The Masked Man Truly Hates Orochimaru

Danzo thought Orochimaru was a little fool.

Leaving aside the difficulty of killing Eiji, even if he managed to scheme Eiji to death, what then?

He knew Eiji was highly popular among the Uchiha, with some even regarding him as the hope of reviving the clan.

If Eiji died, the Uchiha would go berserk that very day.

Looking at the whole of Konoha, who didn't know that he, Danzo, had an irreconcilable blood feud with the Uchiha?

Probably before Eiji's body had even gone cold, those red-eyed lunatics would be coming at him with their blades.

Even if the Uchiha were too cowardly to act, Hiruzen would definitely come looking for trouble.

He had already lost his advisor position; he couldn't afford another demotion.

"I know you're interested in that brat, but making a move on him is a bit complicated."

Orochimaru licked his lips.

He thought Danzo was the real little fool.

Who told him to do the dirty work himself? Didn't he understand the concept of killing with a borrowed knife?

"I'll leave some traces, fabricating evidence that I'm in Kirigakure. Konoha naturally won't let that information slip, and they'll definitely send Eiji to investigate."

"Kirigakure is full of madmen even crazier than the Uchiha. Once he goes there, he'll lose half his life."

"If he still doesn't die, then we'll use the private forces we've raised outside. We'll wear him down until he's dead."

After their previous encounter, Orochimaru believed he had a good read on Eiji.

Seeing Danzo still hesitating, Orochimaru dangled the bait again.

"Danzo, don't you want to become Hokage? At the rate that child is growing, the time you have left is running out."

The word "Hokage" stabbed deep into Danzo's heart—it was the dream of his lifetime.

Without a dream, what was a man but a salted fish!

"Mm, we'll cooperate. This time, we must kill him."

"Not for me, but for Konoha."

Orochimaru let out a cold laugh and quietly left the room.

You're still as hypocritical as ever, Danzo.

Time passed, little by little.

At the Hokage Building, Hiruzen received reports from various departments.

Orochimaru was very likely hiding in Kirigakure!

Hiruzen immediately summoned Kakashi.

"Not only do we need to search for Orochimaru's whereabouts, but we also need to gather intelligence on Kirigakure. That place has always been sealed off; the information we have is far too scarce."

Even in peacetime, Hiruzen felt that war could break out at any moment.

Without sufficient intelligence, they would suffer heavy losses in the future.

"Understood. For this mission, I recommend Eiji and Tenzo."

Hiruzen agreed without much hesitation.

This team complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses—it was perfectly reasonable.

The situation was urgent. That very night, Kakashi and Tenzo knocked on Eiji's door.

Upon learning they were heading to Kirigakure, Eiji was taken aback.

If he remembered correctly, Kakashi's so-called friend was hiding there.

Orochimaru, Orochimaru—you really bring disaster wherever you go.

Eiji didn't dawdle; he set off in a hurry.

In less than three days, they reached the border of the Land of Water.

What troubled them was that the boatmen would rather go hungry than sail into the Land of Water.

Tenzo went to negotiate but ultimately returned empty-handed.

He sighed helplessly. "He said that going in recklessly would get him killed by patrolling Kirigakure ninja, so he absolutely refused to go."

"The level of sealing here is greater than we imagined. No wonder Orochimaru chose to hide here."

While Tenzo and Kakashi were still debating how to slip into the Land of Water unnoticed, Eiji had already used his Sharingan to control a boatman.

The man steered them toward the Land of Water.

"If we run into patrolling ninja, we can just quietly take them out. No problem, right?"

"Big problem."

Kakashi frowned. "We're out at sea. How can you silently kill someone who's skilled in Water Release..."

Wait, Kakashi felt something was off.

That kid Eiji seemed exceptionally skilled in Water Release!

He even felt that if it weren't for having to look after the two of them, Eiji could have just skated right across the water's surface.

"As long as the Mizukage doesn't come personally, Eiji should have no problem getting us out of here."

"Relax, you two seniors. Running away is what I'm best at."

Under normal circumstances, the Mizukage definitely wouldn't act personally.

Who had the spare time for that? There was plenty of village business to handle.

But.

The current Fourth Mizukage—Karatachi Yagura—was not a normal Mizukage.

He was a Mizukage controlled by the Masked Man.

In the Mizukage's Office, the Masked Man sat in the Mizukage's seat, flipping through the records of the village's ninjas one by one.

He needed to find some subordinates from among them.

So far, aside from Kisame, he hadn't found any suitable candidates.

And the Mizukage stood off to the side, silent as a wooden puppet.

He had been under the Masked Man's control for a long time now, reduced to a mere puppet.

As for the mutual slaughter happening within the village, the Masked Man couldn't be bothered to care.

If it weren't for Kirigakure, Rin wouldn't have died.

It was already a mercy that the Masked Man hadn't wiped them all out.

And besides, the Masked Man really didn't care.

"Someone's coming."

Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground.

"Hm?" The Masked Man was puzzled. This place had always been isolated from the world—who would be bored enough to come looking for them?

"Konoha ninjas got word that Orochimaru is here, so they sent a few to investigate... It's those three again."

The Masked Man really wanted to curse.

Was Orochimaru insane? The shinobi world was huge—why couldn't he run anywhere else? Why did he have to crawl into this place?

And those useless Konoha wastes—was the number one big boss of the shinobi world really supposed to be one of Orochimaru's subordinates?

Did your group's IQ even break double digits?

"What should we do? Let them in or..."

The Masked Man's voice turned cold. "Do everything to stop their operation. I suddenly want to see—if that brat watches his comrades die right in front of him, will it awaken his potential?"

The Konoha Team was getting closer to their destination.

Honest Tenzo let out a sigh of relief. "Looks like we're lucky. We haven't run into any Kirigakure ninjas."

Eiji slowly stood up. "Get ready to attack, you two seniors. We're already surrounded by Kirigakure ninjas."

He pulled out Explosive Tags and handed them to Kakashi and Tenzo. "When they get closer, blast them to hell."

Kakashi felt something was wrong. "Our mission is to infiltrate Kirigakure, not to fight them to the death."

Eiji spread his hands. "Senior Kakashi, either we kill them, or they kill us. Pick one."

"This..."

Kakashi felt neither option was great.

"I think we can still negotiate. After all, both sides have signed a peace treaty. Attacking Konoha ninjas openly would be seen as provoking war, wouldn't it?"

Eiji drew Xiao Er. "Do the lunatics of Kirigakure care about that? They're almost all dead already, you know."

He paused, then continued, "And knowing our Hokage's personality, even if the three of us end up in pieces, he'll just brush it off with some 'for the greater good' nonsense."

Kakashi fell silent. He remembered the tragic experience of the Hyuga Clan.

Soon, a large number of boats surrounded them.

A short figure holding a staff stood at the front. Kakashi recognized him as the current Mizukage.

He thought about trying to resist, but the other party simply waved a hand.

"Found intruders. Kill on sight."