After scaring away the Heaven Path Pain with a single strike of his sword, Shiraishi slowly descended to the ground. As the silver mask gradually dissolved, he reverted to the combined appearance of himself and Deidara.
"The main body consumed far too much chakra in this battle..."
The black-haired Deidara wove hand signs with both hands to execute the Sand Gathering Technique. While continuously restoring his depleted chakra, he directed his gaze toward Orochimaru's position in the distance.
The exact moment conflict broke out between himself and Orochimaru, the relevant intelligence had already been transmitted to Konoha's Root by that specific individual.
As Orochimaru's most vital assistant, perhaps Orochimaru had never expected that this guy was actually a quadruple agent—serving Konoha, Orochimaru, himself, and Sasori of the Red Sand...
At the exact same time, having suffered two successive heavy blows, Orochimaru's body had long since become exceptionally frail.
Although he barely managed to utilize Inorganic Reincarnation to continuously patch up his damaged frame along the way, the terrifying remnant chakra power lingering within his anatomy left him growing weaker by the second.
Orochimaru understood very clearly that Shiraishi undoubtedly held other hidden trump cards, and even certain individuals around him were no longer safe. Therefore, he chose to flee toward the direction of Konoha.
Stepping into a particularly dense forest, a trace of nostalgia surfaced in Orochimaru's gaze. As the lush canopy flashed past his eyes, it was as if he could see his childhood self alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade.
This dense forest connecting the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire was the furthest the three of them had ever ventured away from Konoha as children.
Afterward, they had received a thorough scolding from the Third Hokage, though the one who bore the absolute brunt of the blame back then was always Jiraiya...
For some inexplicable reason, a trace of a smile surfaced at the corner of Orochimaru's lips, but his body rapidly erupted into a violent fit of coughing soon after.
Having strengthened his soul, Orochimaru no longer needed to execute the Living Corpse Reincarnation. Yet under the current circumstances, his soul felt as though it were burning with an agonizing pain.
Upon inspection, a specialized blue flame was burning deep within his soul; it was blindingly obvious that when that unique regeneration core cell exploded, it had directly unleashed a horrifying blue flame energy.
For the dignified, strongest monster of the shinobi world to actually resort to poisoning when dealing with him—just how wary of his soul reincarnation methods was that man?
In his current state, if Orochimaru forcibly attempted the Living Corpse Reincarnation, he feared he would only die faster. Along with the agonizing burning of his soul, his physical body resided in a state akin to being consumed by raging fires.
This won't do... I absolutely cannot allow the Kazekage to continue plotting against me!
Thinking up to this point, Orochimaru endured the intense agony and sat straight down, rapidly inscribing his personal insights regarding the Impure World Reincarnation onto a scroll.
Konoha's version of the Impure World Reincarnation was lagging far behind the version he was currently researching, which included a vast array of biological cloning technologies—materials and data that Konoha's faction sorely lacked.
The contents primarily consisted of Orochimaru's conceptual framework and the future research directions for refinement. The material within this scroll was exceptionally professional; an ordinary shinobi would find it highly difficult to comprehend Orochimaru's logic.
However, Orochimaru believed that those two fellows, Tsunade and Jiraiya, would find a way to decipher it.
Orochimaru knew very well the Fifth Kazekage's absolute determination to kill him. Since the man placed such immense weight on the Impure World Reincarnation, it signified that this jutsu would inevitably pose a threat to him in the future.
Just as Orochimaru spent over an hour successfully sealing away this tens-of-thousands-of-words material that condensed his entire life's blood, a casual, lazy voice slowly echoed.
"For a dignified Legendary Sannin of Konoha to actually fall to such a wretched state... however, to be desperately hunted down like this by the Fifth Kazekage, it appears you possess exceptionally vital value upon your person."
A mysterious, silver-haired young man clad in white robes with a specialized clan crest on his back slowly stepped out from the dark forest, looking at the injured Orochimaru with a playful smirk.
After slowly swallowing the scroll down into his stomach, Orochimaru displayed a sickly smile: "Heheh, and who might you be, sir?"
"An existence you cannot comprehend. Right now, I merely wish to know exactly what secret you hold that could make the Fifth Kazekage so tense. Perhaps I can be of assistance to you."
Disregarding the youth's inquiry, Orochimaru thrust his hands into a combat stance, and countless venomous snakes rapidly surged toward the mysterious young man.
"Hey, you haven't answered my question yet."
Paying no heed to the youth, Orochimaru nonetheless did not trust the young man before his eyes. The attire upon his body appeared to be the historical vestments of the Ninshu sect, and the clan crest on his back reminded him of an exceptionally ancient Kekkei Genkai clan.
The Otsutsuki clan...
Orochimaru inherently possessed a definitive amount of research regarding the origins of the shinobi world. Back then, under Shiraishi's guidance, Orochimaru had conducted an in-depth investigation into the history of the Otsutsuki clan, gradually grasping a certain amount of information.
Although the scope of the investigation was limited, Orochimaru naturally possessed his own conclusion—this Otsutsuki clan was absolutely not a benevolent group!
As the venomous snakes beneath his feet were instantly shattered into pieces, the silver-haired youth directly pressed his hand gently against Orochimaru's arm, flashing a trace of a smile.
To Orochimaru's ears, this smile carried a highly bizarre sonic frequency. In the exact fraction of a second between spark and flint, the youth directly utilized his own raw power to forcibly rip off one of Orochimaru's arms, tearing it away by sheer brute force.
"I told you not to be so hostile toward me... Huh?"
The moment the youth stepped forward, he noticed that the fallen Orochimaru had transformed into a shed-skin substitute at some unknown point, vanishing from his sight.
"Tsk, he's truly adept at fleeing."
Having one arm severed did not concern Orochimaru in the slightest; he could have as many such limbs as he desired.
Right now, he had to take the initiative to deliver the absolute majority of the refined information and materials on the Impure World Reincarnation to that fellow, Jiraiya.
Orochimaru's jutsu allowed him to submerge underground. Although it could not match the movement of Zetsu, his current speed was nonetheless among the fastest existing in the shinobi world.
As for the mysterious, silver-haired young man clad in Ninshu attire, he gazed in the direction of Orochimaru's departure as a specialized dark portal manifested behind him.
"Forget it. I don't even know if I'll see Orochimaru next time; he doesn't seem to have much life left in him."
Yomotsu Hirasaka!
The space-time ninjutsu utilized by the Otsutsuki clan through the Rinnegan, lauded as a powerful traversing jutsu that "manifests from the gates of the underworld in less than a split-second!"
With this jutsu, the Otsutsuki clan could fluidly traverse across various realms without being subjected to any structural restrictions.
In the wilderness, the heavily injured Orochimaru was still rapidly rushing forward!
Although he did not comprehend why he was acting in this manner, the only thing remaining in Orochimaru's mind right now was a single matter—to meet with Jiraiya just once!
Just as Konoha Village was drawing near, countless bonfires slowly began to burn around the perimeter.
Innumerable members of Root materialized in the surroundings. Simultaneously, several Earth Style shinobi executed a jutsu, completely sealing off Orochimaru's path of retreat.
"Orochimaru, how utterly pathetic. This doesn't look like you at all." Danzo, holding a cane, walked out with a swaying gait, gazing coldly at Orochimaru.
Seeing Danzo manifest, Orochimaru's expression shifted slightly: "Danzo..."
Ignoring Orochimaru's gaze, Danzo directly scolded: "As a rogue ninja of Konoha, what are your motives and intentions for appearing outside Konoha now? Could it be that you still intend to execute your Konoha Crush plan?"
The Konoha Crush plan was content that Shiraishi had recently placed upon the desks of Konoha's higher-ups through that specific individual. It contained letters hand-written by Orochimaru and the Tsuchikage, constituting ironclad evidence.
At this time, the Third Hokage had not yet passed away, but Konoha's situation was already riddled with crises. Konoha did not care if Orochimaru was purely playing along to trick Onoki; they firmly concluded that this guy desired nothing more than the collapse and destruction of Konoha.
Now, having received intelligence of Orochimaru approaching Konoha Village, Danzo did not wait for Tsunade to make a judgment. He directly led Root out of the village to block Orochimaru's path.
From the bottom of his heart, Orochimaru did not trust Danzo. Consequently, just as he prepared to bypass the Root personnel and continue inward, countless kunai and paper bombs rapidly rained down, striking directly at Orochimaru.
"What is the meaning of this? Danzo..."
Slowly stepping forward, Danzo spoke coldly: "Orochimaru, do not think you can continue to bring harm to Konoha!"
Having suffered heavy trauma, Orochimaru lacked the strength to argue, speaking with great difficulty: "Danzo, let me meet with Jiraiya just once."
"A mere rogue ninja dares to put forward such a demand!"
The alternate piece of intelligence Danzo had received stated that Orochimaru likely possessed the most complete data on the Impure World Reincarnation, which he intended to entrust to Jiraiya.
Therefore, Danzo was glaringly obvious in his intention to intercept the prize midway, snatching away the data of the Impure World Reincarnation!
Inside the Kazekage's office, a specialized virtual projection knelt on one knee before Shiraishi, his expression exceptionally respectful.
Shiraishi gently put down the pen in his hand, a trace of a smile surfacing on his face: "You did exceptionally well this time, Kabuto."
"Yes!"
Receiving the praise of the Kazekage, Kabuto flashed an exceptionally joyous smile.
Functioning as an undercover agent lurking by Orochimaru's side while simultaneously acting as the eyes and ears for Danzo, Sasori, and the Kazekage, Kabuto had consistently been performing this multifaceted spy work in a daze.
However, along with his various interactions and exchanges with the Kazekage, Kabuto's admiration for Shiraishi had grown continuously, ultimately transforming him into a genuine follower.
The detailed materials regarding the Konoha Crush plan were something Kabuto had added and submitted to Konoha on his own initiative. Originally, Shiraishi had merely instructed him to inform Danzo that Orochimaru held the materials for the Impure World Reincarnation.
Yet, contrary to expectations, Kabuto had directly played such a hand, throwing Konoha's higher-ups into a state of total chaos.
This fellow is a talent worth cultivating... Furthermore, leaving him by Danzo's side might allow us to keep the Impure World Reincarnation under absolute control!
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed. Claim early access on Patreon: Patreon.com/kazama677
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter🔷 100 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.