"Ah!"
A pained cry erupted as Hozuki Mangetsu sat up abruptly from the ground, clutching his chest.
Orochimaru withdrew the Kusanagi sword from Hozuki Mangetsu's heart, his expression grim.
The clean sword wound that had pierced Hozuki Mangetsu's heart, much like the other injuries he had inflicted on him earlier, vanished within moments.
"Teacher..."
"Why did you stab me?"
Hozuki Mangetsu stared in shock at Orochimaru, who held a dripping longsword, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"You won't die!"
"I was merely conducting an experiment!"
Orochimaru sheathed his sword and calmly sat down beside Hozuki Mangetsu.
"Mangetsu, do you remember the essential conditions I taught you for becoming strong?"
Hozuki Mangetsu, who was curiously feeling himself all over, paused and tentatively replied,
"Like you, Teacher, possessing immense power that makes enemies disregard you?"
Orochimaru's gaze sharpened, and the tip of his sword slowly protruded further from his sleeve.
"Keep thinking!"
Hozuki Mangetsu flinched and quickly corrected himself.
"I... I remember!"
"It's about maintaining one's inner self!"
Orochimaru's expression softened slightly, and he nodded.
"It's good that you remember!"
"I have some things to tell you, so listen carefully."
Seeing his teacher's serious demeanor, Hozuki Mangetsu immediately adopted a proper posture, puffing out his chest.
"Yes, Teacher!"
Orochimaru gazed at the diamond-shaped mark on Hozuki Mangetsu's chest for a moment, then sighed.
"The mark on your chest..."
"It's called the 'Karma'!"
"The Karma's power is immense. Those who bear this mark possess power almost equivalent to that of gods among mortals."
"When you activate the Karma, you will, as before, be covered in black markings."
"At this time, the use of all elemental chakra ninjutsu will become your instinct, and the space of the ninja world will hold no secrets from you..."
Hozuki Mangetsu's eyes lit up with joy, and he couldn't help but touch the mark on his chest.
It felt warm and comforting.
"However..."
"There is a price to pay..."
Orochimaru, seeing his disciple's unrestrained happiness, casually doused him with a bucket of cold water.
Hozuki Mangetsu froze. Seeing Orochimaru's expression grow even more somber, he couldn't help but swallow nervously and cautiously asked,
"What... what price?"
Orochimaru looked at him deeply, sighed, and continued,
"The appearance of the Karma..."
"Signifies that your body has been coveted by an enemy so powerful that even I, for the moment, cannot destroy them."
"While it grants you immense power, the person slumbering within the Karma will slowly awaken as your body adapts to the Karma's power."
"This process is called 'thawing'."
"Once the thawing is complete..."
"You... will no longer be you!"
Hozuki Mangetsu's heart clenched, and his voice trembled as he asked,
"Then..."
"Who will I become?"
Orochimaru's voice turned cold, his killing intent surging.
"An extraterrestrial, someone who seeks to destroy the ninja world, someone..."
"An enemy I must utterly destroy!"
As his chilling words fell, a bone-chilling coldness rose from the depths of Hozuki Mangetsu's heart.
The diamond mark, which had felt warm and familiar moments ago, now appeared to him as a ferocious beast.
No, more than that.
He didn't fear floods or beasts.
What he feared more was becoming someone else in the future and then being killed by the teacher he admired the most.
"Teacher, I..."
"I only want to be your disciple..."
Orochimaru's gaze flickered, and the killing intent radiating from him instantly dissipated like bubbles.
"Foolish child..."
He placed his hand on Hozuki Mangetsu's now much softer silver-white hair and ruffled it a few times.
"For the next period, do not use any chakra."
"Rest well, and tomorrow we will leave for the Land of Iron. I will find a way to resolve the Karma issue for you."
Hozuki Mangetsu met Orochimaru's gaze with unwavering trust and nodded firmly.
"Yes!"
...wΑp.kanshu伍.net
The Nine-Tails, after comforting Isobu, who was flattened on the ground, approached Orochimaru, looking at Hozuki Mangetsu with concern.
It should be comforted now...
In any case, Isobu, who had been terrified and wanted to burrow into a hole earlier, was now completely quiet. Whether it had fallen asleep again or been knocked out by the Nine-Tails was unknown.
"Orochimaru, that person named Otsutsuki Isshiki you mentioned in the Land of Rain, didn't he die from an ambush by the old man's mother? Is he still alive?"
"Your current strength is not yet at its ideal state. If you face the Otsutsuki clan now..."
Orochimaru gently patted the Nine-Tails' head, smiling at it gratefully.
"No need to worry too much!"
"My previous behavior was merely a reflection of my self-reproach for not taking better care of Mangetsu."
"Although Otsutsuki Isshiki is not dead, he is as good as dead."
"Jigen, who he is possessing, should not be able to fully thaw him from the Karma. That's why Otsutsuki Isshiki has been lurking in the relatively sparsely populated Land of Fire, secretly selecting a more suitable vessel for himself."
"This 'V' designation indicates that Mangetsu is currently just a backup vessel for him. Until Jigen's body dies, Otsutsuki Isshiki is highly unlikely to easily change his reincarnation target."
"Otherwise, Otsutsuki Isshiki's Karma thawing time would have to be recalculated."
"Therefore, I should still have enough time to find a way to utterly destroy the souls of the Otsutsuki clan."
The Nine-Tails, looking at the confident Orochimaru, was not optimistic about his cheerful assessment.
"Did you forget..."
"The Otsutsuki clan cannot be utterly killed!"
Orochimaru chuckled and shook his head.
"Are you referring to the fact that the Sage of Six Paths couldn't kill Kaguya Otsutsuki back then and could only seal her?"
"But have you ever considered how power born from the Otsutsuki clan's power, like chakra, could possibly kill them?"
"To utterly eradicate the Otsutsuki clan, one must approach it with power from outside the chakra system."
"For example, senjutsu, the power of monsters born from the ninja world, pure Yin and Yang energy..."
The Nine-Tails immediately found a loophole in Orochimaru's words and eagerly retorted:
"No!"
"Yin-Yang Release is also a power belonging to chakra, so it definitely won't work with Yin-Yang Release!"
Orochimaru looked at the Nine-Tails as if it were an idiot, making it feel uncomfortable, before he let out a disdainful laugh.
"Hmph!"
"Who told you Yin-Yang Release is solely a power of chakra?"
"You can say that among the seven elemental chakra types, there are Yin and Yang, but you cannot say that Yin and Yang powers must belong to chakra!"
The Nine-Tails scratched its head, feeling somewhat dizzy.
"Before I was summoned by the Six-Tails in the Land of Sea, I had the honor of visiting a great being."
"How great a being?"
"As great as the old man who saved the ninja world?"
The Nine-Tails interjected, full of curiosity.
"In a sense, that being is the true guardian of the ninja world."
"Although she is not famous, her contributions to the ninja world are not much less than that of the Sage of Six Paths."
Orochimaru sighed with emotion.
"Most importantly, I found a shortcut to the Six Paths realm from her."
"If only I had Yin Release, I could probably take that step!"
The Nine-Tails' eyes lit up, and it said excitedly,
"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry and find a place with Yin Release power, then achieve Six Paths, then liberate all the Tailed Beasts, and let my other half out to play together!"
The Nine-Tails' initial reason for staying with Orochimaru was precisely this promise Orochimaru had made to it back then. It was indeed difficult for it to remember it until now.
"It's not that easy!"
Orochimaru shook his head with a bitter smile.
"The power of Yang Release is merely a gift from that great being. As for Yin Release..."
"I'll probably have to find a substitute for now."
"Substitute?"
The Nine-Tails was confused.
"This thing can have a substitute? Then tell me, what is this substitute that can allow you to achieve Six Paths power?"
Orochimaru turned his gaze north, his voice lingering,
"Of course it's..."
"Indra!"
The Nine-Tails' eyes widened instantly.