"Great! I'm going to train right now!"
Naruto instantly dashed off as if he'd been injected with adrenaline. Kano just smiled and said nothing. This was also to give herself a sense of urgency. She had been stuck on the final step for too long.
How much happiness would it take to make someone lose themselves in it? She had asked about the happiness of the poor and the happiness of the rich. She'd asked about the happiness of the wise and the happiness of the foolish. She'd asked about the happiness found in misfortune and the happiness within happiness itself.
But it felt like it was still missing something—that feeling of being unable to extricate oneself.
This made Kano rack her brains and scratch her head. She was quite happy herself, but she couldn't imagine what kind of happiness could make someone lose themselves completely.
"Argh! If it were fear instead, the control effect would be much stronger than happiness. No wonder Genjutsu aren't designed to be pleasant. Making them pleasant is just a thankless task!
But if I turn to fear, it'll be far inferior to a Genjutsu on the level of Tsukuyomi!"
Kano complained to the sky as she walked. Incidentally, she already knew a bit of the Mystical Palm Technique, and she had fully learned the Chakra Scalpel. The principles of the Strength of a Hundred Seal and the Creation Rebirth - Strength of a Hundred Technique weren't complex, but they required accumulation, which she hadn't started yet. As for Monstrous Strength, she had learned it after just one look.
But Tsunade hadn't taught her the Summoning Jutsu yet; there was no rush for that.
However, someone approached Kano while she was alone.
"Kabuto? What do you want with me?"
The newcomer was Orochimaru's subordinate, Yakushi Kabuto. He was quite strong himself.
"I implore you to teach us the method to heal hands. We will give you everything you desire."
"Why didn't Orochimaru come to talk to me himself?"
"Please forgive us. Lord Orochimaru is currently unwell and cannot visit in person."
Heh, "unwell." Who would believe that, considering how much trouble he's caused even with his hands sealed?
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't heal him. Just let him wait. I'll heal him in three years."
"Is it that you can't heal him now?"
"It's not that I can't heal him now, it's just..."
It's just that she was afraid if she healed him too early, Sasuke wouldn't be able to defeat Orochimaru and would be possessed. There was a previous incident where her Talk no Jutsu with Haku almost got Kakashi killed; if Sasuke hadn't stepped up, Kakashi might have been done for.
So, she didn't want to gamble with her teammates' lives.
"As long as you can heal Lord Orochimaru now, we will provide you with corpses for your Forbidden Jutsu research."
"Who told you this?"
"Lord Orochimaru told me to tell you. Your Forbidden Jutsu must rely heavily on the deceased. Fortunately, Lord Orochimaru has no shortage of failed experimental subjects."
What was with this Orochimaru? He had only seen Kano use her technique once and had already almost fully analyzed it? That was clearly impossible. Then how did he do it?
"How did you discover the principle of my Forbidden Jutsu?"
"Lord Orochimaru knew you would ask that, but he didn't tell me how he knew. He just told me to relay to you that the Shadow Deer Technique is a degraded version of your Forbidden Jutsu."
WTF! Orochimaru, you're shameless! How could you do something like raiding my home! I can't stand this! Not even a little bit!
Kano raised her hand and attacked, unleashing both control and killing moves.
"You dare threaten me? Have you thought about how you're going to die?"
But this Kabuto was just a Corpse Puppet; even if it were chopped to pieces, nothing would happen.
Only one sentence was left before it was shredded:
"Come to this location in three days. As long as you agree to Lord Orochimaru's conditions, he will also agree to any of yours."
This time Kano was truly angry. Orochimaru dared to use her family to threaten her; she'd go and kill him in three days!
Meanwhile, Orochimaru endured severe pain, holding a brush in his mouth to draw the Edo Tensei formation. Even with his hands ruined, he could have Kabuto summon the coffins in his stead.
He hoped Kabuto would bring back good news. He didn't actually want to be Kano's enemy, but he truly couldn't wait three years; three years was too long. To that end, he even investigated Kano's secrets, but found absolutely nothing.
She was as clean as a model Konoha girl with a perfectly upright background!
How could Orochimaru believe that? She was so strong she didn't seem like a Genin at all, and she possessed a lot of information from unknown sources. Even Orochimaru himself suspected there was a mole in his base leaking his intel.
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