"Crack!"
The sound of the door opening echoed, and a figure emerged from the room. Kabuto looked at Sasuke in front of him, feeling a bit uncertain about who had succeeded.
"Are you Orochimaru-sama?" A slight cold sweat appeared on Kabuto's forehead. He wasn't worried about Sasuke, but if Sasuke had successfully countered Orochimaru and gained his power, that would be troublesome for Kabuto.
"What do you think?" Sasuke's expression remained unchanged. A cold smirk appeared on his lips as his eyes transformed into the 3-tomoe Sharingan. Kabuto immediately saw the process of the Reincarnation Jutsu. Strangely, the battle in this process was different from before. There was no stalemate; instead, from the beginning, Sasuke had an absolute advantage and countered Orochimaru.
"It's terrifying!" When Kabuto came to his senses, Sasuke had already left him. However, at this moment, Kabuto, who had assumed that Orochimaru was already dead, didn't notice that Sasuke's right eye had changed.
The original Sharingan had transformed into the Mangekyo Sharingan, altered by the Cursed Seal of Heaven. And within the depths of that eye, a figure appeared. If Kabuto saw it, he would surely exclaim, "Isn't that Orochimaru?"
"Sasuke, I'll lend you my body for now. After you fight Itachi, you must fulfill your promise. Otherwise, I won't be so kind anymore." Although Sasuke was currently in control of his body, strangely enough, it seemed that Orochimaru held the advantage.
"Hmph!" Sasuke's face turned cold, but he didn't say anything. The situation was like this: during the Reincarnation Jutsu just now, they had been fighting each other continuously, but only a short time had passed outside.
As time dragged on, their chakra and energy consumption became greater. However, from the beginning, Orochimaru had been gradually pressing Sasuke, showing that Orochimaru, without being resurrected or harmed by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, was superior to Sasuke. Sasuke knew that he was now at a life-or-death moment.
He hadn't expected that what he thought was a sure victory would become his death sentence. He had been too arrogant and had underestimated Orochimaru. He didn't know that variables were ever-present, ready to emerge. As early as when Orochimaru received Tsunade's help in removing the seal, the variable had already appeared.
Now, instead of Sasuke countering Orochimaru and gaining his power, Orochimaru was pushing him back. Sasuke was well aware that if he didn't think of a solution, he would undoubtedly be the one to die. Even if he didn't die, he would end up like in the original story, with the roles reversed. In the original story, Orochimaru was suppressed within Sasuke's body, but now it was highly possible that Sasuke would be suppressed by Orochimaru and slowly tortured to death.
He refused to accept this outcome. He never expected that his overconfidence would lead to this situation. He still had ambitions to revive his clan and dreams of killing Uchiha Itachi. He absolutely could not die. So, at the last moment, he made a request.
And this was a request that Orochimaru couldn't refuse. It was for Sasuke to continue controlling the body and fight Itachi. After the battle, Sasuke wouldn't resist and would let Orochimaru destroy his soul.
Although this battle ended slightly in Orochimaru's favor, it was just a small victory. Facing Sasuke, who was only slightly weaker, Orochimaru knew that if he forcibly suppressed and tortured Sasuke, who would resist fiercely, then even if he succeeded, his soul would suffer unprecedented damage, and the gains wouldn't be worth the losses.
He absolutely couldn't allow such a situation to happen, as he still needed to accumulate enough power to seize Ryoha's body. Orochimaru found Sasuke's proposal quite intriguing. Moreover, he had a plan in mind: regardless of whether Sasuke would keep his promise, Orochimaru would still be the one in control. If Sasuke dared to have any evil intentions, then Orochimaru would immediately suppress him and take control of his body, despite the serious consequences he might face.
Moreover, he really wanted to watch the tigers fight from the mountain and let Sasuke and Itachi battle it out. Even if Sasuke lost, it wouldn't matter much. Regardless of the outcome of the Sharingan clash between Sasuke and Itachi, after the battle, Sasuke would be mentally exhausted. In Orochimaru's view, Sasuke had the three-tomoe Sharingan, while Itachi had the Mangekyou Sharingan, and it was certain that their mental strain would be immense.
So when that time came, regardless of whether Sasuke kept his promise or not, Orochimaru would sit back and watch the battle unfold. While Sasuke would be left battered and bruised, Orochimaru would have the opportunity to suppress and torture Sasuke's soul, albeit at a reduced level of damage. Then he could regain control of Sasuke's body.
With all his strength intact, Orochimaru could then fight Itachi, who had also been through a draining battle with Sasuke. At that point, Orochimaru would undoubtedly defeat or take control of Itachi, gaining yet another body to use. If Sasuke couldn't activate the Mangekyo Sharingan, Orochimaru could simply transfer to Itachi's body. It was with these thoughts in mind that Orochimaru allowed Sasuke to control his body temporarily, while he remained hidden in the background, ready to appear as the final boss.
"Kabuto, let me see just how loyal you truly are, given how often you talk about your loyalty to me. If you disappoint me, then it will be your own fault. Consider this a test for you."
Orochimaru laughed heartily in his mind. He was still Orochimaru, the one who controlled everything. No one around him could escape his control, not Sasuke, and especially not Kabuto. While Kabuto believed that Sasuke had already killed Orochimaru, he was unaware that due to his desire to gain Orochimaru's power, he had unknowingly fallen into a scheme or test orchestrated by Orochimaru.
If Kabuto remained loyal to Orochimaru, then in the end, both of them would be happy. But if not, then unless Orochimaru died, Kabuto would be the one facing a tragic fate. This could be true in both the original story and the current situation. Unfortunately, Kabuto, whose mind had been clouded by his greed, didn't notice this.
Although years of espionage had given him an extraordinary sense of danger beyond ordinary people, he usually only sensed it a second or two before something happened or as it happened. But this time, it was Orochimaru's plan, and Kabuto couldn't match Orochimaru in terms of cunning and power. Even if he sensed the danger, he had no strength to escape in time. Moreover, Orochimaru's scheme this time was far from simple.
The most important thing was that Kabuto's mind was already clouded by his greed, so he didn't pay attention to these warning signs. The fleeting discomfort he felt, he thought it was because of Sasuke's unexpected victory, and he didn't think of any other possibilities. He never imagined that this discomfort was actually a "test" specially prepared by Orochimaru for him.
After all, in his view, Orochimaru should be dead, otherwise, there would be no reason for him not to show up. It was precisely because of this thinking that his tragedy was likely predetermined.