At the same time, Iwagakure Village, Tsuchikage Building.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, looked at the photos on his desk, silent for a long time.
The ninja world's tech tree was weird, but there were camera-like devices. Pictures were more impactful than words.
So, although he didn't personally experience the great battle in Takigakure Village, based on these photos of the giant tree broken in half and the land that looked like it had been plowed... Onoki could roughly guess what kind of ninja, and what scale of ninjutsu, could cause this level of destruction.
This result made Onoki wary.
Orochimaru was one thing, but how could Takigakure Village, or those grass ninja, have this level of fighting power?
Relying solely on the Satori from the Box of Ultimate Bliss? That's impossible.
The documents passed down in Iwagakure Village also recorded that the monster's strength was at most equivalent to a Tailed Beast.
But the battle scene in Takigakure Village reminded Onoki of the Valley of the End, the battlefield of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
Although a level below, the fact that it could be compared at all was already very exaggerated.
Onoki frowned and asked, "Has it been found out who was fighting Orochimaru?"
"According to former Takigakure Village residents, it was a group of people wearing black coats with red clouds..."
Kitsuchi placed several sketched portraits on the desk and paused, saying, "They should be members of the Akatsuki."
"Akatsuki..."
Onoki looked at the portraits on the table, narrowing his eyes slightly.
In the ninja world, besides Danzo and Hanzo, he probably knew the most about the Akatsuki.
After the Third Great War, Iwagakure Village had repeatedly used black market channels to hire Akatsuki members to assassinate or sabotage Kumogakure's operations.
At the time, Onoki only considered them useful tools. He didn't expect that they could gather so many powerful ninja in secret.
Regret? A little.
But if it happened again, Onoki would still do the same.
After all, Iwagakure Village was different from Konoha, and he didn't have a Danzo like that old guy Sarutobi.
That guy Roshi lacked awareness. He left the village in a rage over a few grievances.
And since he didn't want to take the blame, he could only outsource these things.
The Akatsuki were the best choice at the time.
Onoki played with two stone balls and asked, "What about Konoha? Any action?"
Neither intelligence nor rumors of Orochimaru's death had come, meaning that after the battle, he most likely escaped.
"We haven't received detailed intelligence yet..."
Kitsuchi answered truthfully, "But based on the previous news, they haven't launched a rescue."
"They probably haven't received detailed intelligence yet, so they don't dare to act rashly. That old Sarutobi is very cautious..."
Onoki thought like himself, and clearly understood the Third Hokage's thoughts.
After a moment of thought, he pushed the intelligence on the desk in front of Kitsuchi, "Send this to Konoha, using the fastest communication method."
Kitsuchi looked down at the intelligence on the desk, slightly stunned, "Are you serious?"
Without this intelligence, Konoha's own intelligence system would take at least half a day to a day, and such a long delay would greatly increase the failure rate of the rescue operation.
Orochimaru's death would benefit Iwagakure Village in every way.
"Whether Orochimaru lives or dies is not important. The point is that based on the intelligence, he must be injured now and has no fighting ability."
Onoki looked at his son and patiently explained, "In this condition, he's more of a burden."
"And the Akatsuki will definitely not let a tiger return to the mountain, causing a conflict with Konoha."
Kitsuchi's eyes lit up, "You want them to hurt each other?"
"Just trying it out. Reality isn't that simple."
Onoki wasn't optimistic about whether this would work, but there was no harm in trying.
At most, it would increase Orochimaru's slim chance of survival, which he thought was acceptable.
Onoki never thought that Orochimaru would die so easily.
"Yes, I'll do it right away."
Kitsuchi didn't think so. His honest face showed some excitement, and he quickly left the Tsuchikage's office.
…
After Konoha received the news from Iwagakure Village, they immediately dispatched a ninja team.
Led by Jiraiya, with three teams consisting entirely of Anbu Jonin as support, they traveled day and night towards Takigakure Village.
But after searching for two or three days, they still couldn't find a trace.
Neither the Akatsuki nor Konoha could find even a snake scale.
Where did Orochimaru go?
…
The sea breeze blew quietly, the night sky was clear and cloudless, illuminated by a bright silver moon, and the distant stars flowed into a brilliant galaxy.
Kaisa stood at the corner of the boat, looking down at the galaxy. He forcefully threw out the fishing net, and the water rippled, as if he was catching the stars falling into the sea.
Sky and sea, people and stars. If there was a painter, they could definitely paint a masterpiece.
But Kaisa was not a painter. He was just a fisherman. Although amazed by the magnificent scenery before him, he now wanted to return home safely with a full load.
The weather at sea was very extreme. One moment it could be calm and peaceful, and the next moment it could be turbulent and dangerous.
Poets described the sea as a mother. Kaisa agreed, because while she raised them, she could show her capricious side at any time.
Today, Kaisa hoped that she would be generous and in a slightly better mood.
With this small hope, Kaisa waited for the fishing net to sink to a sufficient depth, without noticing a huge shadow appearing under his boat.
Bang!
The snake's tail swung gently, and a huge force flipped the boat over.
Kaisa was stunned by this sudden change, but his instinct as a fisherman made him use his hands and feet to float to the surface.
At this time, the sea suddenly returned to calm. Kaisa found himself frozen in the water, unable to move, only his head could turn.
"I ask you, where is this place?"
Kaisa, wondering what the sea was up to, suddenly heard a deep male voice.
Not the sea, it was a person!
Kaisa felt relieved, but his heart was lifted again. It seemed that in this situation, people were more dangerous than the sea.
After hesitating for a moment, he replied, "This is the Land of Waves, I'm just a fisherman, I don't have anything..."
"The Land of Waves?"
Orochimaru frowned.
As far as he knew, this was a large island country located east of the Land of Fire, separated from the Land of the Waterfall by two or three countries.
After leaving the underground waterway, he chased the fish, eating as he went. After walking for about a day, he didn't expect to end up here.
"Who cares where it is."
The Genie didn't care at all, and didn't expect this was his navigation issue.
"We are going along the earth vein's flow, and further ahead, there is a natural energy rich area."
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