Anya extended his left hand, drew the Blade of Indifference, and sliced a wound across his palm. His blood dripped into a prepared empty vial until it was completely filled. Then he spoke, "Let me offer my blood as payment for your assistance this time. How does that sound?"
Orochimaru greedily glanced at the blood but suppressed his inner desire and replied coolly, "Tell me specifically what you need me to do."
Anya held nothing back and laid out all his thoughts to Orochimaru.
After listening carefully, Orochimaru remained silent for a long time before shaking his head. "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. Regarding the Impure World Reincarnation technique, my current research isn't mature enough to perfectly control the reincarnated person. Moreover, the chakra level of the reincarnated individual cannot reach their former peak. Although their cells suffer almost no degradation and can continuously produce chakra, the total amount can only equal that of the sacrifice's chakra reserves. It's practically useless unless..."
"Unless what?" Anya asked.
"Unless you can find a sacrifice with Kage-level strength. Only then could they display most of their former abilities. However, the stronger they are, the more difficult it becomes to control their mind." Orochimaru said skeptically about Anya's plan. After all, elite Kage-level individuals weren't as easy to come by as street vendors.
To Orochimaru's surprise, Anya relaxed. "There's no need to control their mind. Since Kage-level strength is hard to find, elite Jonin are easy prey. That level of ninja should be easy for you to handle, Uncle. For that person, even a Jonin's chakra reserves will be sufficient."
Orochimaru was stunned by Anya's suggestion. "You should understand the Impure World Reincarnation technique quite well. If we don't control their mind, they might attack us first out of anger."
Anya gave a bitter smile. "That won't happen. Protecting Konoha is his duty, whether in life or in death. Isn't that exactly what the Will of Fire stands for?"
"You're right," Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "But how can you be sure I even have his cells here?"
"You even have cells from that person, so you wouldn't have overlooked this one." Anya replied with a touch of resentment. "Although there was one thing you always kept from me, I still found it out."
"Hehe," Orochimaru laughed. "I'll retract my previous evaluation of you. You're different from those people in Konoha. You're even better than I imagined. But being too excellent can be a tragedy. If not for you and Tsunade's successful medical reforms, they would never unite out of fear of Konoha."
After this reflection, Orochimaru looked at Anya with an ambiguous smile. "Are you absolutely sure about this? Once Tsunade learns about this matter, your relationship will never return to what it once was."
Anya's gaze remained still, like calm water. "She won't know."
Orochimaru immediately understood Anya's intentions. "Oh, so you're planning to keep her away from this battle. From my understanding of her, I doubt you'll succeed."
"You don't know her the way I do. I have my ways," Anya said confidently.
Only Anya truly understood Tsunade's depth and power—and likewise, only Tsunade had experienced Anya's true self.
"Since you've already made up your mind, then I'll agree," Orochimaru said without hesitation, snatching the container from Anya's hand. After giving it a slightly enamored look, he added, "This amount of blood is too little. Give me some more."
So greedy, you actually want to drain me dry!
Anya frowned slightly, clenching his teeth as he replied, "Uncle, I'm still recovering from serious injuries, and another major battle is coming soon. I can't spare much blood—I can give you one more vial at most."
"That works."
Hearing how readily Orochimaru accepted, Anya couldn't help but realize he'd been played. However, for this battle to succeed, Orochimaru's role was crucial. Exchanging two vials of blood for victory seemed like a deal that favored him anyway.
Without another word, Anya unsheathed the Blade of Indifference again and handed over another full vial of blood.
Orochimaru's expression turned satisfied as he held the two vials of blood. He gave a charming smile and said, "Go ahead. I'll follow your plan. Burying the ninja of the Four-Nation Coalition will be quite an enjoyable experience. I'm looking forward to it."
After Anya left, Orochimaru immediately returned to his laboratory. Carefully, he poured Anya's blood into a precious vessel. Staring intently at the flowing red liquid as if it were a piece of art, he didn't move his gaze away for a long time.
Finally unable to hold back, Orochimaru extended his tongue to taste a drop of the blood, savoring its pulsating flavor on his lips. His face was filled with pure enjoyment. After a while, with longing evident in his voice, he whispered softly, "What an incredible sensation. Anya, you really have given me a tremendous surprise. I wonder what it would be like to bite directly into you with my own mouth. So this is the hidden power of the Uchiha Clan? It seems my research direction was wrong all along—the most valuable material has been right beside me the whole time."
A scroll appeared before Orochimaru. Watching carefully, he quickly wrote onto it: "I need a member of the Aburame Clan who possesses poisonous insects. In addition, the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan is an experimental subject no less remarkable than Wood Release. And I need as many as you can get me—the more the better."
Once he finished listing his requests, an Anbu member wearing a dark mask suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Orochimaru handed the scroll over naturally, speaking with unprecedented solemnity: "Deliver this scroll to Danzo immediately."
"Yes," the Anbu member acknowledged before vanishing instantly using Shunshin.
The Power of Time—what a beautiful force! From winter into spring, watching flowers bloom and fall, drifting like specks in the endless current of time, caught between life and death. In the end, humans are fragile and small—only Time endures.
But probably not every Sharingan holds identical powers. That actually might be better, Orochimaru realized. The more abilities there were, the more he could obtain. Sharingan, Uchiha Clan—heh heh. This power, he would eventually control completely.
Anya probably had no idea that the strength contained within his blood had awakened such deep obsession toward the Uchiha Clan inside Orochimaru's heart.
After successfully persuading Orochimaru, Anya reunited with Sasori and the others. Before them lay Mount Hakuto Stronghold, painstakingly rebuilt by Tsunade.
It was obvious that Tsunade had made numerous modifications to the stronghold. Hidden scouts could be found almost everywhere, and from the foot of the mountain all the way to its peak, traps and ambushes were set up. Underneath what appeared to be a peaceful forest lurked deadly dangers.
Unfortunately, no matter how perfect these defenses were, they would amount to nothing in the face of an invading army.
Anya gazed at the mountain and said to Sasori, "The Chakra of Ryumyaku energy is essentially the latent life force within the earth, so it can easily merge into the ground, right?"
Sasori nodded. "Yes, Big Brother Kurotsuchi, do you have something in mind?"
"Hehe, then this battle won't be a challenge at all," Anya said casually, her eyes filled with ease. To her, the armies of the four nations were just a disorganized rabble — no match for her at all.
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