Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 122 The Deal with Orochimaru

"You want information on the cursed seal? As far as I know, Fei Yu, you should have already mastered Sage Mode, so you don't need this degraded version, right?"

"Could it be that you are also preparing to try using the reincarnation technique? However, given your talent and age, there is simply no vessel stronger than your own aptitude..."

"Sorry, I think I can live for several hundred more years, so I don't need to look for any kind of vessel!"

Uchiha Touyu rolled his eyes and spoke calmly.

Although Orochimaru and Uchiha Tou were just a superficial master and disciple, and their relationship was mostly based on mutual exploitation, they did develop a certain mutual respect over time.

Well, it might be more appropriate to describe them as being in cahoots, birds of a feather, and having the same stench. Two extreme egoists, in this incompatible era where everyone is thinking about "the Will of Fire" and "world peace," are sticking together for warmth while also trying to find out each other's cards.

In this respect, Uchiha Touyu naturally had an absolute advantage. After all, Uchiha Touyu knew almost everything Orochimaru knew. Even if new things were developed later, it was because of the changes brought about by Uchiha Touyu.

However, Orochimaru also discovered some things. At least he knew that Uchiha Tou's improvement in strength was related to his killings on the battlefield, and he also knew that Uchiha Tou, like him, was proficient in ninjutsu related to the soul.

Therefore, Uchiha Touyu had been removed from his list of vessels long ago. On the contrary, he had discussed his Reanimation Jutsu and the Lich Reincarnation Ritual with Uchiha Touyu. In this respect, the two of them were the people who understood each other best in the world.

Orochimaru believed that everyone else in the world would decay and die, but his cheap disciple might be able to embark on the path to immortality just like him.

"Then what do you need the curse seal for? You don't actually want to properly develop Sunagakure, do you? I don't think my disciple has that much sense of responsibility."

After hearing Orochimaru's words, Uchiha Tou chuckled and said something that Orochimaru found somewhat difficult to understand:

"Of course, it's so that there will be more healthy chives when it's time to harvest!"

Although Orochimaru didn't understand the meaning behind Uchiha Hiu's words, he still felt a chill run down his spine after hearing them. His intuition told him that his disciple was definitely up to no good again.

"Fine, fine... I won't ask you what you're trying to do. But the cursed seal isn't something simple. It's a top-tier secret technique that I painstakingly developed, capable of changing the entire ninja world..."

"so what?"

"You need to pay more!"

"I don't have any money, but I do have one pill. So, do you want it or not?"

Uchiha Touyu directly took out a pill made from the essence of the soul. The souls stored in the Box of Bliss for many years were completely consumed, but the number of souls captured by Uchiha Touyu's Soul Binding Technique was quite large, and their purity far surpassed that of the vengeful spirits in the Box of Bliss.

This soul pill was made by Uchiha Hiyu directly extracting and controlling the souls of five Chunin.

The soul power of a Chunin is roughly twice that of a Genin, and the soul essence obtained through the Soul Refining Method will only retain about one-tenth of it. In other words, this pill is equivalent to the soul energy of a Genin.

The moment the pill was taken out, Orochimaru's gaze was fixed on it. He could clearly feel his soul becoming incredibly greedy for the pill before him.

An ordinary ninja might not be able to discern the true nature of this pill, but Orochimaru, who is arguably the foremost researcher of souls in the ninja world, sensed its essence almost the instant he saw it.

The so-called pill is just an appearance, or rather an outer shell. Its essence is an extremely pure soul energy. As long as it is swallowed, it can increase one's own soul power!

Orochimaru's research on the soul is extremely profound, and his own soul power is among the top even among Kage-level powerhouses.

However, although his Corpse Reincarnation Technique, after incorporating the Lich Reincarnation Ritual, greatly improved the defects of soul damage and the incompatibility of soul and flesh, it also placed extremely high demands on soul power.

In other words, while the ninjutsu has been perfected, its difficulty has also increased. To this day, Orochimaru has not performed the first reincarnation because the new Reanimation Jutsu is too difficult.

But with the Soul Pill, things are different. Now, with each level of his soul power, it becomes easier and more successful to cast the new Undying Reincarnation Technique.

"Alright, here's the information on the cursed seal, give me the pills."

After much deliberation, Orochimaru gritted his teeth and decided on the deal. Looking at the expression in his eyes, Uchiha Tou immediately understood that his cheap teacher probably wanted to analyze the ingredients of the pills to see if he could make them himself!

Uchiha Touyu didn't believe his cheap teacher had the ability to actually create a soul elixir on his own. He figured Orochimaru would definitely come back to him for a deal after he had exhausted all methods and was completely disappointed.

At that point, no matter how unwilling his cheap teacher might be, he would have to become a tool under his control.

After putting away the pills, Orochimaru handed the information about the cursed seal to Uchiha Touyu, then waved his hand:

"If there's nothing else, don't bother me. I need to continue my experiments!"

"Well, I really do have something to discuss. The pills and the cursed seal are just a side note. The real purpose of my visit is, firstly, to ask Orochimaru-sensei for some information about Konoha. I believe that you still have quite a few spies and agents in Konoha."

Orochimaru paused slightly, then looked at Uchiha Touu and asked:

"You're asking me for information on Konoha and your informants? What? Are you planning to take action against Konoha?"

As he spoke, Orochimaru was also speculating in his mind that with the strength of his cheap disciple, plus the Sand Ninja who had recovered some of their strength, they might really be able to wipe out Konoha in one fell swoop!

"Of course not... It's not in my interest to raze Konoha to the ground right now. Besides, while I don't have any feelings for Konoha, I don't really have any grudges against it either."

The people who truly had a grudge against Uchiha Touyu were Shimura Danzo, who killed his parents, and Root. The only other person who might know something about the matter was the Third Hokage, who was somewhat involved.

Although the Uchiha clan forcibly made him a ninja, they at least gave him some basic ninjutsu. When his strength greatly improved, they even used many secret techniques to win him over. So he actually had no enmity with the Uchiha.

The main reason he targeted the Uchiha clan was because of Uchiha Tou's own greed, not because the Uchiha clan had offended him.

"Tsk, fine, looks like you have your own plans. But it's an equal exchange; I'll give you information about Konoha, what will you give me in return?"

Orochimaru glanced at his disciple, saw his smiling face, and knew he probably wouldn't get anything out of him, so he simply turned around and demanded a reward.

Uchiha Touyu chuckled softly, took out a Chaos Treasure Box, and spoke calmly:

"Teacher, haven't you always wondered why I was able to improve my strength so much during the war? This is the answer!"

"The Hunyuan Treasure Box can transform living ninjas into Qi and Blood Pills, greatly enhancing their physical strength and innate physical abilities. Furthermore, increased physical strength also increases their chakra reserves. With enough consumption, even a pig can become a Kage-level ninja!"

Orochimaru glanced at it with interest. Such a blood-activating pill would be valuable to any ninja. Although Orochimaru was not very interested in taijutsu and felt that his own chakra was sufficient, he could not resist the temptation of increasing physical strength and chakra.

Not to mention that once Orochimaru develops the Reanimation Jutsu, this elixir can also be used to cultivate containers, making them even more perfect.

Orochimaru licked his lips slightly, then looked at the Chaos Treasure Box and asked:

"You're quite direct, aren't you? It seems you're very confident in your current strength and no longer need to hide anything. I wonder how many Qi and Blood Pills you can provide me, Fei Yu?"

Uchiha Touyu shook his head directly:

"Instead of providing you with elixirs, I'll give you the Chaos Treasure Box directly!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he looked at Uchiha Tou, and he gasped.

"Ahem, my disciple, just say what you want. Otherwise, even if you give me this thing directly, I wouldn't dare accept it!"

"Konoha intelligence is utterly worthless compared to this Chaos Treasure Box you possess!"

Seeing the faint panic in his cheap teacher, Uchiha Touyu looked speechless. Had he left such a big psychological shadow on his cheap teacher?

He usually calls himself Feiyu, but now he's even calling himself his apprentice!

However, Uchiha Touyu still carefully explained it to Orochimaru:

"Teacher, don't worry, I have four Hunyuan Treasure Boxes in total, I'm just leaving one with you."

"Furthermore, only my clone can use this Chaos Treasure Box. If other ninjas try to use it, they will be completely drained by it!"

"If Orochimaru-sensei doesn't believe me, he can try to do some research. Of course, you must not try it yourself. I don't want you to be sucked dry by this Chaos Treasure Box."

Orochimaru paused for a moment, then spoke in a low voice:

"So, you're planning to leave a clone here with me? But how long can a clone last?"

"The clones I create, combined with a special sealing formation, can exist for a long time, so there is no need to replenish them repeatedly."

Uchiha Touyu spoke up, revealing that he possessed the secret technique of the Devouring Heaven Demon Art. As long as he gathered a sufficient concentration of natural energy, his clones could also rely on absorbing natural energy to transform it and thus exist for a long time.

Back in Kusagakure, Uchiha Touya used this technique to artificially create a "sacred ground" with a high concentration of natural energy to absorb natural energy and maintain the existence of his clones.

In fact, Orochimaru used to hand over the human experimental materials that he had ruined to Uchiha Touyu. Otherwise, Uchiha Touyu would not have given him large sums of money to squander every day before he produced any results.

Now that we have the Hunyuan Treasure Box, it just makes things a little more efficient.

Orochimaru glanced at the Chaos Treasure Box, a glint of greed in his eyes, and asked:

"Is that kind of soul-refining elixir also related to the Hunyuan Treasure Box?"

"There is a connection, that's true. The Hunyuan Treasure Box can store souls, but to actually refine it into pills, I still need to rely on my unique soul refining method to extract its energy."

That's not wrong. Although the Hunyuan Treasure Box can be considered an automatic alchemy furnace, it doesn't have a good way to process soul energy. It only inherited the ability to store souls from the Box of Bliss.

The one who truly refined soul energy into elixirs was Uchiha Hiyu's Soul Refining Method.

After hearing Uchiha Hiyu's explanation, Orochimaru nodded slightly. Although there was still a hint of greed in his eyes, he ultimately didn't say anything more.

However, Orochimaru was well aware of his disciple's personality. He could accept ordinary ninjutsu and treasures, but things like the Soul Refining Technique were something his cheap disciple would never easily teach him.

Forcibly taking it is definitely out of the question. His disciple's strength has become increasingly unfathomable over the years. As for exchanging it for something else, Orochimaru doesn't have any equivalent ninjutsu or treasures on hand.

"Alright... leave your clone here. I'll hand over the information and informants about Konoha to you later. You just said this is the first thing, so is there anything else?"

"That's right... The second thing is that I want to ask you, teacher, for someone!"

"Are you asking for someone back?!"

Orochimaru blinked. He didn't recall having any of his subordinates who would be of interest to Uchiha Touyu... No! While his living subordinates were indeed not worth Uchiha Touyu's attention, a dead person certainly had enough value to warrant Uchiha Touyu's serious consideration.

"The person you're looking for is the Second Hokage's reanimated form!?"

"It seems I don't need to tell you, Orochimaru-sensei, you already know who I'm looking for."

Uchiha Touyu chuckled. He had already made some modifications to the Impure World Reincarnation technique, allowing him to directly control the reincarnated souls through the Spirit Binding Technique, instead of turning them into Impure World Reincarnation bodies.

Although the Soul-Binding General can only possess one soul at a time, and the power it displays depends not only on the requirements of the soul but also on the basic qualities of the original body, there is one thing that makes the Soul-Binding General much stronger than the Impure World Reincarnation: its control over the soul!

The top-tier powerhouses resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation technique are basically uncontrollable by anyone. However, once the Spirit Binding Technique is unleashed, even the First Hokage, Madara Uchiha, was completely manipulated.

After completing the modification, Uchiha Tou immediately wanted to summon the Second Hokage, but he couldn't find the Second Hokage's soul no matter what he did.

At that time, Uchiha Tou knew that the soul of the Second Hokage was most likely obtained by his cheap teacher first.

(End of this chapter)