What I promised you before, I will naturally give. But don't forget our prior agreement—you must share your research findings with us.
Your sincerity just now is merely the foundation of our cooperation. However, it's your future research achievements that we require as payment.
That artifact cannot simply be handed over to you like this. Right now, what we can offer is already extremely limited—among those, only the one delivered into your hands holds the greatest value."
Within the darkness, the "transaction" continued.
Or rather, the hidden party didn't fully trust Orochimaru. Yet aside from someone like Orochimaru—an exceptional researcher—they could hardly find another suitable collaborator. Transforming "accumulation" into power was extremely difficult.
Therefore, under such reluctant circumstances, the other side had no choice but to issue this reminder.
"I won't do anything against our agreement, although I don't entirely believe what you're saying right now... Your worth goes far beyond that.
Still, I must admit this deal between us is exceptionally valuable; otherwise, I definitely wouldn't risk provoking that person.
As for Haseo's thinking, I've never been able to completely understand it. Fortunately, I know something about his personality."
Orochimaru wouldn't normally seek conflict—especially not with someone like Haseo. This indirectly showed how highly he valued the current transaction.
"From what I know, that lord indeed has a deceptively gentle disposition… one that's surprisingly easy to manipulate. Anyway, you'd better hurry up. I hope you finish that research before I die. And after my death, you must honor your promise and proceed with the next transaction."
"I understand. I'll speed things up as much as possible. Believe me, I myself am even more eager than you are… Originally, this research was extremely dangerous, with absolutely no guarantee of success. But who could have predicted your incredible luck?
That Uzumaki kid really turned the tide for us.
Although in truth, that kidnapping was just a random occurrence—both the incident itself and the child who was taken were unplanned—but looking at the current results, that child seems as if deliberately chosen."
During Orochimaru's casual chatter, a sealed wooden box, clearly square in shape and visibly bound by seals, was handed into his hands.
"You don't seem all that bothered about my death?"
"That's none of my concern, isn't it?"
Orochimaru softly chuckled. How could he possibly care about others' lives or deaths?
Their conversation—and transaction—ended right there.
Despite encountering a bit of disturbance midway, in the end, Orochimaru still obtained what he desired. With test materials, catalysts, and experimental subjects all available, now he could finally proceed with the experiments.
Meanwhile, Haseo had already returned to Kagenami.
Inside the Base, the systematic rehabilitation process for the boy named Yayoi had already begun.
"Lord Haseo, should we report this matter to the Hokage?"
Seeing Haseo return "safely" without any unusual marks on him, Uzumaki Shikou couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief before asking cautiously… She wasn't timid by nature, but being part of a clan integrated into a major ninja village meant dealing with situations like this from time to time.
It wasn't something unique to the Uzumaki Clan—it was an unwelcome shared experience among various ninja sects within the village.
Since childhood, Uzumaki Shikou had followed Mito Uzumaki's side, making her quite knowledgeable about such matters.
How many *Kinjutsu* had the Second Hokage personally developed during his era? How many trials were required to ensure the success of a forbidden technique? How exactly were these experiments conducted?
Some truths couldn't be fully grasped through imagination alone, but one thing was certain—*Kinjutsu* didn't just appear out of thin air. Rather, those techniques always required gradual experimentation and exploration.
Where did the impure world reincarnation—a technique involving transitions between life and death—actually come from? Could the Second have succeeded immediately with just a flash of inspiration?
The hidden darkness within the village was hard to accept, yet it came with the territory. "Rushing into vengeance" was meaningless—the higher-ups' hands were certainly very "clean." If pushed too far, at most a few scapegoats would be thrown out.
If things truly escalated, Haseo would instead become the unreasonable party, the instigator. Coming from a lower position and trying to hold the village's upper echelon accountable gave them absolutely no legitimacy to do so—not even strict punishment could be achieved through proper channels.
Of course, if someone simply grabbed a blade and started killing, there would be nothing more to discuss afterward.
However, attacking superiors was entirely unjustifiable, leaving only one path afterward—to become a rogue ninja.
Konoha was a rotten place. Hmph, what if we became rogue ninjas? Ordinary people definitely wouldn't casually consider such thoughts—even if Konoha meant little, could one easily discard decades of interpersonal relationships and half a lifetime's worth of experiences? At least for now, Haseo didn't want to join the "Laughing Four."
That would easily be mistaken as going mad.
People who constantly relied on blades to solve problems might feel satisfied doing so, but what about the consequences?
Haseo already gave others the impression of being somewhat rash and overly confrontational toward Konoha's leadership, which is why Uzumaki Shikou directly ordered the elimination of several ninja who should have originally been captured alive, helping their opponents perform a mysterious "silencing operation."
Some realities couldn't fundamentally be stopped—besides "learning to accept," there was no other way. Even if the living could be monitored, how about the bodies of Konoha ninja who died on battlegrounds?
Unless one adopted the Hyuga's self-destructive cursed seal protection… Eyes, comparatively, were easier to secure with protective measures.
"Report upwards, but don't say too much—just inform them we've retrieved our own people. Afterwards, the Third Hokage will enthusiastically coordinate all conflicting parties… The Hokage excels particularly well at playing the role of a nice old man."
As for leaving behind those corpses at the scene, Haseo didn't even mention them… because it was utterly unnecessary.
Haseo didn't mean to mock The Third Hokage, yet as a ninja who barely qualified as having come from The Second's time, Haseo once again confirmed that The Third Hokage was indeed the Hokage with the weakest leadership in history.
Lacking dominance.
But The Third, being an ordinary human, had no reason to be overly domineering either.
"I understand, Lord Haseo."
"How is that child doing?"
"She's severely depleted her chakra. It must have been caused by long-term forced extraction… The loss of chakra means the loss of vitality. Conversely, even if we replenish her chakra, her life force won't immediately recover; she'll just need gradual recuperation."
In more than ninety percent of cases, physical energy and chakra can only convert in one direction. With abundant physical energy and a focused mind, a ninja could always extract large amounts of chakra at any moment. But trying to use chakra to restore physical stamina?
Too difficult.
That's also why, no matter how strong they are or how many dangers they survive, ninja tend to have short lifespans… In fact, the stronger and more gifted a ninja is, the shorter their natural lifespan tends to be.
"Hmm, this thing called vitality…" Haseo shook his head. He was just a ninja and hadn't looked into anything beyond chakra. "If you need Nine-Tails' chakra, feel free to ask directly."
In a situation like this, Haseo could only think to turn to Nine-Tails. A chakra entity, naturally, was a being whose life was deeply tied to chakra. Perhaps Nine-Tails might prove useful… Even though Shikou had already mentioned that using chakra for physical restoration was extremely difficult.
"Yes, Lord Haseo… However, before proceeding with further treatment, we've decided to attempt waking Yayoi up. Would Lord Haseo care to watch?"
"No need. Wait until that child's mental state stabilizes… If she's able to remain fully conscious when she wakes up."
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