Orochimaru's words were delivered casually—like a handout, like dismissing a stray dog blocking the road.
"You—!"
"Bastard!"
"Orochimaru! How dare you speak to the Third Hokage like that?!"
The Konoha shinobi behind Hiruzen exploded in outrage.
Their eyes were bloodshot, fury blazing.
Orochimaru—Konoha's traitor, an S-rank missing-nin, his hands stained with the blood of their comrades—was now speaking down to the Third Hokage as if granting charity. Telling him to leave. Saying he had "no ti to kill him"?
It was humiliation beyond asure.
An insult to Konoha. To the Hokage. To every shinobi present.
Hiruzen's face darkened like storm clouds. Veins bulged across the back of his hand as he gripped the Adamantine Staff.
Every shinobi who had followed him here was loyal to the core. They could die for Konoha—but they would not endure this disgrace.
"Orochimaru," Hiruzen said slowly, each word squeezed through clenched teeth, "it seems you've decided… to remain here today."
He raised Enma.
The suffocating pressure of the "Professor," the Third Hokage, spread like a lion stirring from slumber.
"Perfect," Orochimaru's slit pupils narrowed, danger flickering within. "It's been a long ti since I properly experienced your teachings, sensei. I wonder… how much you've declined over the years?"
Kabuto adjusted his glasses and stepped back half a pace, hands already forming seals—clearly prepared to support, perhaps even to employ Edo Tensei if necessary.
anwhile—
Karin, still seated atop one of the raised heads of the Eight-Headed Serpent statue, seed utterly indifferent to the tension below.
She tapped the stone lightly.
"Co on… stop hiding… I found you."
"If you don't co out, I'll smash you, okay?"
"Please don't," the ancient, mysterious voice that had once appeared in the projection responded hurriedly, tinged with helplessness. "I have no physical form. I cannot erge."
"Oh?" Karin pouted briefly, then brightened. She pointed cheerfully at Orochimaru and Kabuto below.
"Fine then. Just hand over the Devil Fruit. I'll let them play with it."
The cavern trembled with shock.
Hiruzen and the Konoha shinobi felt their hearts jolt violently.
This demon child intended to give the Devil Fruit to Orochimaru?
Orochimaru's golden eyes blazed with unrestrained greed. His tongue flicked instinctively across his lips.
"However…" the mysterious voice hesitated, "for those who possess chakra, the Devil Fruit is not a blessing. It may well be a fatal poison."
Karin's face darkened slightly.
The voice hurried to clarify.
"It is not refusal. You understand—chakra is not rely a blend of physical and spiritual energy. It carries… deeper imprints. Echoes of ancient existences."
It paused, as if recalling sothing from antiquity.
"The Devil Fruit's core power lies in the 'devil' dwelling within it."
"The eater must confront and rge with that devil's consciousness through their own will. Only then can the power be gradually mastered."
"But if one's chakra already contains… other conscious impurities… introducing a 'devil' consciousness—"
"Basically," the voice simplified hastily, "their chakra isn't clean! It's not just their own. There are other 'things' mixed in!"
"Eating a Devil Fruit would be like stuffing three consciousnesses into one mind—yourself, the hidden impurities in your chakra, and the devil from the fruit."
"If you win, maybe you control the fruit. But who knows if those other 'impurities' won't take advantage and twist you half-mad?"
"If you lose? Your body and soul beco the battlefield—and the spoils. Best case, you beco soone's puppet. Worst case… boom. You explode. Or beco sothing indescribable."
Karin's eyes lit up.
She imdiately began glancing back and forth between Orochimaru and Kabuto with eager curiosity—like a child eyeing experintal subjects.
For the first ti, Orochimaru's expression turned truly unpleasant.
He had devoted his life to rging powers, to dissecting life's essence. He prided himself on mastery over his own chakra.
But this touched upon sothing he had never examined closely—perhaps deliberately ignored.
The idea of "impurities of consciousness."
Behind his glasses, Kabuto's gaze sharpened.
"In summary," the mysterious voice concluded gravely, "for those who possess chakra, forcibly consuming a Devil Fruit will most likely trigger catastrophic internal conflict. The probable outco is loss of self—or total collapse."
"Only beings born without chakra are suitable vessels."
Hiruzen felt a fraction of the storm in his chest subside—though not his vigilance.
So that was the limitation.
Perhaps this would at least prevent Orochimaru from claiming it outright.
Karin seed satisfied. Her displeasure faded, replaced by that playful smile again.
"See? It's not that I won't give it to you. You're just… too dirty. You'd break."
Orochimaru's face remained shadowed, but the greed in his eyes did not vanish.
If not suitable for consumption—
Then what about research?
Extraction?
Grafting?
Or perhaps…
Creating a suitable vessel?
To him, limitations were rely puzzles.
The atmosphere in the cavern grew heavier, tangled with silent calculations.
Then—
Tap… tap… tap…
Heavy, irregular footsteps echoed from the rear tunnel.
Not hurried. Not slow.
Just steady.
The sound carried an unnatural, woody resonance.
Everyone turned.
Even Karin.
From the dim green glow erged a tall figure clad in a dark-gray cloak, skin like rough bark.
And in his hand—
A severed head.
Its eyes were wide open, frozen in terror and disbelief.
"Danzō?!!"
Hiruzen's voice broke in shock.
The cavern fell into absolute silence.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comnt!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon/Sagamaster789
User Comments
0 comments from readers