The night was as dark as ink. Deep within the dense forest along the southwestern border of the Land of Fire, the damp air carried the smell of decaying leaves mixed with a faint yet unsettling sweet, bloody scent.
Chiya and Uchiha Shisui moved like ghosts through the shadows beneath the towering ancient trees without making a sound.
According to the fragmented and obscure clues in the classified files, Orochimaru should be operating somewhere nearby.
However, after searching this remote region for most of the day, they had found nothing unusual.
Finally, Chiya precisely caught an extremely faint yet unusually cold chakra fluctuation, like a pebble disturbing the surface of a calm lake.
"This way."
Chiya's voice was low and unquestionable.
His sharp eyes locked onto a cliff face concealed behind thick vines and scattered boulders.
Shisui followed closely behind. His three tomoe Sharingan silently activated in the darkness as he carefully scanned the surroundings, making sure there were no traps or hidden observers.
He could sense that his teacher's target was behind that cliff.
Chiya extended his hand, gathering a trace of chakra at his fingertips before gently pressing several rocks that appeared to have been randomly scattered.
Accompanied by an almost inaudible clicking sound, a massive stone in the cliff slowly sank inward, revealing a pitch-black passage that sloped downward and was only wide enough for one person.
A stronger smell immediately rushed out, a mixture of formalin, blood, and some strange medicinal herbs.
The two exchanged a glance. Chiya stepped inside first, with Shisui following close behind. His Sharingan glowed crimson in the darkness, observing everything.
The passage extended downward, and the walls gradually became smooth, showing clear signs of being carved by human hands.
The deeper they went, the heavier the cold and ominous atmosphere became.
Occasionally, side chambers appeared along the passage, filled with strange biological specimens, organs soaking inside glass containers, damaged scrolls, and experimental equipment.
At the end of the passage stood a heavy metal door.
It was not fully closed, leaving a narrow gap through which pale white light escaped, along with the clear sound of liquid dripping.
Without any hesitation, Chiya pushed the door open and walked inside.
The scene beyond the door made even Shisui, who had experienced the horrors of war, instinctively tighten his fist as his pupils shrank.
It was an enormous underground laboratory.
Rather than a laboratory, it looked more like a forbidden place where life itself had been desecrated.
The walls were lined with cold metal and glass containers.
Inside them floated grotesque biological tissues, along with several clearly human bodies whose limbs had been horribly mutated.
At the center of the laboratory stood a massive operating table stained with blood, while sharp surgical instruments lay scattered nearby.
More than ten corpses were strewn across the floor.
Some were covered with white sheets.
Others lay completely exposed, their gray skin and twisted expressions making it obvious that they had suffered terrible pain before death.
Their clothing varied.
Some were civilians.
Some were wandering shinobi.
A few even wore the uniforms of ninja from smaller nations.
The one responsible for everything stood with his back facing them in front of a green cultivation tank bubbling with strange liquid, completely focused on recording something.
He wore a loose gray-white kimono.
His long black hair reached his waist.
His pale skin reflected the complexion of someone who had not seen sunlight for years.
As if only now noticing the unexpected visitors behind him, he slowly turned around.
Golden slit pupils.
Purple markings around his eyes.
The distinctive eyeliner stretching toward the sides of his nose.
That familiar pale face and the faint, sinister smile.
It was none other than one of the Legendary Sannin.
The missing nin of Konoha.
Orochimaru.
"Oh my..."
Orochimaru's hoarse yet magnetic voice carried an amused surprise, as though his gardening had merely been interrupted rather than his forbidden human experiments.
"What an unexpected guest."
"I never imagined that the great hero of Konoha and the leader of the Uchiha Clan would personally visit my humble residence."
His gaze swept across Chiya before settling on Shisui behind him.
His eyes lingered briefly on the three tomoe Sharingan.
A trace of unconcealed greed and desire flashed through his golden snake-like eyes before quickly being replaced by deep caution.
He knew exactly how powerful Uchiha Chiya was.
News from the Third Great Ninja War had already spread through every dark corner of the shinobi world.
Capturing two Kage alone.
Ending the war by himself.
Such strength was far beyond anything he could currently oppose.
Run?
In front of a Sharingan user...
Especially this unfathomable leader of the Uchiha Clan...
The chance of escaping was practically zero.
Orochimaru abandoned any meaningless thoughts of resistance.
He casually tossed the clipboard in his hand aside and calmly looked at Chiya as his tongue instinctively slid across his lips.
"Chiya-kun, you went through quite a bit of trouble to find me."
"Surely it isn't because the village wants to eliminate me, a mere missing nin."
"That doesn't seem like something fitting your current status... or your style."
Chiya calmly swept his gaze across the corpses covering the floor before fixing his eyes on Orochimaru.
His gaze was as cold as a blade, yet he showed no intention of attacking.
He slowly spoke, his voice echoing through the empty underground laboratory.
"Toying with life."
"Defiling death."
"Is this the eternity you seek?"
Orochimaru let out a low laugh.
"Toying? Defiling?"
"Chiya-kun, your choice of words still carries such... moral superiority."
He spread his arms as if proudly presenting his masterpieces.
"Life is so fragile."
"Like a candle flickering in the wind."
"War."
"Disease."
"Aging."
"Any one of them can destroy it with ease."
"Everything I do is simply to transcend that fragile limitation."
"To understand the essence of life."
"And thereby reach true eternity."
"That is the greatest truth in this world."
"As for these..."
He lightly kicked one of the corpses beside him.
"Their insignificant lives being sacrificed in pursuit of that great truth is their honor."
"What lies at the end of eternity?"
Chiya suddenly asked in an even tone.
"Even if you gained endless life, what then?"
"Would you simply exist forever in a world you no longer cared about?"
"Watching everything rise and fall while remaining completely detached?"
"Is that truly what you want?"
The smile on Orochimaru's face faded slightly as his golden eyes narrowed.
"Loneliness?"
"That is an emotion only the weak fear."
"When you can control everything."
"When you understand everything."
"When you yourself become the truth."
"What loneliness could there possibly be?"
"Chiya-kun."
"You possess such overwhelming power."
"Yet you still allow yourself to be bound by such a narrow-minded belief as protecting others."
"What a waste."
"Your Sharingan."
"Your strength."
"They should be directed toward something greater."
"Toward a realm that transcends ordinary existence."
"Protection is not a chain, Orochimaru."
Chiya took one step forward.
An invisible pressure quietly spread throughout the laboratory.
"It is the foundation of strength."
"It gives power meaning."
"Without something worth protecting, no matter how powerful you become, you are nothing more than an empty shell."
"In the end, you will lose yourself within endless desire and illusion."
"Just as you have now."
"The eternity you pursue is merely an elaborate act of self-deception."
"A road that will never reach its destination."
"Self-deception?"
"A dead end?"
Orochimaru laughed as though he had heard the greatest joke imaginable.
His voice suddenly became sharp.
"You think that because you won a war with overwhelming strength, you've earned the right to judge everything?"
"The very foundation of this world is survival of the fittest."
"Life itself is built upon constant plunder and evolution."
"My path is the ultimate form of evolution."
"And your so-called protection is nothing more than an excuse used by the weak to huddle together."
"It is the very thing that hinders evolution."
Their beliefs collided like two invisible swords slicing through the air.
One believed that protection and order gave strength its purpose.
The other believed that transcendence and eternity were the ultimate destiny of the individual.
Standing to the side, Uchiha Shisui listened quietly as his brows gradually tightened.
Looking at Orochimaru's fanatical and twisted expression while hearing him treat human lives like worthless tools, the last trace of hesitation within him disappeared.
This man's way of thinking had already strayed far beyond normal.
Allowing him to continue unchecked would only create more tragedies.
Just as Orochimaru became completely immersed in his passionate speech about eternity and evolution...
Shisui moved.
The pattern within his Sharingan instantly transformed into an intricate and mysterious design.
The Mangekyō Sharingan opened.
Without any warning.
Without the slightest leak of chakra.
The strongest genjutsu.
Kotoamatsukami.
Activated.
Target.
Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
His golden slit pupils briefly lost focus, like a computer screen flickering with static.
The arm he had been waving passionately froze in midair.
The fanatic expression on his face became completely still.
The entire process lasted less than a fraction of a second.
The next instant, clarity returned to Orochimaru's eyes.
Yet something buried deep within his soul had already changed completely.
A change so profound that even he himself could not notice it.
When he looked at Chiya again, the fear, greed, provocation, and sinister amusement in his eyes rapidly disappeared.
In their place appeared an indescribable sense of recognition.
Respect.
And an intense desire to belong.
The expression on his face became calm.
Almost devout.
He slowly lowered his arm.
"...You are right, Chiya-kun."
Orochimaru's voice was no longer sharp and sinister.
Instead, it sounded low and sincere, as though he had suddenly realized a great truth.
"My obsession with personal and meaningless eternity."
"My fixation on forbidden techniques."
"I have indeed strayed from the correct path."
"I have lost myself in illusion."
He slowly looked around the laboratory filled with blood and death.
For the first time, genuine disgust appeared in his eyes.
"These..."
"These meaningless experiments and sacrifices have only wasted my talent and my life."
He looked directly at Chiya.
His gaze became completely focused and filled with enthusiasm.
"True knowledge and technology should be used for something with greater value."
"Under your leadership, Konoha is the only place where I can truly realize my worth."
"The only place where I can pursue genuine knowledge."
"And... yes."
"Contribute my abilities toward protecting Konoha's future."
He even bowed slightly, speaking with unprecedented sincerity.
His attitude had changed completely.
A full one hundred and eighty degrees.
Yet Orochimaru felt absolutely nothing strange about his transformation.
"Thank you, Chiya-kun."
"You awakened me."
"You helped me find my true path."
"I, Orochimaru, am willing to return to Konoha."
"I will dedicate my knowledge and my strength to you."
"And to the future of the village."
"Please grant me that opportunity."
The underground laboratory remained filled with the smell of blood.
Yet the atmosphere had become strangely quiet.
Looking at the completely transformed Orochimaru, Chiya knew that Kotoamatsukami had succeeded.
He simply nodded.
His expression remained unreadable.
"Very well."
"Remember what you said today."
"Gather everything you truly need."
"Destroy every piece of forbidden research data and every sample."
"Then come back to Konoha with us."
"Understood."
Orochimaru answered respectfully without the slightest hesitation.
He immediately turned around and began sorting through the research materials he had once treasured above all else.
Shisui deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
His entire body felt completely drained.
He quietly let out a sigh of relief as he looked toward Chiya's back.
His expression was complicated, but far more than anything else, it carried the determination of someone who had completed his mission.
Chiya remained standing where he was, watching Orochimaru busily work.
His gaze was deep and unreadable.
The most crucial step...
Subduing Orochimaru...
Had finally been completed.
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