Uchiha Feiyu told Orochimaru he needed some time to think it over. Orochimaru didn't push, only saying Feiyu had three days to give him an answer.
Joining Root, as long as there was no brainwashing or curse seal control, wasn't something Feiyu absolutely rejected.
He wasn't a "good person" to begin with, and he had no moral cleanliness complex.
If he could take missions from Konoha, why couldn't he take missions from Root?
In the end, both were just killing and arson.
The key question was: What's in it for me if I join?
If there were no benefits, he wasn't interested in working for free.
Back home, Feiyu first lit incense for his parents. His expression stayed calm and distant, then he returned to his room and sat cross-legged on his bed.
"According to what Orochimaru said, now that I'm back in Konoha, I won't have to return to the front for at least half a year…"
Root had only come up by accident. The real reason he'd gone to his cheap teacher was to ask: how long can I rest?
After all, Konoha was still at war with Iwagakure, and Kumogakure was eager to jump in too.
One of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, was locked down on the Iwa front. His student, Namikaze Minato, was guarding against Kumo's movements.
Logically, Konoha should be desperate for combat power.
Yet the Third Hokage had given both Orochimaru and Feiyu half a year of leave.
A lot of people wouldn't understand what was going on in the old man's head.
Feiyu, however, had a good guess.
This move was most likely to suppress his and Orochimaru's achievements and prestige, clearing the way for the selection of the Fourth Hokage.
Only that kind of political thinking could make a supposedly rational military command structure waste effort on pointless internal friction.
"But this does give me a lot of time to grow and settle my foundation. Since I'm sure I won't be on the battlefield for a while—and won't be getting many new souls—it's about time I used the sacrificial stockpile I already have."
As he thought this, Feiyu sank his consciousness into his mindscape.
Beneath the black Demonic Inheritance Tome, dense black currents of qi were coiled together into a tangled mass.
"A total of 572 wisps of black qi… I'll use 500 on a precise sacrifice. For the target, let's go with: 'the inheritance most suitable for me right now.'"
Even a "precise sacrifice" could only be precise in broad strokes—like "sword art," "blade style," or "core cultivation method." It couldn't spit out a whole catalog and let you pick.
This time Feiyu decided to be cheeky and chose the prefix "most suitable for me." That way, at least he wouldn't get anything useless.
The black qi vaporized and disappeared in an instant.
The black tome trembled gently for a moment, then a complex stream of information burst out, swirling in front of Feiyu's eyes.
"Soul-Devouring Blood Refinement Art? Which world's system is that from?"
Feiyu carefully examined it. According to the description, this "Soul-Devouring Blood Refinement Art" wasn't even a full cultivation system, more like a secret technique. It originated from a strange race called the Devouring Spirit Clan.
Its effect was simple:
You refine various beings with special bloodlines and physiques into a blood pool, then use that blood pool to evolve your own bloodline.
The creatures refined had to match your own race. In other words, killing chickens, ducks, and other animals was useless. To evolve with this method, he'd have to use humans.
And the stronger the human's special bloodline, the better—and the closer it was to your own, the better.
If Feiyu really sacrificed every last member of the Uchiha clan, his blood purity might soar straight up to near Indra's level.
If he also sacrificed remaining big clans like Hyūga and Kaguya still lingering in the ninja world, that wouldn't just be "approaching Indra" anymore. That would be the Sage of Six Paths reborn.
Of course, that kind of thing was just fun to think about for now. Wiping out those clans… well, it wasn't impossible, but it definitely wasn't something he could do now.
"This really is the path that suits me best. The Naruto world is basically a bloodline-supremacy world. If I didn't have the Sharingan, even the resentment backlash from Confining Spirits, Dispatching Generals would be hard to handle."
"Besides, just establishing the blood pool would take a ton of resources…"
And not just "resources" in the financial sense.
Just hearing the name "blood pool" screamed demonic cult aesthetics. Of course it would require bones, flesh, and blood.
Feiyu thought and thought, and still couldn't figure out how he could build a blood pool in secret without Konoha noticing.
In the end, he could only sigh.
"Looks like I have to join Root after all. With Orochimaru's help, I should be able to build a blood pool."
"But the relationship between me and that cheap teacher isn't what you'd call a proper, heartfelt master-disciple bond. I'd better come up with something to trade for his help… except I don't really have anything he'd want."
Thinking along those lines, Feiyu simply tossed the remaining 72 wisps of black qi into another sacrifice. This time he didn't bother with a precise target.
Moments later, the Demonic Inheritance Tome spat a bundle of information into his mind.
"Oh? Hahaha, speak of the devil—here's the perfect bargaining chip!"
Looking at the 'Lich Transformation Ritual' from a D&D-style world, Feiyu's face lit up with delight.
With this in hand, how could he not reel Orochimaru in?
Exiting the demonic inheritance space, Feiyu lay down on his bed and exhaled softly.
"No idea when I'll be able to actually build the blood pool… and I don't even know if ordinary ninja can be refined by it."
Theoretically, ordinary humans didn't descend directly from the Sage of Six Paths' family and didn't have any special bloodline.
But in reality, every ninja in this world inherited chakra from the "Ninja Sect" founded by the Sage. Their chakra ultimately came from seeds he split off himself.
And chakra could reshape genes and bloodlines.
In a way, these so-called "ordinary ninja" were like mortals who had lived beside dragons for generations and been gradually transformed into dragon-touched descendants—already quite different from normal humans.
"From that angle, ordinary shinobi should be refine-able too. And genin and Chunin die like weeds in the war—getting a hold of their bodies is laughably easy."
"It's just… if I want to take them in bulk, there'll be logistics issues. And it's not exactly simple to stroll onto a battlefield and collect corpses."
"Looks like I still need my cheap teacher's help."
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