In a dark, damp underground burrow.
Orochimaru had every habit of a snake.
Whenever he needed to stay somewhere for any length of time, he would inevitably dig himself a burrow.
“What about the blonde girl and the white-haired pervert?”
Shingetsu asked from behind Orochimaru.
Orochimaru paused, then said gently, “Jiraiya is one thing, but you should show a little more respect when you refer to Tsunade.
She really will hit you.”
Shingetsu gave a light snort.
“Hard to say who’d be hitting whom now.”
Maybe it was the influence of the Uchiha bloodline.
More likely, this was simply Shingetsu’s true nature.
After advancing to two tomoe and becoming able to use ninjutsu, Shingetsu was desperate to find a suitable opponent to test his strength.
Orochimaru was out.
Shingetsu was afraid that if he went all out, he might kill the old snake.
As for Jiraiya and Tsunade, he would not feel nearly as bad about it.
“It seems your strength has grown quite a bit recently…”
Orochimaru lit the dim lamps in the basement, revealing several Iwa ninja corpses.
“Since you chose to come to the battlefield, this was something you were bound to see sooner or later.
Are you uncomfortable?”
Shingetsu glanced over and said flatly, “People die in war.”
“It’s not that simple…”
Orochimaru placed a hand on Shingetsu’s shoulder and said slowly, “A great many deaths are a necessary condition for winning a war, but that does not only mean people from the enemy nation.
It also means people on our side.”
“And not just ninja.
Innocent civilians too.”
He pointed at one of the bodies and continued, “He wasn’t a ninja.
Just a civilian from the Land of Rain who was unlucky enough to get caught up in a fight between ninja and die.”
“Maybe all you did was follow orders to blow up a bridge, burn a forest, or cut off a supply route.
You didn’t mean to kill them.
You may not even have known they existed.”
“And then…”
“A few days later, you pass through that place and see the bodies of the people who died because of you.”
“They are what people call collateral damage.
Their names will not even be recorded.”
“That is war.”
“Shingetsu, are you truly ready to take part in it?”
“Can you bear that?”
Orochimaru had learned Shingetsu’s view of enemies from Sakumo.
Now, what he wanted to know was whether Shingetsu would remain unmoved by the lives of innocent people.
He needed to know where Shingetsu’s line was, to make sure Shingetsu would not cross it.
Ordinary ninja could still be guided back, but once an Uchiha’s line of reason snapped, there was almost no repairing it.
After a moment of silence.
“Of course it would hurt…”
Shingetsu’s voice was very calm.
“If you can watch your own kind die and feel nothing, then you’re no longer human.”
“Saying I’ll protect every civilian is a little unrealistic, but…”
He lifted his head, looked straight at Orochimaru, and grinned.
“Your question is completely outside the scope of what I need to consider.”
“I told you before.
I won’t hide my presence.”
“If they see me and still don’t run, then there’s no such thing as innocent!”
Orochimaru froze for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile.
“Isn’t that limit a little too simple?
Does that mean you won’t chase enemies who run away?”
“You talk too much.”
Shingetsu impatiently slapped Orochimaru’s hand away.
“I’m not some fixed program.
Whether I chase them or not depends on my mood.”
“My mind and body are perfectly healthy.
Instead of spending time lecturing me, you might as well go see a therapist yourself.”
Is he really healthy, though…
Shingetsu took the Earth Grudge Fear mask from his chest and said, “Modify this for me again.
It’s too big and inconvenient.”
He was not some pervert like Madara Uchiha, who could grow Hashirama’s face on his body and take pride in it.
Having a lump sticking out of him was uncomfortable no matter how he looked at it.
“If it’s only the size, that won’t be difficult…”
Orochimaru had wanted to have a heart-to-heart with his disciple, but the words died before he could say them.
Forget it.
A toolman it is.
It was only natural for a teacher to help his disciple.
As Orochimaru worked on it, he said casually, “I heard from the village that you seem to have mastered a special technique.
Would you mind telling me about it?”
He was already prepared for Shingetsu to refuse him.
He was used to it, after all.
“Look at me.”
Orochimaru instinctively raised his head and met a pair of scarlet two-tomoe Sharingan.
Three seconds later.
Orochimaru wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly.
“Next time…
give your teacher a little warning.
Having that much information poured in all at once is very unpleasant.”
“I’m training your mental endurance.
You should be thanking me.”
Explaining it sentence by sentence would be too much trouble.
This was what the Sharingan was for.
Cool and stylish.
It took Orochimaru a while to recover.
The light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his breathing quickened despite himself.
“Using language as a technique medium for chakra to interfere with reality…
What an extraordinary idea!”
“And more than that…
you actually succeeded!”
“Shingetsu…”
“Compared to you, a so-called genius like me is practically a joke!”
The corner of Shingetsu’s mouth lifted, and he snorted softly.
“That’s only natural.
No need to emphasize it.”
Could you spare your teacher’s feelings and be a little humble…
Orochimaru shook his head and organized the information in his mind.
“At present, it requires the Sharingan’s Ocular Power to support it, but this system has the potential to be perfected.
It even has the prospect of becoming as widespread as hand seals!”
“Perhaps…”
“Shingetsu, you may surpass the ancestors of the Uchiha and become the progenitor of ninjutsu, a founder on the level of Rikudō Sennin!”
There were quite a few errors in Orochimaru’s statement.
Strictly speaking, the progenitor of ninjutsu should be Indra, and Rikudō Sennin could also be considered an ancestor of the Uchiha.
But history like that had long since been forgotten by the world after a thousand years.
In the end, Shingetsu was still a youth at heart.
He thoroughly enjoyed Orochimaru’s praise and felt that his old snake had some talent for complimenting people.
“Hehe…
You’ve got a good eye, Orochimaru-sensei!”
After working for a while, Orochimaru handed Shingetsu the Earth Grudge Fear, now covered in cursed seals and compressed to the size of a fist.
“For you, Earth Grudge Fear is not the kind of Kinjutsu that gets implanted into the body.
It’s more like a tool, though calling it a ninja tool does not quite fit either…”
“Combined with your special physique, it’s easy to imagine that your fighting style will be completely different from an ordinary ninja’s.
Add in that unique method of releasing ninjutsu…”
After pondering for a moment, Orochimaru’s lips curved slightly.
“Shingetsu-kun, would I have the honor of naming your special system?”
What he wanted most was to know everything and learn every technique.
Shingetsu was almost the most satisfying disciple he could have hoped for.
From body to mind, he was filled with limitless possibility.
Watching him was like witnessing the evolution of the Ninja World.
That feeling was so wonderful that Orochimaru could not help wanting to take part in it.
Shingetsu weighed the Earth Grudge Fear in his hand.
It was quite light.
“Do what you want.”
Orochimaru thought seriously.
“A chakra tool as special as Earth Grudge Fear needs to be distinguished from ordinary ninja tools.
Its form is normally modified through cursed seals…”
“Your physique is called Heavenly Restriction…”
“Then let us call it a Cursed Tool!”
Shingetsu nodded casually, not particularly concerned with this so-called naming.
In the end, it was just a term.
“As for the method of casting ninjutsu through speech.
Ninja Speech…
Spirit Words…
Chanting…”
Orochimaru shook his head lightly, rejecting several options.
Then his eyes stirred.
“Cursed Speech!”