Jiraiya was the first to speak.
“Orochimaru, did you create the Hidden Sound Village?”
Orochimaru chuckled softly. “It’s just a partnership. Now that I’m here, you’re not planning on catching up, are you?”
Looking at Orochimaru, Jiraiya felt a deep sense of unfamiliarity. In just a few years, Orochimaru seemed like a completely different person. The Orochimaru of the past would not have been this easy to talk to.
“The incident with the kidnapped infants in the village—was it Danzo’s doing?” Jiraiya asked seriously.
“What does it matter now? Whether it was or wasn’t, what difference does it make?”
Orochimaru didn’t answer directly but showed an apparent lack of interest.
“It’s important,” Jiraiya insisted.
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya, who was staring at him intently. After a long pause, Orochimaru uttered a single word: “Yes.”
Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief but couldn’t understand. “Why didn’t you explain it to the old man?”
Orochimaru laughed lightly. “Why should I explain? I was Danzo’s accomplice. What’s the problem with that?”
Jiraiya sighed. “Why let things turn out like this?”
Hearing this, Orochimaru angrily slammed his hand on the table, causing the cups on the table to rattle.
“Why wasn’t I chosen to be the Fourth Hokage? Why did it have to be Minato!?”
This had always been a thorn in Orochimaru’s heart, and Jiraiya’s mention brought back unpleasant memories.
“The old man had his reasons at the time,” Jiraiya said solemnly.
Orochimaru snorted, his emotions seeming to settle down. “There’s no point in discussing it now. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.”
With that, he stood up, ready to leave.
“Wait,” Jiraiya called out.
“The old man said, ‘It doesn’t matter if you come back or not.’” After delivering the message, Jiraiya fell silent.
Orochimaru didn’t respond for long, standing still near the door without turning around.
“The old man has aged a lot recently,” Jiraiya added.
Orochimaru paused mid-step, still not turning around. “My experiments happen to require some rare medicinal herbs: deer heart grass, red sand vine, and…”
Orochimaru listed several rare herbs, all of which were specialties of certain clans in the Leaf Village.
These herbs were valuable and unavailable to outsiders, but the Hokage could likely procure them.
Jiraiya, misinterpreting Orochimaru’s intent as a way to reconcile with the Third Hokage, eagerly patted his chest. “Don’t worry, Orochimaru, I’ll find a way to get them!”
Jiraiya felt a surge of excitement, but then something crossed his mind.
“Orochimaru, wait a moment.”
Orochimaru didn’t turn around. “What else is there?”
Jiraiya bit his finger and formed a hand seal.
“Summoning Jutsu!”
With a puff of smoke, a red toad appeared on the ground.
“I’ll leave this communication toad with you. Once I gather the herbs, I’ll let you know.”
“Do as you please.”
Orochimaru, still not turning back, left with a slight smile.
…
The Land of Hot Water borders the Land of Fields. Uchiha Natsuki planned to enter the Land of Fields through the Land of Hot Water.
This was a famous tourist country, filled with all kinds of hot springs.
Regular hot springs and boiling springs had been transformed into hot spring inns.
There were also geysers and intermittent springs, adding many scenic spots and making the country a popular destination for relaxation and tourism.
As Natsuki and his group entered the Land of Hot Water, they found that the town wasn’t as crowded with tourists as expected.
Instead, the place seemed relatively deserted and bleak.
Occasionally, they saw a few ninja passing by in a hurry.
After asking around, Natsuki learned that a cult had recently emerged in the Land of Hot Water. The cult, worshiping an evil god, spread its beliefs and used murder to please their god, killing indiscriminately.
The Hidden Hot Water Village was originally a peaceful, pacifist village, but because of its rich natural resources, it had attracted the attention of the evil god’s cult.
Many of the village’s ninja had been brainwashed and turned into the evil god’s minions.
However, the Land of Hot Water had already sought help from the nearby Hidden Sound Village, and the Sound Village had sent Uchiha members to assist.
Natsuki suddenly realized—could this be the home of the murderous Hidan?
With the rise of the Hidden Sound Village, the Land of Hot Water, I had turned to them for aid.
Natsuki had been puzzled when he saw on the map that Pain had taken a mission from the Land of Hot Water. To get to the Hidden Rain Village, one would either have to cross most of the Land of Fire or pass through the Land of Fields, Iron, Waterfalls, and Land of Grass before reaching the Rain Village.
It seemed Pain had accepted the mission while traveling outside.
Suddenly, the sound of crying came from a distance. Natsuki and his group approached and found a man grotesquely hanging from a tree.
His body was covered in wounds, and a large pool of blood had formed beneath him. Nearby, a triangular symbol had been drawn on the ground.
A woman, sobbing on the ground, clutched at the man, who was her husband.
The trees were tall, and it was clear that an ordinary person couldn’t bring the body down.
Natsuki’s expression darkened, and he gave a signal to Kimimaro.
Kimimaro nodded and, with a swift throw, severed the rope holding the body. He leaped to catch it as it fell.
The sounds of battle and rising smoke could be heard from a distance.
Natsuki quickly turned his head and ordered, “Stay here. I’ll go check it out.”
In the forest.
“How dare you show disrespect to Lord Jashin!”
“Haah!” Hidan charged through the Great Fireball with a wild and aggressive stance.
Uchiha Yoruya frowned in surprise—Hidan had walked straight through the fire.
Hidan’s body was burned, but he continued swinging his scythe with ferocious strength.
Yoruya blocked the attack with his sword, but Hidan’s large scythe still managed to nick his arm with its sharp spikes.
Seizing the moment when Hidan’s weapon bounced back, Yoruya swiftly slashed Hidan’s throat.
Hidan’s body stiffened and collapsed to the ground.
Yoruya frowned. Had it been that easy?
Sure enough, there was movement behind him. He turned to see Hidan, with a gaping wound in his neck, standing up again.
“Heh… it… hurts!” Hidan rasped, his voice distorted as air escaped through his injured throat.
Yoruya was shocked. How could he still be alive? What kind of technique was this?
He stood on guard.
Hidan shouted, “I deliver the judgment of God upon you!”
Using the blood on the ground, Hidan quickly drew a circle and triangle with his feet.
Yoruya immediately threw five shurikens.
“Thwack, thwack, thwack…”
The shuriken hit Hidan’s body with a series of impacts.
“Ahh… ahh… ahh…”
Hidan screamed but remained within the circle.
With a sinister grin, he declared, “Judgment upon you!”
He wiped blood from his scythe and was about to put it in his mouth.
Suddenly, a swift figure flashed by, accompanied by a dazzling blade.
Hidan barely had time to lift his scythe in defense. “Clang…”
In an instant, the scythe, along with Hidan’s neck, was severed.
His head flew high into the air and then landed on the ground.
A familiar figure appeared before Yoruya.
“Lord Natsuki!!” Yoruya shouted with joy. It had been years since he had seen the deputy clan leader, having been on missions with Itachi and the others.
“Shut up!” Natsuki smacked Yoruya on the head, making him stagger.
“Why didn’t you interrupt his ritual chant!?” Natsuki said in exasperation.
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