"You're not even human anymore, are you, Orochimaru-sensei?"
Kiyosuke smiled as he asked his teacher.
Orochimaru chuckled.
"You're still so bound by the norms of the world. The body is merely a vessel for the soul. As long as you can survive, it doesn't matter what form you take. Of course, if it happens to be an excellent body, even better.
Kiyosuke-kun, your body is one of a kind. There are very few people in this world whose physical form can compare to yours. You can freely convert between elemental and physical states. Not even the Hōzuki clan's secret techniques come close."
Unfortunately, that kind of body couldn't be stolen.
But compared to Kiyosuke's body, Itachi's was even more tempting.
Orochimaru still couldn't obtain that terrifying ocular power. But if it were his...
Ah, he wanted it so badly.
"Well, I was just born with it. Nothing I can do about that. Anyway, Orochimaru-sensei, what kind of research have you been working on lately?"
Kiyosuke looked around at the jars, containers, and bizarre test subjects cluttering the area. It was clear Orochimaru had been experimenting with quite a few things.
"Kiyosuke-kun, have you ever heard of Edo Tensei?"
Orochimaru didn't bother hiding anything. He knew this disciple hadn't come to kill him—or rather, hadn't planned to pursue him ever since he defected from Konoha.
Still clinging to worldly emotions?
Really doesn't seem like one of my disciples at all.
More like that idiot Jiraiya!
Far too sentimental to be a proper ninja.
"Edo Tensei?! Isn't that the Second Hokage's forbidden jutsu?"
Of course Kiyosuke had heard of it. Kabuto had gained the title of "Edo Tensei Master" during the Fourth Great Ninja War because of that very technique.
But it required part of the deceased's body, and a living sacrifice to anchor the soul.
"That's right. I've already learned the jutsu, though I'm still refining it. I wouldn't say I've fully mastered it yet. Want to see one of my creations? Summoning Jutsu!"
With a series of hand seals, a coffin slowly rose up in front of them.
The number "3" was inscribed on the coffin lid.
As the lid creaked open, a man with his hair tied in a topknot lay inside. He wore a blue robe and a cloak. His eyes were closed, expression blank, face deathly pale—no different from a corpse.
"That face... oh, the Third Kazekage? Orochimaru-sensei, where did you even get his biological material?"
The Third Kazekage had been killed by Sasori, and his body turned into a puppet. Technically, Orochimaru shouldn't have had access to his body at all.
"There's always a way," Orochimaru said calmly. "Sasori killed the Third Kazekage. I worked with him for a while. While he was using the puppet made from the Kazekage's corpse, I took a few hairs from it. That was enough to perform Edo Tensei."
Orochimaru explained patiently.
Kiyosuke finally recalled—before Deidara joined, Orochimaru had been Sasori's teammate in Akatsuki. The two never got along, so stealing a few hairs from one of Sasori's puppets was probably easy for Orochimaru.
"I see. How much of his original strength can he use?"
"About seventy percent," Orochimaru estimated.
Reincarnated shinobi were never quite as strong as they were in life. After all, they were corpses. Their strength, speed, and techniques couldn't fully match their original levels.
Their combat capability depended on the summoner's skill with the jutsu, the quality of the sacrifice's body, and how much power the summoner wanted to restore.
Too strong, and they'd break free of control. Too weak, and they'd be useless.
The Third Kazekage was a test subject, and Orochimaru hadn't mastered the technique yet—seventy percent strength was already impressive.
"I see." Kiyosuke nodded. "Sensei, how do you learn this jutsu?"
"Oh? You're interested?" Orochimaru asked with amusement.
"Of course. In the right situation, this jutsu could turn the tide of battle."
Kiyosuke grinned. Edo Tensei was a forbidden technique that shouldn't be abused, but sometimes, it was exactly what he needed to achieve his goals.
"So, will you teach me, Sensei?"
"Of course, Kiyosuke-kun. Let's revisit our days as teacher and student."
...
The hand signs for Edo Tensei were Tiger, Snake, Dog, and finally, palms pressed together to release the technique.
To dispel it, the sequence was Rat, Ox, Monkey, Tiger, Dragon, Boar.
Orochimaru held nothing back.
Even though he had betrayed Konoha, he was still willing to teach this disciple.
He not only gave Kiyosuke the hand signs and release technique, but also explained the principles behind the jutsu and passed along all his research notes for Kiyosuke to study on his own.
"Kiyosuke-sama, your tea."
Kabuto had stayed behind to assist with some of Orochimaru's experiments. Occasionally, he helped Kiyosuke with small things like serving tea.
"Oh, thanks. I remember—you're the one who infiltrated Konoha as a spy. Aren't you going back?"
"It's fine. I already sent a shadow clone back. It's just a D-rank mission—no danger at all."
Kabuto was incredibly talented, nearly on par with Kakashi. Had his childhood gone differently, he could've achieved great things.
Unfortunately, his life was a tragedy.
Because of what he experienced growing up, he gradually lost sight of who he was. After accidentally killing the orphanage director who raised him, he became lost. Eventually, under Orochimaru's manipulation, he became his most loyal follower.
Kiyosuke didn't have the time—or ability—to give him a psychological intervention.
Kabuto wasn't someone you could just "talk-no-jutsu" into clarity.
After all, even in canon, it took Itachi's Izanami to help him rediscover himself—endlessly cycling through illusions until his mindset truly changed from the bottom of his heart.
Who knows how long he was trapped in that loop?
Maybe only Naruto's talk-no-jutsu could save him?
Kiyosuke definitely couldn't.
"Well, do whatever you want. You're just gathering intel for Sensei anyway."
He took a sip of tea and stopped paying attention to Kabuto, returning his focus to learning Edo Tensei.
The jutsu wasn't particularly hard to learn.
At its core, it was a variation of a summoning technique—not summoning beasts, but summoning the dead from the underworld.
Using a living body as the sacrifice.
"Equivalent exchange? What is this, human transmutation?!"
By sacrificing a living body, the soul of the deceased could be pulled back from the underworld and reborn into the world of the living.
The only part that violated equivalent exchange was the undead body... and infinite chakra.
Well, it made sense that the dead would have undying bodies.
But still, this wasn't alchemy. Thinking about such things was pointless.
BOOM!
A loud explosion echoed in the distance.
Kiyosuke looked up, sensing two chakra signatures confronting Orochimaru.
"Oh? We've got company? Perfect—let's go take a look."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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