"Uncle Snake, seeing you so happy, do I get any mission rewards?"
Amane blinked her eyes, feigning cuteness, wanting to take advantage of Uncle Snake's good mood to dig some benefits out of him.
Behind them, Yakushi Kabuto's mouth twitched slightly, gaining a new understanding of Amane's perceptiveness. If it were him or Kimimaro, they wouldn't dare, nor would they even think of asking Orochimaru for rewards at a time like this.
In response, Orochimaru glanced at Amane, his eyes darting as a strange smile appeared on his lips.
However, Amane wasn't afraid.
It wasn't like they had just met. She had spent a year helping Orochimaru with experiments. Besides various professional knowledge, her understanding of Uncle Snake was a step further than in the original work.
This was one of Uncle Snake's wicked tastes; he liked to use this method to scare others and took pleasure in their reactions.
"Let's enter the Village; we need to settle the new guests first," Orochimaru said in a calm tone, which made Amane feel a surge of secret joy.
The rewards Orochimaru could give were all good things. I wonder what kind of technique it will be this time~
Immersed in such thoughts, the five of them strolled into the Sound Village under Orochimaru's lead.
Unlike other hidden Villages, this place seemed very classical. To put it bluntly, it looked like a rural Village with very underdeveloped technology.
From behind the cover of the houses, one could occasionally see villagers popping their heads out, their clothing quite simple.
[Surface camouflage, and they seem to worship us quite a bit.]
Amane didn't continue using Kagura Minds Eye for detailed observation. Judging by experience alone, these external villagers were just ordinary people with absolutely no combat power.
As for the feeling of worship, if it was for Orochimaru, it was perfectly normal.
"This is your first time here, Amane. Tell me, why do you think they have such an attitude toward me?"
Orochimaru's voice came from ahead, and for a moment, the eyes of Karin and her mother also focused on Amane.
The atmosphere here could be sensed even without a Ninja's perception.
"You brought them strength and productivity. I haven't seen many young children along the way."
The Land of Rice Fields was even smaller than the Land of Grass. In such a country, having a Kage-level expert willing to build a Village and teach the local children to be Ninjas was significant.
If Amane had been born in the Land of Rice Fields, she would certainly have been grateful to Orochimaru as well.
Having Ninjas meant having military force, and the productivity brought by Ninjutsu would also be much higher.
Even if Orochimaru openly said he wanted some people for experiments, as long as he maintained a certain limit and used the right rhetoric, there wouldn't be any problem at all.
Orochimaru, walking ahead, fell silent, while Momohime breathed a sigh of relief after some thought, her gaze toward Karin's back filling with hope.
After hearing this conversation, Karin looked at Amane with a confused expression before continuing to walk.
[Is Orochimaru's eye an Appraisal Eye? He sees things so accurately.]
How could the reactions of Karin and her mother escape the observation of the three people present?
The reason Orochimaru had Amane answer was to use the correct response to put Karin and her mother's minds at ease.
At the same time, it planted the psychological expectation for them to voluntarily accept experiments in the future.
However, while Momohime's reaction was normal, Karin was as smart as Orochimaru said; she seemed to realize that these words were actually being said to them.
No wonder Karin could be appointed as a base warden in the future.
After a short period of movement, Orochimaru led Amane to the place where he currently worked and where the Sound Ninjas were trained.
It was underground.
The environment here formed a sharp contrast with the surface.
Not only were the lights as bright as day, but various technological products that looked like they were from her past life had become mainstream here. A large group of people, none older than fifteen, were practicing below.
Seeing a white figure, Amane curled her lips and gave a greeting. But Kimimaro was very cold, only nodding to brush her off.
This action caused many pairs of eyes to focus on Amane. But upon seeing she was just a child, many gazes were withdrawn.
It seemed everyone here acknowledged Kimimaro's strength, but people are mostly superficial after all.
[Clearly, if Kimimaro and I fought seriously, I'd win most of the time.]
Amane couldn't help but want to go down and have a fight with Kimimaro right now.
Even Kimimaro found the Adamantine Sealing Chains to be a massive headache.
No matter how peerless the power of your Shikotsumyaku was, or how invincible you were in close combat, it still had to be driven by Chakra, right?
But a loss is a loss.
Kimimaro often asked Amane to use the Adamantine Sealing Chains to accompany his training; it seemed he was determined to break through this wall.
"So why did you bring me to the Sound Village? What about Danzo's side?" Amane followed Orochimaru alone, while the other three had already disappeared.
After just drawing some blood from Karin and her mother and extracting some cells, Orochimaru had Yakushi Kabuto take the two to their new residence, leaving only Amane behind.
"Don't worry, you can go back and report in a while, but you'll be stationed here permanently from now on.
I've left informants over there. If he looks for you, you'll know immediately and can use the Reverse Summoning Technique to go back."
Orochimaru turned around, looking at Amane's indifferent attitude, and gave another sinister smile before continuing: "You truly performed a great service for me this time. Although that girl named Karin isn't as good as you, she has a lot of potential.
So rest assured. I have no intention of taking anyone's life; it's also a way to keep that Young Lady in check."
"Then thank you for your consideration," Amane said honestly.
This attitude surprised Orochimaru; he had expected Amane to say something like it didn't matter.
But on second thought, now that things had reached this point, there really wasn't much point in denying it.
In the current Uzumaki Clan, who could compare to Amane, who possessed Hashirama cells? To Orochimaru, that mother and daughter's reference value was already greater than their actual value.
But the Grass Shadow was different; that was truly a surprise for Orochimaru. A non-Tailed Beast Jinchuriki—that was a precious experimental material.
"Do you remember our conversation before you went to the Hidden Grass Village?" No longer dwelling on the topic, Orochimaru turned to ask.
Why ask this all of a sudden? After she replied that she remembered, Orochimaru didn't speak again but led Amane further into the depths of the Sound Village's underground.
Gradually, the numerous sounds of training from above faded away, and Amane, under Orochimaru's guidance, arrived before a large door.
"Your information has already been entered; from today on, you can come here anytime."
As he spoke, at Orochimaru's prompting, Amane placed her hand on the door. Then, there was no cool light or prompt sound, just a simple click, and the door slowly retracted into the walls on both sides.
What met her eyes were fifty neatly arranged beds, with numbers one to fifty marked below each bed.
As for the beds, there were fifty people with IV drips maintaining their lives.
They were very quiet. Even when Amane walked up to them and lightly patted their cheeks, they remained as if they were in a deep dream from which they wouldn't wake.
[This is... their brains have been sealed.]
Amane looked at a few more people and was very certain of their condition.
So, was the purpose of calling her here to undo these seals? No! It definitely wasn't that simple!
"What is sealed in their brains?"
Amane's question was met with a round of clapping from Orochimaru.
Her face was calm, her heartbeat steady, but those pure sky-blue eyes flickered with the light of realization.
She had guessed what Orochimaru had done and what he was about to have her do, yet she was so calm and natural.
The darkness in Amane's heart once again revealed itself to Orochimaru, just like her actions on the day they first met.
"Techniques. Techniques regarding memory. They are all in these people's brains. Are you satisfied with the reward I've given you?"
Memory.
If she wanted to return to Konoha Village and transition from a Root member to a regular Ninja, there was an over 80% chance she would undergo a memory search.
How would she hide certain things about Orochimaru then? How would she hide the fact that she actively killed another Root member and defied Danzo? And the issue of the original work that Amane herself was most worried about.
And these fifty people were the solution Orochimaru provided, as well as the best materials for practice.
But the problem was that this process was very dangerous. The human brain is extremely fragile; if Amane made even a slight mistake during practice, the fate of these people would be either death or becoming an idiot.
"That certainly fits your style," Amane replied simply, no longer caring whether Orochimaru stayed or left, and began to approach the first bed to get to work.
Memory searching. It was originally a mandatory course for Anbu members, unless one simply couldn't learn it.
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