Next, now that I knew so much...
I should also start considering where I ought to go from here.
Watching the little white snake vanish into the shadows and out of sight with its superb concealment technique, Orochimaru slowly turned around. Backlit by the sun, his face was filled with gloom and...
Worry.
Yes, now that the man in the shadows had left, there was no joy, relief, or sense of resolution on Orochimaru's face.
On the contrary, he looked even more tense.
Indeed, I should not have been intimidated by Taki Chiba, but that did not mean the current Shinobi World was still the Shinobi World I knew.
At that thought, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, his lips moving soundlessly. Though he said nothing, his face took on an expression that seemed ready to sigh.
The man in the shadows was right. He truly should not have been intimidated.
But the thing that had frightened him was not Taki Chiba.
It was the current Shinobi World.
Because he had defected from Konoha, he had shifted from the open side of the Shinobi World into the shadows.
However, he still controlled the Hidden Sound Village.
He also had an intelligence network in the open.
He still possessed an exceptionally comprehensive understanding of the Shinobi World.
And the current Shinobi World was vastly different from the one he knew. Behind nearly every one of those differences stood the shadows of two people.
First was Taki Chiba, whose death no one dared conclusively confirm, as though he were the source of everyone's fear.
Clearly, although it had not yet been confirmed that Hada Ichiba was Taki Chiba, with Orochimaru's discernment, he could tell that even if Hada Ichiba was not Taki Chiba, Kusagakure must have countless ties to him.
Moreover, Kusagakure's repeated