In the forests of the Land of Bears.
Shishou glanced at the fleeing Raiko and then at the Jiraiya before him, frowning slightly.
"Orochimaru, did you really kill Jiraiya?"
Orochimaru shrugged. "To me, everything besides immortality and power is meaningless."
Orochimaru peeled off the skin of his face, revealing Jiraiya's features beneath.
He continued, "Thanks to Jiraiya's body, I can now fully master the Sage Arts of Ryuchi Cave."
Shishou glanced at the two Jiraiyas before him with displeasure. "You were able to possess Jiraiya?"
Logically, Orochimaru's soul strength shouldn't have been enough to use the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique to take over Jiraiya's body.
Orochimaru replied nonchalantly, "Miss Raiko has already taught me the complete Reincarnation technique."
"Is that so," Shishou responded indifferently, nodding in understanding.
He then split off a clone to deal with Orochimaru, while his main body pursued the fleeing Raiko.
Handling the current Orochimaru only required a clone.
Seeing that the Flying Thunder God user was so dismissive of him, sending just a clone to fight him, Orochimaru felt an inexplicable surge of anger.
However, it wasn't long before Orochimaru's anger turned to fear.
He soon realized that even with Sage Mode and the combined strength of Jiraiya, Fukasaku, and Shima, he was no match for Shishou's clone.
"What kind of monstrous strength does this man possess?" Orochimaru wondered, watching in horror as Shishou's clone effortlessly dispatched the reanimated Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's body had been specially modified by Orochimaru, making it nearly as strong as he was in life.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Raiko, locked onto by the Tenseigan, had only managed to escape a short distance before Shishou caught up with her.
"Damn it!" she cursed, realizing she couldn't outrun him, and stopped.
As Raiko halted, Shishou appeared before her.
Seeing Shishou, Raiko felt a mix of fear and anger. "You have already cost me my millennium-old snake body, my title as one of the Three Great Sages, Ryuchi Cave, and all my subordinates. You've taken everything from me. Do you really intend to kill me now?"
Hearing Raiko's accusations, Shishou frowned. It wasn't her words that bothered him; it was the information his clone had just relayed back to him.
In Shishou's mind, dealing with Uchiha Obito took precedence over Raiko.
With Obito showing up, Shishou naturally wanted to take him down once and for all.
Thus, he hesitated, considering whether to finish off Raiko first or to head back and deal with Obito.
After all, killing Raiko with her Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation was no easy task.
As Shishou hesitated, Raiko mistook it for doubt, feeling a glimmer of hope.
Quickly, she said, "If you let me go this time, I swear I won't cause you any more trouble."
Raiko was willing to let go of her hatred if it meant she could continue living.
The main reason was that Shishou's presence now instilled such terror in her that she couldn't muster any thoughts of revenge.
Hearing Raiko's plea, Shishou's lips curved into a smile. With his hands behind his back, he calmly stated, "If you want me to spare you, you must serve me as a slave for five hundred years."
The idea of having one of the Three Great Sages as a servant amused him.
Upon hearing this, Raiko's rage flared.
She was one of the Three Great Sages, among the strongest in the ninja world. How could this bastard dare to make her a servant!
Even if she were to die today, she would never...
"I accept," Raiko said quietly.
What was once her pride as a Great Sage was now a thing of the past. At this moment, she was just slightly stronger than an ordinary Kage-level ninja.
Survival was more important than pride.
Shishou beckoned her with a hand. "Come here. I need to mark you."
"Mark me?" Raiko was stunned.
Shishou replied coldly, "This is to prevent you from betraying me."
He had no reason to trust Raiko to keep her word.
Hearing this, Raiko felt another surge of anger. Once, she had been one of the Great Sages of the ninja world, now reduced to this indignity.
"Well?" Shishou's tone was cold as he looked at Raiko's angry face.
Under Shishou's gaze, Raiko felt like she was plunging into an icy abyss, her defiance melting away.
With no other options, she decided to comply.
She would accept this indignity for now, and perhaps one day, she could find a way out.
Raiko approached Shishou, kneeling respectfully before him in a gesture of submission.
"Don't resist," Shishou instructed, placing his hand on her forehead, his chakra flaring powerfully.
Raiko tensed, torn between wanting to retaliate and fearing Shishou's overwhelming presence.
Seeing Raiko submit, Shishou wasted no time.
His right eye's Tenseigan glowed, and his immense chakra surged into Raiko.
The next moment, a white snake-shaped seal appeared on her forehead.
This was an upgraded version of the Caged Bird seal, modified by Shishou.
Unlike the original, which was placed on the soul, this one was enhanced with the power of the Tenseigan, making it impossible to remove without greater power.
Only someone like Kaguya could potentially break the seal, and given Shishou's relationship with her, Raiko had no hope of that happening.
"It's done," Shishou said, retracting his hand and smiling at Raiko.
He had gained a powerful servant.
Raiko, however, was pale with shock. "What have you done to me?"
She could feel a binding on her soul, shattering her hopes of escaping through a reincarnation technique.
Shishou smiled warmly. "I'm not a demon. I've just placed a seal on your soul. As long as you don't betray me, it will have little impact on you."
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POWER STONE!!!!
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This fanfiction is complete on my P@treon. If you want to read it, you can find it at p@treon.com/Betek.
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