Chapter 135: The Agreement with Orochimaru

Orochimaru was not particularly surprised by Uchiha Feiyu's words; he narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke:

"It's not that I can't work for you, but for how long exactly? You should be very clear that controlling me forever is an impossible thing!"

"Don't put it so harshly... In any case, Teacher Orochimaru, all you want is to conduct research; where you conduct it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"The topics I bring out are guaranteed to be the ones you care about most, Teacher Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru chuckled, his gaze still fixed steadily on Uchiha Feiyu. Uchiha Feiyu finally shrugged his shoulders and said:

"How about 20 years?"

"That's too long... Even if I were to find a way to restore my soul on my own, it would take at most a dozen years or so!"

"But during this time, Teacher Orochimaru, you are also in the most dangerous state. With your soul damaged, not only is your strength less than one-third of its peak, but you probably wouldn't even be able to resist ordinary Genjutsu, would you!"

"I know you still have other contingencies up your sleeve, Teacher Orochimaru, and that you can be resurrected even if you die—but would the one resurrected really be you, or just a clone with your memories?"

The so-called Cursed Seal, soul fragments, and other such resurrection methods are, to put it bluntly, simply inputting one's personal information into a soul fragment and then embedding that fragment into someone else.

As this soul fragment continuously absorbs the chakra and mental fluctuations within the other person's body, it begins to grow slowly, eventually becoming a slightly weaker, complete soul.

And the value of a genius like Orochimaru lies right here; only such a top-tier genius can truly accomplish the cross-referencing and conversion between systems.

"20 years is really too much. I'm only 30 now; after finishing 20 years, I'll be 50!"

Hearing Uchiha Feiyu's words, the expression on Orochimaru's face stalled slightly, and he spoke in an unreadable tone:

"I never imagined you understood my research so deeply, Feiyu!"

Upon hearing Orochimaru agree to his request, Uchiha Feiyu was actually quite happy. The Book of Demonic Inheritance contained no shortage of good things, but a large portion of it was not general content, making it extremely difficult to learn.

"After all, my shadow clone is still kept with you; a little bit of inquiring is all it takes to know exactly what your research is all about, Teacher!"

Watching Uchiha Feiyu's expression, Orochimaru calculated things in his mind and ultimately agreed.

"This 20-year period might be an extremely long time for others, but for you, it's no different from two or three months, is it?"

Even if a damaged soul fragment is completed, it still possesses a great longing to be restored to wholeness, and the only way to restore that wholeness is to re-fuse with Orochimaru's soul.

"Then let's make it 15 years. I won't restrict your freedom, nor will I assign you any combat missions; I only need you to complete the research tasks I set for you, and at most, I might need your subordinates to help out."

As for whether Orochimaru would become difficult to control after studying the materials he provided... Uchiha Feiyu, as the provider and controller of the data, still had quite a bit of confidence.

"Tch, even so, it's too long. It delays too much of my research time; 20 years is enough for me to produce a massive amount of results."

In any case, he didn't feel there was much of a master-disciple bond between himself and this disciple; at most, they were birds of a feather using each other. Giving up 15 years of his time was less about exchanging for a Soul Pill and more about buying his own life in the process.

Of course, Orochimaru wouldn't say this to Uchiha Feiyu; for now, he simply changed the subject, focusing entirely on haggling with Uchiha Feiyu.

In reality, the contingencies Orochimaru left behind were not essentially meant to create a clone of Orochimaru, using such a self-deceiving method of resurrection.

"You are quite right. Even with the same memories and the same soul essence, that can only be considered a life form very similar to me. Even if resurrected, it has nothing to do with me personally."

And quite coincidentally, the boundary between life and death in the entire Ninja World is not that distinct; even if Orochimaru dies, a clone could still summon his soul back.

Of course, although Orochimaru agreed verbally, he would certainly pull some small tricks when it came time to do the research. Then it would be up to his disciple to see how he would parry those moves.

There was no helping it; although he said it was for the Soul Pill, Orochimaru was also worried that if he didn't agree, this disciple of his might really just raise his hand and drop his blade to finish him off.

That complete soul possesses the same memories and the same soul essence as Orochimaru, but at the end of the day, it is still just a clone—at most, a soul clone.

If a soul fragment were to fuse back into a complete soul, then to a certain extent, it would be equivalent to Orochimaru's resurrection, with at most some minor shifts in his personality. This was the resurrection path Orochimaru had planned for himself.

"Teacher Orochimaru, do you believe that? You've already developed the Living Corpse Reincarnation; you can live for at least another thousand years!"

Having settled Orochimaru, the remaining Second Hokage, Tsunade, and Shizune were considered unexpected gains for Uchiha Feiyu. The two women could be pulled over to serve as Cauldrons, especially Tsunade, who was likely the highest-quality Cauldron Uchiha Feiyu had ever encountered.

As for the Second Hokage, Uchiha Feiyu could still use the God-Controlling Technique on him. The chakra version of the God-Controlling Technique was certainly not as monstrous as the original, and it would inevitably diminish some of Senju Tobirama's research ability and inspiration, and it could also be seen through by abilities like the Byakugan.

However, even if Senju Tobirama's talent were somewhat diminished, he was definitely a genius researcher second only to Orochimaru. And as long as he remained under his command conducting research, he would basically never encounter any ninja with the Byakugan.

Most importantly, the effects of a Secret Technique like the God-Controlling Technique are basically permanent. Even if it were seen through, without ten or eight years of study, there would be no way to forcibly undo it. Theoretically, once hit, one can forget about recovering.

Returning to the Sand Ninja Village with his spoils, Uchiha Feiyu also made a decision—attack Konoha and kill Namikaze Minato!

Not just Namikaze Minato; Uchiha Feiyu had already made up his mind to find a way to replace the leaders of the current Five Great Shinobi Villages one by one, making himself the true mastermind manipulating the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Only in this way could he truly control the Ninja World War and keep harvesting the leeks. Furthermore, he was even preparing to carry out the "Spread Ninjutsu to the World" plan, controlling the Daimyo of various countries and spreading the power of chakra to the whole world.

The more people who possess chakra, the better the leeks will naturally grow; the Soul energy, physical blood essence, and the Black Qi sacrificed after death will all become stronger.

In fact, it was only after capturing Tsunade that Uchiha Feiyu truly began preparing to implement this plan: attacking Konoha.

The real difficulty in the plan was manipulating the leaders of the major ninja villages, and previously, Uchiha Feiyu did not have the confidence to perfectly control these people.

"The key is that the God-Controlling Technique isn't very safe. After all, my God-Controlling Technique isn't the true version from the Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art, but rather adapted into chakra-based Genjutsu. Otherwise, I could just use Genjutsu on all the leaders of the major ninja villages."

The Secret Technique developed by the Great Emperor in Covering the Sky is, of course, flawless and perfect for the Ninja World, but such a perfect Secret Technique is something even the Otsutsuki couldn't learn if you called them over.

In terms of foundational energy, chakra is a hundred and eight thousand miles inferior to the Secret Realm Method; this is an innate gap. Even if you brought the Great Emperor herself here, she wouldn't be able to improve it.

Just like how Uchiha Feiyu controls the Second Hokage, there is, of course, no problem with the control itself, but it is not as silent as the original God-Controlling Technique. As a Genjutsu based on chakra, no matter how it is improved, the flow of chakra in the opponent's brain will inevitably show certain abnormalities.

Not to mention the Byakugan of Konoha, the major ninja villages also have various ways to identify Genjutsu, it's just that they rarely use them on their own village leaders. But once a clue is discovered, this trick will certainly stop working.

Besides this, the only remaining ability Uchiha Feiyu has to control others without being discovered is... the Joyous Union Canon.

This dual cultivation technique for men and women can completely control everything about a Cauldron without involving any energy, making the Cauldron completely unable to defy its master. At the same time, because it does not involve energy, it cannot be detected by any sensory-type ninjutsu.

"So Tsunade is my best candidate for controlling Konoha, and she is also practically the only candidate."

"However, if it comes to this, if I want to control the Five Great Shinobi Villages, wouldn't all the leaders of these villages have to become women?"

"Don't say... that's actually quite exciting... it's just that the Rock Ninja and Cloud Ninja don't seem to have female ninja with this kind of strength!"

However, controlling three of the Five Great Shinobi Villages is enough to sway the situation of the Ninja World. At worst, when the time comes, he can just harvest the Rock Ninja and Cloud Ninja as leeks.

At this moment in Konoha, Namikaze Minato, who had just become the Fourth Hokage, was dealing with a mountain of documents. After processing all but a few, he let out a long sigh of relief.

"Dealing with documents in the Hokage Building and then dealing with more at home—being Hokage really isn't an easy job!"

"Minato, don't be so anxious; some documents can also be handled by Lord Third."

Uzumaki Kushina, with her large belly, walked up to his side, hugged him gently, rested her chin on the top of Namikaze Minato's head, and comforted him softly.

"It's just the post-war recovery phase right now, so there are a few more things to do. These will all be resolved eventually!"

"Yes, things will always be resolved."

Namikaze Minato smiled slightly, raised his hand, and patted the back of Kushina's hand: "Rest assured, I can handle it."

Kushina did not speak again, only holding Namikaze Minato a little tighter. The two enjoyed a brief moment of tenderness before Uzumaki Kushina spoke again:

"Minato, don't push yourself too hard. Once Naruto is born, he will be waiting for you to teach him!"

Namikaze Minato nodded, left Uzumaki Kushina's embrace, took her hand, and said softly: "It's getting late, you should rest early too, so that Naruto can be healthier."

Kushina nodded, though a hint of worry still appeared in her eyes.

This worry was not for Namikaze Minato; after all, Namikaze Minato was a Shadow-level Ninja with agile thinking and outstanding intelligence, more than capable of being a village leader. Handling documents would certainly not be more dangerous than killing people on the battlefield.

On the contrary, Uzumaki Kushina was more worried about herself. A jinchuriki getting married and having children was a first-time occurrence in the entire Ninja World, so she could not help but worry.

Although Uzumaki Mito was also a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in the past, she was already forty or fifty years old when she became a jinchuriki, so she naturally did not bear children and left no experience for Uzumaki Kushina.

If the seal were to break and the Nine-Tails were to go on a rampage while giving birth... that would not just be Uzumaki Kushina's problem alone; the entire Konoha would suffer a great disaster!

Namikaze Minato was known as the "Little Sun," a proper warm man, so he naturally saw through Uzumaki Kushina's worry at a glance. He reached out, took Uzumaki Kushina's hands, and placed them on his chest:

"Don't worry, Kushina, no matter what happens, I will be with you!"

"The due date is in two weeks, so rest well and don't have too much pressure."

Kushina nodded and said:

"Then you should rest too! Anyway, there are always so many documents; it's the same if you handle them tomorrow!"

After the couple walked into the house, a ripple appeared in the room, revealing the figure of Uchiha Feiyu.

"Two weeks from now? Finally found out the specific time of birth. It wasn't in vain that I stayed in Konoha for three days eating dog food, almost choking to death!"

As a standard Demonic Path character, even if Uchiha Feiyu could not be called heartless, he was definitely a person of cold temperament, thin emotions, and one who valued profit over righteousness.

Even toward his women, it was mostly just a desire for control and possession.

Since he treated people directly as a Cauldron, if feelings didn't completely not exist, they were at most a tiny bit that could only be picked out with a magnifying glass.

Therefore, when facing this famous perfect couple in Hokage, Uchiha Feiyu always felt he was being shown off to, and he felt a bit of anger pent up in his heart.

Fortunately, he had finally received the specific intelligence and didn't need to stay here eating dog food anymore.

Space swirled, and Uchiha Feiyu disappeared without a trace. Namikaze Minato, who had already walked into the room, was slightly stunned and looked toward the direction where Uchiha Feiyu disappeared with some confusion, but in the end, he discovered nothing.

Unlike Obito's Kamui Space, because Uchiha Feiyu's spirit was stronger, the Kamui Space he opened up was close to the size of a village. He did not waste such a large area; he not only stored a large amount of supplies inside but also built quite a few houses.

(End of this chapter)