Orochimaru smiled, his grin carrying a hint of cunningness.
"Price? I never expected to hear that word from your mouth, Shura." Clearly, Orochimaru still held a grudge over the times Menma had taken advantage of him.
"However, it's true. Since I've provided such valuable results, it's only fair that you offer me something of interest in return." Orochimaru slowly stepped forward, closing the distance between them. His snake eyes burned with intensity as they locked onto Menma, his voice lowering into a tone laced with temptation and probing curiosity.
"Have you ever heard of the so-called [Eyes of God] in Amegakure?" Orochimaru's gaze grew fervent, his vertical pupils brimming with desire for the legendary Sage Eyes.
"Those eyes… are said to belong to the Sage of Six Paths. They can perceive all Ninjutsu in this world, control the cycle of life and death, and wield the power of creation and destruction… the Rinnegan." Orochimaru enunciated each syllable as if savoring a forbidden fruit.
His snake-like eyes bore into Shura's white three-eyed fox mask, hoping to extract from him the secrets he so desperately sought… more information about the Rinnegan.
Perhaps Orochimaru believed that since Shura came from the future, he might know something about the Rinnegan's mysteries, or even his own.
'So Orochimaru has set his sights on Nagato's Rinnegan.' Behind the white three-eyed fox mask, Menma's lips curled slightly.
'Given Orochimaru's current state, he wouldn't stand a chance against Nagato… let alone Obito.'
Menma's thoughts raced. He understood Orochimaru's probing all too well.
He knew Orochimaru must have learned about the appearance of the Sage Eyes in Amegakure through Danzo, though he likely remained unaware of Nagato's current circumstances.
Moreover, according to the original work, Orochimaru had indeed joined the Akatsuki at one point, likely because he was investigating the organization when Pain, who is controlled by Nagato, and Sasori confronted him.
Orochimaru had attempted to seize Pain's Rinnegan, only to be repelled by Shinra Tensei. Afterward, he expressed his desire to join the Akatsuki.
Pain, or rather, Nagato, recognized Orochimaru's strength, and also, because of his confidence in his own abilities, he allowed him to join.
Later, after Itachi became a member of the Akatsuki, Orochimaru grew obsessed with his Sharingan and launched an attack. However, Itachi defeated him with a single glance, forcing Orochimaru to flee the organization.
After comprehensively considering the situation, Menma decided that the best approach wasn't to conceal the truth, but to go with the flow and guide the curious Orochimaru toward the Akatsuki, as letting him suffer a bit would serve him right.
"The Rinnegan-" Menma murmured softly, his voice carrying an ethereal distance.
Seeing Shura had spoken, Orochimaru's anticipation grew. It was as if he was about to receive information transcending time itself!
"Those eyes indeed belong to the Sage of Six Paths. The power they manifest far surpasses ordinary Ninjas, even exceeding the Sharingan and Byakugan. They hold the secrets of life, death, and reincarnation." He paused, the eyeholes of his white three-eyed fox mask glancing subtly at Orochimaru, laced with implication.
Orochimaru's breathing grew ragged, his serpentine eyes gleaming with manic desire.
Shura's words undoubtedly confirmed his suspicions about the Rinnegan… and even suggested they were more formidable than he had imagined.
'The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.' Those few words alone were enough to ignite Orochimaru's insatiable thirst for knowledge and greed.
"However, such immense power is not something an ordinary person can wield. The one who possesses those eyes is no ordinary foe." Menma's tone suddenly became serious.
With a mix of warning and mockery, he added, "Orochimaru, let me give you some advice. When facing the wielder of those eyes, tread carefully. In your current state, you stand no chance against them."
Orochimaru's expression darkened slightly.
He recalled his past battle with Shura… how the latter had merely summoned two summoned creatures to protect the Iburi Clan while effortlessly defeating him with the Flying Thunder God Technique and an unfamiliar Ninjutsu resembling the Rasengan, a technique developed by Minato.
Furthermore, according to intelligence from his spies in Konoha, Shura had recently ambushed the Hyuga Clan's compound, gouging out the Byakugan from several elders. Even his former teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen, leading a team of elite Ninjas, had failed to stop him.
This was a testament to Shura's overwhelming strength.
If even the Asura spoke of the Rinnegan's wielder with such caution, Orochimaru couldn't help but feel a sliver of wariness.
Meanwhile, Menma observed Orochimaru's excited expression and continued, "Of course, you're free to try.."
"With your abilities, even if you realize it's beyond your reach, you'll always find a way to escape unscathed, won't you?" Menma's words carried an unmistakable implication.
Menma knew Orochimaru's character… he was greedy and yet valued his life. Even if he warned him against it, Orochimaru would still attempt to probe the Rinnegan's power himself.
By offering both temptation and caution, Menma was essentially endorsing Orochimaru's plans.
A complex smile spread across Orochimaru's face… one filled with excitement at receiving guidance and an insatiable hunger for the unknown.
"I heard that a few months ago, you attacked the Hyuga Clan's compound and took away the Byakugan from several elders. Does the Byakugan possess powers similar to the Sharingan?" Orochimaru abruptly shifted the topic.
This not only showcased the intelligence network he left within Konoha, but also revealed his curiosity about the Byakugan.
During his time in Konoha, Orochimaru had always kept an eye on both the Byakugan and the Sharingan. However, because the Uchiha Clan had produced immensely powerful Ninjas like Madara in recent decades, and had a clear evolutionary path, his focus had leaned heavily toward the Sharingan.
In contrast, the Hyuga Clan's branch family's members were bound by the Caged Bird, making it far more difficult to obtain a pure Byakugan compared to the Sharingan.
Moreover, the Hyūga clan had never produced any truly legendary figures. Yet, Shura had 'visited' the Hyuga Clan twice, and during the second raid, he had extracted the Byakugan from four elders of the main family.
If a time-traveling shinobi like Shura was targeting these eyes, Orochimaru couldn't help but be intrigued.
"I warned you before… don't get too close to Danzo." Menma gave a warning first. The fact that Orochimaru knew the exact number of Byakugan taken suggested Danzo had provided the information.
Otherwise, even with his spies in Konoha Village, Orochimaru wouldn't have known such precise details about the battle.
Then, Menma said, "The four remaining Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai Clans in existence today are all connected to the Sage of Six Paths. If you're interested, once I've successfully cloned the Byakugan, you can exchange something of value or technology for it."
'Four Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai Clans? All linked to the Sage of Six Paths?' Orochimaru's pupils constricted slightly as he carefully dissected the information hidden within Shura's words.
Orochimaru was growing increasingly excited. Every conversation with Shura was packed with intelligence he had never encountered before!
The more Shura revealed his deep understanding of the Ninja World, the clearer it became just how much Orochimaru still had to explore.
"Now, since we're discussing transactions, I believe I've shown enough sincerity." Menma changed the subject and returned to the main topic of the deal: "I want a sample of Shin's cloned cells, along with the ten One-Tomoe Sharingan and the related cloning technology… those were part of our previous deal."
"As for the cell tissue of a powerful Uchiha, I'll deliver it to you in due time." Menma does not have the cells of the Uchiha Clan's Ninja now, so he probably has to go back and ask Hikari to provide some skin samples later.
"No problem." Orochimaru licked his lips and agreed without hesitation.
"By the way, I've nearly exhausted the White Zetsu's cells. I'll need another adult-sized White Zetsu." Orochimaru's gaze burned with renewed intensity.
After a year of research, he had only scratched the surface of the White Zetsu's cells.
Those endlessly proliferating, highly adaptable humanoid lifeforms were priceless for his human experiments.
In fact, it was thanks to the White Zetsu's cells that Orochimaru's research had progressed at an unprecedented speed.
Next, he planned to attempt transplanting White Zetsu's cells into Shin's body. However, his current stock was almost depleted.
And this was one of the few things he couldn't clone… ironic, considering he had already partially mastered cloning techniques for Hashirama's cells!
"You've used them up already?" Menma frowned slightly under his mask, a little surprised.
'It's been less than a year and Orochimaru has already consumed a White Zetsu. That was faster than expected.'
"Heh, they're simply too perfect for experiments. Whenever a potential research direction arises, I can't resist testing it with some White Zetsu's cells." Orochimaru's tongue flicked out, licking his forehead. Combined with his current female vessel, the sight was unsettling.
"Use them sparingly. One per year… these things aren't easy to capture." Menma shook his head helplessly before tossing Orochimaru a sealing scroll.
Currently, the number of active White Zetsu likely didn't exceed a hundred. Menma had captured four during his earlier cleanup, given one to Orochimaru, used one in his research lab in the Land of Stars, and now only had two left in the scroll.
Though he knew there are 100,000 White Zetsu laying dormant somewhere in the Land of Iron, Menma wasn't ready to activate them yet. Nor did he want to draw too much attention from Black Zetsu.
That ancient schemer was far too cautious. If Black Zetsu grew wary and abandoned his current plans to go into hiding, tracking him down would be a real hassle.
More importantly, the plot would be significantly disrupted.
Menma's main reason for providing Orochimaru with White Zetsu was to steer his research in the desired direction, turning him into an 'outsourced scientist' and a future asset.
After Orochimaru took the sealing scroll, he eagerly opened it and placed the White Zetsu inside on the experimental table.
Then, stretching his jaw unnaturally wide, he retrieved another scroll from his throat… this one containing Shin's cloned cell samples and cloning technologies, and handed it to Menma.
"Tch, your habits…" Menma grimaced as he accepted the slime-covered scroll, giving it a quick shake before storing it away.
With the major transaction complete, Menma prepared to leave.
"Oh, and one more thing..." Orochimaru's snake eyes gleamed with an eerie light as his voice dripped with temptation. "I've recently been researching a rather... fascinating forbidden technique… the Impure World Reincarnation."
His tone carried a strange anticipation as he continued, "A technique that can summon the souls of the deceased back to the living world, restoring them to their former strength. Would you... be interested?"
Menma's heart stirred slightly.
'Edo Tensei-'
He knew all too well the terrifying potential of this forbidden technique.
Considering that in the original work, Kabuto had later managed to summon an entire Impure World Reincarnation army using Orochimaru's 'legacy', it was likely that, even now, Orochimaru had already begun collecting DNA samples of powerful Ninjas across the nations… digging up graves in secret.
In his mind, images of Minato and Kushina appeared.
Back in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, during the Fourth Great Ninja War he started, Menma had preemptively attacked Konoha to injure Kushina, Hinata, and others… just to prevent his parents and cherished friends from joining the war.
His father in that world is a person who values family more than the village, so after the outbreak of the Fourth Great Ninja War, he chose to stay in the village to take care of Kushina.
Though Menma believed that world was fake, the emotions it evoked still lingered in his heart.
In this world, Menma has always had some doubts that he wanted to ask Kushina and Minato.
Why did they choose to die without leaving any messages for Hiruzen and the others? Was it truly because they ran out of time... or was there another reason?
Besides Impure World Reincarnation, Menma knew of several other resurrection techniques, such as the Rinnegan's Rinne Rebirth, Sunagakure's One's Own Life Reincarnation, and Kusagakure's Dragon Life Reincarnation.
However, Menma wasn't sure how this world's Minato would react if he learned of his ambition to unify the Ninja World.
'A full resurrection was too risky for now, but summoning Minato via Impure World Reincarnation for a chat... that might be worth trying.'
'Test the waters first.'
'Wait... Minato's soul was sealed by the SHINIGAMI, wasn't it?' Menma suddenly remembered this crucial detail. (T/N: This Shinigami is the one summoned with Dead Demon Consuming Seal, not Menma's Nine Masked Beasts. To avoid confusion, I'll use full capital letters for this Shinigami.)
Which meant he would first need to locate the SHINIGAMI Mask.
Thinking of this, Menma's face under the white three-eyed fox mask darkened slightly.
'Where was that mask again?'
'No matter. I could search for it later.'
Turning his masked face toward Orochimaru, Menma kept his emotions in check.
"Impure World Reincarnation-"
His voice remained steady, "If you can successfully refine it, we can make another deal."
"Kukuku... Then I look forward to our next transaction." Orochimaru let out a hoarse, excited laugh.
Menma said nothing more. After packing away the ten One-Tomoe Sharingan and securing all the acquired items, he gave a slight nod and vanished in an instant… leaving no trace behind.
He had arrived without a sound, and now he departed just as silently, as though he had never been there at all.
Orochimaru stared at the spot where Shura had disappeared. The Flying Thunder God Technique left no traces, yet it only fueled Orochimaru's excitement further.
"That extremely powerful mysterious Ninjutsu resembling the Rasengan, and the mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique-"
Tucking a strand of long hair behind his ear, Orochimaru's red lips curled into an inscrutable smile.
"Even Shura has someone he wishes to revive-" Orochimaru stuck out his tongue excitedly.
"Now... who could it be?"
Orochimaru felt as though he was inching closer to uncovering the truth behind Shura's mask. The thrill of it made his very mind tremble.
"How intriguing... Fourth Hokage."