Despair of Orochimaru

He couldn't help but recall the intelligence he'd recently obtained—Hiruzen Sarutobi was dead, and Konoha had been destroyed.

When he first received this news, Orochimaru had been completely incredulous. Unfortunately, after verifying through multiple channels, he discovered that Konoha had indeed suffered a great calamity. He heard that if they hadn't fled quickly, they would have been nearly annihilated. But these past few days, Orochimaru had been tied up with other matters and couldn't break away. Now that he finally had time, Nagato had dragged him here to listen to some nonsense about the world ending.

Orochimaru felt a flicker of irritation.

"No, I'm not joking, Zetsu."

Nagato shook his head and looked toward Black Zetsu standing to the side.

Black Zetsu nodded, stepped forward, and pulled out a map. On it was an image resembling tree rings.

"You should all know about what happened recently in Konoha, right?"

Black Zetsu stuck the map onto the blackboard beside him and asked.

Everyone nodded. As one of the most powerful villages in the Ninja World, such a massive incident in Konoha couldn't be hidden. It had long since become known to all the major powers across the Ninja World.

"Then that's settled. You should also know the culprit who nearly destroyed Konoha—that monster. Look at this map, right here..."

Black Zetsu nodded and began explaining. At first, Orochimaru and the others didn't take it seriously. Orochimaru even interrupted to remind Black Zetsu of Uchiha Yue's name. But as Black Zetsu's explanation continued, everyone's expressions gradually grew grim.

Orochimaru in particular stepped forward, staring intently at the map, asking if it was real. After receiving an affirmative answer, his face darkened immediately. Of course, during this process, Nagato also stepped in to explain Uchiha Yue's strength. When they learned that Uchiha Yue, relying solely on a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, had fought Nagato—who possessed the Rinnegan—to a standstill, with Nagato even coming out slightly worse off, they fell completely silent.

Nagato didn't mention how he'd been one-shot. That would have hurt his prestige too much.

"A power like that can't be without limits. How could there possibly be a limitless ability in this world? If such a thing existed, it wouldn't be a person—it would be a god. Maybe Uchiha Yue will stop absorbing after a while."

Orochimaru stepped forward, pinching his chin, his expression grave as he spoke. His speculation aligned with common sense. However, this world was fundamentally counter-intuitive. What intuition suggested wasn't necessarily correct, and Orochimaru knew this well, so his statement wasn't certain.

"Are you willing to bet on that, Orochimaru? And even if there is a limit, so what? As long as Uchiha Yue's domain coverage reaches forty to fifty percent, this world is pretty much doomed. Even if it doesn't reach that point, once his domain covers a third—or even a fifth—of this planet, it will be an unbearable calamity for all life in this world."

"You have to understand, Uchiha Yue is a person, a living person, someone who moves. Once he starts moving, he becomes a pure moving calamity. And look at him now—does he look like someone who's going to stop growing?"

Black Zetsu said helplessly. Orochimaru fell silent. Indeed, he didn't dare to bet. Rather than gambling on Uchiha Yue having a limit, it was better to find a way to kill him. But this monster's strength was no joke—he could even defeat Nagato. How were they supposed to fight that?

Just imagining that future made Orochimaru feel despair. No, if it were merely overwhelming power, Orochimaru wouldn't have felt so hopeless. No matter how strong, a person could still be killed somehow. But the problem was that Uchiha Yue was shrouded in a vast Energy Absorption Field, which hard-countered them as shinobi. After crossing such a great distance to reach Uchiha Yue, how much Chakra would they have left?

Probably enough for Uchiha Yue to swat them dead with a single slap.

Troublesome. Far too troublesome. Orochimaru felt an unprecedented level of difficulty.

If Uchiha Yue could truly grow without limit, or as Black Zetsu said, possessed the power to envelop half the planet, then it would truly be the end of the world. Even Orochimaru would have no way to survive in such a world.

"Dammit, how did it come to this? I only developed the Reincarnation Technique not long ago. I still have such a long lifespan. There are so many jutsu I haven't learned. I haven't yet perfected a true, complete resurrection technique. And now the world is going to end!"

Thinking this, a profound sorrow and despair welled up in Orochimaru's heart, and his face sank.

"Shimura Danzō, you beast! Why did you have to provoke the Uchiha Clan? Why did you have to move against them? Now look—you've thrown away your own life and dragged us innocent people down with you!"

Kakuzu's face was pale. He collapsed to the ground in despair, clutching his chest. He felt like he was about to die from rage. All of this had happened just because Shimura Danzō wanted to wipe out the Uchiha Clan. That was it. For something like that, he was supposed to be buried alongside that bastard Danzō. Kakuzu felt nothing but agony and despair.

He didn't understand what was wrong with this world. His money—all his money! There was still so much money in this world he hadn't earned yet. And now the world was going to end. When he died, what would happen to all that money?

Uchiha Obito didn't mention his and Uchiha Itachi's actions. After all, if he did, wouldn't the blame for the world's destruction fall on him?

Sure, he had participated in the plan, but he'd been invited by Uchiha Itachi. He wasn't the mastermind. And if the other Akatsuki members found out, it could hurt internal unity.

Well, honestly, the main reason was that it would make him a target for the other ninjas' resentment, turning him into a focus of public attention. That could expose his identity and affect the plan.

Fortunately, everyone who participated that day—except him—was dead. So there was no fear of anyone learning about the trouble they'd caused.

"A solution... a solution... Aside from killing Uchiha Yue, the only option is to pray that Uchiha Yue's power has a limit, that he won't keep absorbing energy and growing, that he'll stop once he reaches a certain level."

Orochimaru frowned, thinking constantly. But aside from this, he couldn't come up with any other plan. His Reincarnation Technique was useless against a Living Calamity like Uchiha Yue. Even if he hid his spare bodies all across the Ninja World...

Once Uchiha Yue enveloped this planet, he would be completely dead.