Under the combined pressure from Neji and Itachi, Orochimaru was easily forced out of Sasuke. He was sent back to his homeland, thus Sasuke was freed from the curse mark's control.
"I can't believe Orochimaru is so devious, but Sasuke, why did you eat something so disgusting?" Inuzuka Kiba, with Akamaru on his back, shivered and pulled his clothes tighter. The mere thought of Sasuke consuming Orochimaru gave him goosebumps.
"Yeah, yeah... *gag*..." The women all felt a wave of nausea.
"That's why you shouldn't eat random things," Itachi chuckled. He felt truly happy reclaiming himself after shedding his spy identity.
"I never thought Itachi would smile like that," Kakashi laughed, hands tucked in his pockets as he looked at "The Paradise of Passion" with Kabuto.
I wonder what makes him smile. It's so intriguing.
"I *absorbed* him, I didn't *eat* him!" Sasuke gritted his teeth. He felt like he'd lost something important in Itachi's eyes and quickly explained.
"Well, it's all the same," Kakashi waved his hand. He wouldn't miss this chance to tease his formerly cool student.
"Hmph!" Sasuke tried to calm himself down. Then, with a sudden turn, he revealed his star-shaped Mangekyo Sharingan and said menacingly, "I'll kill you!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I was your teacher, you know. Using your Mangekyo over a disagreement is pretty unforgiving," Kakashi quickly played the emotional card.
Come to think of it, speaking of Kakashi only made Sasuke angrier. In his limited memories, Kakashi was mostly known for being late, unreliable, and lacking chakra. There wasn't much else worth remembering.
"Hmph, don't underestimate Kakashi," Neji said at the right moment. "He has a Mangekyo too."
"What?!" Now it was Sasuke's turn to be shocked.
Honestly, Itachi had the same expression when he first saw Kakashi's Mangekyo. To think that an outsider would awaken the Mangekyo, something few within the Uchiha Clan could achieve, was truly hard to believe.
"It's not that big a deal, I guess. I was your teacher after all," Kakashi said smugly.
"So, how strong is Kakashi-sensei after unlocking his Mangekyo?" Tenten asked, looking at Neji.
Asking Neji instead of Kakashi really stung Kakashi, making him mutter about how lucky Neji was with the ladies.
"Hmm... to put it simply, he's pretty evenly matched with anyone," Neji pondered for a second or two, giving what he thought was the most objective answer.
"Huh? Really? Evenly matched!" everyone exclaimed in slight surprise.
Neji nodded. Among the Hokages, Kakashi was incredibly powerful. He could fight against the greatest boss, Otsutsuki Kaguya, and down to a regular ninja leader like Zabuza, with various members of the Akatsuki Organization scattered in between. In short, no matter who it was, Kakashi could always hold his own. They were always on equal footing.
Sometimes Neji even wondered if he was deliberately hiding his strength to avoid stealing the spotlight from the main characters.
"Kakashi-sensei is that amazing?" Lee marveled. He secretly resolved to tell Guy-sensei this news and burn his youth even brighter.
"Kakashi-sensei, appearances can be deceiving."
"There's definitely a reason he became an elite jonin."
Kakashi quickly got lost in the praises, gradually abandoning his principles and tucking away his copy of "The Paradise of Passion."
"I'm not *that* strong, haha," Kakashi scratched his head and laughed. He hadn't expected that his attempt at humility would be shattered moments later.
Neji, seizing the moment, delivered the finishing blow: "That's true, even against Genin, his 'evenly matched' level remains the same."
Kakashi wished he could slap himself. Why did he have to be humble? Now the atmosphere was so awkward.
"Uh, that's a bit of an exaggeration, Neji. You're quite humorous," Kakashi said with a forced smile after clearing his throat.
"Is that so? There are two Genin right in front of you. Want to try?" Neji asked 'kindly'.
Two Genin... Neji and Sasuke.
"Ahem, forget I said anything." Kakashi subtly pulled out his *adult* book again, narrowing his dead fish eyes to a slit as he started reading, which drew peals of laughter from everyone.
Neji's mood also lightened. This was the future life he wanted.
"Knowing the time, he should have received it too," Neji thought to himself.
"Brother Neji, where are we going now?" Hinata gently tugged Neji's sleeve and asked.
"To contribute our strength to Konoha's revival and the prosperity of the ninja world," Neji said righteously, stroking Hinata's soft hair.
Everyone: "???"
Sasuke turned back and asked, "So? What do we need to do?"
Neji calmly replied, "Dig up corpses!"
...
Amegakure Village is a small country that is constantly shrouded in rain, located at the border of the Land of Earth, Wind, and Fire.
Affected by the wars between the great nations, it was in constant conflict. It wasn't until a few years ago that Pain killed Hanzo of the Salamander in a civil war, ending the conflict. However, since then, Amegakure Village had become an extremely reclusive village.
"So this is Amegakure Village?" Jiraiya muttered. Neji, for reasons unknown, hadn't given them much information, so he still needed to make this trip himself.
"I hope that Naruto kid is learning well, so he doesn't waste this old hermit's efforts paving the way for him," Jiraiya laughed heartily. Then, he looked at a piece of paper in his hand, his eyes turning serious, and tucked it into his sleeve.
"Full of energy, let's go in!"
Jiraiya secretly hid inside a toad and entered Amegakure Village. Little did he know that any ninja entering Amegakure Village would be sensed by Pain, or Nagato and his companions, through the raindrops from the sky.
In other words, Jiraiya had already been exposed!
Atop the central tower of Amegakure Village, Tendo Pain paused slightly and said to Konan beside him, "Looks like someone has entered. Their chakra is very powerful."
"Powerful chakra? Who is it?" Konan asked.
"I don't know yet, but this chakra feels familiar. It might be..." Tendo Pain shook his head slightly and said to Konan, "Konan, after I stop the rain, you immediately go and find the intruder."
"Okay!" Konan nodded, and then Tendo Pain stopped the Rain Tiger At Will technique. Konan slowly split into a large number of paper butterflies and flew out from the tower.
At the same time, Jiraiya learned the location of Pain and the angel from a hostess at a pleasure establishment and decided to go take a look at the tower. However, as soon as he stepped out, he was spotted by Konan.
"It's Jiraiya-sensei," Tendo Pain said, listening to Konan's report, his brow furrowed slightly.
As expected, my intuition wasn't wrong.
"What... should we do?" Konan hesitated.
"If Jiraiya-sensei isn't on our side, then we'll kill him," Tendo Pain said calmly, without any emotion.
Konan was startled for a moment, then sighed softly and transformed into scattered paper sheets, drifting away.
---
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