"You succeeded?"
Danzo asked Orochimaru in astonishment. He really hadn't expected Orochimaru to have already succeeded in his research. The worst part was that Orochimaru hadn't told him. Danzo to the experiment, and now he was the one who had been taken advantage of.
Orochimaru smiled without saying a word, but Danzo saw this as mockery.
"Damn it, I'm going to kill you."
Danzo realized that he had always been the one fooling others, but this time he had personally experienced being fooled. His hatred for Orochimaru had surpassed his desire for the Hokage position.
"Ding, ding."
Sparks flew as the kunai collided, their piercing sound particularly jarring in the quiet night.
Orochimaru is now stronger than Danzo in both Chakra reserves and physical regeneration, giving Orochimaru the Danzo on the field. Wielding the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, Orochimaru's Grass Sword is unstoppable, severing Danzo's right hand, which was holding Danzo, with a single strike.
Danzo unfazed, another kunai appearing in his left hand. With lightning speed, he stabbed the kunai into Orochimaru's body. His lips had barely curled into a smile when he sensed something was wrong. This wasn't the feeling of piercing flesh. Just as Danzo had predicted, Orochimaru vanished into a puff of smoke with a "pop."
"Danzo, you're really ruthless! You tricked me into coming forward by offering up one of your hands."
Orochimaru's tone was full of admiration. The more difficult the battle, the more important it is to have a good strategy and know when to make sacrifices. That's what makes a decent ninja.
"You figured it out anyway."
Danzo reattached his arm, gave it a simple bandage, and his arm was completely healed. Don't ask why; it was just Hashirama's cells tumor.
"Bang!"
Orochimaru quickly Hand Seals, and several coffins emerged from the ground.
"Bump."
The coffin opened from the inside, and two people who looked exactly like Orochimaru emerged.
"This..."
Danzo had assumed Orochimaru would use the forbidden technique Impure World Reincarnation. To his surprise, it was Orochimaru inside.
"How good I've been to you, Danzo, using you to test my finished product."
Orochimaru's two clones were created inspired by the White Zetsu that Karot brought. They were perfect puppets; once commands were implanted in their brains, they would act strictly according to instructions. This was also the first time that experimental subjects were created.
What's going on?
When Karot saw the coffin emerge from the ground, he shared Danzo's thought: why would they need to use the Impure World Reincarnation? But to Karot's surprise, Orochimaru emerged from the coffin. Doesn't this Ninja World have any taboos? Putting someone in a coffin before they're even dead—doesn't anyone find that disgusting?
"I don't know either."
Shisui stayed by Orochimaru's side throughout this time, and Orochimaru kept it a secret from everyone.
"This is getting more and more interesting."
Karot watched as new things appeared in the Ninja World, thinking that the Ninja World would become interesting once the future was revealed.
"Kill him."
Orochimaru gave the order to his clone.
"Brush."
The two clones were incredibly fast, no less so than Orochimaru himself. Danzo blocked one clone's attack, but was kicked in the back by the other, crashing into a tree and breaking it. The two clones wouldn't give Danzo a chance to react; their orders were to kill Danzo. As long as Danzo had a breath left, their attacks wouldn't stop, giving him no chance to use his persuasive skills.
"Ding, ding."
In the dark jungle, the sparks flying from the exchange of weapons were particularly dazzling.
"Bang!"
Danzo fell to the ground, leaving a trail. His two clones, wielding kunai, were about to deliver a fatal blow to Danzo.
With a kunai thrust, Danzo a "bang," Substitution Technique into a piece of wood. He used the Substitution Orochimaru to reappear behind the two Orochimaru. Instead of the expected blood flow, a white liquid oozed out.
"Boom."
The two Orochimaru exploded instantly, taking Danzo with them.
"It can even explode? That's impressive."
Karot thought the two "Orochimaru" were done for, but he didn't expect there to be a surprise. How does Orochimaru's brain work? He's really playing a trick.
"Hiss."
Shisui gasped. On the battlefield, you lower your guard as soon as the enemy dies. But with Orochimaru, even if you die, you can explode on the battlefield, making it impossible to defend against.
"What's going on?"
The distant explosion instantly alerted Jiraiya and the others who were focused on their journey.
"Is it possible that someone is fighting against Danzo's Root?"
This was a possibility that Jiraiya had considered.
"Full speed ahead!"
No matter who's in front of us, as long as they can stop Danzo and get us there in time, that's fine.
"Lord Jiraiya, there's a strong smell of blood up ahead."
As Kakashi's summoning beast, Pakkun told Kakashi what had happened, and Kakashi then relayed it to Jiraiya.
Seeing the teacher's hesitation, Minato spoke up.
"Teacher, I'll go first!"
He was the fastest among those present. Now everyone was not far from the scene of the incident, and there was no fear that Minato would be surrounded by the enemy. As long as Minato could hold off Danzo, he could buy time for Jiraiya.
Jiraiya assumed the people in front of him were Anbu sent by his teacher, their mission merely to delay Danzo. Now, hearing Kakashi's words, Jiraiya assumed the Anbu had suffered heavy losses.
"Okay, be careful."
Jiraiya had no choice but to agree to Minato's actions.
"Brush."
Minato activated his full speed, disappearing from everyone's sight like a streak of light. The ninjas on their way were used to it; they had all fought alongside Minato before Minato, and everyone had witnessed his speed.
"Huh? Someone's here."
When Minato arrived at this place, Karot had already sensed Minato's aura. Minato could deceive everyone present, but he couldn't deceive Karot. Minato's aura was as dazzling as Fire Fly in the night.
Hiding Minato a tree, Minato saw corpses wearing Anbu masks lying on the ground. He assumed these were Konoha comrades killed by Root and was about to make a move.
"Kindness?"
Karot sensed something was wrong; why was Minato harboring murderous intent? Then he realized that Minato might have mistaken his target. Danzo's Root and Anbu wore the same decorations. Since it was Anbu who had died there, Minato subconsciously assumed that those moving the corpses were Danzo's Root, and he wanted to avenge his comrade.
"Minato- senpai, come out!"
Karot appeared with Shisui; he didn't want Orochimaru's subordinates to suffer any losses.
"Karot, what are you doing here?"
Upon seeing Karot there, Minato already knew he had made an Oolong.
"We're all doing the same thing!"
Karot had nothing to hide and told him directly.