"Th-That's impossible!"
Upon hearing Uchiha Nobuhiko's affirmative answer, the question had slipped out unconsciously, but hearing such a certain response still made those words burst from him almost instinctively.
This time, even Kabuto Yakushi lost his usual composure. Though Orochimaru's influence had trained him to maintain that unsettling expression as though everything were always under control, and though he himself was a veteran spy whose facial control, body language, and reactions ranked among the very best of shinobi, his face was now deathly pale with disbelief. He was hardly any better off than Baki.
Two... Taki Chibas.
They had to face two Taki Chibas?
One Taki Chiba was already enough to suppress the entire Shinobi World. If Konoha possessed two Taki Chibas...
At that moment, Baki's heart was consumed by wave after wave of fear. Images kept rising in his mind of two Konoha monsters assaulting Sunagakure and crushing it with unstoppable force.
Clearly, he was still considering the matter from the perspective of his own village, and his fear stemmed from the larger situation facing every village in the Shinobi World.
To be honest, when they first heard that Taki Chiba had returned, they had not panicked much. They had merely realized one thing: the era of peace would be extended, perhaps for a very long time.
Moreover, they would have to find a way to weaken Konoha. With Uchiha Nobuhiko as their ally, there was still hope of severely weakening Konoha on a broad scale. Taki Chiba was not completely invincible, and there were still people capable of dealing with him.
And Uchiha Nobuhiko, the one who could deal with Taki Chiba, was not actually as domineering as Konoha had made him out to be, like Madara Uchiha. Though he did look down on others somewhat, he was