chapter 88 part 1
Chapter 88: Let me see the limits of your corpse!
Orochimaru appeared focused on the experiment at hand, pulling down internal organs one after another and carefully stripping away cells. In reality, however, his peripheral vision was constantly fixed on Tsukasa Kaede's every move.
This was a snake's instinct. While it wouldn't be entirely accurate to say Orochimaru was constantly looking for Tsukasa Kaede's weaknesses to find an opportunity to launch a vicious sneak attack, such an attack would be useless anyway.
Orochimaru wasn't proficient in powerful genjutsu, so he couldn't extract intelligence on various precious forbidden jutsu from Tsukasa Kaede. His envisioned Immortal Reincarnation Jutsu wasn't complete yet, so he couldn't immediately seize Tsukasa Kaede's body.
But being unable to deal with Tsukasa Kaede didn't stop his instinct to observe him. His slitted pupils always held a small corner fixed on Tsukasa Kaede, reflecting his every movement.
"Eight-Tails chakra... Of course, I'm interested."
Tsukasa Kaede paused, tossing the heart in his hand to Orochimaru. "Tell me your plan in detail."
Orochimaru carefully placed each organ. These were all consumables to advance the experiment, and he didn't possess resurrection jutsu like Tsukasa Kaede.
"My spy within the Hidden Cloud Village has sent back intelligence. The village has been in turmoil for over a year now."
"In turmoil? They've been constantly launching invasive attacks on our side, killing many of our comrades and destroying large amounts of supplies transported to the frontline, forcing Sakumo Hatake to frequently deal with invading squads." Tsukasa Kaede pretended ignorance.
In truth, he had already guessed what Orochimaru wanted to say.
"That's why they've been so aggressively invading Konoha and Iwagakure, putting on a tough stance of intervening in the Great Ninja War at any time, to cover up internal village problems... the Eight-Tails jinchuriki has been losing control more and more frequently."
A bloodthirsty gleam flickered in Orochimaru's eyes. This was someone who contained a tailed beast. If he could get the corpse, it would surely hold immense research value.
"So that's your intention."
Tsukasa Kaede carefully washed the blood from his hands in the water basin. The gurgling sound of the water was exceptionally clear and pleasant in the silent and oppressive laboratory.
The Eight-Tails jinchuriki at this time should be Burubi. To delve deeper, he needed to confirm Burubi's cause of death in the original timeline.
In the anime timeline, Orochimaru attacked Burubi, using Five Elements Unseal to destroy the Iron Armor Seal on Burubi, allowing the Eight-Tails to escape and Burubi to die.
Orochimaru also took the opportunity to scrape off some fragments from a horn dropped by the Eight-Tails, which he cultivated for over a decade into a massive horn, enabling Burubi, resurrected by Impure World Reincarnation, to enter partial tailed beast transformation.
In the manga timeline, this never happened.
Before Burubi became the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, the Hidden Cloud Village racked its brains to restrain the Eight-Tails. Each time, they paid a huge sacrifice to seal the Eight-Tails into the Amber Purifying Pot. After the Eight-Tails recovered and broke free from the Amber Purifying Pot, it would be sealed again, repeating the cycle.
Even after Burubi became the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, this situation didn't change. The Iron Armor Seal's strength was completely incomparable to Konoha's Eight Trigrams Sealing, which led to Burubi frequently losing control and ultimately dying during an Eight-Tails rampage.
"Counting the time, it's almost here..."
Tsukasa Kaede thought silently.
Killer B should be 13 years old now, roughly the same generation as Minato Namikaze. After Burubi's death, the Hidden Cloud Village reverted to its old method of sealing the Eight-Tails with the Amber Purifying Pot, until Killer B became the Hidden Cloud Village's second Eight-Tails jinchuriki.
If Orochimaru had designs on the Eight-Tails, now was indeed a good opportunity. By stirring the pot during the period of most frequent Eight-Tails rampages, their combined strength would be more than enough to obtain something useful.
Moreover, the reason was already thought out: why should Konoha always endure invasive attacks from the Hidden Cloud Village? Previously, it was due to the Second Great Ninja War, facing attacks from Sunagakure and Iwagakure during the most difficult times.
Now things were different. The Second Great Ninja War had ended some time ago, making it the perfect time for retaliatory actions against the Hidden Cloud Village.
"But Hokage might not agree. Although I don't have much contact with Hokage, unlike you, his disciple, I don't know him that well... but from my observations, he wouldn't easily provoke a war."
Tsukasa Kaede flicked the water droplets from his hands.
Orochimaru grinned cruelly, "The Third Hokage certainly wouldn't do that, but Danzo would! Even if the Third Hokage found out, he would remain silent and wait for things to unfold naturally; that's his usual style."
"Danzō seems to be in a very passive position because of Mito Uzumaki's incident, probably unable to initiate special operations. So, you want us two to fill the militant faction void left by Danzō? That's quite a plan."
Tsukasa Kaede chuckled, "Orochimaru, it seems we often reach a consensus on many things. I'm sure we'll achieve excellent results."
"Have we reached a consensus? It seems we understand each other better now. Please guide me further." Orochimaru's smile became increasingly unsettling.
He felt that he needed to re-evaluate his perception of Tsukasa Kaede, not using his old way of thinking. It wasn't about re-assessing Tsukasa Kaede's temperament—there was nothing to assess. Someone who started by manipulating corpses couldn't possibly be a 'Little Sun' like Minato Namikaze.
Anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't describe Tsukasa Kaede that way. Even the Third Hokage, at most, would believe Tsukasa Kaede wouldn't betray the village, but would never believe Tsukasa Kaede was cheerful or bright.
Calling him a gloomy, cold 'Small Moon' also didn't quite fit, but Orochimaru decided it wasn't important. The key was that he needed to change his cognitive model as a 'short-lived being' and strive to view Tsukasa Kaede's words and actions from the perspective of a 'long-lived being.'
Yes, 'long-lived being.' This was a word that made Orochimaru's heart itch with desire, the kind of life form he yearned to become.
But for Tsukasa Kaede, it was commonplace; he was already a 'long-lived being' from the start.
"Your gaze seems to have changed, Orochimaru, it makes me uncomfortable," Tsukasa Kaede suddenly said.
Orochimaru chuckled in a low voice, "No, I just suddenly feel very envious of you. You are already someone with immortality, starting at this level. The heights you will reach in the future are unimaginable."
Tsukasa Kaede said indifferently, "It's alright, my jutsu still has potential for further improvement."
"In the future, perhaps I will need Tsukasa-kun to cast a jutsu on me. I also long to extend my life... If I help you acquire the Eight-Tails chakra, Tsukasa-kun will surely help me in the future, right?"
"That's a small matter."
To Tsukasa Kaede, the Eight-Tails chakra held more value.
After leaving the laboratory, the two immediately began preparations. The next night, Tsukasa Kaede, accompanied by Orochimaru, used Void World Jutsu to enter the Land of Hot Water.
They then moved swiftly northeast, saving them at least three to four days of travel time.
"What a convenient jutsu formula. Possessing immortality while also mastering space-time ninjutsu for rapid movement. No one in this world could kill you now."
"There are still a few individuals who could kill me. I never let my guard down," Tsukasa Kaede replied.