Kabuto Yakushi's voice came through.
"Orochimaru-sama, someone from the moon has emerged from the spring. Monitoring status is stable, and the footage has been saved. He requests to speak with you."
Kabuto delivered all the key information concisely.
Jūgo immediately walked over and turned on the surveillance screen. In the image, beside the faintly glowing spring, Kabuto was speaking with a man in white robes.
Orochimaru noticed the man's eyes were shut. Looking closely, he discovered the eyelids were strangely sunken, as if something was missing.
"Have his eyes been removed?"
Was that true of all moon-dwellers—or was it because… this visitor's status on the moon wasn't important?
Orochimaru pressed down his thoughts and spoke into the microphone. "One minute."
The moment he finished, Orochimaru rapidly formed seals and used his own chakra to construct a space-time passage again—then dove into it.
Flying Thunder God demanded too much of the caster. This kind of space-time passage wasn't suited for combat, but as long as you had a sufficiently stable energy supply, anyone could use it.
The instant he landed, he heard the man call his name.
"Orochimaru."
"To analyze our clan's technique to this extent—your talent is indeed rare. But a passage like this, we can erase with a wave of the hand, then recreate it anew."
Orochimaru's pupils tightened slightly—not because of the threat, but because of the fact hidden behind those few words:
there was an enormous energy source on the moon—vast, and easily controlled.
The thought thrilled him.
And there was something else. These moon people were "candid" in a way that was downright interesting—just a few sentences, and they'd already leaked a great deal of useful information.
"Our clan has lived on the moon for generations, guarding a seal of utmost importance. And you, Orochimaru—your organization called Akatsuki stole the Demonic Statue."
The Demonic Statue… I see. Then the legends passed down within the Hyūga clan can be considered even more credible.
The golden slit in Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, his curiosity sharpening further.
"Your Akatsuki leader stole the statue without authorization and intends to collect the tailed beasts, attempting to revive it. Such an act will not be tolerated! Otherwise, our clan will surely complete—"
He cut off abruptly. The half-sentence left unsaid clearly contained extremely important information.
Orochimaru wisely didn't press. Instead, he said, "It seems you're quite well informed about what's happening on the surface."
"That is beyond what I am permitted to disclose."
Ah… that way of cutting off and refusing—so blunt it was almost admirable.
Orochimaru's expression didn't change. He switched questions. "So you came to me because you want me to help you stop Akatsuki?"
"No. Our clan needs no external power," the man rejected sharply. "I came to you because of your own value."
"We appreciate your talent and ambition. The techniques you possess may offer a small measure of assistance to the mission our clan bears."
Orochimaru's lips curled upward as he put on a courteous, humble demeanor. "May I ask what kind of assistance you require?"
"Your doubts need not be answered. You only need to follow instructions."
"Very well." Orochimaru immediately reined in his curiosity and stopped pressing.
The moon man seemed satisfied with Orochimaru's attitude. "Then, as proof of sincerity, I can answer one question for you right now. What do you want to know?"
Orochimaru didn't hesitate at all. "What kind of chakra is needed to maintain a stable space-time passage for a long period?"
The moon man spoke a term Orochimaru had never heard before:
"Kekkei Mōra."
"Kekkei Mōra… is it a realm beyond Kekkei Genkai—no, beyond even Kekkei Tōta?" Orochimaru couldn't help licking his lips. Subarashii…
The man nodded. "By your shinobi understanding, yes."
"Only by reaching the level of Kekkei Mōra can one sustain a passage connecting the moon and the surface—meaning… a power on the same tier as the Sage of Six Paths' Rinnegan."
After years of observation and debate within the clan, they had decided: revealing this alone would be enough to make Orochimaru betray Akatsuki.
Hopefully.