Chapter 198: Interlude, Dragon Island
When Uchiha Ci opened his eyes again, he was greeted by the familiar sight of the ceiling above him.
Although the surroundings felt familiar, his head throbbed as if two bricks were jammed into it, blocking his thoughts and slowing his thinking to an unbearable degree. His eyes stung with such intensity that he felt an uncontrollable urge to gouge them out.
For a moment, Uchiha Ci couldn't remember where he was.
It wasn't until a familiar pale, elegant face leaned in close to him that recognition struck.
The man before him had purple eyeshadow, golden snake-like pupils, and a pair of jade earrings hanging from his earlobes.
At this moment, the man simply stared at him indifferently, saying nothing.
"Orochimaru-sensei?"
Uchiha Ci hesitantly asked, "Am I... ahhh!"
The moment he tried to speak, an excruciating pain erupted from his eye sockets, as though his eyes were on the verge of exploding. Uchiha Ci couldn't help but curl up, clutching his face as he let out a blood-curdling scream.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
The agony was so overwhelming that it felt as if iron needles were being driven under his toenails while his foot was slammed against a wall. It was a pain so unbearable that it made him feel worse than death.
Uchiha Ci's instincts screamed for him to claw out his own eyes or rip open his abdomen to remove the source of his torment.
However, that was when he realized his wrists were bound by a pair of specialized sealing bracers.
The bracers, equipped with precision-activated Chakra scalpels, severed the nerves in his hands, preventing him from acting on his desperate impulses.
Standing beside the bed, Orochimaru furrowed his brow. He pulled out a scroll and began jotting notes with a brush while muttering hoarsely,
"8:12 in the morning.
"No signs of dragonization. He didn't attack anyone upon waking.
"The rejection reaction has reappeared, but its intensity has lessened.
"The Four Symbols Seal inscribed on his eyes is functioning, and the Eight Trigrams Seal is containing the Tailed Beast Chakra without destabilization."
Orochimaru paused to glance at Uchiha Ci. "Judging by his progress in adapting to the Hashirama cells and cultivating the Zero-Tails, he'll need more time to adjust."
After finishing his notes, Orochimaru seemed to sense something. His expression remained indifferent as he turned toward the approaching figure—a blonde woman clad in a green cloak with the kanji for "Gamble."
In a hoarse voice, he asked, "Tsunade, how is the progress on the 'Revitalizing Pill' research?"
His tone carried the exhaustion of someone who hadn't slept in three days. Tsunade, her own face marked by fatigue, looked at the screaming boy on the bed and sighed deeply.
Standing beside Orochimaru, Tsunade's face darkened as she said in a low voice, "Orochimaru, I can't believe you've gone to such lengths for this child.
"I've already learned everything from Jiraiya. You may have kept this secret from others, but not from me.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner? As your teammates, did you think we would stand by and do nothing for your disciple?
"This boy isn't some power-hungry madman, and you're not..."
Orochimaru's gaze turned cold and distant. He interrupted flatly, "None of that matters. Since you've agreed to the deal, fulfill it.
"You develop the Revitalizing Pill, and I'll resurrect Nawaki and Dan."
Tsunade shook her head, sighed, and retrieved a small purple bottle from her pocket. She tossed it to Orochimaru.
When she, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru had accompanied the Third Hokage to the Forest of Death, what they found was chilling:
Uchiha Ci with severed arms, Minato Namikaze critically injured with a gaping hole through his abdomen, and Kushina Uzumaki cloaked in a pale red Tailed Beast form, displaying four tails.
At the last moment, the three had defeated the Nine-Tails in the spiritual realm and claimed a portion of its Chakra, allowing Kushina to activate a new Tailed Beast Chakra Mode.
Kushina had used this Chakra to sustain the lives of both men, who were on the verge of death, until they could be taken for treatment.
However, what nearly drove Orochimaru to the brink of collapse—akin to Tsunade's anguish at seeing her brother and lover's deaths—was the realization that Uchiha Ci had crossed the line sustaining his own life.
If not for a series of coincidences and their timely arrival, Uchiha Ci might have died there.
Tsunade had never seen Orochimaru display such emotion before: the kind of care that he tried to mask with cold detachment while making a calculated case at the top-level meetings.
In those meetings, Orochimaru had coldly justified sending Uchiha Ci to the battlefield:
"He doesn't have long to live, and we've prepared contingencies for recovery.
"Rather than letting him die of illness in the village, it's better for him to make one final contribution to Konoha.
"After all, you've seen it yourselves—Uchiha Ci possesses power surpassing even the Nine-Tails, though it comes at a cost to his life."
Orochimaru's analysis of the Third Shinobi World War and the allocation of personnel left even the Nara clan's tacticians speechless, forcing the Third Hokage to silently approve his plan.
But Tsunade could see through Orochimaru's façade, recognizing the madness in his unwavering determination to save his disciple at any cost.
That madness was what drove Orochimaru to propose an unrefusable deal to her.
Orochimaru opened the purple bottle, poured out a pungent black pill, and waved his hand. Seven or eight snakes shot out from his sleeve, binding the struggling Uchiha Ci to the bed. Orochimaru pried open Ci's jaw and forced him to swallow the Revitalizing Pill.
The pill quickly took effect, and Uchiha Ci's eyelids grew heavy before he fell into a deep sleep.
The Revitalizing Pill was a crucial medicine that Orochimaru would not complete until Sasuke's youth in the future. It enabled cursed mark users to overcome its side effects and transition from the first to the second stage.
At this point, however, Orochimaru hadn't fully developed it. Lacking the advanced medical expertise required, he had no choice but to turn to Tsunade for help, bringing the medicine into the Shinobi world a decade ahead of schedule.
"Orochimaru, I must remind you," Tsunade said quietly, gazing at the sleeping Uchiha Ci. "Given the Sage Mode energy within this boy, not even the Revitalizing Pill can completely suppress its side effects."
Without turning, Orochimaru placed his hand on Ci's Curse Seal of Heaven, carefully examining his disciple's condition.
Of course, he was aware.
The Ryūchi Cave's pure Sage Mode wasn't something so easily mastered, especially not this diluted version weakened by the cursed mark.
The closer one got to becoming a "dragon," the greater the danger.
And with his current knowledge, Orochimaru was still far from being able to fully decipher this power.
But...
Orochimaru suddenly squinted, lifting his gaze to Tsunade as he asked cryptically, "Tsunade, don't you think this mode resembles the relationship between a Jinchūriki and their Tailed Beast? If we could teach him to control this Sage power as a perfect Jinchūriki does their Tailed Beast, wouldn't that be possible?"
Tsunade frowned slightly, then nodded. "Yes, but achieving perfect Jinchūriki control requires..."
Straightening, Orochimaru licked his lips. Standing in Konoha's hospital, he gazed out the window toward the north—toward the Land of Lightning beyond Hell Valley.
A flicker of greed shone in his golden snake eyes, followed by a cold smile.
"What's required... is Kumogakure's Dragon Island!"
"There, on that island, is the 'Falls of Truth,' a place that reveals the truth within one's heart!"
Tsunade raised her head in shock. "What are you planning to do?"
Orochimaru smiled darkly, his mind envisioning a map of the Shinobi world. His eyes locked on Hell Valley.
Kumogakure could cross Hell Valley through the Land of Hot Water to reach Konoha's core. Likewise, Konoha could cross Hell Valley and traverse the vast plains of the Land of Frost to approach Kumogakure unimpeded.
A sinister glint crossed Orochimaru's eyes as he licked his lips again.
"That place... will be mine!"