Chapter 266: A Powerful Secret Technique
A dark, underground space.
Clang! Clang!
"Not enough, not enough! As a ninja, your actions cannot be predicted by others. You must use feints. The more you consider the possibilities, the higher your chances of survival."
Orochimaru spoke with a sword protruding from his mouth, clashing with the Kusanagi sword in Sasuke's hand. Finally, he brought the blade to rest against Sasuke's neck.
Sasuke was more mature now, no longer the naive boy he once was. Facing Orochimaru's words, his expression remained cold, yet he absorbed everything the Sannin said.
"Again," Sasuke said impatiently.
His current strength was still too weak. Even with the Cursed Seal active, he was powerless before Orochimaru.
"Heh heh heh, excellent. I hope you don't waste my tutelage. Otherwise, it will be difficult for me to kill Itachi and avenge your Uchiha clan!" Orochimaru sheathed the blade and laughed, flicking his long tongue.
"You don't need to tell me that. I will kill that man with my own hands," Sasuke said, clenching his fist.
"You are still far from it. It's not just a matter of combat experience; your Sharingan development is leagues behind your brother's. I expect a satisfactory body in a year and a half. You are currently far from unlocking your full potential."
Despite Sasuke's combat experience becoming formidable—even making moves that surprised the Sannin—to a ninja of Orochimaru's caliber, his behavior was still too transparent.
Sasuke's grip tightened. He was confident in the power of the Sharingan, but facing powerhouses like Tonbo Tobitake and Orochimaru, he always felt the Sharingan was missing something.
"Rest assured, since I promised to give you power surpassing Itachi's, I will do exactly that. I am not like that old fossil Sarutobi, always sticking to the conventional path. I will use every means possible to strengthen your power until..."
"Until my body becomes yours, right? Fine. If you can actually do it, I don't care who kills Itachi," Sasuke said expressionlessly.
"Heh heh, come. Follow me." Orochimaru turned and walked toward a corridor.
"Continue the training," Sasuke commanded, not wanting to waste a single second.
"I'd love to continue training, but guess what I found on your body? If I'm not mistaken, Konoha ninjas could appear at my base tomorrow." Orochimaru paused, looking back with a sinister, piercing gaze from his snake-like eyes.
"What? Did Konoha do something to me?" Sasuke frowned.
Was it Kakashi? Naruto? Or someone else? He searched his memory but couldn't recall when something might have been planted on him. From Orochimaru's words, it seemed someone had placed a tracking device inside him.
Was it Itachi? He thought of the stone tablet in the Uchiha shrine. Is it to locate me so he can find me once I obtain 'that' power?
But Orochimaru said people from Konoha might come.
Orochimaru continued: "It seems so. Truly an extraordinary young man... to be able to develop a ninjutsu like this is simply magnificent! If he weren't a Konoha ninja brainwashed by the old man's Will of Fire, I would truly want to collaborate with him!"
The discovery fascinated him. It had taken over a year of researching Sasuke's body to find it. No wonder Konoha had sent him to pursue the rogue ninja Itachi back then.
Sasuke followed Orochimaru.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
In the deep tunnel, their footsteps gradually slowed. They reached a large door, which Orochimaru pushed open. Kabuto was there, gently swirling a test tube. Inside the liquid, a branch-like pattern swayed with the motion, looking like a tree root drifting in the deep sea.
Hearing the door, Kabuto set the tube down and turned. "Lord Orochimaru, you've arrived."
"Kabuto, what are the results? Any other findings?"
Sasuke fixed his gaze on the test tube. Seeing the branch-like pattern, his brow furrowed. This came from inside me?
"Sharingan!"
His eyes shifted into the three-tomoe form. He could see the chakra flow within the branch-like pattern; it was actually absorbing energy from the liquid in the tube to maintain itself. It was as if it were alive.
"What is this?"
Kabuto explained: "This is a human nerve. Through powerful Yin Release nature transformation, the nerve has been refined and extended. It can move through living organisms or objects and absorb the host's physical energy, spiritual energy, or chakra to sustain itself. It appears to be a secret technique that separates the nerves and uses this trait to take up residence inside your body."
Sasuke's frown deepened. When? Who planted it? No wonder Orochimaru said Konoha could arrive tomorrow. This didn't seem like Itachi's style. If Orochimaru hadn't found it, would his life have been in someone else's hands indefinitely?
"What else can it do?" Orochimaru asked.
Kabuto replied: "I've performed secondary cultivation and experiments. It aligns with your theories, Lord Orochimaru. If these nerves are paired with a specific secret technique, they can connect with the host's nervous system to disrupt it, causing a total loss of bodily control."
He glanced at Sasuke.
"Second, this ability likely works in tandem with Genjutsu. As long as these nerves are within a living body, that being cannot use conventional methods to evade Genjutsu. In other words, a 100% hit rate."
He gave Sasuke a look of pity.
"Third—and this is what Lord Orochimaru found most interesting—my experiments suggest this neural secret technique can 'steal' information from within a body or object. This means taijutsu, ninjutsu, secret techniques... as long as he wishes, everything is under his control."
Kabuto's tone was filled with disbelief and awe. When Orochimaru first suggested these possibilities, Kabuto thought them impossible. But as the experiments progressed, he realized this seemingly ordinary nerve could do so much.
"Can the user of this technique sense us right now?" Orochimaru asked.
Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Judging by the nature transformation of the nerves, stealing information likely requires being within the user's sensory range. In other words, at this distance, the only thing this nerve can do is... provide a location."