Rengoku used his new dojutsu and instantly teleported to the shadow clone formed by his eye technique beside Itachi.
When he appeared, anxiety was already visible in Itachi's eyes.
Only after seeing Rengoku arrive did he let out a breath of relief.
They were outside the room. Through the glass, they could see Orochimaru and Sasuke inside.
Rengoku pushed the door open and walked straight in.
The moment he entered, he clearly sensed that Sasuke was frantically absorbing natural energy to convert it into senjutsu chakra.
But the sage pattern marks on Sasuke's body were constantly seeping blood.
"What's going on?", Rengoku's expression remained calm.
Orochimaru explained, "The compatibility between the sage mark and Sasuke isn't high. Forcing the imprint now requires a large amount of natural energy to stabilize it."
"But the natural energy here isn't sufficient. It can't meet the demand of the sage marks on Sasuke's body."
"Right now, while the sage marks are absorbing Sasuke's life force, they're also embedding themselves into his body."
"If this continues, he'll be strangled to death by the marks in about ten minutes."
Sasuke had already fallen into a deep coma. Only his body remained, instinctively absorbing natural energy to resist the tightening of the sage markings.
But clearly, with insufficient natural energy, Sasuke's imprinting had failed.
"What's the solution?"
Rengoku wasn't in a hurry. After all, he had the Dragon Life Reincarnation Technique in hand.
"Take him to a place rich in natural energy."
"For example, Ryuchi Cave, Shikkotsu Forest, or Mount Myoboku."
Rengoku narrowed his eyes slightly and thought for a moment.
"Forget it."
Then he struck Sasuke on the head with a palm.
Sasuke's body jerked. His life force cut off instantly, Rengoku had killed him with a single blow.
Outside, Itachi's heart skipped a beat.
Then he forcibly steadied himself.
After Sasuke was killed by Rengoku, his consciousness dispersed, his chakra vanished, and the sage markings on his body collapsed instantly.
Orochimaru remained calm, as if he wasn't surprised by Rengoku's actions, and simply said, "Looks like you're very wary of the Three Great Sage Lands."
Rengoku formed a hand seal and activated the Spirit Transformation Technique.
Staring at Sasuke, he could clearly see Sasuke's soul slowly separating from his body.
Rengoku placed his hand on Sasuke's chest and began using the Dragon Life Reincarnation Technique.
"Have Minato bring Karin over."
Orochimaru nodded and walked outside.
Seeing that Sasuke was completely naked, Rengoku pulled over a nearby blanket and covered Sasuke's lower body.
When Orochimaru opened the door, he saw Itachi standing at the entrance, his gaze passing through the doorway toward Sasuke lying inside.
A faint, playful smile appeared at Orochimaru's lips. Without saying anything to Itachi, he walked over to the telephone nearby.
This kind of short-line phone was already widely used in Konoha.
It was directly wired, and you could connect to the relevant department just by pressing the buttons.
Orochimaru pressed a couple of buttons and spoke into the microphone:
"Minato, bring Karin to Rengoku."
["Understood,"] Minato's voice came through.
Only then did Orochimaru release the call button.
In just a single breath, Minato had already arrived behind Rengoku with Karin.
Karin clearly hadn't processed what was happening yet. She was still holding a skewer of roasted dango.
"Huh, Shishou. What happened to Sasuke?"
Karin chewed the dango in her mouth, swallowed it, and asked curiously.
Rengoku still had his hand on Sasuke. With the Spirit Transformation Technique active, he could see that as life force was being infused, the soul that had been leaving Sasuke's body was gradually being pulled back.
He still had time to answer Karin.
"The imprint failed. Letting him die makes it easier to save him."
Seeing he wasn't needed here, Minato exchanged a glance with Rengoku and left using Flying Thunder God. He still had documents to handle.
Karin giggled, "Little Sasuke really likes to push himself. In the end, he still needs Shishou and Mistress to save him."
Then she stretched her arm out toward Rengoku's mouth.
Rengoku couldn't help but laugh, then gently bit down on Karin's arm.
A massive amount of life force began flowing into Rengoku's body.
Rengoku focused his attention on Sasuke.
He noticed that once Sasuke's brain began recovering, the pull on his soul suddenly increased.
Almost instantly, Sasuke's soul was drawn back in.
After Rengoku withdrew his hand, he also let go of Karin's arm.
He brushed over the bite mark and pinched Karin's cheek.
"Did it hurt?"
Karin shook her head and simply handed the roasted dango to Rengoku.
Rengoku didn't take it with his hand. He just bit off a piece directly.
"Hehe!"
Seeing that Rengoku didn't mind at all that she had already eaten it, and even bit into the half-eaten dango, Karin let out a quiet, pleased laugh.
"Mm…"
At that moment, Sasuke, lying there, let out a low groan and slowly opened his eyes.
He opened his eyes, Karin was feeding Rengoku.
He closed them again, 'What I just saw must've been an illusion.'
He opened them again. Fine. The two of them were leaning close together, 'Are they showing off their affection?'
Sasuke coughed.
"Shishou…"
Rengoku glanced at Sasuke and flicked his forehead.
"You failed. Lie down properly. You're not wearing any clothes right now."
Sasuke's heart jumped. Luckily, he was covered with a blanket.
He shook his head. The memories of the imprinting process gradually resurfaced in his mind.
He only remembered Orochimaru telling him that he needed to absorb natural energy to complete the imprint. After that, the marks on his body grew more and more painful.
It felt like the pain was burrowing into his bones. He had blacked out almost instantly.
He hadn't expected to fail.
A trace of unwillingness appeared on Sasuke's face.
"Shishou, does that mean I can't learn senjutsu?"
Although Sasuke looked dejected, Rengoku didn't take it seriously.
"What are you in a rush for? Failing is completely normal. Even if you're a genius, do you think a secret art at the level of senjutsu can be mastered in one try?"
Sasuke looked a bit embarrassed and stammered,
"I just saw that Hotaru and Naruto could learn it…"
Rengoku actually laughed in exasperation.
"Hotaru can use senjutsu because she's a descendant of the Tsuchigumo clan. She has their secret mark, so she could absorb natural energy even before learning senjutsu."
"And Naruto has the Nine-Tails inside him, which can also absorb natural energy. How are you comparing yourself to them?"
"There are a hundred thousand people in the ninja world, and only a handful from our Konoha know senjutsu. You can count them on your fingers."
Only then did Sasuke realize just how difficult senjutsu truly was. He apologized awkwardly, "Sorry, Shishou. I was too arrogant."
Rengoku shook his head, "Wanting to grow stronger is a good thing, but you need to understand what you're doing."
"Yes, Shishou!"
Karin teased from the side, "Little Sasuke, shouldn't you thank me? Thanks to me, you were saved."
Sasuke looked at Rengoku, then at Karin. He could only slowly accept the fact that Karin had become his master's wife.
Reluctantly, he said, "Thank you, Mistress."
He actually didn't know about Rengoku's ability to revive the dead, and thought he had only been saved from serious injury.
Karin was just having fun. Hearing Sasuke call her "Mistress" made her face light up with delight.
At that moment, Rengoku waved toward Itachi outside.
"Come in. You've been worried sick standing out there."
Only then did Sasuke notice that Itachi had been standing outside all along.
"Nii-san, I'm sorry for making you worry."
Now that Sasuke had been brought back to life, Itachi naturally looked relieved.
"Rest well. There's still plenty of time ahead. I'll protect you."
Sasuke had his own pride. He didn't want Itachi to keep treating him like a child.
"I don't need Nii-san to protect me. I'll protect you in the future."
A faint smile appeared on Itachi's face, full of indulgence.
"Alright, then I'll let Sasuke protect me from now on…"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.