Even te at night, lights still flickered in the residence of Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, and once considered a strong contender for the title of the Fourth Hokage.

  Orochimaru, dressed in a home robe, sat on the sofa by the coffee table, calmly flipping through a ninja scroll.

  It seemed like he was waiting for someone.

  Knock knock.

  The door to the residence was knocked upon.

  "Come in." Orochimaru closed the scroll in his hand.

  Shirohebi unlocked the door with a key and stepped into the living room. He looked around.

  "Isn't Konan here? It's so te, I thought you were teaching her ninjutsu."

  "That would be too te for a child," Orochimaru chuckled softly, his shoulders giving a slight twitch as a few strands of dark hair slipped from his ear and fell before his eyes.

  "But I'm a child too, Mr. Orochimaru." A puff of white smoke burst out from around Shirohebi.

  As the smoke cleared, the figure standing there was still Shirohebi, but his size had shrunk, transforming him into a young boy.

  "If you say so, then I guess that's what it is," Orochimaru said, seemingly used to the boy's blunt way of speaking. He lifted the scroll in his hand.

  "This is a sensory ninjutsu I got from Sarutobi-sensei. It's a technique he developed himself. I've modified it to reduce chakra consumption, so even someone like you can use it."

  "Does that mean I can finally repce this entry-level sensory ninjutsu?"

  Shirohebi stepped forward and reached for the scroll.

  Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, pulling the scroll back just out of Shirohebi's reach.

  "What task did Danzo assign you?"

  "Find spies, kill spies, find spies, kill spies... just a repeat of that," Shirohebi answered, his tone cking enthusiasm.

  After the Third Great Ninja War, the enemy vilges, suffering from heavy losses, took advantage of the opportunity to infiltrate Konoha with numerous spies.

  He added casually, "Danzo doesn't trust me much, because he doesn't trust you at all."

  If Danzo intended to put him to good use, he would have given him the "tongue-tied curse seal," sealing his ability to report anything reted to Danzo to Orochimaru.

  That would mean no more informing Orochimaru of Danzo's actions, and naturally, Orochimaru's pns would fall apart—though it was just a minor setback.

  "I see." Orochimaru handed the scroll to Shirohebi and said in a calm voice, "Then you don't need to work for Danzo anymore."

  Orochimaru wasn’t in a hurry to catch Danzo's missteps; he just didn’t like being controlled by others.

  Danzo had leverage over him with the information about his human experiments, but Orochimaru had not yet used that leverage against Danzo.

  It meant that once Orochimaru lost his usefulness, Danzo could easily discard him.

  However, Orochimaru didn’t seem too concerned about that.

  "You should've said that earlier..." Shirohebi scratched his bck hair hanging over his shoulder. "I think I may have exposed the fact that I can use Wood Release to him."

  When he st reported to Orochimaru, he had a feeling Orochimaru would lose patience and stop letting him work for Danzo.

  And that was also one of the reasons why he had exposed the "Wood Release" to Danzo.

  He still couldn't abandon his role in Root. It was only by doing the dirty work for them that he could find an opportunity to leave Konoha.

  Orochimaru squinted his eyes. "It's fine. I'll take care of it."

  "Thank you." Shirohebi raised the scroll in his hand. "Can I go back to my room now?"

  Orochimaru casually waved his hand, signaling that Shirohebi could leave.

  However, just as Shirohebi was about to leave the living room, Orochimaru suddenly twisted his neck and coldly stared at him.

  Shirohebi froze, slightly confused, and turned his head. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing, it's just... I keep getting the feeling you're going to betray me," Orochimaru said with a chilling smile.

  First, a few months ago, Shirohebi revealed his true abilities to Danzo, exposing several spies. Then, just now, he had exposed Wood Release to Danzo.

  This boy seemed to be gradually aligning himself with Danzo, which was strange.

  "How could I?" Shirohebi removed his mask, revealing a face that was pin and unremarkable—a typical face that would be lost in a crowd.

  His message was clear: he was Orochimaru's experiment, someone without an identity of his own.

  Moreover, his body was riddled with fws—low chakra levels and many inherent problems.

  Without Orochimaru's protection, he would be nothing.

  Just like his face—unremarkable and pin.

  Orochimaru gazed quietly at the boy, someone with no name, no identity, whose very face was fake—truly someone with nothing.

  Indeed, this child had been raised by Orochimaru himself, and there was no reason to suspect him. But...

  "I haven't seen your real face in a long time. Could I take a moment to reminisce?"

  Shirohebi’s pupils dited, and before he could react, Orochimaru raised two fingers.

  The unremarkable face he had been wearing, the one stolen from another experiment, began to melt away.

  The "Facial Dissolution Jutsu" was released.

  Shirohebi wanted to raise his hand to touch his face, but found he couldn't move it.

  It was the Golden Binding Jutsu.

  Orochimaru stood up from the sofa, grabbed a damp towel, and began wiping away the dissolving liquid from Shirohebi's face.

  Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as his golden snake pupils flickered with a cold murderous intent.

  He threw the towel aside, revealing Shirohebi’s true face underneath, which looked perfectly normal.

  "Mr. Orochimaru..." Cold sweat dotted Shirohebi's forehead. "Why did you destroy my face? Have I done something wrong?"

  "No, it's just that I'm too sensitive." Orochimaru gently patted Shirohebi's head. "Go back to your room. I'm a bit tired."

  "Understood." Shirohebi lowered his head, picking up the mask and scroll from the floor before hurriedly returning to his room.

  Once the door was closed behind him, Shirohebi threw himself onto the bed, burying his face in the covers.

  As time passed, his expression twisted, then his facial muscles suddenly shifted, and his entire face began to rearrange itself.

  After a while, he exhaled deeply and lifted his face from the bnket.

  "That was close. If Orochimaru had caught me then, it would have been a problem."

  "Of all the times to be suspected... I was so close to completing the procedure."

  "I guess it was because I’ve been using the Facial Dissolution Jutsu so often that it raised suspicion."

  The top half of his face still looked like the one he had shown to Orochimaru, though the skin tone was slightly uneven. But his lower face... it was completely different from what he had shown before.

  At the seam where the two halves of his face met, bck stitching could be seen, as if the top half had been sewn onto his body.

  He grabbed a mirror from his nightstand and looked at his reflection.

  "Well, the top half is almost complete. In another half month, no one will be able to tell that it's a patchwork face."

  "The real problem is the bottom half. I don’t know when it’ll be ready, but I have to find a chance to hurry it along."

  He put the "Shirohebi mask" back on and secured it behind his head.

  Then, five illusory gss bottles appeared before him, visible only to him.

  He called them the "Element Bottles." This was his true power.

  Each bottle represented one of the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

  According to his chakra reserves, every time he rested, he would receive a "quota."

  These were the blue test tubes filled with an ethereal liquid.

  Each test tube represented one quota point.

  Based on his current chakra levels, he had five points of "quota" every day.

  By adding these "quota points" into the "Element Bottles," he could activate abilities that were not part of standard ninjutsu.

  Whether it was the Wood Release he used earlier or the face-shifting technique, all of it came from the "Element Bottles."

  As for his control over Explosive Cy, that was thanks to a part of his upper face.

  It seemed to be linked to a special user of the Explosive Release, someone whose ability manifested differently from the usual Explosive Release, like Deidara.

  With the help of the "bck lines" on his face, the mixed cells and genes of his upper face combined with his own, awakening this unique form of Explosive Release.

  This also meant his "pstic surgery" progress had slowed down significantly. Every part needed careful selection, and he had to investigate the origins of his ancestors.

  After all, bloodline limits were no ughing matter, and he wasn’t like Biwako.

  He was Shirohebi, but he was not that "clone." He had taken the identity of that clone almost two years ago.

  And he had been running from the Five Great Shinobi Countries' pursuit for three full years.

  All of this started three years ago, when he transmigrated into the wrong body.