He couldn’t quite grasp what kind of existence the person whose body he had transmigrated into was, but one thing was clear—this person had done some truly remarkable things.

  For the most part, anything that could be bmed on Kurozetsu in the original story could easily be pinned on that guy.

  But in the end, that person had massacred the nobles of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, even killing the heirs of the Land of Fire’s Daimyo, leading to a bounty on his head across the entire ninja world.

  When he had transmigrated, that person had just severed the remaining half of his body, now a wooden form, and was using the power of the "Elemental Bottle" to transform the upper half of his body into that of a child.

  However, due to his grievous wounds and the immense consumption of power, that person lost the battle for his soul against him.

  As a result, he was left with a damaged soul, unable to consolidate his mental energy, and his chakra reserves severely depleted.

  But it wasn’t a total loss—at least, he had inherited some of that person’s memories, learned how to use the "Elemental Bottle," and gained some connections.

  It was through those connections that, despite his weakened state, he managed to change his identity and settle down in Konoha Vilge to recuperate.

  Rubbing his forehead, he looked at the remaining "rations" for the day.

  Earlier, he had spent his ration points on "Wood Release" and "Shapeshifting," and now he had none left.

  The "Wood Release" came from a ration point allocated to the "Wood Element Bottle."

  Its effect was to accelerate pnt growth—by pnting a seed into the ground, he could mimic "Wood Release."

  The more ration points allocated, the more complex the pnts could grow, and the fewer points, the simpler the result.

  For example, the seed he had pnted earlier came from a giant tree in Konoha's "Forest of Death."

  But since he had allocated too few points, it only grew into a small branch.

  Had he invested more points, the seed could have sprouted into a massive pitcher pnt rger than a house, despite its origin as a tree seed.

  His "Shapeshifting" ability, on the other hand, was a combination of the "Fire Element Bottle" and "Metal Element Bottle."

  The "Elemental Bottle" abilities could be combined, but the consumption was higher.

  For a single-element bottle, he only needed one ration point for its effect, but for the combination, he needed to allocate two points for each element to achieve the minimal effect.

  Since he had allocated too few points earlier, the shapeshifting effect was temporary, sting no more than three hours.

  After carefully locking the door, closing the window without leaving a gap, and pulling the curtains shut, Shirohebi finally y down on the bed.

  This wouldn’t raise suspicion from Orochimaru. Not to mention that he was, after all, an experimental subject, but for the st two years since he had taken over this identity, he had always done things this way.

  Moreover, this action wasn’t aimed at Orochimaru. If Orochimaru wanted to come in, he would have no trouble—Shirohebi had been careful.

  Shirohebi hoped that Danzo would assign him a cssified mission that required leaving the vilge.

  Only by leaving the vilge could he use the connections left by his original self to further cement his disguise.

  ……

  Sunlight had already seeped through the curtains, warming Shirohebi's face.

  He struggled to open his eyes, his vision doubled, and it was especially bad when he saw the sun high in the sky through the thin curtains.

  Propping himself up against the bed's backrest, he rubbed his aching forehead and grabbed the clock by his bedside.

  It was already noon? Had he really slept so long?

  His biological clock was usually very accurate; no matter how te he stayed up, he would wake up promptly at 6:30 AM.

  But now, it was past noon, and his head still felt heavy. Was it Orochimaru's doing?

  No, the strands of hair on the door handle hadn’t changed, and the window lock was the same.

  Shirohebi got out of bed and inspected the door handle and window.

  There were traps he had set up. A strand of his hair was looped around the door handle, connected to the lock.

  If anyone had moved the door handle, the hair would have slipped from the lock, turning the lock mechanism slightly and then falling to the ground.

  An intruder would likely assume he had just let his hair hang there or wedged it in the door, without noticing that the lock had been moved by a few millimeters.

  Even if the intruder was careful enough to reset the lock, it would not be the same as how Shirohebi had set it.

  The same applied to the window.

  "So it really was just me sleeping in?" Shirohebi sighed.

  If Orochimaru had come in, he would have noticed something was wrong the moment he lifted Shirohebi’s mask.

  At that point, either Shirohebi or Orochimaru would be dead.

  He carefully tucked two strands of hair into the gap of the bedside drawer.

  These two strands also served as a warning system. Although they had fallen from his head, they were different from the rest of his hair.

  Under the influence of his abilities, these two strands were much stronger, and unless intentionally snapped, they would be difficult to break.

  Leaving his room, Shirohebi crossed the empty living room and entered the kitchen.

  He casually gnced at the clock in the kitchen.

  It was 1:00 PM, but only his breakfast had been prepared for him. There was no lunch.

  This meant Orochimaru was not home. He had left in the morning and had yet to return.

  Shirohebi rolled up his sleeves, put on kitchen gloves, and began preparing lunch.

  Both he and Orochimaru could cook. Whoever had the time would do it, and if both were free, it was usually him.

  Whenever one of them cooked, they would always prepare a portion for the other, unless the other clearly stated they wouldn't be home for a meal—then it wouldn’t make sense to waste ingredients.

  Orochimaru was quite particur about food, probably due to his childhood.

  After making a simple home-cooked dish for Orochimaru, Shirohebi quickly finished the remains of his breakfast at the table and put his mask back on.

  Click—he heard the sound of a door unlocking from the living room.

  Orochimaru had returned. He closed the door and walked into the living room, his expression as indifferent as ever.

  "Your meal’s in the pot," Shirohebi called from the sink.

  Orochimaru entered the kitchen, feeling the warmth still emanating from the stove. "You slept in today."

  "You've been talking more than usual tely," Shirohebi said, wiping the clean dishes and putting them in the cabinet.

  Normally, Orochimaru’s conversations with him were short and to the point—"I'm back," "Eat," "Sleep," "Read," and so on.

  Orochimaru didn’t mind Shirohebi’s slightly impolite tone. As a surviving experimental subject who had grown up by his side, it was normal for him to have some personality fws.

  Shirohebi had always been like this.

  "Looks like you’re recovering well," Orochimaru said as he retrieved his meal from the pot.

  His words carried a subtle implication. When the "Faceless Curse" had been lifted st night, Shirohebi’s panic hadn’t seemed fake.

  Shirohebi couldn’t be sure if Orochimaru suspected anything. After all, he had left behind the "setting" of being terrified of having his true face exposed.

  This fear stemmed from the ck of security in being an experimental subject. Nothing suspicious about it.

  "Yes, I’m recovering well," Shirohebi replied without hesitation.

  Afterward, the two of them fell into the usual silence until Orochimaru finished his meal.

  "You can go to my b ter to get a new face."

  "Danzo will still give you tasks, but if you don’t want to do them, don’t."

  Clearly, Orochimaru hadn’t managed to negotiate properly with Danzo, especially since his experiments still required Danzo’s funding.

  But as the subordinate, Orochimaru had managed to secure some autonomy for Shirohebi, even though Shirohebi didn’t care.

  Shirohebi nodded slightly, signaling that he understood.

  He recalled Orochimaru’s experiments from the past few days—none of the subjects had died.

  The "Faceless Curse" could only be used on the dead.

  Had Orochimaru sacrificed a valuable experimental subject as compensation because he couldn’t reach an agreement with Danzo?

  Or was this a subtle apology for destroying his false face st night for no reason?

  He really couldn’t decide whether to call it cold-blooded or gentle.