Secret Meeting with Orochimaru

Only the Tenseigan possessed such insight. No one else, not even Itachi, who had yet to awaken his eyes, noticed the fleeting flash of delight on Shennong's face.

Having noticed it, Hyuga Kagami began to ponder.

"Why did Shennong look pleased when he saw Orochimaru and Jiraiya? Everyone knew that Orochimaru had defected from Konoha. With him and Jiraiya appearing together, one adding and one subtracting, it should not have materially helped our current situation... unless... unless Shennong was certain that Orochimaru and Jiraiya would join forces to help us deal with the Kumogakure ninja..."

"But what made him so certain that Orochimaru, a Rogue Ninja, would help?"

"Knowing Kumogakure was hunting him at a time like this, why had he insisted on coming to the Land of Rice Fields?"

"He had made such a show of hiring Konoha ninja as escorts. Was he trying to provoke a conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure? Then what assurance did he have that he could escape unscathed?"

"Could it be... could encountering Orochimaru here have been no coincidence? Was Orochimaru, hiding in the Land of Rice Fields, his trump card?"

"Was he one of Orochimaru's men!? No, he was a remnant of the Sky Ninja. There was no way he could be Orochimaru's subordinate. There must have been some kind of partnership between him and Orochimaru!"

Combining what he had observed with his vague memories, Hyuga Kagami quickly found the answer.

But no matter what, the unexpected appearance of Orochimaru and Jiraiya was a turning point for Hyuga Kagami. If Orochimaru truly had a partnership with Shennong, he would not simply abandon Shennong. And Jiraiya would not stand by and watch Konoha ninja be killed by Kumogakure ninja right before his eyes.

With a thought, Hyuga Kagami immediately placed his hands behind his back and gave Itachi a signal.

Seeing this, Itachi quickly took out a Konoha distress flare and hurled it high into the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Amid a series of explosions, the flare burst into three clouds of red smoke overhead.

In fact, Itachi's distress flare had not been necessary. At the same time Hyuga Kagami and the others spotted Orochimaru and Jiraiya, the two had spotted them as well. In tacit understanding, they stopped fighting and rushed over together.

Soon, one after the other, Orochimaru and Jiraiya appeared before Hyuga Kagami's group.

Looking at the people before him, Orochimaru spoke in a hoarse voice, his smile sinister. "I never expected to encounter Kumogakure's Jinchuriki here. It seems today has been fruitful!"

Jiraiya said urgently, "Orochimaru, don't do anything reckless. You'll start a war!"

Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya. He shifted his gaze away from Yugito Nii of Kumogakure and swept it over Hyuga Kagami's group, lingering briefly on Hyuga Kagami and Itachi before finally settling on Shennong. A teasing smile appeared on his face.

On Kumogakure's side, Yugito Nii had lost her earlier composure with the successive arrival of Orochimaru and Jiraiya. The three Kumogakure ninja accompanying her were even more on guard, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Unlike Hyuga Kagami, who had coasted through the war, and the inexperienced Itachi, Orochimaru and Jiraiya had earned their reputations through battle after battle of real bloodshed. Even someone as proud as Yugito Nii no longer dared to be arrogant before these two.

"This isn't over!"

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Yugito Nii threw out a parting threat and decisively led her team away.

Orochimaru had no intention of giving chase. He merely stood there quietly with his hands on his hips. Clearly, his earlier words had only been meant to frighten Yugito Nii of Kumogakure.

Seeing the Kumogakure ninja withdraw on their own, Jiraiya heaved a long sigh of relief.

Hyuga Kagami now shifted his guard from the Kumogakure ninja to Orochimaru and asked tentatively, "Lord Jiraiya, do you need our help?"

Orochimaru was a Konoha Rogue Ninja. On the surface, Hyuga Kagami, as a Konoha ninja, naturally had to make his stance clear.

Jiraiya waved a hand. "Orochimaru isn't someone you can handle. This has nothing to do with you now. Go carry out your own mission."

Hyuga Kagami had only been putting on a show anyway. Hearing that, he said no more and immediately left with Itachi and Shennong.

After this disturbance, Hyuga Kagami's group became even more cautious. They avoided every town and dealt with no one. Whenever they encountered flat, open terrain with nowhere to hide, they even switched to traveling by night and hiding by day.

With such caution, Hyuga Kagami's group finally reached their destination safely a week later.

There truly was an epidemic in this village. Everywhere they looked was a scene of desolation, and one villager indeed claimed to have written the letter asking Shennong to come and treat the epidemic.

Hyuga Kagami had long known Shennong's identity, so he pretended to know nothing and completed the B-rank escort mission according to the required procedures.

On the return journey, Itachi looked back at the village behind them and said softly, "Captain, there's something wrong with Shennong."

"I know, but it's none of our business."

After hesitating, Itachi said, "I don't know whether it's just my imagination, but I always feel that he harbors hostility toward Konoha."

Hyuga Kagami looked at Itachi in surprise. Only after a long while did he say, "Perhaps."

The Sky Ninja Village had been destroyed by Konoha. It was only natural for Shennong to be hostile toward Konoha.

Hyuga Kagami could identify Shennong because of memories from his previous life, but for Itachi to possess such sharp intuition at such a young age truly surprised him.

While making camp that night, Hyuga Kagami noticed a secret mark left by Orochimaru on a large tree not far away. Knowing that Orochimaru was summoning him, he casually made up an excuse to Itachi and quietly headed to the meeting place.

The moment Hyuga Kagami arrived, Orochimaru emerged from the shadows.

As respectful as ever, Hyuga Kagami said, "Lord Orochimaru."

Orochimaru studied Hyuga Kagami with great interest. After quite some time, he said, "Kagami-kun, the feeling you give me this time seems rather different from before."

Hyuga Kagami answered calmly, "Thanks to you, I nearly died at the hands of the village. Of course I'll be somewhat different."

The corners of Orochimaru's mouth curled upward as he smiled. "A blessing in disguise? Then you should thank Danzo properly."

"You mean this Purge was Danzo's doing?"

"Mm. I overestimated his magnanimity and underestimated his methods." Orochimaru looked casual, as though he were discussing something that had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Hyuga Kagami probed, "Then it seems you must have taken some treasure of his."

Orochimaru did not deny it. Instead, he smiled. "Correct. It truly is a very fine treasure."

After confirming his suspicion, Hyuga Kagami did not probe further. Instead, he changed the subject and asked softly, "That Shennong is one of your people, isn't he?"

Orochimaru stared at Hyuga Kagami. "Even that didn't escape you. You truly are different from before."

Hyuga Kagami humbly shook his head. "He exposed too many flaws himself. Not just me—even that little Uchiha noticed something."

With an ambiguous smile, Orochimaru said, "He stole some Forbidden Techniques concerning Physical Regeneration from Kumogakure. They're quite helpful for my current experiments."

"I see. No wonder Kumogakure dispatched such a powerful pursuit team!"

Seeing that Hyuga Kagami seemed interested, Orochimaru tempted him in a hoarse voice. "Kagami, if you're interested, I can consider giving you a copy as well."