Chapter 72: Transaction

The day after receiving the gift from the Uchiha, Uchiha Feiyu took his newly written Scroll and sought out his cheap teacher, Orochimaru.

"It seems you have made up your mind, Feiyu? Are you prepared to join the Root with me?"

"That is correct, Teacher. After all, there are some things I can only rely on the power of the Root to accomplish."

"Oh?! Could it be that you, Feiyu, are also interested in things like Human Experimentation?"

"Human Experimentation... one could say that!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Feiyu handed Orochimaru a document. Orochimaru was slightly stunned, picked it up to take a look, and immediately gasped.

Even though Orochimaru himself was already cold-blooded and ruthless, not regarding human life as anything of consequence, the "human materials" required in the document still made him feel a bit terrified.

"With so many materials, are you planning to go and slaughter a small Ninja Village? The total number of people consumed by my Human Experimentation over so many years is probably just a fraction of yours!?"

"Teacher, don't joke. Your Human Experimentation has very high requirements for materials; ordinary Genin aren't even qualified to be consumables!"

"The Blood Pool I want to build doesn't need such high specifications; any corpse with a bit of chakra will do!"

"But the quantity is truly too large... I am not the leader of the Root, merely a wage earner."

"Teacher, you jest. A wage earner wouldn't have such high clearance as you. With your ability, joining the Root should at least make you an important strategic partner!"

Uchiha Feiyu said this with a smile while handing Orochimaru another Scroll. Orochimaru opened it out of curiosity, took one look, and was immediately captivated; a look of surprise erupted across his entire face.

His greedy eyes scanned the Scroll until he reached the very end, at which point Orochimaru's gaze tightened slightly, revealing a look of anxiety:

"What about the rest? Where is the second half of this ninjutsu?!! Give me the rest of the ninjutsu!!"

The Lich Reincarnation Ritual, even in the D&D world, is a spell that only top-tier mages can use. Every mage transformed into a lich has strength that is absolutely extraordinary, at least approaching that of a legendary monster.

Under the improvements of generations of mages, although Lich Reincarnation still has various flaws—such as negative energy eroding the Soul, the inability to preserve the physical body, and emotions and memories gradually fading over time—it is, without a doubt, a complete path to immortality.

At the very least, liches in the D&D world can live for thousands of years as if it were child's play. All liches die from being reckless; I have never heard of any lich dying of old age!

Looking at Orochimaru, on the other hand, whether the Living Corpse Reincarnation he developed later can truly grant immortality is uncertain.

In any case, in Uchiha Feiyu's view, with that crude method of possession, Orochimaru would live for at most a hundred or two hundred years before his Soul shattered and he vanished into thin air.

Therefore, after seeing the Lich Reincarnation method, Orochimaru felt as if he had seen a guiding light. Even though many things within it did not quite fit the chakra system of the Naruto World and could not be applied directly, it still caused a flash of inspiration in his mind, and countless ideas gushed forth.

Seeing that this spell only had a beginning and then stopped, he became momentarily agitated and glared at Uchiha Feiyu with a look of impatience.

It was only after seeing the half-smiling expression on Uchiha Feiyu's face that Orochimaru let out a long breath, realizing his loss of composure.

"My apologies... it seems I was truly too uncomposed."

"It is just that this ninjutsu is brilliant and stunning. Although it seems inconsistent with the chakra system, the various theories within it have truly opened my eyes!"

Uchiha Feiyu chuckled. He naturally knew exactly how much temptation the Lich Reincarnation Technique held for a guy like Orochimaru who pursued eternal life.

If it weren't for the fact that his own strength was powerful and not at all inferior to Orochimaru's, he reckoned Orochimaru would have already started taking action by now!

"Teacher Orochimaru, rest assured. As long as you can provide the materials I need, I will naturally offer the Lich Reincarnation Technique with both hands."

Hearing this, Orochimaru's eyes lit up slightly, and he nodded gently:

"In that case, it is a deal!"

"It is a deal!"

The resources Uchiha Feiyu needed to build the Blood Pool were fraught with difficulties for him personally, and even for Orochimaru, it was by no means an easy thing to accomplish.

Although Orochimaru had some of his own subordinates in Konoha who would do some private dirty work, for an order as large as 2,000 ninja corpses, relying solely on his own subordinates was beyond his reach.

But it didn't matter; the Root was professional in this regard. Orochimaru could completely subcontract the project!

At most, he would engage in some dirty transactions with Danzō. As a top-tier researcher, couldn't he just report some extra wear and tear, and then extract a few of his previous research results to hand over to Danzō? Wouldn't that be perfect?

Although he thought this in his heart, when Orochimaru saw the list of materials in his hand, his mouth still couldn't help but twitch. To collect so many materials, he would definitely have to bleed heavily this time.

"We've arrived. This is the base of the Root!"

In the forest on the outskirts of Konoha, Uchiha Feiyu looked at the bushes in front of him with curiosity. He watched as Orochimaru casually reached out and performed a few hand seals. Amidst a rumbling sound, the bushes parted, revealing a huge underground cave.

"It's quite hidden... but is it really necessary to be this secretive in Konoha?"

"Heh heh, perhaps it's because of the personality of the Root's leader. Old people always have all sorts of worries."

Orochimaru said with a smile, practically saying that Danzō had persecution mania.

Footsteps approached, and an old man with an indifferent expression walked out from the darkness, his voice carrying a hint of coldness:

"Orochimaru, what are you trying to say? Implying that I am already old?"

"Heh heh, of course I wouldn't dare. Lord Danzō is currently hale and hearty. Among the Anbu of the various Ninja Villages, who doesn't know the great name of the Darkness of the Shinobi World?"

Danzō snorted and didn't say much more. After his gaze swept over Orochimaru, he looked at Uchiha Feiyu:

"Is this that disciple of yours? Besides you, he also wants to join my Root?"

"The Root is not something just anyone can join. To become a Root ninja, one must first learn to forget the past and the future, becoming a complete ghost, the dark root that supports the great tree of Konoha!"

"Uchiha brat, do you have such resolve? Do you have such spirit?"

(End of chapter)