Living Corpse Reincarnation


 * Name:
 * Type: Kinjutsu, S-rank, Supplementary
 * User: Orochimaru

This jutsu, developed by Orochimaru, allows him to transfer his mind to someone else's body. If repeated periodically, it basically grants the user immortality as long as the user can find new host bodies and keep the host alive. Orochimaru can only perform this technique once every three years. It also seems that when the three years are almost over, he is forced to move into another host, as the previous one begins to reject him. Presumably, if he had a proper container, he could stay in the host for a full lifetime. The fact that he wants to prepare Sasuke Uchiha for the transfer before performing it seems to reinforce this. It is possible that Orochimaru can use the cursed seals of Heaven and Earth to make his transfers permanent, but is unlikely to be seen.

To perform this technique, Orochimaru reveals his true form, a gigantic white snake composed of smaller white snakes, by leaving through his current host's mouth. Orochimaru then swallows the new host and takes him or her to a different dimension, where Orochimaru envelops the mind of his victim. The snake body then dies, and Orochimaru's soul dominates the body (though the Sharingan seems to be able to negate and reverse the process against Orochimaru). The souls of the hosts are kept alive within Orochimaru, leaving them "still alive", in a sense (albeit suppressed), and when Orochimaru switches hosts, the souls leave with him.